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226 your things up here, we're going to be opening ours on the tree down-stairs."

"We just had to have our tree, mother," burst forth impetuous Mary.

"We traced the trimmings to Mrs. Jesse, night before last," said Elsie, "and she said she understood perfectly the sentiment we felt about the dear old things. She was glad to give them back. They're all fastened on in the same old places. We did it last night when you were sound asleep."

"And, by the way, we're staying to dinner," remarked Junior as casually as he knew how, "but don't worry about that—the girls have it all planned and half-cooked already, I guess. I selected the turkey myself."

"You know Thanksgiving was so awful!" pleaded Elsie.

"And the grandchildren would have been heartbroken," put in Sally.

"And we're all sort of dependent on Christmas here at the house," apologized Linda.

When the door finally closed on the last of the noisy troop Mrs. Harvey sat staring straight in front of her. She said nothing, only kept on rolling and unrolling a bit of the top edge of the sheet, back and forth, back and forth, between her thumb and forefinger, as she had throughout