again, pausing only long enough to peer through the library window at
the Colonel, who was reading aloud to his wife, both drawn up in the
cheery warmth of a blazing wood fire. Then he hurried on along the
road to town.

With a prayer in his heart for the success of his mission Uncle Noah
trudged sturdily down the two miles to Cotesville, past Major Verney's
old plantation, the cheery lights of the great house twinkling brightly
through a curtain of snow, and into the snow-laden air of the village
streets alive with Christmas shoppers. Holly and mistletoe, Christmas
trees filling the air with the odor of pine, dancing snowflakes and
bright lights, wonderful windows wreathed and dotted in Christmas
glitter, and cheery voices--who could resist them? Uncle Noah felt his
heart quiver with hope; jubilantly he turned his steps toward the
railroad station ahead.

The Northern Express flashed through the snow and came to a stop with a
clang and a roar, disgorging a chattering holiday crowd who paused for
a change of cars at Cotesville on their southbound trips. Uncle Noah
hastened his shuffling footsteps: the Northern Express with its horde
of transient visitors had been a vital part of the inspiration. Upon
the station platform people stamped up and down in the snow or laughed
and chatted, quite oblivious to the timid gaze of the old darky who
slowly made his way among them. One by one Uncle Noah left them all
behind, a great disappointment in his face. In their laughing
countenances he had found nothing of what he sought.