l the time! What fun!"

"What fun, to be sure; but, Clara, what is in the picture?"

"Why, an old woman has brought eggs to the baby in the manger, and an
old man has brought a sheep. I suppose they all brought what they had."

"I suppose those who came from Sharon brought roses," said Bertha. And
Alice, who is eleven, and goes to the Lincoln School, and therefore
knows every thing, said,--"Yes, and the Damascus people brought Damascus
wimbles."

"This is certain," said Polly, "that nobody tried to give a straw, but
the straw, if he really gave it, carried a blessing."

ALICE'S CHRISTMAS-TREE.

CHAPTER I.

Alice MacNeil had made the plan of this Christmas-tree, all by herself
and for herself. She had a due estimate of those manufactured trees
which hard-worked "Sabbath Schools" get up for rewards of merit for the
children who have been regular, and at the last moment have saved
attendance-tickets enough. Nor did Alice MacNeil sit in judgment on
these. She had a due estimate of them. But for her Christmas-tree she
had two plans not included in those more meritorious buddings and
bourgeonings of the winter. First, she meant to get it up without any
help from anybody. And, secondly, she meant that the boys and girls who
had anything from it should be regular laners and by-way farers,--they
were to have no tickets of respectability,--they were not in any way to
buy their way in; but, for this once, those were to come in to a
Christmas-tree who happened to be ragged and in the streets when the
Christmas-tree was ready.

So Alice asked Mr. Williams, the minister, if she could have one of the
rooms in the vestry when Christmas eve came; and he, good saint, was
only too glad to let her. He offered, gently, his assistance in sifting
out the dirty boys and girls, intimating to Alice that there was dirt
and dirt; and that, even in those lowest depths which she was plunging
into, there were yet lower deeps which she might find it wise to shun.
But here Alice told him frankly that she would rather try her experiment
fairly through. Perhaps she was wrong, but she would like to see that
she was wrong in her own way. Any way, on Christmas eve, she wanted no
distinctions.

That part of her plan went bravely forward.

Her main difficulty came on the other side,--that she had too many to
help her. She was not able to carry out the first part of her plan, and
make or buy all her presents herself. For everybody was pleas