“Why don’t you take out your pretty books,” said Emma to Howard, as he stood looking at the gun, with very much the same train of thought as that which agitated his mother. With that he took from his coat pocket two very neat volumes, and handed them to his mother; one was a very good edition of Walker’s Dictionary, the other a neat pocket edition of The New Testament. He coloured as she opened this, and with his usual timidity, turned away. He had stepped into his father’s office, and that was the reason why he and George did not enter the parlour with Emma, that he might write in the title page of his Testament, “_A Christmas gift from my dear mother_, may her son derive profit from the perusal of it, that he may become a blessing to her.” When she saw these lines, tears started to her eyes; and an involuntary ejaculation of, “Heaven bless you, my son,” escaped from her lips. “You have done well,” she replied. “O that is not all yet,” exclaimed little Emma. “No,” said George, “for the gentleman at the Sunday School Bookstore seemed so pleased with him, that he allowed him to take the books at such a low price, that he had almost a dollar left.” Saying this, he ran behind Howard, and drew from his coat pocket, a striped woollen jacket. Here the party laughed aloud. Dr. Barrington, who seemed to enjoy the frolic, said, “why here is a sailor’s jacket, but where are the trowsers and hat? are you going, my dear boy, to turn sailor upon our hands?” Howard’s feelings were by this time, a little touched; and George took upon himself, to clear up the mystery of the yellow jacket. “Howard,” he said, “had from the first, wanted to get something for poor Tom Sanders, who lives near our school: and sometimes he thought he would lay out all his money for him, he looked so ragged and distressed the day before we came away. But he had wished for a great while, to have a small Testament of his own, beside his school Testament, that he could carry in his pocket, and he thought if he had it, he could sometimes between school hours run through the woods to the house of Tom’s father and mother, who were poor wretched creatures, and by this means be of some service to them and Tom too; and the Dictionary he thought he could scarcely do without, but he had given this up, intending to lay out what he had left after buying the Testament, for poor Tom: but the gentleman let him have the Dictionary so cheap, that he found he could get the jacket too. So we stopped at a shop and got it.” Dr. B.’s eyes beamed with pleasure, and Mrs. B. felt as if she could have taken Howard to her arms. “My son, you have done well,” exclaimed the father, “and Tom shall have a pair of trowsers to suit the jacket.” “O, shall he,” says he, “then, dear father, I’ll run now and get them.” “No, my dear, you are fatigued. It is beside, snowing fast. Harry shall go early in the morning, before you are up; very little choice is required.” “He may take the jacket with him, father, may he not,”