"
"An' Uncle Tim an' Grandpa Gowin'--they was as spry as crickets, an'
they made old Pete tune up that 'Money Musk' three times 'fore they'd
quit"
"Yes; an'--my grief an' conscience, Samuel! 'tis late, ain't it?" broke
off Lydia Ann, anxiously peering at the clock. "Come, come, dear, you'll
have ter hurry 'bout gettin' that tree out of the front room 'fore
the children get here. I wouldn't have 'em know for the world how silly
we've been--not for the world!"
Samuel bridled, but his movements showed a perceptible increase of
speed.
"Well, I do' know," he chuckled.
"'T wa'n't anythin' so awful, after all. But, say," he called
triumphantly a moment later, as he stooped and picked up a small object
from the floor, "they will find out if you don't hide these 'ere
pep'mints!"
The tree and the peppermints had scarcely disappeared from the "front
room" when Frank arrived.
"Oh, they're all coming in a minute," he laughed gayly in response to
the surprised questions that greeted him. "And we've brought the
children, too. You'll have a houseful, all right!"
A houseful it certainly proved to be, and a lively one, too. In the
kitchen "the girls" as usual reigned supreme, and bundled off the little
mother to "visit with the boys and the children" during the process of
dinner-getting, and after dinner they all gathered around the fireplace
for games and stories.
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