Marjories New Friend | Page 4

I meant this winter."
"Well, you didn't say so. You said this year."
"It's a good joke," said King, thinking it over. "I'll fool the boys with it,
at school."
The Maynards were a busy crowd during the short week that intervened
before Christmas.
From Mr. Maynard, who was superintending plans for his own family
and for many beneficiaries, down to the cook, who was making whole
shelves full of marvelous dainties, everybody was hurrying and
skurrying from morning till night.
The children had completed their gifts for their parents and for each
other, and most of them were already tied in dainty tissue papers and
holly ribbons awaiting the festal day.
Now they were making gifts for the poor family of Simpsons, and they
seemed to enjoy it quite as much as when making the more costly
presents for each other.
Marjorie came home from school at one o'clock, and as Mrs. Maynard
had said she needn't practise her music any more until after the holidays,
she had all her afternoons and the early part of the evenings to work at
the Christmas things.
She was especially clever with scissors and paste, and made lovely
scrap-books by cutting large double leaves of heavy brown paper. On
these she pasted post-cards or other colored pictures, also little verses
or stories cut from the papers. Eight of these sheets were tied together
by a bright ribbon at the back, and made a scrap-book acceptable to any
child. Then, Marjorie loved to dress paper dolls. She bought a dozen of
the pretty ones that have movable arms and feet, and dressed them most
picturesquely in crinkled paper and lace paper. She made little hats,
cloaks and muffs for them, and the dainty array was a fine addition to
the Simpson's box.

Kitty, too, made worsted balls for the Simpson babies, and little lace
stockings, worked around with worsted, which were to be filled with
candies.
With Mrs. Maynard's help, they dressed a doll for each Simpson girl,
and King sawed out a picture puzzle for each Simpson boy.
Then, a few days before Christmas they all went to work and made
candies. They loved to do this, and Mrs. Maynard thought home-made
confectionery more wholesome than the bought kind. So they spent one
afternoon, picking out nuts and seeding raisins, and making all possible
beforehand preparations, and the next day they made the candy. As
they wanted enough for their own family as well as the Simpsons, the
quantity, when finished, was rather appalling.
Pan after pan of cream chocolates, coconut balls, caramels, cream dates,
cream nuts, and chocolate-dipped dainties of many sorts filled the
shelves in the cold pantry.
And Marjorie also made some old-fashioned molasses candy with
peanuts in it, because it was a favorite with Uncle Steve.
The day before Christmas the children were all allowed to stay home
from school, for in the morning they were to pack the Christmas box
for the Simpsons and, in the afternoon, take it to them.

CHAPTER II
A WELCOME CHRISTMAS GIFT
The day before Christmas was a busy one in the Maynard household.
The delightful breakfast that Ellen sent to the table could scarcely be
eaten, so busily talking were all the members of the family.
"Come home early, won't you, Father?" said Marjorie, as Mr. Maynard
rose to go away to his business. "And don't forget to bring me that big

holly-box I told you about."
"As I've only thirty-seven other things to remember, I won't forget that,
chickadee. Any last orders, Helen?"
"No; only those I've already told you. Come home as early as you can,
for there's lots to be done, and you know Steve and Grandma will arrive
at six."
Away went Mr. Maynard, and then the children scattered to attend to
their various duties.
Both James the gardener and Thomas the coachman were handy men of
all work, and, superintended by Mrs. Maynard, they packed the more
substantial portions of the Simpson's Christmas donations.
It took several large baskets to hold the dinner, for there was a big, fat
turkey, a huge roast of beef, and also sausages and vegetables of many
sorts.
Then other baskets held bread and pie and cake, and cranberry jelly and
celery, and all the good things that go to make up a Christmassy sort of
a feast. Another basket held nuts and raisins and oranges and figs, and
in this was a big box of the candies the children had made. The baskets
were all decked with evergreen and holly, and made an imposing
looking row.
Meantime King and Midget and Kitty were packing into boxes the toys
and pretty trifles that they had made or bought. They added many
books and games of their own, which, though not quite new,