ges."
She paused a moment. "They're all big packages," she added mournfully.

"I am glad," said her mother, "that some one is to receive presents
to-night, even if we do not."

"And where _you're_ goin' to shine," broke in the biggest brother,
giving the little girl a squeeze, "is in the program. You'll play that
new tune you learned on the fiddle, and you'll speak your piece; and
they'll all be as jealous as kingdom come. As for presents, well, you've
been gettin' 'em straight for ten years; so you c'n afford to skip the
eleventh." He got up to empty the popper in the pan.

The little girl did not reply at once. When she burst forth at last, her
eyes were full and her breast was heaving. "It's our first school tree,"
she cried; "and here I'll be the only girl that won't have her name
called, except for an old orange or a bag of candy." Then she hurriedly
left the kitchen.

"Poor baby!" said her mother when she was gone. She disposed of the
stringing of the pop-corn to the biggest brother and began to pick over
a quart of wheat that was to be their supper. Having finished and put it
on to boil, she turned to the roasting of some barley for the next
morning's coffee.

"I wish we'd a-got her a little trinket for to-night," said the biggest
brother, "even if it'd a-been only worth ten cents." He took out his
pipe and filled it from a handful of corn-silk in his jumper pocket.
"_I'd_ be tickled to death," he added, "if I could have a plug of
tobacco."

"And I a sack of flour," said his mother. "We'll have the last in
biscuits for to-day's dinner. I suppose I shouldn't have used it up for
a week more, because we had white biscuits only last Sunday. But it is
Christmas day; I can't resist giving you boys something a little extra.
I've kept enough flour out, though, to thicken gravies with. Now, if we
only had plenty of potatoes."

"When it gets nearer spring, we c'n eat the inside of the potatoes and
save the peelin's for plantin'."

"Oh, I thought of that long ago," laughed his mother; "I've got half a
sack of peelings here behind the stove where they won't freeze."

"The meat's gettin' low, ma. There's only a hunk or two left in the
barrel, and I just noticed, when I was gettin' the coal, that that pig
in there on the rafters is dwindlin' fast. I guess another cow'll have
to go. Might as well, anyway. Hay won't more 'n last the horses."

They were interrupted by the eldest and the youngest brothers, who came
in