as at the fun of the thing. David, who personated the poor man who had
come to sell a piece of ground, talked so admirably like a countryman,
and was so oddly crochety and cross and gruff and impossible to make
terms with; and then Norton, who was the rich man he had come to see
and who wanted the land, coaxed him so skilfully, and ordered all sorts
of good things to be brought to him, when he found he had come a good
way and was hungry; and the imaginary banquet was very funny, David
making inquiries and comments over the dishes he did not know and
Norton supplying him with others, till he was satisfied. Then, in
soothed good humour, David was easy to deal with, and let his land go a
bargain. The acting was really extremely good; both the boys being
clever and without any sort of embarrassment or any even shy
affectation. The proverb which Matilda and Judy were to have played was
given up for want of time. The boys' proverb was guessed by one of the
elder ladies--"It is ill talking between a full man and a fasting."
Matilda was very glad, for her part, that she and Judy were let off.

A hush of expectancy fell now upon the little company. It was time for
the tree to be displayed. Even talking hushed, while all eyes were upon
the folding doors leading to the last drawing-room to be thrown open.
Matilda was at the back of the crowd, but even there she could see the
blaze of light beyond as soon as this was done; and the whole company
pressed forward and peeped in. Such a beautiful sight then, her eyes
had never beheld. The tree was a generous, large, tall young fir, set
in a huge green tub; but whereas in the wood where it grew it had green
branches, with fringy, stiff, prickly leaves, now its branches were of
every colour and as it were fringed with light. From the lowest bough
to the topmost shoot it was a cone of brilliancy and a pyramid of
riches. Lights glittered from every twig, and among the lights, below
them and above them, near the stem and out at the tips of the bending
boughs and covering the moss which covered the tub, were trinkets or
toys or articles of wear or packages done up in white or coloured paper
and made gay with coloured ribbands. So bountiful a tree, so elegant a
tree, one so rich in its resources of pleasure, perhaps no eyes there
had ever seen; for when Mrs. Lloyd did anything she was accustomed to
do it thoroughly; and she had on this occasion two backers. One burst
of admiration from the who