But on Christmas Eve father and son were dining together without
guests,
and their talk across the broad table, glittering with silver and

cut glass, and softly lit by shaded candles, was intimate, though
a little
slow at times. The elder man was in rather a rare mood, more
expansive and
confidential than usual; and, when the coffee was brought in and
they were left alone, he talked more freely of his personal plans
and hopes
than he had ever done before.

"I feel very grateful to-night," said he, at last; "it must be
something in
the air of Christmas that gives me this feeling of thankfulness
for
the many divine mercies that have been bestowed upon me. All the
principles by which I have tried to guide my life have been
justified.
I have never made the value of this salted almond by anything
that
the courts would not uphold, at least in the long run, and
yet--or wouldn't
it be truer to say and therefore?--my affairs have been
wonderfully prospered. There's a great deal in that text
'Honesty is
the best'--but no, that's not from the Bible, after all, is it?
Wait a moment; there is something of that kind, I know."