"Nothing that I'm aware of!" said Letty laughingly, although she was
fibbing and she knew it.

"And he said he'd call and say 'Merry Christmas' to you the first
thing to-morrow; that he would have been here to-night but you'd know
his father had to come first. You don't mind being second to the
parson, do you?"

No, Letty didn't mind. Her heart was unaccountably light and glad,
like a girl's heart. It was the Eve of Mary when all women are blest
because of one. The Wise Men brought gifts to the Child; Letty had
often brought hers timidly, devoutly, trustfully, and perhaps to-night
they were coming back to her!




[Illustration]

VIII


"Put the things down on the front steps," said Dick to the driver as
he neared the parsonage. "If there's nobody at home I'll go on up to
the church after I've got this stuff inside."

"Got a key?"

"No, don't need one. I've picked all the locks with a penknife many a