old Paris knew just how to
make.

And then, as with eager fingers the children drew out these marvels,
down in the toe of each shoe they found a little porcupine of white
sugar with pink quills tipped with a tiny, gilded, candy crown; and last
of all, after each little porcupine, out tumbled a shining yellow gold
piece stamped with the likeness of King Louis.

Even the larger shoes were filled with bonbons, too, and from the toe of
the mother's out dropped a gold piece, like the others, only larger. But
when the father, with clumsy hands, emptied his shoe, instead of a gold
piece, there fell out a small parchment roll fastened with a silken
cord, and showing at one corner a wax seal bearing the print of the
little royal porcupine and crown.

Peasant Viaud gazed at it for a few minutes, in utter bewilderment, and
then handing it to Gabriel, who was standing by, he said:

"Here, child, 'tis a bit of writing, and thou art the only one of us who
can read. See if Brother Stephen's lessons have taken thee far enough to
make out the meaning of this!"

Gabriel took the roll and eagerly untied the cord, and then he carefully
spelled out every word of the writing, which was signed by Count Pierre
de Bouchage.

For it was the very same parchment which King Louis's messenger had
made Count Pierre sign to prove that he had sold to the king, for a
certain sum of gold, the old Viaud farm, together with a piece of good
land adjoining it; and then, at the end of the deed, as the writing was
called, there were a few lines from King Louis himself, which said that
in honour of the blessed Christmas-time the king took pleasure in
presenting to peasant Viaud, and his heirs for ever, everything that he
had bought from Count Pierre.

When Gabriel had finished reading, no one spoke for a little while; it
was so hard to realize the crowning good fortune that had befallen them.
Peasant Viaud looked fairly dazed, and the mother laughed and cried as
she snatched Gabriel to her and kissed him again and again. The younger
children did not understand what it all meant, and so went on munching
their sweetmeats without paying much attention to the little piece of
parchment which Gabriel still held in his hand.

As for Gabriel, he really had had no idea that any one could possibly be
so happy as he himself was at that moment! He had not the least notion
of how it had all come about; he only knew that his heart was fairly
bursting with gratitud