e
have, and be smart about it, too, fur yer mother will sartinly be
comin' soon, and we must be ahead of her with the cookin'."

What a change the next half-hour made in the appearance of the cabin!
The huge fire sent its heat to the farthest corner of the great room.
The miserable bed had been removed out of sight, and the table, drawn
up in front of the fire, was set with the needed dishes. On the
hearthstone a large platter of venison steak, broiled by the Trapper's
skill, simmered in the heat. A mighty pile of cakes, brown to a turn,
flanked one side, while a stack of potatoes baked in the ashes
supported the other. The teapot sent forth its refreshing odor through
the room. The children, with their faces washed and hair partially, at
least, combed, ran about with bare feet on the warm floor, comfortable
and happy. To them it was as a beautiful dream. The breakfast was
ready, and the visitors sat waiting for the coming of her to whose
assistance the angel of Christmas Eve had sent them.

"Sh!" whispered the Trapper, whose quick ear had caught the sound of a
dragging step in the snow. "She's comin'!"

Too weary and faint, too sick at heart and exhausted in body to
observe the unaccustomed signs of human presence around her dwelling,
the poor woman dragged herself to the door, and opened it. The gun she
still held in her hand fell rattling to the floor, and, with eyes
wildly opened, she gazed bewildered at the spectacle. The blazing
fire, the set table, the food on the hearthstone, the smiling
children, the two men! She passed her hands across her eyes as one
waking from sleep. Was she dreaming? Was this cabin the miserable hut
she had left at daybreak? Was that the same fireplace in front of
whose cold and cheerless recess she had crouched the night before? And
were those two strangers there men, or were they angels? Was what she
saw real, or was it only a fevered vision born of her weakness?

Her senses actually reeled to and fro, and she trembled for a moment
on the verge of unconsciousness. Indeed, the shock was so overwhelming
that in another instant she would have swooned and fallen to the floor
had not the growing faintness been checked by the sound of a human
voice.

"A merry Christmas to ye, my good woman," said the Trapper. "A merry
Christmas to ye and yourn!"

The woman started as the hearty tones fell on her ear, and, steadying
herself by the door, she said, speaking as one partially dazed:--

"Ar