Those who received something showed it for weeks afterward to everybody who came.
Those who had nothing forgave him in their delight over the good-will he had shown to the others.

Even Felix, who had been watching him soften and thaw out under the warmth of the child's happiness, and who thought he knew the man and his nature, was astounded, and showed it by grasping for the first time his employer's hand, looking him in the eyes as he said, "I owe you an apology, sir," a proceeding Otto often pondered over, its meaning wholly escaping him.
But the great surprise of the evening, in which even Felix had had no share, was yet to come.

He had carried out his promise to provide the simple refreshments, and a table had been set apart for their serving.
The sandwiches made at the bakeshop a block below had already arrived and been put in place, and he was about to announce supper, when he became aware that a mysterious conference was being held near the top of the stairs, in which Kitty, Polly Codman, and Heffern's daughter Mary, were taking part.

He had already noticed, with some discomfiture, the absence of a number of male guests, half of them having left the room without presenting themselves before Masie to bid her good night, and was about to ask Kitty for an explanation, when a series of thumping sounds reached his ear; something heavy was being rolled along the floor beneath his feet.

As the noise increased, Kitty and her beaming coconspirators craned their necks over the banisters and a welcoming roar went up.