As the minister paused on the threshold, his wife looked up and smiled. She had actually learned since noon to smile. Or it may be that she had recollected her old smile of twenty-odd years ago, for she looked to Russell Langley at that moment like the bride of his youth, or rather like little Ella May’s mother. “Russell, what do you think! Anna has offered us this precious baby as a Christmas gift!” she cried eagerly. “Shall we accept?” He put Anna into the most comfortable chair in the room and moved it close to the sofa. Then he seated himself the other side of the baby whom he bent to kiss. And little Joe repeated what no doubt seemed to him the pass-word for this household, “baa-baa!” Mr. Langley turned eagerly to the girl. “Do you mean it, Anna?” he asked with such a look in his eyes that Anna could not answer. But she nodded, smiling through tears. He took the baby into his arms and caressed it. “I can’t--we can’t begin to tell Anna how happy we shall be nor how grateful we are to her, can we Ella?” he said warmly. “We’ll certainly jump at the chance,” Mrs. Langley rejoined, borrowing Anna’s phraseology with such comical effect that they all laughed merrily. And little Joe smiled confidently into Anna’s eyes. THE END. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.