A QUAKER CHRISTMAS. 43 



or another, I went from house to house, as if the 

 call was by mere accident, and made known my 

 wishes to a judicious member of each family 

 visited. All agreed to broach the subject, and 

 so it resulted that two or more members of five 

 families, each group in blissful ignorance of his 

 neighbor's movements, determined to spend the 

 day with my grandfather. It was the first sur- 

 prise party in that staid Quaker neighborhood, 

 and never before so merry a Christmas. Of 

 course the originator was all innocence ; but the 

 puzzled expression on his grandfather's face and 

 the perplexity of the women-folk were fun indeed 

 to him. " There's company coming," I remarked, 

 as a carriage turned in the lane. " Sure enough ! " 

 remarked my aunt, who, turning to her sister, 

 added, " And there is almost nothing for din- 

 ner." I grinned. Before the first carriage drove 

 up to the house, a second was in sight, and the 

 third was not far behind. 



" Truly," remarked neighbor A to neighbor 

 B, " we did not expect to meet thee here. We've 

 been intending to drive over for some time, but 

 the work at home prevented." 



" And that is what I was about to remark ; 

 the same impulse has moved us both." A cer- 

 tain small boy smiled. 



" This is quite a Christmas celebration," the 

 somewhat bewildered host replied, and no sooner 



