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The country Christmas

Chapter 15: CHAPTER XIV THE HOME THAT WAS FOUND ON CHRISTMAS DAY
By Frances Margaret Fox
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About This Book

A young girl remembers a destitute family she met and keeps hoping to move them from a riverside slum to the country; her persistent sympathy prompts neighbors to consider house-hunting and practical help. The narrative follows everyday domestic episodes—misadventures with pigs, a boy’s visit to a local man, children's squabbles and small triumphs, and preparations for a communal Christmas tree—and shows how kindness, resourcefulness, and community effort reshape the Mulvaneys’ circumstances. Scenes alternate between comic disorder and tender care as the family confronts setbacks and ultimately experiences a Christmas-day reversal that secures a safer, more stable home.

CHAPTER XIV

THE HOME THAT WAS FOUND ON CHRISTMAS DAY

Gaily passed the week before Christmas. Every one was busy, every one was happy. Mrs. Mulvaney swept and dusted the house of Welcome Hodgkins from top to bottom. Not a corner escaped her broom.

In the sitting-room the Christmas tree glittered and shone. Frost sparkled on the windows, while outside in the winter sunshine sang the chickadees.

Early Christmas Eve the company arrived, smiling and joyous. Mrs. Mulvaney greeted them in her new gown. The seven stood in a row to welcome Sally and Alfred. The little girls' dresses and the boys' waists were made from the same piece of bright pink chambray, whereat Tom Randall grinned and punched Cornelia Mary.

Everything passed off as Mrs. Mulvaney planned. Stubbins spoke his piece beautifully, the singing was good, and the dialogues were perfect. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Turner, Mr. and Mrs. Randall, and Sally's mother, having no other part on the program, clapped their hands vigorously at the close of each performance.

Finally, at a signal from Mrs. Mulvaney, the minister rose. "Friends," said he, "my presence here to-night shall no longer be a mystery to you. If Mrs. Mulvaney and Mr. Hodgkins will please step forward, we will give these seven fatherless children a Christmas present."

Stubbins bent forward with his mouth open, and listened in amazement while the minister married his mother to Welcome Hodgkins. He was the first to speak at the close of the ceremony.

"Well, thay! that wath a thurprithe, but ith a good one."

Every one seemed to agree with Stubbins, and for awhile the Christmas tree was entirely forgotten. Poor Chinky was so astonished and dazed, he could scarcely cut the gifts from the tree when reminded of his duty. At last his mother brought him to his senses by a more or less gentle shake.

"Well, ma," laughed Chinky, "it's you, ain't it? I almost didn't know you for a minute."

"Don't you be sassy," chided his mother, "or you'll get something besides Christmas presents right here in front of your second pa and the company."

Chinky didn't look a bit alarmed, and in the midst of fun and excitement did his part in the distribution of the gifts.

At the dinner-table Stubbins snuggled close beside his new father. "Well," said he, and all the children agreed with him, "I thay this ith thertainly a Merry Chrithmuth!"

THE END.