At this everybody laughed and whatever tension there was vanished.
"Oh, James Frederick would vote for the tree," Mary said. "He is so little he couldn't eat turkey if we had it, could he, Mother?"
"I'm afraid he couldn't," smiled her mother. "He hasn't teeth enough."
"Then it is a tree! A tree!" cried Martin exultantly.
"Wait!" Captain Dillingham put up his hand. "We haven't finished with this matter yet. You've got your tree from your mother; now I can give you a turkey if you decide you want me to. But first you are to listen to what I have to say. A Christmas tree and a turkey mean a great deal for one family to have in these days when so many people are having so little. The O'Dowds, for example, are to have neither a Christmas dinner nor a tree; I happen to know that. Joey has been sick and there are doctor's bills to pay. Beside that, Mr. O'Dowd has been out of work and has no money to spend this year."
The little McGregors regarded their uncle with solemn faces.
"Oh, dear!" breathed Mary sympathetically.
Carl scowled soberly; then his face glowed with a sudden idea.
"Couldn't we——" he hesitated awkwardly.
"Oh, Uncle Frederick, if you were really going to buy a turkey, couldn't we give it to them?" flashed Mary, smiling toward her brother. "Would you mind giving it away to somebody else? You see, if you were going to buy it anyway——" she regarded her uncle timidly, "we could have something else for dinner, couldn't we, Mother? Perhaps corn chowder. We all like that. And maybe we could have a pudding and some nuts."