10. "Oh look, Mercy, how nice!" cried little Nelly, "we have got a new
blanket!" "That is because the squire sent it to mother; a big new
thick one," said her sister. "How warm we shall be!"

11. Nelly began to make great haste, while Mercy went to the window and
looked out.

"How thick the snow is!" she said. "And how white it looks in the
moonshine!

12. "But what is that dark thing standing by the old shed?" Nelly ran
up and pressed her little face against the window to peep out too.
"Why, it is a donkey!" she cried. "How did it get there?"

13. "I tell you what," said Mercy, "it is our poor old Brownie, that
father sold last week to Mr. Smith, that he might pay the doctor's bill
with the money.

14. "He had spent all we had in getting things for mother when she was
ill, you know, and in bread for us. So poor Brownie had to go."

15. "Why does he not go into the shed? How stupid of him to stand
there! And why did he not stay with Mr. Smith, I wonder?"

"I suppose he could not help thinking about us, and that is why he came
back," said Mercy. "Perhaps Mr. Smith has no little girls to pet him,
and maybe he is not so good to him as father was."

* * * * *

_Write:_ Two little girls went to their warm beds. As they looked out
at the window they saw a donkey. It stood out in the cold.

Questions: 1. What sort of night did Peter think it was? 2.
What was his wife so glad to think of? 3. What did Mercy say
about the hens' house? 4. What did the children see when
they looked out at the window? 5. What did Mercy think was
the reason why the donkey had come back?

2. A KIND ACT.

1. Mercy and her little sister watched at the window for a minute or
two more, but the creature did not move.

2. And Mercy cried out, "Oh, I quite forgot! Of course, the shed door
is shut! Father has put his tools there, his spade and rake.

3. "When Brownie was sold the straw which was his bed was taken out,
and some sacks of corn and barley were kept there instead.

4. "Poor Brownie! I dare say he wonders why his nice old house is shut
up so that he cannot get in!"

5. "I will give him some bread from my breakfast in the morning,
because it is Christmas Day," said little Nelly. "He will like that,
won't he?"

6. Her sister made no answer, but, moving from the window, she took
down from a peg her hat and thick jacket. She put them on.

7. "Why, Mercy!" said Nelly, wh