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such fun to be having a real house party. And it’s going to be so much nicer than any of the city house parties because we have your cooking and a real home!”
    “You’re a good girl! Here you might be fretting because you didn’t go to that house party your college roommate had, and instead you’re rejoicing over our plain little home party!”
    “Nothing good about it, Motherie! I really like it better. But look! Look at the snow! Why, it’s getting to be almost like a blizzard!”
    “Yes, I’ve been seeing it for the last half hour! I do wish your father would come!” said the mother apprehensively.
    “Oh, they’ll be all right, Mother. They’ll just enjoy it. You know they are not children, and they aren’t so far away. They’ll come pretty soon. Come, aren’t you done? You look tired. Suppose you go and lie down a few minutes now while you can, and I’ll dust the living room.”
    But the mother would only lie down for about five minutes on the dining room couch, and then she was up and looking out the window again.
    “They ought not to have gone so far!” she said, real worry in her eyes now. “Just for a tree! It isn’t worth it.”
    “Oh, Mother! Don’t get frightened. Why, there isn’t more than six inches of snow on the ground. What could happen?”
    “I know, but it is getting worse all the time. If anything happened to them, how could we find them?”
    “Now, look here, Mother, you know that is silly! They are men, strong men. What could happen? They aren’t going to cut down any ancient pines that might fall on them. And there they come now! See! And oh, look at the tree, Mother! No wonder it took them a long time! Isn’t it a beauty?”
    The mother’s face relaxed, and she turned quickly and began to get the lunch ready to put on the table.
    “They’ll be very hungry,” she said, with happy eyes glancing out of the window again as she saw her two men tramp into the yard dragging the great feathery tree between them.
    Daryl went out with a broom and helped them brush the snow from the tree branches, and then they brought it in.
    “Oh, why don’t you leave it out on the porch until you’ve had something to eat?” protested the mother.
    “No, we want to set it up and be done with it,” said Lance eagerly. “We might as well get it over while we are still all snowy. Daryl, get a lot of newspapers and spread them out over the carpet till we get done broadcasting snow. Then we’ll clean up and be ready to eat.”
    So there was a happy rush in the house again, and presently the tree was up in all its beauty, steadied by hidden wires strung across the room. Its fragrance filled the house. They could see it from the dining room as they sat down to eat, and it seemed as if the very spirit of Christmas had come to them from the great out of doors.
    “Where are the lights?” asked Lance. “I’ll put them on after lunch.”
    “They are on the piano in those boxes. I thought we would make the tree all silver and lights this year. Don’t you think that will be pretty?” asked the girl.
    “Lovely!” said the mother. “I never cared for a great array of baubles. The lights give plenty of color.”
    They were enjoying the bean soup and applesauce, as only tired, hungry, happy men can enjoy plain food well cooked, and there was such a pleasant light of love in all their faces that it was a scene worthy of a painter’s brush.
    “Well,” said Father Devereaux, folding up his napkin and shoving back his chair, his eyes proudly resting on the beautiful tree, “we got her here, didn’t we, Son? Say, Mother, isn’t that the most beautiful Christmas tree you ever saw?”
    “It certainly is,” said Mother Devereaux, her eyes following her husband’s gaze.
    “Say, Mother, do you remember the first Christmas tree we ever had, just after we were married?” He reached out and put his hand gently down upon her small wiry one, both hands that worked so very hard through the years, yet