, 1872-12-22
thus so1n. Good evening, sr:'' and Mr. Pnng-
horn, having finished his Grafton, took himself


horn, having finished his Grafton, took himself
Farnow awoke from his reverie aa soon as the
door closed behind the retroating form Of the
worthy gentleman, looked ourlously as the paper
whereon Was written the order Of exercises, and
then, taking up psn, commenced to amend 1t.
Il One tap Of the bell, he read. Meaning
attention, aupposo. Il shall receive attention."
and he drew his pen thEough it.
.s'Two taps Of the boil. Glass rise: Prayer
By tho Superintendent He crosses that of.
Happy Homa -" ,He crosses that of.
- One tap Of tho bell Address BY tho sn~
psrintendent.'" That met tho fate of the 9TH
0sone tap Of the bel.' Confound the boil
Regular course Of reading in concert.'n
Nor realm in concert, nor nothin'7" M1ho
had asked, 80 he erased that also.
be an angel" Ono. two, and three taps Of tho
bell. Glasses arise and march," Farnov
drew bis pen through these, and then smiled,
for there was nothing left but: :. Refresh
let these stand.
So the party WAS fully decided upon. One by
one, the confectioner, the baker, and the toy
dealer caught some Of the enthusiasm, sent for
| moro than was ordered, md refused to charge
for the surplus. Mrs. Niukle aud Miss Saemp
wcro seen upon tho street at avery unreasonable
hour TINT night, and parted at last with the i'm
preston that Ill the clocks in the city had con-
spired against them and wore two hours aheal
OF time. And Farnow, for the first time in
many years, chuckled to himself, and wished
that the morning were come
The morning came, bright aud beautiful, and
Farnow, again for the first time in many ycaIs,
arose with alacrity, and chuckled to himself as he
dressed. He threw wup tho window and lookedout.
4 mantle Of snow had silently fallen, during tho
night, upon tho dark, wretched street; and
| about his door lo saw tho marks Of many little
| feet Nike had industziously circulated tho
I md ha ali r4vtfa ~
word, they had found their way into al the
| elums and alleys OF tho nsighborhood, and many
curious ittlo people wero already speculatins,
and wondering, and lodging about II The store,
Ali the morning, the ragged little urchins
| gathered in groups about the street and dis
cussed tho absorbing question. They waylaid
| Mike, and crors-exanined him; but that youth,
with an assumption ot superiority, declined to
answor. They hid behind a1gns and posts, and
kept . uatchtul ego upon the door
which hid tho glories they were to see. They
watched until throo immense turkeys, roasted
to turn, were brought from Mrs. Wrinkles
alley, and held q meeting, and finally concluded
that they were going to have ''gallus" time,
and that Mr. Far1ow WAS " brick"
Within doors, too, all was hustle and excite
ment- The little aeamstress fastened PaokaSes
Christmas-tree, until her hnsezs were sore and
her back almost broken; yet she sang and
laughed all the time. And Farnow u well,
strange as It my sse Fsfnom a totSos ms @oes o,
swept, and ACQUIRED, and hammered until his
bones ached, and through it all he Vhistled
cheerily. Every stroke Of his hammer seemed
to soy "This is to be something now" Every
sweep OF his broom was yindiotive plunge at
| an imaginary "ofder OF EXERCISES. IN every
CLEAN Of the fire he seemed to SEQ that paper
wbich Mr, Pangborn had written out and ho
| had amended, and he laughed, actually
theiu one burden bore:" "There shall be no
reading In concert, no highaown prayers, no
stsn1;nr and sitting. no regularity"
He worked steadily, and accomplished Won
dars. The old dingy-room looked like palace
Of the Fairies, for he fairly covered the walls
with everereens. He hung omottoes upon them,
! but in their stead two pictu1es.--one, Santa
Claus rqbisnad and joyis and a7s The osher' the
Asno ono vsa allowed to penetrate into the
| kitchen over which Hrs. Winkle presided am
| nnahle to state what mysterious Iites and cere-
monies occupied that lady's time; but this can
about the place.
Finally the room was ready, the table set, and
the tree trimmed, and concealed bahind white
curtain and then Farnow sat down, wiped TIC
pe5sR5ati9n from his iadi fnes snd H. Sad:
And Miss skemp laughed at hun until the tears
ran down her cheeks. H.. z,,o,ox,,;.,,
The room was ready, and the phioaophlcal
she was called IN to p1oaoanee bis judgment
with suspense That sedate youth as he carefully
tasted tho cakes aud candies, and snined tht
odor OF tho roasted turkey but, when ne q, ne.
cided that everything was "h9nky.dorI, tnt
content
The time came, and Al impatient crowd DO
siegod the door. Our melancholy youth: muct
given to looking upon the dark elde OF h1e, ven