A little boy with a troubled face and a pinched look now approached the front door. He was neatly but poorly dressed.
"Oh! Nellie, what is the matter?" he asked anxiously.
"Johnnie," answered Nellie. "I have earned twenty dollars, and we shall have a Christmas dinner, and you shall have a drum, too." As she said this she caught the little fellow in her arms and kissed him and pressed his wan cheek against her own.
"Shall we have a turkey, Nellie?" he asked.
"Yes, dear," she said.
"And a plum pudding, too, with nice sauce that burns when you put a match to it, and shall I have two helpings?" he asked.
"Yes, and you shall set fire to the sauce and have two helpings, Johnnie."
"Won’t that be nice," he exclaimed gleefully. "But, Nellie, will papa get medicine to make him well again?"
"Yes, Johnnie."
"And mamma—will she get back all the pretty things she sent away to pay the rent with?"