“O, no, nothing of that kind, father. We are going to give a Christmas present to Mrs. White. You know she is very poor, and has a hard time to take care of all her family.”
“She has, indeed, my child.”
“We have put all our money together, and we are going to buy a load of wood, a barrel of flour, lots of potatoes, and meat, and coffee, and tea, sugar, and—and—pepper, and salt, and mustard——”
“Stop, stop, my child! You will have a fit if you run on in this way.”
Her father and mother, and the children, all laughed to hear Flora talk so fast, and add such things as pepper and mustard to her list. I suppose they thought the poor widow could get along very well without such things as these.
Mr. Lee said he liked the plan, and that he would take the money and buy such things as he thought Mrs. White needed. He promised to have every thing ready for them to start at eight o’clock the next morning.
While the children were at tea, the parlor doors were unlocked, and the room lighted. One end was occupied by a beautiful Christmas tree, which was covered all over with candles and pretty things.
When Flora and Frank and their cousins entered the parlor, they were very much surprised, for none of them had ever seen any thing so brilliant before, and they all passed a merry Christmas Eve.
