little girl, and it was not true. I believed the cattle knelt at
midnight on Christmas eve."

"Knelt, grandma? For what?"

"Because our blessed Lord was born in a manger."

"But they didn't know that. Cows can't read the Bible."

"It was an idle story, of course, like the one about Mother Knowles. A
man who worked at our house, Israel Grossman, told it to me, and I
thought it was true."

Here grandma gazed into the coals again. She could see Israel Grossman
sitting on a stump, whittling a stick and puffing away at a short pipe.

"Well, children," said she, "I have talked to you long enough about
things that are past and gone. On the whole, I don't say they were good
old times, for the times now are a great deal better."

"Yes, indeed," said Prudy.

"Except one thing," added grandma, looking at Dotty, who was snapping the
tongs together. "Children had more to do in my day than they have now."

Dotty blushed.

"Grandma," said she, "I'm having a playtime, you know, 'cause there can't
anybody stop to fix my work. But mother says after the holidays I'm going
to have a stint every day."