ound Mrs. Pepper's mouth, but she said not
a word, and so the fun and the work went on.

The tree was to be set up in the Provision Room; that was finally
decided, as Mrs. Pepper showed the children how utterly useless it would
be to try having it in the kitchen.

"I'll find the key, children," she said, "I think I know where 'tis, and
then we can keep them out."

"Well, but it looks so," said Polly, demurring at the prospect.

"Oh, no, Polly," said her mother; "at any rate it's clean."

"Polly," said Ben, "we can put evergreen around, you know."

"So we can," said Polly, brightly; "oh, Ben, you do think of the best
things; we couldn't have had them in the kitchen."

"And don't let's hang the presents on the tree," continued Ben; "let's
have the children hang up their stockings; they want to, awfully--for I
heard David tell Joel this morning before we got up--they thought I
was asleep, but I wasn't--that he did so wish they could, but, says he,
'Don't tell mammy, 'cause that'll make her feel bad."

"The little dears!" said Mrs. Pepper, impulsively; "they shall have
their stockings, too."

"And we'll make the tree pretty enough," said Polly, enthusiastically;
"we shan't want the presents to hang on; we've got so many things. And
then we'll have hickory nuts to eat; and perhaps mammy'll let us make
some molasses candy the day before," she said, with a sly look at her
mother.

"You may," said Mrs. Pepper, smiling.

"Oh, goody!" they both cried, hugging each other ecstatically.

"And we'll have a frolic in the Provision Room afterwards," finished
Polly; "oh! ooh!"

And so the weeks flew by--one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight! till only the three days remained, and to think the fun that
Polly and Ben had had already!

"It's better'n a Christmas," they told their mother, "to get ready for
it!"

"It's too bad you can't hang up your stockings," said Mrs. Pepper,
looking keenly at their flushed faces and bright eyes; "you've never
hung 'em up."

"That isn't any matter, mamsie," they both said, cheerily; "it's a
great deal better to have the children have a nice time--oh, won't it be
elegant! p'r'aps we'll have ours next year!"

For two days before, the house was turned upside down for Joel to find
the biggest stocking he could; but on Polly telling him it must be his
own, he stopped his search, and bringing down his well-worn one, hung it
by the corner of the chimney to be ready.

"You put you