down to
breakfast. Before they began the repast Mr. Bobbsey brought forth the
family Bible and read the wonderful story of Christ's birth to them, and
asked the blessing. All were almost too excited to eat.

After breakfast all must go out and show their presents to their friends
and see what the friends had received. It was truly a happy time. Then
all went coasting until lunch.

"The expressman is coming!" cried Bert a little later, and sure enough
he drove up to the Bobbsey house with two boxes. One was from their
Uncle Daniel Bobbsey, who lived at Meadow Brook, and the other from
their Uncle William Minturn, who lived at Ocean Cliff.

"More presents!" cried Nan, and she was right. Uncles and aunts had sent
each something; and the twins were made happier than ever.

"Oh, but Christmas is just the best day in the whole year," said Bert
that evening, after the eventful day was over.

"Wish Christmas would come ev'ry week," said Freddie. "Wouldn't it be
_beau_tiful?"

"If it did I'm afraid the presents wouldn't reach," said Mrs. Bobbsey,
and then took him and Flossie off to bed.

CHAPTER XV

THE CHILDREN'S PARTY

The little black kitten that Freddie had brought home from the
department store was a great friend to everybody in the Bobbsey house
and all loved the little creature very much.

At first Freddie started to call the kitten Blackie, but Flossie said
that wasn't a very "'ristocratic" name at all.

"I'll tell you what," said Bert jokingly, "Let's call him Snoop," and in
spite of all efforts to make the name something else Snoop the cat
remained from that time to the day of his death.

He grew very fat and just a trifle lazy, nevertheless he learned to do
several tricks. He could sit up in a corner on his hind legs, and shake
hands, and when told to do so would jump through one's arms, even if the
arms were quite high up from the floor.

Snoop had one comical trick that always made both Flossie and Freddie
laugh. There was running water in the kitchen, and Snoop loved to sit on
the edge of the sink and play with the drops as they fell from the
bottom of the faucet. He would watch until a drop was just falling, then
reach out with his paw and give it a claw just as if he was reaching for
a mouse.

Another trick he had, but this Mrs. Bobbsey did not think so nice, was
to curl himself on the pillow of one of the beds and go sound asleep.
Whenever he heard Mrs. Bobbsey coming up one pair of st