tons of
unknown history, a mouth-organ Mary had bought for a neighbor boy who
assisted at times in the poultry yard, and a silver spectacle case of
uncertain antecedents were added.

"We ought t' 'a' colored eggs fer 'im!" said The Hopper with sudden
inspiration, after the stockings had been restored to Shaver's bed. "Some
yaller an' pink eggs would 'a' been the right ticket."

Mary scoffed at the idea. Eggs wasn't proper fer Christmas; eggs was fer
Easter. Humpy added the weight of his personal experience of Christian
holidays to this statement. While a trusty in the Missouri penitentiary
with the chicken yard in his keeping, he remembered distinctly that eggs
were in demand for purposes of decoration by the warden's children
sometime in the spring; mebbe it was Easter, mebbe it was Decoration Day;
Humpy was not sure of anything except that it wasn't Christmas.

The Hopper was meek under correction. It having been settled that colored
eggs would not be appropriate for Christmas he yielded to their demand
that he show some enthusiasm for disposing of his ill-gotten treasures
before the police arrived to take the matter out of his hands.

"I guess that Muriel'll be glad to see me," he remarked. "I guess me and
her understands each other. They's things wot is an' things wot ain't; an'
I guess Hop ain't goin' to spend no Chris'mas in jail. It's the white card
an' poultry an' eggs fer us; an' we're goin' t' put in a couple more
incubators right away. I'm thinkin' some o' rentin' that acre across th'
brook back yonder an' raisin' turkeys. They's mints in turks, ef ye kin
keep 'em from gettin' their feet wet an' dyin' o' pneumonia, which wipes
out thousands o' them birds. I reckon ye might make some coffee, Mary."

The Christmas dawn found them at the table, where they were renewing a
pledge to play "the white card" when a cry from Shaver brought them to
their feet.

Shaver was highly pleased with his Christmas stockings, but his pleasure
was nothing to that of The Hopper, Mary, and Humpy, as they stood about
the bed and watched him. Mary and Humpy were so relieved by The Hopper's
promises to lead a better life that they were now disposed to treat their
guest with the most distinguished consideration. Humpy, absenting himself
to perform his morning tasks in the poultry-houses, returned bringing a
basket containing six newly hatched chicks. These cheeped and ran over
Shaver's fat legs and performed exactly as though they