had been through a mill."

Sweeping them before her, Mother Blossom soon had them marshaled into
the house. Aunt Polly closed the door and Norah flew to her neglected
kitchen. It was dark outside by this time, and the steadily falling
snow had spread a thick carpet on the ground.

"Did you bring us something?" asked Dot expectantly, her hair-ribbon
over one eye and both pockets torn from her apron.

"Did you bring us something?" inquired Twaddles, shaking Mother
Blossom's packages to try to find out what was in them.

"Did you bring us something?" said Meg and Bobby together, each holding
out a hand for overshoes.

Mother Blossom gave hers to Bobby, and Aunt Polly handed hers to Meg,
to be put away in the hall closet under the stairs. Just as Meg closed
the door of the closet the doorbell rang.

"There's the boy now," announced Mother Blossom. "He's bringing you
the something nice I promised."

The boy from Gobert's, the hardware store uptown, probably had never
received a more enthusiastic welcome in his life than that he
experienced at the Blossom house. Four children flung open the door
for him and fell upon him crying: "Where is it? Who's it for? Let me
see it!"

He was a tall, thin boy, with a wide, cheerful grin, and four children