with the hatchet
and saw, and fastened it in a small box. This she carried to her
bedroom and locked the door. She had not much idea what she was going
to do, but she kept thinking. Soon she found enough time to wrap every
branch carefully with the red tissue paper her red knitting wool came
in, and to cover the box smoothly. Then she thought of the country
Christmas trees she had seen decorated with popcorn and cranberries.
She popped the corn at night and the following day made a trip up the
ravine, where she gathered all the bittersweet berries, swamp holly,
and wild rose seed heads she could find. She strung the corn on fine
cotton cord putting a rose seed pod between each grain, then used the
bittersweet berries to terminate the blunt ends of the branches, and
climb up the trunk. By the time she had finished this she was really
interested. She achieved a gold star for the top from a box lid and a
piece of gilt paper Polly had carried home from school. With yarn ends
and mosquito netting, she whipped up a few little mittens, stockings,
and bags. She cracked nuts from their fall store and melting a little
sugar stirred in the kernels until they were covered with a sweet,
white glaze. Then she made some hard candy, and some fancy cookies
with a few sticks of striped candy cut in circles and dotted on the
top. She polished red, yellow, and green apples and set them under the
tree.

When she made her final trip to Hartley before Christmas the spirit of
the day was in the air. She breathed so much of it that she paid a
dollar and a half for a stout sled and ten cents for a dozen little red
candles, five each for two oranges, and fifteen each for two pretty
little books, then after long hesitation added a doll for Polly. She
felt that she should not have done this, and said so, to herself; but
knew if she had it to do over, she would do the same thing again. She
shook her shoulders and took the first step toward regaining her old
self-confidence.

"Pshaw! Big and strong as I am, and Adam getting such a great boy, we
can make it," she said. Then she hurried to the hack and was driven
home barely in time to rush her bundles into her room before school was
out. She could scarcely wait until the children were in bed to open
the parcels. The doll had to be dressed, but Kate was interested in
Christmas by that time, and so contemplated the spider-waisted image
with real affection. She never had owned a doll