of flaxen hair.

But Frieda could not reach up to the tall candles on the big tree and
she would not allow either Jim or Frank to lift her up.

On the largest chair in the room, Frieda could tiptoe up to almost the
tallest row of candles. But just under a little wax figure of the Virgin
and the Christ Child, Jean had set seven in a circle. These were the
topmost glory of the tree and Frieda's crowning ambition and were the
only candles she could not possibly reach from her chair.

The little Christmas-eve girl slipped onto the floor, and before any of
the men in the room guessed what she was after, dragged out from the
book shelves an immense old law book, bound in worn brown leather.
Frieda started gallantly across the room with it. But it dropped from
her small hands and scattered yellow parchment leaves over the floor.
The back of the book ripped off and Frieda held only the leather cover.
Out of this, from a kind of inner pocket, a folded sheet of paper
fluttered and fell at Frieda's feet.

The company crowded to the rescue. Blonde heads and brown heads bumped
into each other in picking up the leaves. Frieda started to the fire
with the old book cover and the folded paper. She gave them both a toss
toward the flames, but the paper fluttered back to her feet.

Frieda laughed and picked it up again. "This paper won't be burned up,
Jack," she exclaimed. "Let's light it in the Christmas candles."

Jack caught Frieda's hand. "May I look at it, dear?" she asked gently.

Frieda consented to have Frank lift her to the row of lights on top of
their Christmas tree. Jim was talking to Cousin Ruth, Jean was
distributing boxes of candy, and it was Olive who put her arm around
Jack.

"What is it, dear? What has happened?" she whispered. "Are you glad or
sorry over something?" It was no wonder Olive asked. Jack's eyes were
streaming in tears, but under them shone a kind of radiance. Her face
was white one minute and then glowed with a beautiful rose color.

"Oh, I am so happy, happy, Olive!" she cried, throwing her arms around
Olive and forgetting the rest of the company. "See, we have the most
wonderful Christmas gift. Frieda has found our deed to Rainbow Ranch! I
believe somehow that Father sent it to us to-night."

But Jim and Cousin Ruth and everybody in the room had heard Jack.

Jim lifted Jack up in the chair, which Frieda had given up. She waved
her wonderful paper before her friends. The cowboys broke into a
p