topped boots.

Johnny's toe struck something hard, he yawned, rubbed his eyes and
looked into the boot. Yes, there was something in Johnny Cricket's boot!
He picked up the other boot; it, too, had something in it!

It was candy! With a loud cry for such a little Cricket, Johnny rushed
to the kitchen and showed Mamma, then he told her of his adventure of
the night before.

Mamma Cricket called Papa and they both had a laugh when Johnny told how
startled he had been at the old man with the white whiskers who filled
the stockings in front of the fireplace. "Why, Johnny!" said Mamma and
Papa Cricket. "Don't you know? That was Santa Claus. We have watched him
every Christmas in the last four years fill the stockings, and he saw
your little red topped boots and filled them with candy, too. If you
will crawl through the crack into the fireplace you will see the
children of the people who own this big house playing with all the
presents that Santa Claus left them!"

And, sure enough, it was so!

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE TWIN SISTERS

Everybody in the little village called them the twin houses because they
were built exactly alike. But the two little cottages looked different
even if they were built alike, for one was covered with climbing vines
and beautiful scarlet roses while the other had no vines or flowers
about it at all.

Everybody called the two cottages the twin houses for another reason:
the owners were twins. One of the twins was Matilda and the other
Katrinka and they were as much alike on the outside as their two
cottages were alike; but as their two cottages differed, so did the two
twins differ.

Matilda could not be told from Katrinka should you just see them walking
down the street, but the minute either of them spoke you would know
which was Matilda and which was Katrinka. Matilda, who lived in the bare
cottage, was sour and disagreeable, while Katrinka was happy and cheery.

So the people in the little village called Matilda "Matilda Grouch" and
they called Katrinka "Katrinka Sunshine". All the children of the little
village loved Katrinka, for she always had a cooky or a dainty in her
apron pocket to give them, or she would pat them on their curly heads
and smile cheerily at them through her glasses. And all the children
avoided Matilda, for, sometimes mistaking her for Katrinka and running
close to greet her, they would have their noses tweeked for their
trouble.

Matil