usin Emily. "And we cannot show you yet whether we have
anything for you, Agnes, because, you know, we always keep our secrets
till Christmas comes," they said.

"There comes papa from the mill," cried Effie, looking out of the
window; "let's run down and see him. How surprised he will be to find
mamma gone, and Agnes here!"

Mr. Wharton came in with his usual cheerful manner; and soon as he was
warming his feet by the fire, he had Agnes on one knee, and Harry on the
other, and the rest of the noisy little tribe round him, eagerly telling
the events of the day, and the pleasant anticipations for the afternoon.

"Oh, papa," said Effie, "I've got something I want to say to you, if
you would only come in the other room a few minutes, or if the children
would only be kind enough to go out of this room a little while."

"Won't it keep, Effie, till I warm my feet?" asked her father; "because,
if it will not, I suppose I must go now."

"Oh no, papa, I will wait patiently," said Effie.

In a few minutes her father said, "Now, Effie, for that important
secret;" and they went together into another room.

"This is what I wanted to say, papa," said Effie: "you know poor Agnes
never has any money of her own; and I know, when she sees us all giving
presents to each other, she will feel badly, if she cannot give
something too; and I want to know if you won't give her a little money,
and let her go to the village with us the next time we go, and get some
materials to make something out of?"

Mr. Wharton answered by putting his hand in his pocket, and giving Effie
some silver for Agnes, with which she went off perfectly happy.

And now little Grace put in her curly head, and said, "Effie, when you
are through with papa, I've got something to say to him too."

The sum and substance of Grace's communication was this: "she had seen
something at a store in the village, with which she was sure her mamma
would be perfectly charmed, but she hadn't _quite_ enough money to
purchase it; she only wanted _ten cents_ more." And she too went off
with a smiling face.

Emily now came in jingling her keys and called them all to dinner.

As soon as possible after dinner, the boys laden with a basket of good
things, which Emily had provided for them, started off for the snow
palace, one of them carrying the dinner-horn, which was used in the
summer, to call the men to the farm-house to their meals. When the
entertainment was ready the horn wa