d forth and up and down they hastened, the pup and tiny
Skeezucks growing more and more delighted as their lively little
friends alternately rearranged him, kissed him, crept on all fours
beside him, and otherwise added adornments to the pageant. In an
outburst of enthusiasm, Tintoretto made a gulp at the off hind-wheel of
the wagon, and, sinking his teeth in the wood thereof, not only
prevented its revolutions, but braced so hard that the smallest girl,
who was pulling at the moment, found herself suddenly stalled. To her
aid her two sturdy little sisters darted, and the three gave a mighty
tug, to haul the pup and all.

But the unexpected happened. The wheel came off. The pup let out a
yell of consternation and turned a back somersault; the three little
Stowes went down in a heap of legs and heads, while the wagon lurched
abruptly and gave the tiny passenger a jolt that astonished him
mightily. The three small girls scrambled to their feet, awed into
silence by their breaking of the wagon.

For a moment the hush was impressive. Then the gravity began to go
from the face of little Carson. Something was dancing in his eyes.
His quaint little face wrinkled oddly in mirth. His head went back,
and the sweetest conceivable chuckle of baby laughter came from his
lips. Like joy of bubbling water in a brook, it rippled in music never
before awakened. Old Jim and Miss Doc looked at each other in complete
amazement, but the little fellow laughed and laughed and laughed. His
heart was overflowing, suddenly, with all the laughing and joy that had
never before been invited to his heart. The other youngsters joined
him in his merriment, and so did the preacher and pretty Mrs. Stowe;
and so did Jim and Miss Doc, but these two laughed with tears warmly
welling from their eyes.

It seemed as if the fatherless and motherless little foundling laughed
for all the days and weeks and months of sadness gone beyond his baby
recall. And this was the opening only of his frolic and fun with the
children. They kissed him in fondness, and planted him promptly in a
second of the wagons. They knew a hundred devices for bringing him joy
and merriment, not the least important of which was the irresistible
march of destruction on the rough-made Christmas treasures.

That evening a dozen rough and awkward men of the camp came casually in
to visit Miss Doc, whose old-time set of thoughts and ideas had been
shattered, till in sheer desp