Christmas with Grandma Elsie | Page 4

of ours. I'm sure it looks lovely on her finger and shows off the beauty of her hand."
"Yes, I've been admiring it," said Lulu, "and I thought I'd never seen it before."
Maud held out her hand with, evident pride and satisfaction, while the others gathered round her eager for a close inspection of the ring.
They all admired it greatly and Maud seemed gratified.
"Yes," she said, "it certainly is a beauty, and Chess says it must be worth a good deal; that centre stone is quite large, you see, and there are six others in a circle around it."
"I should think you'd feel very rich," remarked Lulu; "I'd go fairly wild with delight if I had such an one given me."
"Well then, why not give your father a hint that you'd like such a Christmas gift from him?" asked Sydney.
"I'm afraid it would cost too much," said Lulu, "and I wouldn't want papa to spend more on me than he could well afford."
"Why, he could afford it well enough!" exclaimed Maud. "Your father is very rich--worth his millions, I heard Cousin Horace say not long ago; and he knows of course."
Lulu looked much surprised. "Papa never talks of how much money he has," she said, "and I never supposed it was more than about enough to keep us comfortable; but millions means a great deal doesn't it?"
"I should say so indeed! more than your mind or mine can grasp the idea of."
Lulu's eyes sparkled. "I'm ever so glad for papa!" she said; "he's just the right person to have a great deal of money, for he will be sure to make the very best use of it."
"And for a part of it, that will be diamonds for you, won't it?" laughed Maud.
"I hope the captain will think so by the time she's grown up," remarked Rosie, with a pleasant look at Lulu; "or sooner if they come to be thought suitable for girls of her age."
"That's nice in you Rosie," Lulu said, flushing with pleasure, "and I hope you will get your pearls this Christmas."
"I join in both wishes," said Evelyn Leland, "and hope everyone of you will receive a Christmas gift quite to her mind: but, oh girls, don't you think it would be nice to give a good time to the poor people about us?"
"What poor people?" asked Sydney.
"I mean both the whites and the blacks," explained Evelyn. "There are those Jones children that live not far from Woodburn, for instance: their mother's dead and the father gets drunk and beats and abuses them, and altogether I'm sure they are very, very forlorn."
"Oh yes," cried Lulu, "it would be just splendid to give them a good time!--nice things to eat and to wear, and toys too. I'll talk to papa about it, and he'll tell us what to give them and how to give it."
"And there are a number of other families in the neighborhood probably quite as poor and forlorn," said Lora Howard. "Oh I think it would be delightful to get them all together somewhere and surprise them with a Christmas tree loaded with nice things! Lets do it, girls. We all have some pocket money, and we can get our fathers and mothers to tell us how to use it to the best advantage, and how to manage the giving."
"I haven't a bit more pocket money than I need to buy the presents I wish to give my own particular friends," objected Sydney.
"It's nice, and right too, I think, to give tokens of love to our dear ones," Evelyn said, "but we need not make them very expensive in order to give pleasure;--often they would prefer some simple little thing that is the work of our own hands--and so we would have something left for the poor and needy, whom the Bible teaches us we should care for and relieve to the best of our ability."
"Yes, I daresay you are right," returned Sydney, "but I sha'n't make any rash promises in regard to the matter."

CHAPTER II.
In the parlor the older people were conversing on somewhat similar topics: first discussing plans for the entertainment and gratification of their children and other young relatives, during the approaching holidays, then of the needs of the poor of the neighborhood, and how to supply them; after that they talked of the claims of Home and Foreign Missions; the perils threatening their country from illiteracy, anarchy, heathenism, Mormonism, Popery, Infidelity, etc., not omitting the danger from vast wealth accumulating in the hands of individuals and corporations; also they spoke of the heavy responsibility entailed by its possession.
They were patriots and Christians; anxious first of all for the advancement of Christ's kingdom upon earth, secondly for the welfare and prosperity of the dear land of their birth--the glorious old Union transmitted to