d sighed
ominously. The boys were, in fact, three little heathen; but Tita was a
devout Roman Catholic, and observed all the feast and fast days of the
Church, to the not infrequent disturbance of the young mistress of the
household, to whom a feast-day was oftentimes an occasion bristling with
difficulty. But to-day, in honor of Christmas, the usual frugal dinner
had been made a banquet indeed, by the united efforts of Anne and Miss
Lois; and when they took their seats at the table which stood in the
sitting-room, all felt that it held an abundance fit even for the old
fur-trading days, Miss Lois herself having finally succumbed to that
island standard of comparison. After the dinner was over, while they
were sitting round the fire sipping coffee--the ambrosia of the Northern
gods, who find some difficulty in keeping themselves warm--a tap at the
door was heard, and a tall youth entered, a youth who was a vivid
personification of early manhood in its brightest form. The warm air was
stirred by the little rush of cold that came in with him, and the dreamy
and drowsy eyes round the fire awoke as they rested upon him.

"The world _is_ alive, then, outside, after all," said Miss Lois,
briskly straightening herself in her chair, and taking out her knitting.
"How do you do, Erastus?"

But her greeting was drowned by the noise of the boys, who had been
asleep together on the rug in a tangled knot, like three young bears,
but now, broadly awake again, were jumping round the new-comer,
displaying their gifts and demanding admiration. Disentangling himself
from them with a skill which showed a long experience in their modes of
twisting, the young man made his way up to Anne, and, with a smile and
bow to Dr. Douglas and Miss Lois, sat down by her side.

"You were not at church this morning," said the girl, looking at him
rather gravely, but giving him her hand.

"No, I was not; but a merry Christmas all the same, Annet," answered the
youth, throwing back his golden head with careless grace. At this moment
Tita came forward from her furry corner, where she had been lying with
her head on her arm, half asleep, and seated herself in the red light of
the fire, gazing into the blaze with soft indifference. Her dark woollen
dress was brightened by the ribbons which circled her little waist and
knotted themselves at the ends of the long braids of her hair. She had a
string of yellow beads round her neck, and on her feet the little
s