The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-12-22

II y
spine, by sitting down In chair that
she had supposed was her own rocking
chair, and Il had proved to be two inches
lower. The little boys. were now large
enough to sit in any chair so medium
was fixed upon to satisfy all the family,
and the chairs we're made uniformly OF
the same height.
On consulting the carpenter, however,
he insisted that the tree could be cut off
at the lower end to suit the height of
the parlor, and demurred at SO great a
change as altering the ceiling. But
Mr.. Peterkin had set his mind upon the
improvement, and Elizabeth Eliza had
cut her carpet in preparation for it.
So the folding doors into the back
parlor were closed, and for nearly fort
night before Christmas there was great
litter of fallen plastering, and laths, and
chips, and shavings; and Elizabeth
Eliza's carpet was taken up, and the fur
niture had to be changed, and one night
she had to sleep at the Bromwichs', for
there was long hole in her floor that
might be dangerous.
All this delighted the little boys.
They could not under stand what was GO
ing on. Perhaps they suspected Christ
mas tree, but they did not know why
Christmas tree should have so many
chips, and were still more astonished at
the hump that appeared in Elizabeth
ELIAS room. 1t must be Christmas
present, or else the tree in box.
Some aunts and uncles, too, arrived
a day or two before Christmas, with
some small cousins. These cousins oc-
cupied the attention of the little boys,
and there was a great deal of whispering
and mystery, behind doors, and under
the stairs, and in corpers of the entry.
Solomon John was busy, pri-
vately making some candles for the
tree. He had been collecting scme
bayberries, as he understood they made
very nice candles, so that it would not
be necessary to buy any.
The elders of the family never all
went into the back parlor together, and
all tried not to see what was going on.
Mrs. Peterkin would go in with Solo,
mon John, or Mr.. Peterkin with Eliza
beth Eliza, or Elizabeth Eliza and Aga
memnon and Solomon John. The little
boys and the small cousins we're never
allowed even to look inside the room.
Eliz abeth Eliza meanwhile went into
town number of times. She wanted
to consult Amanda as to how much ice
cream they should need, and whether
they could make it at home, as they had
cream and ice. She was pretty busy in
her own room; the furniture had to be
changed, and the carpet altered. The
"hump" was higher than she had ex-
pected. There was danger of humping
her own head whenever she crossed it.
She had to nail some padding on the
ceiling for fear of accidents.
The afternoon before Christmas, Eliza
beth Eliza, Solomon John, and their
father collected in the back parlor for
council. The carpenters had done their
work, and the tree stood at its full
height at the back of the room, the top
stretching up into the space arranged
for it. All the chips and shavings were
cleared away, and it stood on neat box.
But what were they to put upon the
tree
Solomon John had brought in his
supply of candles, but they proved to
be very " stringy" and very few of them,
1t was strange how many bayberries it
took to make few candles The little
boys had helped him, and he had gath
cred as much as a bushel of bay
berries. He had put them in water,
and SKINNED off the wax, according
to the directions, but there was SO little
wax
Solomon John had given the little
boys some of the bits sawed off
from the legs of the chairs. He had
suggested that they should cover them
with gilt paper, to answer for gilt APP
pies, without telling them what they
were for.
These apples, little blunt at the
end, and the candles, were all they had
for the tree.
After all her trips into town, Eliza
beth Eliza had forgotten to bring any
lhing for it.
ct thought of candies and sugar
plums," she said, "but concluded if
we made caramels ourselves we should
not need them. But, then, we have not
made caramels. The fact is, that day
my head was full of my carpet. / had
bumped it pretty badly, too"
Mr.. Peterkin wished he had taken, in
stead of fir-tree, an apple-tree he had
seen in October, full of red fruit.
But the leaves would have fallen off
by this time" said Elizabeth Eliza.
"And the apples, too" said Solomon
John.
eft is odd I should have forgotten
that day went in on purpose to get the
things" said Elizabeth Eliza, musingly.
"But went from shop to shop, and
didn't know exactly what to get. I saw
great many gilt things for Christmas
trees, but knew the little boys were
making the gilt apples; there were plen-
ty of candles in the shops, but I knew
Solomon John was making the candles"
Mr.. Peterkin thought it was quite
natural.
Solomon John wondered If il were too
late for them to go into town now.
Elizabeth Eliza could not go in the
next morning, for there was to be
grand Christmas dinner, and Mr.. Peter
kin could not be spared, and Solomon
John was sure he and Agamemnon