"And did he take you to the stores and let yon choose the presents,
Grandma Elsie?" asked Lulu. "That would be half the fun, I think."
"My dear, indulgent father would have done so, had I been able to bear the fatigue," Grandma Elsie replied, "but at that time I was quite feeble from a severe illness. He did not think me strong enough to visit the stores, but ordered goods sent out to the Oaks for me to select from, which gave me nearly as much enjoyment us I could have found in going to the city in search of them."
"Did you find gifts to suit, mamma?" queried Walter. "And oh won't you tell us how many and what they were?"
"Beside the Roselands little people," replied his mother, "there were
Lucy and Herbert Carrington, Carrie Howard, Isabel Carleton, Mary
Leslie, and Flora Arnott to be remembered.
"For the last named, who was also the youngest, I selected a beautiful wax doll and a complete wardrobe of ready made clothes for it, all neatly packed in a tiny trunk.
"To Mary Leslie I gave a ring, and to each of the other girls a handsome bracelet; to Herbert, who was a great reader, a set of handsomely bound books.
"All these little friends of mine were spending the Christmas holidays at Pinegrove—the home of the Howards.
"Papa and I had been invited too, but had declined because of my feeble state. When my gifts were ready I asked him if they should be sent to Pinegrove.
"'We will see about it,' he answered; 'we have plenty of time; there are two days yet, and it will not take a messenger half an hour to travel from here to Pinegrove.'
"So I said no more, for I never was allowed to tease.