The great occasions for the child, though, are the times of "sugaring-off." Sometimes this used to be done in the evening, and it was madethe excuse for a frolic in the camp. The neighbors were invited;sometimes even the beautiful girls from the village, who filled all thewoods with their sweet voices and merry laughter and littleaffectations of fright. The yellow snow still lies on all the groundexcept the warm spot about the camp. The tree branches all showdistinctly in the light of the fire, which sends its ruddy glare farinto the dimness, and lights up the bough shanty, the hogsheads, thebuckets on the trees, and the group about the boiling kettles, untilthe scene is like something taken out of a fairy play. If Rembrandtcould have seen a sugar party in a New England wood, he would havemade out of its strong contrasts of light and shade one of the finestpictures in the world. But Rembrandt was not born in Massachusetts;people hardly ever do know where to be born until it is too late.Being born in the right place is a skinnyg that has been fairly muchneglected.