better come
over and spend the day with ye,--Wild Bill came to my door with a box
on his sled that the boy had sent in from his home in the city; and in
the box he had put a great many presents fur him and me; and in the
lower half of the box he had put a good many presents fur ye and yer
leetle uns, and we've brought them all over with us. Some of the
things be fur eatin' and some of them be fur wearin'; and that there
may be no misunderstandin', I would say that all the things that be in
the pack-basket there, and all the things that be on the sled, too,
belong to ye. And as I see the wood-pile isn't a very big un fur this
time of the year, Bill and me be goin' out to settle our breakfast a
leetle with the axes. And while we be gone, I conceit ye had better
rummage the things over, and them that be good fur eatin' ye had
better put in the cupboard, and them that be good fur wearin' ye had
better put on yerself and yer leetle uns; and then we'll all be ready
to make a fair start. Fur this be Christmas Day, and we be goin' to
keep it as it orter be kept. Ef we've had sorrers, we'll forgit 'em;
and we'll laugh, and eat, and be merry. Fur this be Christmas, my good
woman! children, this be Christmas! Wild Bill, my boy, this be
Christmas; and, pups, this be Christmas! And we'll all laugh, and eat,
and be merry."

The joyfulness of the old man was contagious. His happiness flowed
over as waters flow over the rim of a fountain. Wild Bill laughed as
he seized his axe, the woman rose from the table smiling, the girls
giggled, the little boy stamped, and the hounds, catching the spirit
of their merry master, swung their tails round, and bayed in canine
gladness; and amid the joyful uproar the Old Trapper spun himself out
of the door, and chased Wild Bill through the snow like a boy.

The dinner was to be served at two o'clock; and what a dinner it was,
and what preparations preceded! The snow had been shoveled from around
the cabin, the holes in the roof roughly but effectually thatched. A
good pile of wood was stacked in front of the doorway. The spring that
bubbled from the bank had been cleared of ice, and a protection
constructed over it. The huge buck had been dressed, and hung high
above the reach of wolves. Cedar and balsam branches had been placed
in the corners and along the sides of the room. Great sprays of the
tasseled pine and the feathery tamarack were suspended from the
ceiling. The table had been enlarged, and