Then my aunt brought some stockings and a shawl from the tree and laid them on the lap of old Kate.

What a silence fell upon us as we saw tears coursing down the cheeks of this lonely old woman of the countryside!--tears of joy, doubtless, for God knows how long it had been since the poor, abandoned soul had seen a merry Christmas and shared its kindness.

I did not fail to observe how clean her face and hands looked! She was greatly changed.
She took my hand as I went to her side and tenderly caressed it.

A gentler smile came to her face than ever I had seen upon it.

The old stern look returned for a moment as she held one finger aloft in a gesture which only I and my Aunt Deel understood.