"First, driver, out on Commonwealth Avenue. That will tone down the horses. Stop on the left after you have passed Fairfield Street." So we dashed up to the front of Haliburton's palace, where he was keeping his first Christmas tide. And the children, whom Harry had hushed down for a square or two, broke forth with good full voice under his strong lead in "Shepherd of tender sheep," singing with all that unconscious pathos with which children do sing, and starting the tears in your eyes in the midst of your gladness. The instant the horses' bells stopped, their voices began. In an instant more we saw Haliburton and Anna run to the window and pull up the shades, and, in a minute more, faces at all the windows. And so the children sung through Clement's old hymn. Little did Clement think of bells and snow, as he taught it in his Sunday school there in Alexandria. But perhaps to-day, as they pin up the laurels and the palm in the chapel at Alexandria, they are humming the words, not thinking of Clement more than he thought of us. As the children closed with "Swell the triumphant song To Christ, our King," Haliburton came running out, and begged me to bring them in. But I told him, "No," as soon as I could hush their shouts of "Merry Christmas;" that we had a long journey before us, and must not alight by the way. And the children broke out with "Hail to the night, Hail to the day," rather a favorite,--quicker and more to the childish taste perhaps than the other,--and with another "Merry Christmas" we were off again. Off, the length of Commonwealth Avenue, to where it crosses the Brookline branch of the Mill-Dam,--dashing along with the gayest of the sleighing-parties as we came back into town, up Chestnut Street, through Louisburg Square,--we ran the sleigh into a bank on the slope of Pinckney Street in front of Walter's house,--and, before they suspected there that any one had come, the children were singing "Carol, carol, Christians, Carol joyfully." Kisses flung from the window; kisses flung back from the street. "Merry Christmas" again with a good-will, and then one of the girls began "When Anna took the baby, And pressed his lips to hers"--