"reduced paupers," and inhabited a picturesquely dilapidated
old farmhouse, and the problem, "_Where do they all sleep?_" was as
engrossing as a jig-saw puzzle to their inquisitive friends. Impossible
that even a cat could be invited to swing itself within those crowded
portals; equally impossible to attempt to separate such an affectionate
family at Christmas-time of all seasons of the year.

[Sidenote: Peg Startles Everybody]

And yet here was Peg deliberately raking up the painful topic; and after
the other members of the family had duly reproached and abused, ready to
level another bolt at their heads.

"S--uppose we went a burst--hired a car, drove over early in the
morning, and marched into church before their very eyes!"

Silence! Sparkling eyes; alert, thoughtful gaze. Could they? Should
they? Would it be right? A motor for the day meant an expenditure of
four or five pounds, and though the exchequer was in a fairly prosperous
condition, five-pound notes could not be treated with indifference.
Still, in each mind ran the echo of Peg's words. It was Christmas-time.
Why should they not, just for once, give themselves a treat--themselves,
and their dear friends into the bargain?

The sparkle deepened; a flash passed from eye to eye, a flash of
determination! Without a word of dissent or discussion the proposal was
seconded, and carried through.

"Fifty miles! We can't go above twenty-five an hour through those bad
roads. We shall have to be off by nine, if we want to be in time for
church. What _will_ they think when they see us marching in?"

"No, no, we mustn't do that. Mrs. Revell would be in a fever the whole
time, asking herself, '_Will the pudding go round?_' It really wouldn't
be kind," pleaded Margaret earnestly, and her hearers chuckled
reminiscently. Mrs. Revell was a darling, but she was also an
appallingly bad housekeeper. Living two miles from the nearest shop, she
yet appeared constitutionally incapable of "thinking ahead"; and it was
a common experience to behold at the afternoon meal different members of
the family partaking respectively of tea, coffee, and cocoa, there being
insufficient of any one beverage to go round.

Margaret's sympathies went out involuntarily towards her friend, but her
listeners, it is to be feared, were concerned entirely for themselves.
It might be the custom to abuse the orthodox Christmas dinner, but since
it _was_ a national custom which one did not care to brea