with long white hair and a long white
beard.

I can't begin to name to you all the fruits of that magic tree. From
Maida, there came to Rosie a big golden cage with a pair of canary
birds, to Arthur a chest of wonderful tools, to Dicky a little
bookcase full of beautiful books, to Laura a collection of sashes
and ribbons, to Harold a long train of cars. For Molly, Betsy and
the Clark twins came so many gifts that you could hardly count them
all--dolls and dolls' wardrobes, tiny doll-houses and tinier
doll-furniture. For Tim came a sled and bicycle.

To Maida came a wonderful set of paper boxes from Dicky, a long
necklace of carved beads from Arthur, a beautiful blank-book, with
all her candy recipes, beautifully written out, from Rosie, a warm
little pair of knitted bed-shoes from Granny, a quaint, little,
old-fashioned locket from Dr. Pierce--he said it had once belonged to
another little sick girl who died.

From Billy came a book. Perhaps you can fancy how Maida jumped when
she read "The Crystal Ball," by William Potter, on the cover. But I
do not think you can imagine how pleased she looked when inside she
read the printed dedication, "To Petronilla."

From her father came a beautiful miniature of her mother, painted on
ivory. The children crowded about her to see the beautiful face of
which Maida had told them so much. There was the mass of golden hair
which she had described so proudly. There, too, was a heart-shaped
pendant of diamonds, suspended from a black velvet ribbon tied close
to the white throat.

The children looked at the picture. Then they looked at each other.

But Maida did not notice. She was watching eagerly while Dr. Pierce
and Billy and her father opened her gifts to them.

She was afraid they would not understand. "They're to save time, you
see, when you want to shave in a hurry," she explained.

"Maida," her father said gravely, "that is a very thoughtful gift.
It's strange when you come to think of it, as busy a man as I am and
with all the friends I have, nobody has ever thought to give me a
safety razor."

"I don't know how I ever managed to get along without one," Dr.
Pierce declared, his curls bobbing.

"As for me--I shall probably save about a third of my income in the
future," Billy announced.

All three were so pleased that they laughed for a long time.

"I'm going to give you another Christmas present, Maida," Mr.
Westabrook said suddenly, "I'm going to give us both one