They found teacher and pupils there before them; every face bright with pleasurable antic.i.p.ation.
The Jones children, whose mother had died the year before, and who had continued to find a good friend in Capt. Raymond, were among the number.
Grandma Elsie, Zoe, Rosie, Walter and Evelyn Leland arrived in a body soon after the Woodburn family, and then the exercises began.
The captain offered a short prayer, and made a little address appropriate to the occasion; teacher and scholars sang a hymn, a Christmas carol; then the tree was unveiled amid murmurs of admiration and delight, and the distribution of the gifts began.
Every child received a suit of warm, comfortable clothes, a book, a bag of candy, a sandwich or two, some cakes and fruit.
The tree was hung with rosy-cheeked apples, oranges, bananas, bunches of grapes and strings of popcorn. There were bright tinsel ornaments too, and a goodly array of gaily dressed paper dolls, mostly Gracie"s contribution.
She had given up all her store for the gratification of the poor children.
"I"ve had such good times myself, playing with them and dressing them, that I do believe the poor children, that don"t have half the pleasures I do, will enjoy them too, and I can do very well without," she said to Lulu on deciding to make the sacrifice.
So she told her father they were not to be used merely as a temporary ornament for the tree, but to be given away to some of the younger girls attending the school.
They, along with other pretty things, were taken from the tree and presented last of all, and the delight manifested by the recipients more than made amends to Gracie for her self-denial.
From the Woodburn school-house our friends all repaired to the one at Ion, and a similar scene was enacted there. The exercises and the gifts to the children were very nearly the same, but there were older people--house servants and laborers on the estates--to whom were given more substantial gifts in money and provisions for the support of their families.
The afternoon was waning when the Raymonds again entered their family carriage and the captain gave the order, "Home to Woodburn."
And now the children began to think of the home celebration of Christmas eve, and to renew their wonderings as to what arrangements might have been made for their own enjoyment of its return. Still they asked no question on the subject, but they sobered down and were very quiet during the short drive.
"Tired, children?" queried their father, putting an arm round Grace as she leaned confidingly up against him, and smiling affectionately upon them all.
"Oh, no, sir, not at all!" replied Max, quickly, straightening himself with the air of one who had no thought of fatigue.
"Not at all, papa," echoed Lulu.
"Only just a little bit, papa," Grace said with cheerful look and tone.
"We have had such a nice day."
"Giving pleasure to others," he remarked, patting the rosy cheek resting against his shoulder; "there is nothing more enjoyable. The little girls were very glad to get your dollies."
"Yes, sir; I"m so glad I gave them."
The carriage stopped. They were at their own door. In another minute they had all alighted and the children were following their father and Violet into the house.
A Newfoundland dog, a magnificent specimen of his race, met them almost at the threshold.
"Oh!" cried the children, in excited chorus, "where, did he come from?
Whose dog is he?"
"Max"s; a Christmas gift from papa," answered the captain.
"Oh!" exclaimed Max, his face sparkling all over with delight, "what a splendid fellow! Papa, thank you ever so much! You couldn"t have given me a more acceptable present."
"Ah? I"m glad you like him. But come into the library, all of you, for a moment. It is not quite tea time yet."
The captain led the way as he spoke, everybody else following.
"Howdy do? Where you been?" called out a rather harsh voice, and sending a surprised, inquiring glance about in search of the speaker, the children presently spied a cage with a parrot in it; an African parrot; grey, with a scarlet tail.
"Polly wants a cracker!" screamed the bird. "Time for breakfast, Lu!
Where you been?"
"How will Polly suit you for a Christmas gift, Lulu?" asked the captain, smiling down into the flushed, delighted face of his eldest daughter.
"O papa, is it for me?" she cried half breathlessly.
"Yes, if you want it, though I fear she may prove a rather troublesome pet. Here is Gracie"s gift from papa," he added, pointing to a beautiful Maltese kitten curled upon the rug before the fire. "We mustn"t let Max"s big gift swallow your little one. I trust that in time we can teach them to be friends."
Grace loved kittens and was no less delighted with her present than her brother and sister with theirs.
"O the pretty pet!" she exclaimed, dropping down on the rug beside it and gently stroking its soft fur. "I"d like to take you on my lap, pretty p.u.s.s.y, but you"re fast asleep, and I won"t wake you."
"That is right, my darling; I am glad to see my little girl thoughtful of the comfort of even a cat," her father said, bending down to stroke Gracie"s hair with tenderly caressing hand.
"I s"pose they have feelings as well as other folks, papa," she said, smiling up affectionately into his face. "I mean to be very kind to this pretty p.u.s.s.y; and oh I"m ever so much obliged to you for her!"
His reply was prevented by a sudden, loud bark from the dog, as he spied p.u.s.s.y on the rug.
"Turn him out into the hall, May," the captain said, hastily stepping in between dog and cat. "Don"t be alarmed for your pet, Gracie; he shall not be permitted to harm her."
"Nor my Polly either, shall he, papa?" asked Lulu, who was trying to make acquaintance with her new possession.
"No; certainly not. But take care of your fingers, daughter; she may snap at them and give you a bite that you will remember for a long while. Now go and get yourselves ready for tea. It is almost time for the bell to ring."
The children made haste to obey. The captain and Violet lingered behind for a moment.
"How pleased they are!" she said with a joyous look up into her husband"s face. "It"s a perfect treat to witness their delight on such occasions. I can hardly wait to show them the tree with all its treasures."
"Dear wife, your affection for my darlings is a well-spring of joy to me," he said with tender look and smile; "and theirs for you no less so.
I am sure you have completely won their hearts."
"You make me very happy," she responded, her eyes shining with joy and love. "But there! do you hear little Elsie calling for papa and mamma?"
The faces that surrounded the tea table that evening were very bright, though the children had no expectation of the treat in store for them; each had had a present from papa, and that was almost more than they had ventured to hope for.
But they were in gay spirits, looking forward to a time of rare enjoyment in spending the Christmas holidays with Grandma Elsie, at Ion.
"We"ll be glad to go," remarked Lulu, "and then glad to come back to our own dear home."
"So you will be twice glad," said her father.
"Yes, that is just the way I feel about it," Violet said. "Mamma"s house will always be a home to me--a dear home; and yet my husband"s doubly so."