In the Heart of the Christmas Pines [Illustration: The ever-busy crutch fell unheeded to the floor and Aunt Cheerful Loring fell sobbing to her knees.] In the Heart of the Christmas Pines By Leona Dalrymple Author of "Uncle Noah's Christmas Party," "Diane of the Green Van," etc. Illustrations By Charles L. Wrenn New York McBride, Nast & Company 1914 Copyright 1913 and 1914, by MCBRIDE, NAST & CO. Second Printing September, 1914 Published October, 1914 TO MY FRIEND EDWARD FRANK ALLEN Contents PAGE I THE COTTAGE IN THE PINES 13 II "LORD CHESTERFIELD" 31 III THE INVISIBLE GUEST 49 IV SON ROBERT'S LETTER 63 V THE LITTLE HERMIT 79 VI FROM THE SHADOW OF THE PINE-BOUGHS 91 VII "LADY ARIEL" 103 VIII THE LADY OF THE FIRE-GLOW 117 The Illustrations The ever-busy crutch fell unheeded to the floor and Aunt Cheerful Loring fell sobbing to her knees _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE The boy seated himself upon the window sill and doffed his dripping cap with the air of a gallant 34 So by the window the Lady Ariel and Aunt Cheerful gaily made crimson chains for a Christmas tree 64 Jean drew forth the pitiful little canvas bag and stuffed it full of greenbacks 112 I The Cottage in the Pines In the Heart of the Christmas Pines I THROUGH the chill rain of the December twilight a train crept slowly up the valley like a storm-beaten glow-worm, its single Pullman passenger a woman, youthful and yet mature, whose beauty was marred by indefinable shadows in the beautiful gray eyes and hard and bitter lines about the mouth. It had been a long and tiresome journey through a sodden world roofed with a marquee of mist; three days of cloud and rain from her lonely home in Denver to the goal ahead, an unfamiliar village of which her hazy mental picture had been inspired by the imagery of a friend.