fingers and are very proud of the accomplishment. One little
chap, about seven, was persuaded to learn the letters, and he
spelled his name for Helen. She was delighted, and showed her
joy, by hugging and kissing him, much to his embarrassment.

Saturday the school-children had their tree, and I took Helen. It
was the first Christmas tree she had ever seen, and she was
puzzled, and asked many questions. "Who made tree grow in house?
Why? Who put many things on tree?" She objected to its
miscellaneous fruits and began to remove them, evidently thinking
they were all meant for her. It was not difficult, however, to
make her understand that there was a present for each child, and
to her great delight she was permitted to hand the gifts to the
children. There were several presents for herself. She placed
them in a chair, resisting all temptation to look at them until
every child had received his gifts. One little girl had fewer
presents than the rest, and Helen insisted on sharing her gifts
with her. It was very sweet to see the children's eager interest
in Helen, and their readiness to give her pleasure. The exercises
began at nine, and it was one o'clock before we could leave. My
fingers and head ached; but Helen was as fresh and full of spirit
as when we left home.

After dinner it began to snow, and we had a good frolic and an
interesting lesson about the snow. Sunday morning the ground was
covered, and Helen and the cook's children and I played snowball.
By noon the snow was all gone. It was the first snow I had seen
here, and it made me a little homesick. The Christmas season has
furnished many lessons, and added scores of new words to Helen's
vocabulary.