"Let's go over and wish Miss Brown a Merry Christmas," proposed Carl, when the candles began to burn low.
"We will storm Nottingham castle!" cried Ikey. "Come on!"
They received a cordial welcome. "What good children you are to think of me to-day!" she said, laying down her book.
"We have had such a beautiful time we thought we would finish it by coming to see you," said Dora.
"And thank you for our work-bags," added Bess.
"You need not think you have had all the Christmas on your side of the street," said Miss Brown, pointing to a rose-bush in bloom in the window and to some new books on her table. "And I should like to know," she continued, "how five little girls happened to guess what would please me most."
The M.Ks., after much discussion about their gift to Miss Brown, had accepted Aunt Zélie's advice and had themselves photographed in a group.
"I shall never be lonely again with these bright faces to look at," she said, lifting the picture from the floor beside her sofa.
"Did you have Christmas trees when you were a little girl, Miss Brown?" Louise asked.
"No, my grandmother used to celebrate New Year's day as the great holiday; we had gifts then, but not a tree."