He ought to give twelve Christmas presents in all: to Father and Mother, three sisters, both the maids, Jeremias the wood-cutter, Uncle Isaac of Kingthorpe, Miss Melling (Uncle’s housekeeper), Miss Jorgensen, who stayed with them last summer, and Tellef, his special boy friend.

 

This wasn’t the first year he had given presents, no, indeed! He had given some last year and the year before, but then Mother had helped him. This year he was going to plan them all by himself. Not a single person, not even Mother, should get the least idea of any of the presents beforehand.

 

After all, should he give Miss Jorgensen a present or not? Miss Melling there was no question about. She was always giving him presents, and she wasn’t the worst person in the world, even if she was so fussy¹ about boys wiping their feet. The last time he was at Kingthorpe she had given him a silver pencil holder² without any reason whatever! It wasn’t his birthday or anything. Yes, he would certainly give her something—that was settled.

 

The hardest to find presents for were Uncle Isaac and Jeremias. Poor Jeremias was sick now; he had been in bed for a whole month with pains in his back and everywhere. Johnny Blossom had been to his house to see him every day that he had thought of it, and that was almost every day. Jeremias lay there alone all day long, except that Maria Kopp went in morning and evening to look after him a little. It was easy enough to get into the little house, for it was never locked. Any one could lift the latch³ and step in; then the thing to do was to get Jeremias a dipper of water and to fix up the fire. Jeremias would say, “Thank you kindly⁴, sir” (he always said that), and then Johnny Blossom would dash out, fastening the door again with only the heavy old latch.

 

At home that day they had been baking the Christmas cakes. Johnny Blossom had eaten not a little of the raw

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