g, and that she was helping to bring back his happy past, when he
threw himself into a chair before the fire, and sat looking up at
Amanthis.

When she had finished the song, she perched herself on the arm of his
chair, and began ruffling up his white hair with the little hand which
wore the diamond.

"Well, has it been a happy day for grandpa's little Colonel?" he asked,
fondly, passing his arm around her.

"Oh, yes, grandfathah! Brim full and running ovah with all sawts of
lovely surprises. I'm mighty glad I'm living. And the best of it is,
although the day is neahly ovah, the fun isn't. There's still so much to
come."

"What kind of a performance is this one on the programme for to-night?"
he asked. "Betty said I had to go the whole round, but I haven't been
able to gather a very good idea of what's expected of me."

"It's just a progressive Christmas pah'ty, grandfathah," she explained,
tweaking his ear as she talked. "We couldn't agree about the celebration
this yeah. Judge Moore wanted us all to go to Oaklea. Mrs. Walton
thought they had the best right on account of their guests, so we
arranged it for everybody to take a turn at entahtaining. At five
o'clock they're all to come heah for a Christmas hunt. They ought to be
coming now, for it's neahly that time. At half-past six we'll have
dinnah at Oaklea. At half-past eight we'll go to The Beeches and finish
the evening with a general jollification. Then we'll come home by
moonlight."

"What is a Christmas hunt?" asked the Colonel. "You'll have to enlighten
my ignorance."

"It's a game that mothah and Betty thought of. Betty has worked like a
dawg to get the rhymes ready. She scarcely took time to eat yestahday,
and she gave up going to the charade pah'ty that Miss Allison gave for
Gay in the aftahnoon. It's this way. We've hidden little gifts all ovah
the house, from attic to cellah. When the guests come, each one will be
given a card with a rhyme on it, like this."

Slipping from the arm of the chair, she went out into the hall a moment,
and came back with a Christmas stocking, trimmed with holly and hung
with tiny sleigh-bells. "Little Elise Walton is to distribute the cards
from this. Heah is a sample. Miss Allison happens to be on top."

Adjusting his eye-glasses the Colonel turned so that the firelight shone
on the card, and read aloud:

"Seek where bygone summers
Have dropped their roses fair.
A little Christmas