Joe Mando looked out of the window of his florist shop and was surprised to see a sparrow fly down and pick up a spray of holly from the pieces he had swept out of the store.

"Look, Angelo!' A sparrow just flew away with a piece of holly. What do you think it's gonna do with that? It's mighty prickly to put into a nest."

"Christmas spirit," chuckled Angelo. "That bird is gonna decorate its nest for Christmas."

Both men laughed but they would have been greatly surprised had they known the spray of holly would provide the main decorations in a town hall for a Christmas party.

The Lady of Fashion always manages the decorations for the Teenie Weenie Christmas party. Some of the little men go into the woods and bring back sprays of cedar, balsam and wintergreen leaves. These are hung about the walls of the old hat the little people use for a town hall.

One morning the Old Soldier with a wooden leg and several other Teenie Weenies set off to the woods in search of the usual decorations. On the way they met a friend, Tilly Titter, the English sparrow, who asked where they were going.

"To gather a lot of Winter greens to decorate the town hall for our Christmas party," answered the Old Soldier.

"Why don't you get some 'olly?" asked Tilly.

"That would be nice, but holly doesn't grow around here," said the Old Soldier.

"Lawsy!" exclaimed Tilly. "I can get you some. Saw a lot of it back of a florist shop not far away."

"That would be fine," answered the Old Soldier. "I always say there's nothing like holly at Christmas time."

When the little men went back to the Teenie Weenie village and reported to the Lady of Fashion, she was delighted with the idea of holly for decorations.

Presently Tilly flew into the village and landed on the little railing which runs about the brim of the hat. She dropped the spray of holly she carried and said, "I'll get some more.' Off she flew and in a short time she had piled a lot of holly in front of the tiny doorway.

Joe Mando has been telling all his friends about the bird that came to his shop and carried off holly to decorate its nest for Christmas. Joe enjoys telling the story, but he could tell a better one if he knew just how these sprigs of holly were used by the Teenie Weenies.