Elinor looked at him gravely from under her long lashes, and watched eagerly while he uncovered the basket, from out of which jumped a sleek black little kitten, which stretched himself comfortably, looking up with friendly eyes at the doctor.
"Oh, mine own Jollity!" cried Elinor. "Oh, mamma, see! Oh, isn't Santa Claus good?" and she clasped Kittyboy rapturously in her arms. "And the other present," she said, laughing, "you couldn't bring that in a basket."
"It is here, if mamma will let you keep it," and the doctor took the child on his knee, hiding his face in her curly locks. "Tell mamma what it is," he whispered.
"Oh, mamma," cried the child, "I wrote to Santa Claus and asked him for a new kitty and a new papa. That was the secret Lily and I had." For a moment she looked puzzled, and then a light broke over her face, while she let the kitten go, and clasped the doctor's neck closer, closer. "And, oh mamma," she continued, "when Santa Claus has sent me such a beautiful, 'spensive papa, you will let me keep him, won't you?" And the mother, amid laughter and blushes, could not say her nay.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.