think that our Christmas and New Year's tides at "Gad's Hill" were
the happiest of all. Our house was always filled with guests, while a
cottage in the village was reserved for the use of the bachelor members
of our holiday party. My father himself, always deserted work for the
week, and that was almost our greatest treat. He was the fun and life of
those gatherings, the true Christmas spirit of sweetness and hospitality
filling his large and generous heart. Long walks with him were daily
treats to be remembered. Games passed our evenings merrily. "Proverbs,"
a game of memory, was very popular, and it was one in which either my
aunt or myself was apt to prove winner. Father's annoyance at our
failure sometimes was very amusing, but quite genuine. "Dumb Crambo" was
another favorite, and one in which my father's great imitative ability
showed finely. I remember one evening his dumb showing of the word
"frog" was so extremely laughable that the memory of it convulsed Marcus
Stone, the clever artist, when he tried some time later to imitate it.

One very severe Christmas, when the snow was so deep as to make outdoor
amusement or entertainment for our guests impossible, my father suggested
that he and the inhabitants of the "bachelors' cottage" should pass the
time in unpacking the French chalet, which had been sent to him by Mr.
Fetcher, and which reached Higham Station in a large number of packing
cases. Unpacking these and fitting the pieces together gave them
interesting employment, and some topics of conversation for our luncheon
party.

Our Christmas Day dinners at "Gad's Hill" were particularly bright and
cheery, some of our nearest neighbours joining our home party. The
Christmas plum pudding had its own special dish of coloured "repousse"
china, ornamented with holly. The pudding was placed on this with a
sprig of real holly in the centre, lighted, and in this state placed in
front of my father, its arrival being always the signal for applause. A
prettily decorated table was his special pleasure, and from my earliest
girlhood the care of this devolved upon me. When I had everything in
readiness, he would come with me to inspect the result of my labors,
before dressing for dinner, and no word except of praise ever came to my
ears.

He was a wonderfully neat and rapid carver, and I am happy to say taught
me some of his skill in this. I used to help him in our home parties at
"Gad's Hill" by carving a