It was the day before a Christmas. Two poor little children were out in the woods. They wanted to find a Christmas tree. Poor children, they had never had a Christmas tree.
"Oh, Dear me!" said the little girl, "We have nothing to put on the tree."
The boy said, "Maybe we can find a tree with cones on it. Cones make a tree very pretty."
The poor children looked and looked, but they had never found trees with cones on them. At last, night came. It was dark in the big woods. And the children couldn't find their way home. "We are lost." said the little boy, "Let us sit here under the tree and wait until morning." There were very very tired and before long the little girl fell asleep. "I must not go to sleep." said the boy, "I must take care of sister." He sat there a long long time. All at once, he saw light. It grew bigger and bigger. "Look! Look! Little sister!" He cried, "See the beautiful light." Just as the little girl woke up, the children saw a beautiful fairy in the light. They had never seen a fairy before and were frightened. The fairy said, "Don't be frightened. I am the Christmas Fairy. At night before Christmas, I am always in the woods. I take care of the children who come here and find the best Christmas tree for them. Come with me! " said the fairy, "And we will find the Christmas tree." She took them to a beautiful tree that had many many cones on it. Then the fairy said, "Little cones, light the tree!" And all at once, each cone was shining like the sun. "What a beautiful Christmas tree!" said the children. "This is your tree. Take it with you, and it will give you light all the way home."
"Thank you very much, dear fairy." said the happy children.
Then they took the beautiful tree and soon found the way home. They put the tree in the window and all the people saw the cones shining on Christmas day.