ly this:--

"O William, William, 'tis quite plain to see
That all your life you will a monkey be."

He thought his cousin Mary had sent it, because he saw that she was
trying very hard to look grave, so he sent this to her:--

"Dear Mary, you are too severe--
You are too bad, I do declare;
Your motto has upset me quite,
I shan't get over it to-night."

Mary laughed when she read it, and said she had been just as cruel to
Thomas, for she had sent him this:--

"The rose is red, the violet blue,
The grass is green and so are you."

They had a good laugh at Thomas, but as he laughed as hard as any one,
it did no harm. Little Sarah had a great many mottoes. Her Mamma read
them to her, and it pleased her very much. She said it was a very nice
play, but she was tired with sitting such a long time at table, so her
Mother let her slip down from her chair.

Very soon all the rest got up, and went up stairs into the
drawing-room. But what was that in the middle of the room? It seemed to
be a large table covered all over with a red cloth. What could it be?
Willy said, "Grandma, that table looks as if something was on it;" and
little Sarah said, "Grandma, I guess Old Father Christmas has been
here."

[Illustration]

"Yes, dear children," said their Grandma, "Father Christmas has been
here, and this time he looked very much like your Grandpa. He will be up
soon, and then we will see what is on the table."

Oh how the children did wish to peep! They could not look at anything
else; they danced and jumped round the table, and were in a great hurry
for their Grandpa. In a few minutes he came into the room, and all the
children ran up to him and said, "Dear Grandpa, do let us see what you
have got on the table."

He smiled, and went to the table and took the cloth off. The children
were so astonished that they could not say a single word; the table was
covered with beautiful things, and under it was something that looked
like a little red-brick house.

"Well," said their kind Grandpa, "my dear children, you did not think
you were going to be treated with such a fine show as this; you may go
up to the table, and see if you can find out who they are for." The
children gathered round the table, and Willy took from the top a fine
brig with all her sails set, and colours flying. His eyes sparkled when
he saw written on a slip of paper which lay on the deck, these words;
"For my dear Willy