“Let me go with you, Daddy?” begged Sunny Boy.  “I can carry some New Year cakes.”

“We are not going to take anything till we find out what is needed,” answered Mr. Horton.  “From what I’ve heard, I’m afraid that this family was overlooked at Christmas.  The husband is out work and there are several children.”

“Who are the children?” asked Sunny Boy, when his daddy and grandfather had gone.  “What are their names, Mother?  Are there any little boys?”

“I don’t know, precious,” replied Mrs. Horton, “but I think likely.  Suppose you and I and Grandma go upstairs and look through the Square Box and see if we have some clothes to send them.  I am pretty sure Daddy will come back and tell us that they need warm clothes.”

Sunny Boy knew all about the Square Box.  It stood in the hall closet next to the bathroom, and in it Mrs. Horton put all his clothes that were too small for him to wear and all the clothes her friends gave her, and her own clothes and those of Mr. Horton’s that they could no longer wear.  Everything was cleaned and mended before it was put in the box, and then, when she heard of some family who did not have enough clothes to wear in winter, or who needed something clean and cool in summer, Mrs. Horton could go to the Square Box and find just what was wanted.

“I hope you didn’t give away everything for Christmas,” said Grandma Horton anxiously.

Sunny Boy hoped so, too.  He knew that his mother had sent several bundles of clothes away at Christmas time and the minister had telephoned her twice for clothes for his poor people.  But Mother Horton said there were still some clothes left in the Square Box.

“Here is a good coat for a little girl and three sets of underwear for a man,” she said, when they had opened the box.  “And this is a warm dress for the mother, if she needs one.  And if Daddy comes home and tells us he needs other things for the family, we’ll get them for him.”

“Are there any little boys?” shouted Sunny Boy, as soon as his daddy opened the front door.

Daddy and Grandpa Horton were covered with snow, for it had begun to snow again.  They were cold and hungry, too, and Mrs. Horton said that Harriet should put the hot supper on the table and they could talk while they ate.

“I’d like to have that family up at Brookside just a month,” declared Grandpa Horton, stirring his tea.  “I tell you, Olive, we don’t have such cases in the country.  There’s a man and wife and seven children, living in two rooms.”

“Did they have any Christmas?” asked Grandma Horton.

“Not a sign,” said Grandpa Horton.  “The man has been out of work for two months and he won’t go near the charity bureau.  He has an injured arm and he ought to be under a doctor’s treatment.  There’s a boy sick in bed, too, with a heavy cold, and the mother is about ready to give up.  But they won’t take charity—­say they’ll starve first.”