A Christmas Breakfast Without Invitation

"We should keep open house on Christrnas day, in tho good, old way of our ! Dutch predecessors, if not forefathers. ' The poor should sharo in our 1 making, and even our dumb friends should have causo to rejoice. This is all very well ; but our little friends will imagine that they ought to have the liberty of SQnding out invitations where they furnish the banquet. But there are somc children who will always be late in gettiag down for breakfast. The I ccmsequcnce is that breakfast gets cold, ' and that pussy and hor family grow j patiënt. Sovr, 1 havo no doubt the cats held a so?emn couiuil, and I cluded that Santa Chira hadcarried all the children off, and that, of corarse having vanished, would never need thé breakfast. They cried bitterly, for they liked (be little children. I can ahnost see tho ' tears running down their elieeks nnd ' quivering on their whiskers. But ppople ] cannot grieve lor ever. Even cats munt stop erying, and every child knows that after a good cry one feelfi terribly hungry. So these cats vipc their eyeej and, thinking it a jiity such a ñire treakfast should go to yaste,, sat down and ate ! it up - the tears buMiuig out every now : and then, thoy werf so decply aftected. : "Seat! Satl yon good-for-notking ■ catsl" cried the maid, asshedrove them ■ off. Wasn't it hard?