" said Jack, giving the little girl a gentle pull of
the nose by way of expressing good will. "A merry Christmas both! How
are you? See here, what mother has sent to old Nell."

He opened the lid of the basket. Nattie and Nellie peeped in and
snuffed.

"Oh! I _say_!" said the fisher-boy. He could say no more, for the
sight and scent of apples, jelly, roast fowl, home-made pastry, and
other things was almost too much for him.

"I expected it, dearie," said old Nell, extending her withered hand to
the boy as he set the basket on the table. "Every Christmas morning,
for years gone by, she has sent me the same, though I don't deserve it,
and I've no claim on her but helplessness. But it's the first time she
has sent it by you, Jack. Come, I'll tell ye a story."

Jack was already open-eyed with expectancy and he was soon open-mouthed,
forgetful of past and future, absorbed entirely in the present. Natty
and Nelly were similarly affected and like-minded, while the little old
woman swept them away to the wilds of Siberia, and told them of an
escape from unjust banishment, of wanderings in the icy wilderness, and
of starvation so dire that the fugitives were reduced to gnawing and
sucking the leathern covers of their wallets for dear life. Then she
told of food sent at the last moment, almost by miracle, and of
hair-breadth escapes, and final deliverance. Somehow--the listeners
could not have told how--old Nell inserted a reference to the real
miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand, and she worked round to it
so deftly, that it seemed an essential part of the story; and so indeed
it was, for Nell intended the key-stone of the arch of her story to be
the fact that, when man is reduced to the last extremity God steps in to
save.

It is certain that little Nellie did not understand the moral of the
story, and it is uncertain how far the boys appreciated it; but it was
old Nell's business to sow the seed beside all waters, and leave the
rest to Him who gave the command.

"Yes, dearies," she said in conclusion, laying her hand on the basket,
"I expected this gift this morning; but many a time does our Father in
heaven send a blessin' when an' where we _don't_ expect it. Mind
that--_mind ye that_."

Jack had more than enough of mental food to digest that morning as he
retraced his steps homeward through the deep snow; for he found that old
Nell, not less than his mother, had treated him to a few puzzlers. Po