OLIVER HERFOLD.




SUSY'S CHRISTMAS PRESENT.


"Tell us a story, nursie; please do", begged two little golden-haired
girls, as they snuggled on the soft rug before the fire. "Did you ever
have just what you wished for at Christmas, when you were a little
girl?"

"Yes, I did once. I was the oldest, and had two brothers and three
little sisters. We did not have a beautiful home like this. We lived
in a little cottage. It was pretty, though, in the summer time, when
the roses and pinks were in bloom. My father was dead, and mother
worked for the rich people around the village. There was plenty to do
about holiday times.

"It was the day before Christmas. Mother was at the house of a
very rich and kind lady. She was going to have a grand party in the
evening.

"Mother told me, when she went away, to mind the children, and perhaps
I might have a nice Christmas present. I knew we should have plenty of
candy and cake, and other nice things, from Mrs. Reid's. We often had
pretty clothes, too, that Mamie and Robbie Reid had outgrown.

"I had been wishing for a muff; but I knew Mother could not afford to