for they had two dear, kind aunts who lived with their Grandparents.
Then they all hugged and kissed each other, and jumped about so much,
that some kissed noses and some kissed chins, and little Sarah was
almost crazy with delight, for she had never been to so large a party
before.

"Grandma," said Willy, "I hung up my stocking last night, and what do
you thing I got in it?"

His Grandma guessed that he got a birch rod.

"No," said Willy, laughing, "I got a doughnut in the shape of a monkey
with a long tail. I eat the monkey for my breakfast, and it was very
good indeed."

The children all laughed at this, and Bella, Willy's sister, who was the
oldest of all the children, said she thought Willy had a monkey _look_
about him. So he went by the name of the monkey-eater for the rest of
the day.

Soon the bell rang for dinner, and they all went down stairs; for the
children and grown people were to dine together. It was now quite dark,
and the gas chandelier that hung over the table was lighted, the
curtains were drawn close, the fire burnt brightly, and the table-cloth
was so white and fine that it looked like satin.

The happy party sat down at a large round table, and the children's eyes
looked so bright and their cheeks so rosy, that it was the pleasantest
sight in the world to see. Little Sarah could not help having a great
many little laughs all to herself. She could not keep them in. She was
only four years old, so you may suppose she could not look very grave
and stiff on such a delightful occasion.

When Willy saw his little cousin Sarah trying to hide her sparkling
eyes, and her funny little laugh behind her mother's arm, he felt just
as if somebody was tickling him. So he pinched his lips together very
tight indeed, and cast his eyes up to the ceiling, and tried to look as
grave as a judge. But it would not do; he burst out into such a fit of
laughing, that every body else laughed too, and it was a long time
before they could get their faces straight enough to eat their dinner.

Would you like to know what they had for dinner? Well, I will tell you.
After their Grandpa had asked a blessing, they had some very nice soup.
The children did not care for soup. Then they had a fish stuffed with
all sorts of things, and stewed, and the grown people said the fish was
very nice; but the little ones did not care for that either. Then they
had some roast beef and a boiled turkey with oysters. The children all
t