“‘I wanted some. It’s a mince pie, Sue. Do you remember that day after to-morrow is Christmas?’
“‘Christmas!—the day after to-morrow!’—said Sue. ‘No, I had forgot all about Christmas.’
“‘What shall we do to keep it?’
“‘Why nothing, I sha’n’t,’ said Sue, meekly. ‘I shall not eat porridge, Roswald. O if father could only come home—that would be enough keeping of Christmas! We shouldn’t want any thing else.’
“‘I’ll tell you how it’s going to be kept out of doors,’ said Roswald; ‘it is fixing for a fine fall of snow. The air is beginning to soften and grow hazy already. I like a snowy Christmas.’
“‘With snow on the ground; but not snowing?’ said Sue.
“‘Yes, both ways. Now, Sue,—have you another plate? or will you take it in your fingers?’
“Sue ran off for plates.
“‘How I wish I could give some of this to father!’ she said, as she tasted her first bit of the pie. ‘How will he get anything to eat, Roswald?’
“‘They will take care of that,’ said Roswald. ‘He will have a good dinner, Sue; you needn’t be concerned about it. If they didn’t feed their jurymen, you know, they might have no jury by the time the cause was got through, and that would be inconvenient. Hasn’t he been home at all?’