Samuel bridled, but his movements showed a perceptible increase of
speed.

"Well, I do' know," he chuckled.

"'T wa'n't anythin' so awful, after all. But, say," he called
triumphantly a moment later, as he stooped and picked up a small object
from the floor, "they will find out if you don't hide these 'ere
pep'mints!"

The tree and the peppermints had scarcely disappeared from the "front
room" when Frank arrived.

"Oh, they're all coming in a minute," he laughed gayly in response to
the surprised questions that greeted him. "And we've brought the
children, too. You'll have a houseful, all right!"

A houseful it certainly proved to be, and a lively one, too. In the
kitchen "the girls" as usual reigned supreme, and bundled off the little
mother to "visit with the boys and the children" during the process of
dinner-getting, and after dinner they all gathered around the fireplace
for games and stories.

"And now," said Frank when darkness came and the lamps were lighted,
"I've got a new game, but it's a very mysterious game, and you, Father
and Mother, must not know a thing about it until it's all ready." And
forthwith he conducted the little old man and the little old woman out
into the kitchen with great ceremony.

"Say, Samuel, seems as if this was 'most as good as the party,"