or my Polly either, shall he, papa?" asked Lulu, who was trying to
make acquaintance with her new possession.

"No; certainly not. But take care of your fingers, daughter; she may
snap at them and give you a bite that you will remember for a long
while. Now go and get yourselves ready for tea. It is almost time for
the bell to ring."

The children made haste to obey. The captain and Violet lingered behind
for a moment.

"How pleased they are!" she said with a joyous look up into her
husband's face. "It's a perfect treat to witness their delight on such
occasions. I can hardly wait to show them the tree with all its
treasures."

"Dear wife, your affection for my darlings is a well-spring of joy to
me," he said with tender look and smile; "and theirs for you no less so.
I am sure you have completely won their hearts."

"You make me very happy," she responded, her eyes shining with joy and
love. "But there! do you hear little Elsie calling for papa and mamma?"

The faces that surrounded the tea table that evening were very bright,
though the children had no expectation of the treat in store for them;
each had had a present from papa, and that was almost more than they had
ventured to hope for.

But they were in gay spirits, looking forward to a time of rare
enjoyment in spending the Christmas holidays with Grandma Elsie, at Ion.

"We'll be glad to go," remarked Lulu, "and then glad to come back to our
own dear home."

"So you will be twice glad," said her father.

"Yes, that is just the way I feel about it," Violet said. "Mamma's house
will always be a home to me--a dear home; and yet my husband's doubly
so."

"It should, seeing that it is quite as much yours as his," he said, with
a gratified smile. "Well, my dear, I see we have all finished eating.
Shall we go now?"

"Yes, sir; if you please. Our little girls will want to take another
peep at their new pets," she said, rising and slipping her hand into his
arm.

They passed out of the room together, the children following.

But on reaching the hall, instead of going into the library they turned
toward the parlor on the other side of it, in which, as the children
well remembered, last year's Christmas tree had been set up.

The captain threw open the door, and then stood a larger and finer tree
blazing with lights from many tapers and colored lamps, and loaded with
beautiful things.

"Oh! oh! what a beauty! what a splendid tree!" cried the children,