“‘Who’s been telling you that?’ said my father.

But he passed on before I could explain that we had seen Father Christmas himself, and had had his word for it that he would return at four o’clock, and that the candles on his tree would be lighted as soon as it was dark.

“We hovered on the outskirts of the rooms till four o’clock came.  We sat on the stairs and watched the big clock, which I was just learning to read; and Patty made herself giddy with constantly looking up and counting the four strokes, toward which the hour hand slowly moved.  We put our noses into the kitchen now and then, to smell the cakes and get warm, and anon we hung about the parlour door, and were most unjustly accused of trying to peep.  What did we care what our mother was doing in the parlour?—­we, who had seen Old Father Christmas himself, and were expecting him back again every moment!

“At last the church clock struck.  The sounds boomed heavily through the frost, and Patty thought there were four of them.  Then, after due choking and whirring, our own clock struck, and we counted the strokes quite clearly—­one! two! three! four!  Then we got Kitty’s shawl once more, and stole out into the backyard.  We ran to our old place, and peeped, but could see nothing.

“‘We’d better get up on to the wall,’ I said; and with some difficulty and distress from rubbing her bare knees against the cold stone, and getting the snow up her sleeves, Patty got on to the coping of the little wall.  I was just struggling after her, when something warm and something cold coming suddenly against the bare calves of my legs made me shriek with fright.  I came down ‘with a run’ and bruised my knees, my elbows, and my chin; and the snow that hadn’t gone up Patty’s sleeves went down my neck.  Then I found that the cold thing was a dog’s nose and the warm thing was his tongue; and Patty cried from her post of observation, ’It’s Father Christmas’s dog and he’s licking your legs.’

“It really was the dirty little brown and white spaniel, and he persisted in licking me, and jumping on me, and making curious little noises, that must have meant something if one had known his language.  I was rather harassed at the moment.  My legs were sore, I was a little afraid of the dog, and Patty was very much afraid of sitting on the wall without me.

‘"You won’t fall,’ I said to her.  ‘Get down, will you?’ I said to the dog.

“‘Humpty Dumpty fell off a wall,’ said Patty.

“‘Bow! wow!’ said the dog.

“I pulled Patty down, and the dog tried to pull me down; but when my little sister was on her feet, to my relief, he transferred his attentions to her.  When he had jumped at her, and licked her several times, he turned around and ran away.

“‘He’s gone,’ said I; ‘I’m so glad.’

“But even as I spoke he was back again, crouching at Patty’s feet, and glaring at her with eyes the colour of his ears.