The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-12-22

! holly and mistletoe in all possible
and two or three impossible, places,
she sprang lightly to the floor,
with her sunny face flushed, and her hair the
! least bit tumbled by her exertions, and led
out her father by both hands for the first kiss
under the mistetoe, l don't wonder that the
| boys hurrahed-I believe should have done
| 1t myself under the same circumstances I'm
afraid, by-the-way, that I've done those same
| boys great injustice. 1t may possibly be
| imagined, as l have not chronicled their re-
marks, that they were silent o dear, no
Qnite the reverse The fact is, they not only
! all three talked at once, but they all talked
the whole time, with an effect which it is
easy to imagine, but exceedingly difficult to
! describe Had Providence made me three
! first-rate short hand reporters instead of only
one gentleman of medium size | might have
attempted it; though even then l 1--WE, /
should say should have found much diff
Guilty by reason of the ,idiomatic nature of
the young gentlemens conversation The
number of ''golly' and 'crikeys" with which
| 1t was embellished was, l regret to say, much
above what is considered correct in polite
society, and (lilIe the organ mans monkey
| who never would dance but to the Penteelest
| Of tunes) find / never can spell those vulgar
words. At last the merry party retired to
| rest, the boys to dream of roast pig, and
Milly of - Well, never mind, we won't in
trude, but don't you wish you were Charley
| Collins?
Christmas morning came at last. as it gene
rally WILL if you only wait long enough; and
a very respectable sort of Christmas morning
it was. Bright and clear and cold, with the
snow on the ground crisp and hard, the sort
of weather that makes one wish one was a
street boy, and not too dignifed to cut in on
a good long slide; the sort of weather
that makes you button up your
| great-coat to the chin, and
case your hands in your thickest woollen
| gloves; the sort of weather Il hope) that
makes you give kindly thought to your
poorer brothers who have no great coats to
| button and no warm gloves to cover their
| frost t-nipped hands. Pile on the logs by all
means; heap the blazing fire; do honor to tho
dainty cheer and pass round the rare old
wine. But little they know of Christmas
who think to win its magic gifts of light and
life and Joy by such means only. single
spark, lit by your bounty in poor mans
| hovel, shall shed a warmth that the roaring
fire in your own mansion cannot give-a
warmth that goes straight to the heart The
frugal meal, spread by the rich man in the
poor mans home, shall bring to the giver
sweeter sense of enjoyment than the most
sumptuous banquet spread for self alone
Happy he who has found the golden key
who knows and uses the knowledge that the
treasures of Christmas happiness are reached
| through Christmas charity.
The whole of the Todd family woke ND in
thoroughly Christmas state of mind, and
the younger members Gas might, perhaps, be
| expected, considering the nature of their
| dreams) with perfectly ferocious appetite
| two or three appetites each, indeed. Break
| fast over, the junior branches were de-
spatched, under the care of dear old Todd, to
church, while Sister Milly remained at home,
and devoted all her energies to the prepara-
ton Of the anticipated banquet am in
clined to think that Milly had never seen
much less cooked such dinner in her lifs
but cooks, like poets, are born not made
| and with the aid of Miss Pinnifer
and the simultaneous use of all the
| 6replaces in the house, Milly got on
| splendidly, and astonished herself with
| her success. 1t was in moment of conf
dence, engendered by the close and intimate
| relation in which they were thus placed, that
Miss Pinnifer impaired to Milly secret.
'Milly my dear" said Miss Pinnifer, 81
want your advice.
Hadn't you better ask father ?" said Millv,
conceiving that his counsels would probably
be of greater value than her own.
mo, my dear; no, 1 think not. In case
of-of this kind, don't think he would be
| Judge. l want to know, dear, whether l look
| skirt or in my Stuart tartan. Take time to
consider, my dear
They're both very nice, said Milly. ''The
| tartan for choice, think
'.Do you, dear? Now / was thinking, dc
| you know, that the tartan was rather-rather
| old-looking. One doesn't want to make ones
self quite a middle-aged person, you know,
| DEAR
''Of course not said Milly ''but I always
thought the tartan SO very becoming. What
makes you so particular to-day ?"
well, dear, I really hardly know how to
tell you. But We girls never can keep our
little secrets, can we?"-the dear creature
was fifty if she was day-'the fact is-it's-
it's on account of Mr.. Brown, dear"
Milly looked at her inquiringly but with
roguish twinkle in her eyes. The old lady
continued
''The object of Mr.. Browns coming, my
dear, is, as you are aware, enveloped in mys-
terry. He must have an object, you know,
and have reason to imagine-strong reason,
| may say-that that object is myself.
lyon don't yso!" said Milly. pray accept
my best congratulations. Has he declared
his Intentions
well, no, dear, can't say he has exactly
declared himself, in words at least; but if you
had only seen how it l0Oked-you couldn't
mistake his impression, my dear. He looked
at me with positive smile, quite lover-like,
/ assure you. And then he insisted on coming
to dinner"
said Milly. We've all been puzzled to
account for his wanting to come, and / dare
say that's it. You won't forget old friends
when you are grand lady, will you"
81 haven't accepted him yet, my dear, said
Miss Pinnifer ''and | shsnt either the first