presenting it to Ralph, as a reward for his services. This touched
Oscar's feelings rather more than his father's reproofs. He thought to
himself that he had performed as much work in the store as Ralph, to
say the least, and was therefore as much entitled to a reward as he.
There was this difference, however, which he entirely overlooked: Oscar
did his share of the work reluctantly and from compulsion; Ralph did
his cheerfully and voluntarily, and solely for the purpose of making
himself useful.




CHAPTER VII.

THANKSGIVING-DAY.

Thanksgiving-Day had come. Among the multitude of good things it
brought with it, not the least important, in the eyes of the children,
was a visit from their grandmother, Mrs. Lee, who arrived the evening
previous. She was the mother of Mrs. Preston, and lived in a distant
town in Vermont. She had not visited the family for several years, and
the children and their parents were all very glad to see her once more.
She was much surprised to find how the young folks had grown since she
last saw them. Alice had shot up into a young lady, Oscar, who she
remembered as "a little bit of a fellow," was a tall boy, Ella, too,
was quite a miss, and Georgie, "the baby," had long since exchanged his
frock for the jacket, trowsers, and boots, of boyhood. All these
changes had happened since their grandmother's last visit; and yet she
was just the same pleasant, talkative old lady that she was years ago.
The children could not discover that time had left so much as one new