even Nan had to admit was a beautiful hat.

The girl looked at it in silence for a moment; then she ducked down
impulsively, and gave the governess a quick, shy kiss upon the cheek.

"Thank you," she said, huskily, with a sort of gulp, and then she ran
out of the room as fast as her feet would carry her.

CHAPTER XI

CHRISTMAS

"This is to be a German Christmas," Miss Blake said, "and we're going
to celebrate it on Christmas eve. Of all the different customs I've
seen I like the German the best. It is so jolly and freundlich, as
they say over there."

So on Christmas eve the library doors were thrown open for the first
time in days and days, and there stood the most glorious tree that Nan
had ever seen. It was decked out with a hundred glistening things and
laden down with red apples, yellow oranges, and pounds and pounds of
peppermint candy, and barley-sugar figures, pretty to see and delicious
to eat, to say nothing of Marzipan, to which the girl was introduced
for the first time, and which she found altogether fascinating.
Innumerable candles burned gayly among the spreading boughs, and at the
very top hovered an angel with outspread, shimmering wings, her hands
bearing a garland of glistening tinsel, and her garments ablaze with
gold and silver decoration. Grown girl as she was, Nan was delighted.
It was all so new and strange; so different from anything she had ever
experienced before.

Beside the tree were tables spread with white cloths, and upon these
lay the presents, and wonderful presents they proved. Miss Blake and
Delia had outdone themselves, and Nan's table was a sight to behold.
It seemed to her it held everything she had ever expressed a wish
for--except a bicycle, of course.

A pocket-kodak from Miss Blake, a banjo from her father, skates from
Delia, she had longed for just such a new pair, and innumerable other
articles bearing no giver's name, but coming, every one, from the same
generous source Nan knew well enough. She absolutely lost her head in
the delight of possessing such an array of treasures.

Her own little offerings seemed to her poor and mean in comparison with
this display; but Miss Blake's eyes actually filled with grateful tears
at the sight of the half-dozen linen handkerchiefs the girl had marked
for her with so much trouble and at the cost of so many hours of
recreation, and Delia hugged her rapturously at the sight of the
gorgeous dress-pattern that Nan had