IV.
Mrs. White, the poor widow, had been able to get along very well while she could obtain work, and while David, her oldest son, could sell plenty of newspapers. But it was very hard times, and there was not much work to be done; so the poor had to get along as well as they could.
Many of the mills had ceased to work because the times were so hard, and therefore the men who had bought a paper every day could not afford to do so now. David lost about one half of his trade. His mother earned very little, and she had no idea how she should be able to get through the hard winter.
On that bright, cold Christmas morning, the poor widowthought how happy the rich must be, who had plenty to eat, and plenty of coal to keep them warm. She thought of the future, and feared she should be obliged to ask the town to help her. She did not want to do this, but she could not think of letting her children suffer for the want of food, or shiver in the cold.
While she was thinking of these things, Mr. Lee droveup to the front door, and the children all got out of the carryall. Mrs. White wondered what they had come for, and she was still more surprised when she saw the great load of wood, the cart with the barrels, and the wagon full of buckets and bundles.
She did not know what to make of it, for she did not understand that all these things were for her.
“I wish you a merry Christmas!” shouted Flora, as she rushed into the kitchen, where Mrs. White and the children were.
“Thank you, Miss Flora,” replied Mrs. White. “May you live to see a great many, and all of them happy as the present.”
All the rest of the children wished the poor widow and all her family a merry Christmas. Flora capered aboutthe room, almost beside herself with joy.
“We have brought you lots of good things, Mrs. White,” said she, when the children had all wished the family a merry Christmas. “We put all our money together, and bought you a load of wood, some flour, and potatoes, and apples, and tea, and sugar, and pepper, and salt, and mustard,and——”
“That will do, Flora,” said her father. “Mrs. White will soon find out what you have brought.”
“I am very grateful to you all, children, for thinking of me. May God reward you for your kindness!” replied Mrs. White, with tears in her eyes.
“We wanted to make it a happy day for you, and David, and the rest of the children,” added Flora.
“It will be the happiest day I have seen for a month,” said Mrs. White. “I was thinking this very morning what would become of us; but you have filled my home with plenty. I shall never forget you, children.”
Then Flora danced three or four times round the room, for she was so happy she could not keep still. I hope my readers have all found outthat “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” I am sure Flora and Frank were quite as happy as the poor widow—though her fears about her children being cold and hungry had suddenly been driven away.
She felt that God had heard her prayers, and made these children the agents of his bounty. Her eyes were full of tears, but they were tearsof joy. As she heard the rattling of the sticks of wood which the men were throwing from the wagon, it seemed like sweet music to her ears. Then the barrels were rolled into the kitchen, the buckets placed in the closet, and the bundles on the table, so that the room looked just as though she had set up a store.
“These things are the Christmas gift of the children,” saidMr. Lee, when the articles had all been brought into the house. “They got up the affair themselves, without my knowledge. No one told them to do it; and I am sure they will all remember to-day as one of the happiest days of their lives.”
“They are very kind; and I shall think of them and pray for them as long as I live,” replied Mrs. White. “Iwas afraid this morning that we should all have to go to the poorhouse. I spoke to David about it, and the poor boy cried as though his heart would break. He is a very tender-hearted child.”
“I hope I shall be able to pay you for all these things some time,” said David.
“O, we don’t want any pay,” exclaimed Flora. “That would spoil every thing. This is ourChristmas gift, David. You wouldn’t pay for a gift—would you, David?”
“You are very good, and I hope I shall be able to do something for you one of these days, Flora,” replied David. “You are very rich, and we are very poor, so that we can’t do much for you.”
“Yes, you can,” said Flora.
“What can I do?”
“You can love us; andthat is all we want—isn’t it, father?”
“Yes, my child; and we must always deserve their love. We may yet be poor, and David may yet be very rich.”
“When he is, David will be good to us, I know. Wouldn’t it be funny, if we should get poor, and David should bring us a load of wood, some potatoes, flour, tea, sugar, and apples?”
“And mustard and pepper,” added Henry, laughing.
“It would not be very funny for us, but I know we should be thankful to him,” replied Mr. Lee, with a smile.
“Well, David, when things change, you shall do for us what we have done for you, and then it will be all square.”
“I hope you never will be poor, but if you are, I will give you every thing I have,” saidDavid, in a feeling and earnest tone.
The children stopped nearly an hour at the little black cottage; but they were so happy, it seemed like a palace to them. They had all felt the luxury of doing good. The plenty they had carried to the home of the poor family filled their own hearts with plenty—with love and peace.
Before they went away, Mr.Lee gave Mrs. White money enough to buy some warm clothes for all the children, and for herself. She had nothing more to fear from the cold winter and hard times; and she hoped in the spring to be able to take care of her family herself.
The party, so happy they could hardly keep from shouting, bade the family good by, and started for home. As theypassed through the village, they saw, in front of a store where rum was sold, two men fighting. They were soon parted by some people, and Henry saw that one of them was the man to whom he had given the money.
Mr. Lee said he had been drinking. He stopped the horses, and asked a gentleman who the man was. He was told that he was a poor manwho spent all he could earn for liquor, and that he had just taken enough to make him ugly, so that he wanted to fight.
“You see what good your money has done, Henry,” said Mr. Lee, as he started the horses.
“Yes, sir; it has done more harm than good. I will never give money again, unless I am pretty sure that it will do good.”
“That is a good lesson for you to learn. It is not charity to give to every one that asks us.”
In a little while the party reached Mr. Lee’s house, where they had a nice time all the rest of the day—a better time, I am sure, for having begun the day with a good deed.