"Why, Jasper's," said Polly and Ben together; Joel and David coming in as echoes.
"You see," said Phronsie distinctly, "that Jasper and dear Grandpapa sent the beautiful things to us."
"Mrs. Pepper and Polly and Ben had gotten the Tree ready before," said
Jasper hastily. "Oh! didn't I want to be there!" he added.
"Yes; Polly almost cried because you couldn't be," said Joel in among the branches.
"But she couldn't quite cry," said Davie, "because you see we children would have found it out. Polly always sang in those days."
"Do you remember how we used to run behind the wood-pile when we wanted to plan the Tree, Polly," asked Ben, "to get away from Joel and Dave?"
"You spent most all your time in the Little Brown House in sneaking off from us," said Joel vindictively.
"Well, we had to, if we ever did anything," said Ben coolly.
"I should think so," remarked Livingston Bayley, delighted to give a thrust at somebody.
"And weren't the gilt balls pretty?" cried Polly, quite gone now in the reminiscences, though her fingers kept on at their task; "you did cover those nuts beautifully, Bensie. I don't see how you could, with such snips of paper."