Lturned my head. It was an angel, I experienced reither surprise nor teart He carried a large book in his hand. I. required no unusual degree of conception conclude that he was the Reo Angel; and having reason, as I ha plained, tobe pleased with myself, with my behaviour during the past few weeks, at all events, I rather welcomed the opportunity of friendly conversation. He answered my greeting graciously. He ad a weary look; I judged him to be "Yes," he acknowledged, "it is a trying period for me, your Christmas time." © T auf sure it must be," I returned; "the wonder to me is how you got through it all. You seo at Christmas time." I went on, "all we men and women become generous, quite suddenly.
really a delightful sensation." " You are to be envied," he agreed. "It is the first Christmas number that starts me off," I told him; " those beautiful pictures—the sweet child, looking so brett; in her furs, giving Bovril with her own dear little hands to the shivering street arab; the good old red-faced squire shovelling out plum pudding to the crowd of grateful villagers. It makes me yearn to borrow a collecting box, and go round doing good myself.
"And it is not only me—I should say 1," I concluded; " I don't want you to run away with the idea that I am the only good man in the world. That's what I like about Christmas, it ruskes everybody good. The lovely sentiments we go about repeating the noble deeds we do! from a little before Christmas up to, say, the end of January! noting them down must be a comfort to you." Yes," he admitted, "noble deeds are always a great joy to me." "They are to all of us," I said; "I love to think of all the good deeds I myself have done. I have often thought of keeping a diary—jotting them down each day. It would be so nice for one's children. there was an idea in this. of yours," said, "1 suppose now it contains all the good actions that we men and women have been doing during the last six weeks" It was a bulky looking volume. " Yes;" he answered, " they are all recorded here."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.