! Books jumped down unnoticed, and
gay boxes of candy. Only Polly peeped into one of her books, and saw
in Jappy's plain hand--"I hope we'll both read this next summer." And
turning over to the title-page, she saw "A Complete Manual of Cookery."

"The best is to come," said Mrs. Henderson in her gentle way. When there
was a lull in the gale, she took Polly's hand, and led her to a
little stand of flowers in the corner concealed by a sheet--pinks and
geraniums, heliotropes and roses, blooming away, and nodding their
pretty heads at the happy sight--Polly had her flowers.

"Why didn't we know?" cried the children at last, when everybody was
tying on their hoods, and getting their hats to leave the festive scene,
"how could you keep it secret, mammy?"

"They all went to Mrs. Henderson's," said Mrs. Pepper; "Jasper wrote me,
and asked where to send 'em, and Mrs. Henderson was so kind as to say
that they might come there. And we brought 'em over last evening, when
you were all abed. I couldn't have done it," she said, bowing to the
Parson and his wife, "if 'twasn't for their kindness--never, in all this
world!"

"And I'm sure," said the minister, looking around on the bright group,
"if we can help along a bit of happiness like this, it is a blessed
thing!"

And here Joel had the last word. "You said 'twan't goin' to be Christmas
always, mammy. I say," looking around on the overflow of treasures and
the happy faces--"it'll be just forever!"

EDUCATION AHEAD

After that they couldn't thank Jasper enough! They tried to, lovingly,
and an elaborate letter of thanks, headed by Mrs. Pepper, was drawn up
and sent with a box of the results of Polly's diligent study of Jasper's
book. Polly stripped off recklessly her choicest buds and blossoms from
the gay little stand of flowers in the corner, that had already begun
to blossom, and tucked them into every little nook in the box that could
possibly hold a posy. But as for thanking him enough!

"We can't do it, mammy," said Polly, looking around on all the happy
faces, and then up at Cherry, who was singing in the window, and who
immediately swelled up his little throat and poured out such a merry
burst of song that she had to wait for him to finish. "No, not if we
tried a thousand years!"

"I'm a-goin'," said Joel, who was busy as a bee with his new tools that
the tree had shaken down for him, "to make Jappy the splendidest box you
ever saw, Polly! I guess that'll th