tisan's face dropped and a pout came out. A smile though quickly
smoothed down the pout, and he exclaimed, in triumph, "Santa Claus! He's a
friend of our club! We thought we would be in season for Christmas, and
people could buy their presents of us, and--and--will you buy?"

"I will--buy--that."

"You will? I'll give you a kiss for that," and Aunt Stanshy's young lover
came up to her and in his delight gave her a kiss. Of a tuft of cotton
Charlie had made a head. Another tuft furnished a body; two more supplied
arms to work with, and two more supplied legs to stand on. Charlie put a
three-cornered hat on Santa's head and tied together the parts of his body
with a girdle of pink worsted. A card on Santa announced the fact that he
could be bought for TWO CENTS.

Charlie trembled when Aunt Stanshy's eyes were directed toward the price
lest she might not think it worth the money.

"What's that?"

"Two cents," replied Charlie, in fear.

"O! Well, I'll give that."

"You will?" said Charlie, in delight. "I'll give you another kiss."

"Charlie," said the blushing Constantia, "you'll make a fool of an old
woman like me."

In the night the lips of the sleeping Charlie parted as he said, with a
smile, "Two cents!" When this good news of the first sale was announced to
the club in the morning, it threw the members into a feverish excitement.

"First-rate opening, fellers," declared the president, "even before we
have opened any thing."

"We don't open," said the governor, "till school is out to-night."

"Let's open now," said Billy Grimes, in the excitement of his enthusiasm
over the news;

"What a booby!" said the governor, in plain language. "We have got no
things here yet, and there are no buyers, and we must all clear out to
school in ten minutes."

The governor's massive logic crushed the foolish Billy at once.

"Let's open in good style," said the president, "and do it to-night."

By fifteen minutes after four, just as soon as a lot of scampering,
shouting boys could get to the barn, bringing pockets stuffed with
"articles," the fair was declared "opened."

"But how dark it is!" said the president.

So it was. The boys had forgotten how early the sun was setting in the
November days.

"Let's postpone it till to-morrow afternoon, when there's no school," said
Charlie.

"Who's agreed?" asked the president.

"Me!" responded the club, vociferously. They all had prudently concluded
to wait for the adven