ne to
the church to put the fire in order for the night, lock up the doors,
and make all safe.

Grandmother, in her clean stuff gown and apron, is mounted upon a chair
to stick a twig of holly on the tall clock in the corner. And now, as
she turns round, what a pleasant face she shows us, does she not? Old
and wrinkled, to be sure, but so good-natured and gentle that she is
prettier than many a young girl even now. Is it any wonder that little
Roger there is so fond of her?

Now another bit of holly is wanted on the chimney-piece; and it is while
putting this up that the dear old dame gives sign that something has
gone wrong. "Ts, ts, ts,--deary me!"

"What's the matter, Granny?" said Roger.

"Why, Roger," replied Granny, carefully dismounting from her chair,
"look here, Grandfather has gone off and forgot his keys. He took 'em
from the door this morning, because last year some of the young folks
let 'em drop in the snow, and had a sad time hunting for them. He knew
they would be in and out all day, so he just opened the door and brought
the keys home. Deary me! it's a cold night for old bones to be out of
doors. Would'st be afeard, little 'un, to run up with them?"

"Not a bit," said Roger, stoutly, as he crammed the last spoonful of
porridge in his mouth, and seized hat and mittens from the table. "I'll
take 'em down in a minute. Granny, and then run home. Mother'll want me
in the morning, likely."

For Roger's parents lived in a cottage near the old people, and the boy
often said that he had two homes, and belonged half in one and half in
the other, and the small press-bed in Granny's loft seemed as much his
own as the cot in the corner of his mother's sleeping-room, and was
occupied almost as often. So, after a good-night hug from Granny, off he
ran. The church was near, and the moon light as day, so he never thought
of being afraid, not even when, as he brushed by the dark tower,
something stirred overhead, and a long, melancholy cry came shuddering
from the ivy. Roger knew the owls in the belfry well, and now he called
out to them cheerily: "To-whit-whit-whoo!"

"Whoo-whoo-whit!" answered the owls, startled by the cry. Roger could
hear them fluttering in the nest.

The church-door stood ajar, and he peeped in. The glow from the open
door of the stove showed Grandfather's figure, red and warm, stooping to
cover the fire with ashes for the night. He was so busy he never knew
the boy was there till he got c