Christmas, A Happy Time | Page 2

up and offering it to the young ladies: 'Shall I take it to James to carry in?'
'No; I will--I will,' exclaimed both the little girls at once. Elizabeth, though the youngest, generally contrived to be forwardest; and seizing upon the letter, as the gardener held it between his finger and thumb, she scampered away, followed by Harriet, and they both arrived almost breathless in the drawing-room.
'The coaches are both past, papa,' said Harriet, 'without John and Frederick'; and as soon as the information had been given, she burst into tears.
'But here is a letter, which will tell about it, I dare say, papa,' added Elizabeth. 'To John Mortimer, Esq. Beech Grove,' she continued, reading the direction, as she presented the letter. 'It is John's writing, papa.'
Mrs. Mortimer looked uneasy; and Mr. Mortimer broke the seal of the letter with some little alarm.
'It is all well,' said the kind father, almost directly; 'nothing to apprehend, my love,' added he, as he handed the letter across to his wife.
The letter was as follows:--
MY DEAR PAPA,
No room for us in either of the coaches--inside or out. Mr. Brown is going to send us in a post chaise, with two other boys.
Your affectionate and dutiful Son,
JOHN MORTIMER.
'Our pleasure is only delayed for a few hours,' said Mr. Mortimer, as he put an arm round the neck of each of his little girls. 'They will be here in the course of a short time, no doubt, and have you got every thing ready to receive them?'
'Oh yes, papa, quite ready,' replied Elizabeth, who was slipping her neck from under her father's arm, with the intention of again returning to the bottom of the shrubbery. Harriet directly followed her towards the door.
'And where now my little girls,' said Mrs. Mortimer; 'not to the shrubbery again this evening?'
'We were going, mamma,' replied Elizabeth: 'had you rather we should not?'
'I had,' answered Mrs. Mortimer; you have been out nearly two hours, and the air is now very sharp and cold; the sun is set, and in a short time it will be quite dusk. You can watch the road from the play-room window; and I think it very likely your brothers will not be here before quite night.'
Both the little girls would have preferred another run in the shrubbery, and another peep over the gate at the end of it: but they were accustomed to know, that their mother's judgment was better than their own; and without a murmur, therefore they repaired to the school-room.
'Oh! there they are,--there they are,' said Elizabeth, before she had scarcely reached the window: 'It must be my brothers,--I am sure it was a post-chaise.'
'Where--where?' said Harriet, jumping up upon the window seat, and straining her eyes to catch a sight of the desired object.
'I cannot see it now,' replied Elizabeth, 'it is gone behind the elm trees by the side of the road: we shall see it again, presently. Do go, dear Harriet, and ask mamma if we may go down and meet them.'
'But I do not know they are coming,' said Harriet: 'do dear Elizabeth tell me where you saw them. I do not think you could have seen them: and if you did, they must be a great way off.'
'Oh there--there, Harriet, cannot you see them now?' said Elizabeth, putting her arm round her sister's neck; 'There,--just by the mill, this side of the elms. Now they are gone again.'
'Yes, I see them,' replied Harriet; 'and now they are come out again from behind old Jackson's cottage. Oh, now I see them very plain.--I can almost make them both out.'
'Oh, I can make them quite out,' said Elizabeth; 'and they have got a horn, too, and are blowing away: and John is shaking his handkerchief. Oh, I wish we might go down and meet them.'
And both the children began jumping about in an ecstasy of joy. At this moment Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer entered the play-room. 'They are coming, papa,--they are coming, mamma,' said Harriet and Elizabeth both together. Mrs. Mortimer had thrown a large cloak and hood over her, and Mr. Mortimer had his hat in his hand.
'We were coming to fetch you to meet them,' said Mr. Mortimer.--'Come, make haste, or they will be here before we can be out of the house; for the young gentlemen travel rapidly with their four horses.'
Harriet and Elizabeth hastened after their father and mother, who were preparing to lead the way to the shrubbery, but before they were out of the hall door, the post chaise and four was rattling down the avenue and in a few minutes the two lads were pressed to the hearts of their beloved parents and their affectionate sisters.
As the two other youths who accompanied the Mortimers were eager to pursue their journey, the chaise was