for property.

Finally came the time for baking and other direct preparations for a
holiday season that in the good old days used to last from Christmas Eve
to January 13th known as the Twentieth Christmas Day, when everybody
"danced the Yule out." What interested Keith most in this part of the
proceedings was the making of gingersnaps according to a recipe
transmitted to his mother from bygone generations and cherished by her
as a precious family secret. A whole day was set aside for the purpose
and at the end of it they had a big, bulging earthen jar filled to the
brim. Keith used to boast to other children of those dainties that, in
addition to their taste, had the fascination of many different
shapes--hearts, crowns, lilies, clubs, diamonds, baskets, and so on.
They really deserved all the praise they got, and he had so little to
boast of on the whole. The jar stood on the floor in the pantry back of
the parlour, and once in a while Keith found his way to it without
maternal permission, although, as a rule, he was little given to
lawbreaking.

One morning three or four days before Christmas Lena was heard calling
from the kitchen:

"Keith, Keith, come and look!"

Eager as always when the slightest excitement was promised, the boy
started so suddenly that his little table was upset with its whole
population of tin soldiers and his mother was moved to remark that "it
was no use behaving as if the house were on fire."

"Look at the snow," said Lena, pointing to the window when Keith reached