A Merry Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

paternal boots or whispered entreaties of maternal voices through the keyholes had any effect, for it was impossible to resist the present advantages for a grand Christmas rampage.
    The older girls giggled and told secrets, while the little ones tumbled into bed and went to sleep at once, quite exhausted by the festivities of this remarkable day.
    Grandma, down in her own cozy room, sat listening to the blithe noises with a smile on her face, for the past seemed to have come back again. It was as if her own boys and girls were once again frolicking in the rooms above her head, as they had done forty years before.
    â€œIt’s all so beautiful. I can’t go to bed, Dolly, and lose any of it. They’ll go away tomorrow, and I may never see them again,” she said, as Dolly tied on her nightcap and brought her slippers.
    â€œYes, you will, Mum. That dear child has made it so pleasant that they won’t be able to stay away. You’ll see plenty of them, if they carry out half the plans they had made. Mrs. George wants to come up and pass the summer here; Mr. Tom says he shall send his boys to school here; and every girl among them has promised Kate to make her a long visit. You’ll never be lonely again, Mum.”
    â€œThank God for that!” Grandma said bowing her head to acknowledge that she had received a great blessing. “Dolly, I want to go and look at those children. It seems so like a dream to have them here, I must be sure of it,” said Grandma, folding her wrapper about her, and getting up with great decision.
    â€œOh my, Mum,” Dolly protested. “You haven’t been up those stairs in months. The dears are just fine, sleeping warm as toast.”
    But Grandma would go, so Dolly gave her an arm, and together the two dear friends hobbled up the wide stairs and peeped in at the precious children. The lads looked like a camp of weary warriors reposing after a victory, and Grandma went laughing away when she had taken a proud survey of this promising portion of the younger generation.
    The nursery was like a little convent full of rosy nuns sleeping peacefully, while a picture of Saint Agnes, with her lamb, smiled on them from the wall. The firelight flickered over the white figures and sweet faces, as if the sight were too fair to be lost in darkness. The little ones lay about, looking like little Cupids with sugar hearts and faded roses still clutched in their chubby hands.
    â€œMy darlings!” whispered Grandma, lingering fondly over them to cover a pair of rosy feet, put back a pile of tumbled curls, or kiss a little mouth still smiling in its sleep.
    But when she came to the coldest corner of the room, where Kate lay on the hardest mattress, under the thinnest quilt, the old lady’s eyes were full of tender tears. Forgetting the stiff joints that bent so painfully, she knelt slowly down and, putting her arms about the girl, blessed her in silence for the happiness she had given one old heart.
    Kate woke at once and started up, exclaiming with a smile, “Why Grandma, I was dreaming about an angel, and you look like one with your white gown and silvery hair!”
    â€œNo, dear, you are the angel in this house. How can I ever give you up?” answered Madam, holding fast the treasure that came to her so late.
    â€œYou never need to, Grandma, for I have made my choice.”

The Quiet Little Woman
    P ATTY STOOD AT THE WINDOW LOOKING thoughtfully down at a group of girls playing in the yard below. All had cropped heads, all wore brown gowns with blue aprons, and all were orphans like herself. Some were pretty and some plain, some rosy and gay, some pale and feeble, but all seemed to be happy and having a good time in spite of many hardships.
    More than once, one of the girls nodded and beckoned to Patty, but she shook her head decidedly and continued to stand listlessly watching and thinking to herself with a child’s impatient spirit—
    Oh, if