h caps and mittens on for the last half hour, burst forth
with irrepressible shouts of welcome.

"Take care now, boys; don't haul them buffalo skins out on t' the snow,"
said Hiel. "Don't get things in a muss gen'ally; wait for your ma and
the Doctor. Got to stow the grown folks in fust; boys kin hang on
anywhere."

And so first came Mrs. Cushing and the Doctor, and were installed on the
back seat, with Dolly in between. Then hot bricks were handed in to keep
feet warm, and the buffalo robe was tucked down securely. Then Nabby
took her seat by Hiel in front, and the sleigh drove round for old Mrs.
Jones. The Doctor insisted on giving up his place to her and tucking her
warmly under the buffalo robe, while he took the middle seat and acted
as moderator between the boys, who were in a wild state of hilarity.
Spring, with explosive barks, raced first on this and then on that side
of the sleigh as it flew swiftly over the smooth frozen road.

The stars blinked white and clear out of a deep blue sky, and the path
wound up-hill among cedars and junipers and clumps of mountain laurel,
on whose broad green leaves the tufts of snow lay like clusters of white
roses. The keen clear air was full of stimulus and vigor; and so Hiel's
proposition to take the longest way met with enthusiastic welcome from
all the party. Next to being a bird, and having wings, is the sensation
of being borne over the snow by a pair of spirited horses who enjoy the
race, apparently, as much as those they draw. Though Hiel contrived to
make the ride about eight miles, it yet seemed but a short time before
the party drove up to the great red farmhouse, whose lighted windows
sent streams of radiant welcome far out into the night.

Our little Dolly had had an evening of unmixed bliss. Everybody had
petted her, and talked to her, and been delighted with her sayings and
doings, and she was carrying home a paper parcel of sweet things which
good Mrs. Hawkins had forced into her hand at parting. She had spent a
really happy Christmas!

THE CHRISTMAS PRINCESS.

BY MRS. MOLESWORTH.

In the olden times there lived a king who was worthy of the name. He
loved his people, and his people loved him in return. His kingdom must
have been large; at least it appears to be beyond doubt that it extended
a good way in different directions, for it was called the Kingdom of the
Four Orts, which, of course, as everybody knows, means that he had
possessions north,