n't there?' said Patty.

"Father Christmas nodded his head. 'And sweeties,' he added,
expressively.

"I could feel Patty trembling, and my own heart beat fast. The thought
which agitated us both was this: 'Was Father Christmas bringing the tree
to us?' But very anxiety, and some modesty also, kept us from asking
outright.

"Only when the old man shouldered his tree, and prepared to move on, I
cried in despair, 'Oh, are you going?'

"'I'm coming back by and by,' said he.

"'How soon?' cried Patty.

"'About four o'clock,' said the old man smiling. 'I'm only going up
yonder.'

"'Up yonder!' This puzzled us. Father Christmas had pointed, but so
indefinitely that he might have been pointing to the sky, or the fields,
or the little wood at the end of the Squire's grounds. I thought
the latter, and suggested to Patty that perhaps he had some place
underground like Aladdin's cave, where he got the candles, and all the
pretty things for the tree. This idea pleased us both, and we amused
ourselves by wondering what Old Father Christmas would choose for
us from his stores in that wonderful hole where he dressed his
Christmas-trees.

"'I wonder, Patty,' said I, 'why there's no picture of Father
Christmas's dog in the book.' For at the old man's heels in the lane
there crept a little brown and white spaniel looking very dirty in the
snow.

"'Perhaps it's a new dog that he's got to take care of his cave,' said
Patty.

"When we went indoors we examined the picture afresh by the dim light
from the passage window, but there was no dog there.

"My father passed us at this moment, and patted my head. 'Father,' said
I, 'I don't know, but I do think Old Father Christmas is going to bring
us a Christmas-tree to-night.'

"'Who's been telling you that?' said my father.

"But he passed on before I could explain that we had seen Father
Christmas himself, and had had his word for it that he would return at
four o'clock, and that the candles on his tree would be lighted as soon
as it was dark.

"We hovered on the outskirts of the rooms till four o'clock came. We sat
on the stairs and watched the big clock, which I was just learning
to read; and Patty made herself giddy with constantly looking up and
counting the four strokes, toward which the hour hand slowly moved. We
put our noses into the kitchen now and then, to smell the cakes and get
warm, and anon we hung about the parlour door, and were most unjustly
accused of trying