And here Joel had the last word. “You said 'twan't goin' to be Christmas always, mammy. I say,” looking around on the overflow of treasures and the happy faces—“it'll be just forever!”
EDUCATION AHEAD
After that they couldn't thank Jasper enough! They tried to, lovingly, and an elaborate letter of thanks, headed by Mrs. Pepper, was drawn up and sent with a box of the results of Polly's diligent study of Jasper's book. Polly stripped off recklessly her choicest buds and blossoms from the gay little stand of flowers in the corner, that had already begun to blossom, and tucked them into every little nook in the box that could possibly hold a posy. But as for thanking him enough!
“We can't do it, mammy,” said Polly, looking around on all the happy faces, and then up at Cherry, who was singing in the window, and who immediately swelled up his little throat and poured out such a merry burst of song that she had to wait for him to finish. “No, not if we tried a thousand years!”
“I'm a-goin',” said Joel, who was busy as a bee with his new tools that the tree had shaken down for him, “to make Jappy the splendidest box you ever saw, Polly! I guess that'll thank him!”
“Do,” cried Polly; “he'd be so pleased, Joey.”
“And I,” said Phronsie, over in the corner with her children, “I'm goin' to see my poor sick man sometime, Polly, I am!”
“Oh, dear!” cried Polly, whirling around, and looking at her mother in dismay. “She'll be goin' to-morrow! Oh, no, Phronsie, you can't; he lives miles and miles away—oh, ever so far!”
“Does he live as far as the moon?” asked little Phronsie, carefully laying Seraphina down, and looking up at Polly, anxiously.