tly waiting for some event to happen.
Presently a baby-boy entered--a perfect bud of beauty. His fine and
snowy-white garment was daintily embroidered and trimmed after a most
royal fashion, with ivy leaves. Upon his beautiful head, crowned with
light and lovely pale golden curls, was a wreath also of ivy.

With his luminous starry eyes uplifted, and the dimples peeping in and
out of his rose-pink cheeks, he went around and offered a welcoming
kiss to every one in the room. It was his birthday. Two sweet, happy
years, had been unfurled in his little life, and the children were now
gathered together in honor of the event.

Charley gazed with lips apart, intent and eager.

All at once he exclaimed,--

"Why! it is Howard! little Howard! Why, yes! and there is sweet little
Carrie, his sister, with the beautiful wreath of roses, and the roses
on her dress! Oh! what wonders I am seeing!"

As he spoke, a lady entered, Howard's loving and lovely mother, with
an immense paper bag, and proceeded to fasten it to the chandelier in
the centre of the ceiling; then some one else came in, and spread a
large white sheet upon the carpet immediately underneath.

Then one of the little ones was blindfolded, and a cane was put into
his hands. He was to try to strike the bag, but instead, he made a
tremendous whack at nothing half a yard one side of the bag, which
made the children laugh merrily.

Charley laughed, too; you could _hear_ him, but he could only _see_
that the children in the magic bubble were laughing.

"I know them almost all!" he cried, in a voice of delight; "there are
Eva, and Robbie, and Alice, and Hattie, and Minnie, and Eddie, and
sweet little Kitty and Mortie; and oh! how happy they all look! how
perfect! and what a nice time they must be having!"

After two or three had tried to strike the bag, little baby Howard had
the handkerchief tied _above_ his eyes, just for fun, because he was
too little to be _really_ blindfolded; and, armed with the cane, he
grasped it with both tiny hands, his eyes dancing with glee, and a
gladsome smile parting his sweet little mouth, showing the pearly
teeth within. He gave the bag a sounding thump, and instantly it
burst asunder, and a perfect cataract of candies and sugar-plums
poured down upon the carpet. Quick as a flash every child in the room
was clustered together upon the sheet helter-skelter, head-over-heels,
laughing, screaming, dashing after the candies; and then--the