ossibility.

Having amused himself sufficiently with these flights of his fancy, Mr.
Hardesty rose from his seat, gave John eighteen-pence for Christmas-money,
stroked his namesake's back, put on his cloak and cap, and after bidding
John be a good boy, and not to mention it, and to take care of the fire
till he came back, left the house on his errand of love.

Christmas eve! Surely the village streets were never so gay before! You
may know there is a moon, for though the sky is darkened with clouds, and
the snow is falling as it never fell before, there is a glow of light
above and around, that would burst on the eye like dim revealings of
fairy-land, but for the mist that floats through the dim upper air, and
seems striving to bind the earth as with a mantle.

What a merry, merry Christmas! Gust after gust comes whirling on,
full-freighted with the virgin snow. There are shouts of revelry that rise
and fall with the sound of the blast. There are hurried footsteps that
glide over the crackling snow. There are merry hearts within those
bounding sleighs, and hands that clasp the hands they love, though wrapped
in countless furs and muffs. Gay steeds dash on with steaming nostrils, as
if their toil were sport; and their bells, as they ring cheerily out in
the sombre night, give promise of marriage-bells to come.

Through all this busy scene Tom Hardesty pressed on, turning neither to
the right nor left, except when he turned a corner. As the wind dashed the
driving snow in his face, he drew his cloak more closely around him, and,
shivering, passed on with cheerful thoughts of love and matrimony.
Sometimes the boys pelted him with their snowy artillery, or old
acquaintances inquired after his health, but he glided on like a dim
shadow, heedless alike of all. By degrees the holiday din of the village
waxed faint in his ears, and as he approached the suburbs, his heart beat
fast while his steps were slow with indecision, for he was approaching the
end of his pilgrimage--the dwelling of Miss Peggy Sidebottom.

While Mr. Hardesty is pausing at the door, stamping the snow from his
feet, and making the accustomed use of his pocket-handkerchief, we will
take advantage of his delay to state, briefly, that Miss Sidebottom,
beside being sole proprietress of the cottage-like mansion aforesaid,
claimed also among her chattels sundry shares in bank, and certain notes
of hand, yielding her sufficient income, without calculating the va