trategy. I wonder how he could have done
it so well. She raised him in her arms an' held him close. A
great music-box in a corner began to play:

"'O tannenbaum! O tannenbaum!
wie grun sind deine blaetter!'

[Illustration: Their eyes were wide with wonder.]

"Then with laughter an' merry jests we emptied the pack, an'
gathered from the tree whose fruit has fed the starving human heart
for more than a thousand years, an' how it filled those friends o'
mine!

"Well, it was the night of my life, an' when I turned to go, its
climax fell upon me. Mrs. Bill kneeled at my feet, an' said with
tears in her eyes, an' her lips an' voice trembling:

"'O Santa Claus! you have given me many things, but I beg for
more--five more.'

"The city had fallen. Its queen was on her knees. The victorious
army was swarming into the open gate of her arms. The hosts of
doubt an' fear were fleeing.

"I refuse to tell you all that happened in the next minute or two.
A witness has some rights when testifyin' against his own manhood.

"I helped the woman to her feet, an' said:

"'They are yours. I shall be happy enough, and, anyhow, I do not
think I shall need them now.'

"An' so I left them as happy as human beings have any right to be.
At last they had caught up with Lizzie, an' I, too, was in a fair
way to overtake her.

"An' how fared Dan in his pursuit of that remarkable maiden? Why,
that very night Lizzie an' Dan had been shakin' the tree o' love,
an' I guess the fruit on it was fairly ripe an' meller. Next day
they came up to my house together.

"Dan couldn't hold his happiness, an' slopped over as soon as he
was inside the door.

"'Mr. Potter,' says he, with more than Christmas merriment, 'we're
going to be married next month.'

"Before I could say a word he had gathered Lizzie up in his arms
an' kissed her, an' she kissed back as prompt as if it had been a
slap in a game o' tag.

"'You silly man,' she says, 'you could have had me long ago.'

"'If I'd only 'a' known it,' he says.

"'Oh, the ignorance o' some men!' she says, lookin' into his eyes.

"'It exceeds the penetration o' some women,' I says.

"They came together ag'in quite spiteful. I separated 'em.

"'Quit,' I says. 'Stop pickin' on each other. It provokes you an'
me too. You're like a pair o' kids turned loose in a candy store.
Behave yerselves an' listen to reason.'

"Lizzie turned upon me as if she thought it was none o' my
business