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Ah me! My poor Alice issued her cards only too freely. Better indeed, it seemed, had she held to her original plan; at least she thought so, and thinks so to this day. But I am not so certain. A hard time she had of it, however. Quarter of seven found the little Arabs in crowds around the door, with hundreds of others who thought they also were to find out what a “free lunch” was. The faithful officer Purdy was in attendance also; he passed in all who had the cards; he sent away legions, let me say, who had reason to dread him; but still there assembled a larger and larger throng about the door. Alice and Lillie, and the young gentlemen, and Mrs. MacNeil, were all at work up stairs, and the tree was a perfect beauty at last. They lighted up, and nothing could have been more lovely.

“Let them in!” said John Flagg rushing to the door, where expectant knocks had been heard already. “Let them in,–the smallest girls first!”

“Smallest girls,” indeed! The door swung open, and a tide of boy and girl, girl and boy, boy big to hobble-de-hoy-dom, and girl big to young-woman-dom, came surging in, wildly screaming, scolding, pushing, and pulling. Omitting the profanity, these are the Christmas carols that fell on Alice’s ear.

“Out o’ that!” “Take that, then!” “Who are you?” “Hold your jaw!” “Can’t you behave decent?” “You lie!” “Get out of my light!” “Oh, dear! you killed me!” “Who’s killed?” “Golly! see there!” “I say, ma’am, give me that pair of skates!” “Shut up–” and so on, the howls being more and more impertinent, as the shepherds who had come to adore became more and more used to the position they were in.

Young Gilmore, who was willing to oblige Alice, but was not going to stand any nonsense, and would have willingly knocked the heads together of any five couples of this rebel rout, mounted on a corner of the railing, which, by Mr. Williams’s prescience had been built around the tree, and addressed the riotous assembly.

They stopped to hear him, supposing he was to deliver the gifts, to which they had been summoned.

He told them pretty roundly that if they did not keep the peace, and stop crowding and yelling, they should all be turned out of doors; that they were to pass the little girls and boys forward first, and that nobody would have any thing to eat till this was done.

Some approach to obedience followed. A few little waifs were found, who in decency could be called little girls and boys. But, alas! as she looked down from her chair, Alice felt as if most of her guests looked like shameless, hulking big boys and big girls, only too well fitted to grapple with the world, and only too eager to accept its gifts without grappling. She and Lillie tried to forget this. They kissed a few little girls, and saw the faintest gleam of pleasure on one or two little faces. But there, also, the pleasure was almost extinct, in fear of the big boys and big girls howling around.

So the howling began again, as the distribution went forward. “Give me that jack-knife!” “I say, Mister, I’m as big as he is,” “He had one before and hid it,” “Be down, Tom Mulligan,–get off that fence or I’ll hide you,” “I don’t want the book, give me them skates,” “You sha’n’t have the skates, I’ll have ’em myself–” and so on. John Flagg finally knocked down Tom Mulligan, who had squeezed round behind the tree, in an effort to steal something, and had the satisfaction of sending him bellowing from the room, with his face covered with blood from his nose. Gilmore, meanwhile, was rapidly distributing an orange and an apple to each, which, while the oranges were sucked, gave a moment’s quiet. Alice and the ladies, badly frightened, were stripping the tree as fast as they could, and at last announced that it was all clear, with almost as eager joy as half an hour before they had announced that it was all full. “There’s a candy horn on top, give me that.” “Give me that little apple.” “Give me the old sheep.” “Hoo! hurrah, for the old sheep!” This of a little lamb which had been placed as an appropriate ornament in front. Then began a howl about oranges. “I want another orange.” “Bill’s got some, and I’ve got none.” “I say, Mister, give me an orange.”