Christmas, A Happy Time | Page 2

horses to
stop; and flinging the servant a letter, which he took from his waistcoat
pocket, again he flourished his whip, and again the coach passed on.
'A letter for your papa, Miss,' said the gardener, picking it 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