Two days passed before Christmas. In that time Hilary became somewhat familiar with her surroundings and even at home. For, in spite of the luxurious rooms and well-trained servants, the atmosphere of the Van Buskirk home was one of simple and cordial hospitality. If Hilary had been their own, the family could not have made her more welcome. Even Mr. Van Buskirk, as she wrote to her mother, considered her “worth talking to”. Philip Junior teased her a little as he teased Cathalina, and yet in a quiet, brotherly way looked after them both, to help on the good time.

There was one delirious day of shopping in the wonderful stores. Hilary had never seen anything like the glittering Christmas display. Mrs. Van Buskirk took the girls from one bewildering shop to another. Shopping was not so tiresome when a fine limousine was waiting to carry you from place to place.

“I thought you’d like it!” and Cathalina’s eyes sparkled. The winter cold had made her cheeks as rosy as Hilary’s and she was enjoying it all doubly, for herself and for her guest.

“But I want so many things that I haven’t bought anything! I want to take them each something, you know.”

“O, well, there’ll be something left even after Christmas, you know, and you can buy your presents then. Mamma bought most of my presents for me. She knew I wouldn’t have any time.”

“Let us just enjoy the sights and the Christmas cheer,” said Mrs. Van Buskirk, who was not hurrying about, like many of the shoppers. “Our gifts are for the most part wrapped and labeled.” But Hilary with great delight watched her purchase a few beautiful things.

They lunched at what Hilary described to June as a very grand place, where Hilary left the ordering to her more experienced hostesses. Then Hilary did make a few modest purchases, having by this time found out what she wanted, and went home, tired but delighted, to spend Christmas Eve.

The cousins had been in and out several times since Hilary came, but she declared that she never would get the names and relationships straight.

“Never mind, Hilary; they are all as nice and full of fun as can be and you will clear it all up when you see us all together at the Christmas dinner. Really, there haven’t been so many. Honestly, now, did you think that was a new lot that we met at lunch?”

“No, not all of them, but I had a hard time remembering which was which.”

“And you a minister’s daughter!”

“I’ve been too dazzled here, Cathalina. You must make allowances for a weak mind!”

“The trouble today was that they all had different clothes on.”

“Yes, that was one thing. Then I met a Maria yesterday and an Ann Maria today and they were so alike—I liked her or both!”

“It’s just one girl, our jolly old Ann Maria, and ‘Cousin Elizabeth’ and ‘Cousin Libbie’ are the same,—Mrs. Van Ness. She was the pretty lady in gray. And that perfect dear in the mink furs,—do you remember her? That was Aunt Mate or Aunt Mary,—Mrs. Hart. She is always making everybody feel comfortable in their minds. Then we have two Charlottes. You’ll see.”

“You don’t blame me, do you, Philip?” and Hilary whirled around to where Phil sat reading by the library fire.

“Indeed I don’t. Anybody that could get the Van Nesses and Van Buskirks and all the rest of ’em in two or three days would be a wonder.”

“Good! Where’s June’s candy? Take it all, Philip!”

“Thanks, kind lady, what else can I do for you?”

“O, Phil, get your guitar and sing college songs for us,—do!” As Cathalina spoke she started for the instrument.

“Can’t possibly tonight. We’ll have a sing tomorrow night, all hands of us. Besides,” here Philip coughed affectedly and finished on a high falsetto, “I have such a cold!”

Cathalina laughed. “All right till after dinner. You know Father and Mother always want some music on Christmas Eve.”

At bedtime the two girls undressed before Hilary’s fire. Cathalina thought that Hilary might be lonely on Christmas Eve, so she dismissed Etta and they chatted by themselves.

“Isn’t Christmas the most beautiful time? Will you go to church tomorrow?”

“Yes; Father and Mother always go. O, I want you to hear a wonderful Christmas service, chimes and everything!”

“How cold and still it is tonight!”

“If you can call a city still. Of course it really is not noisy out here, and anyway when you get used to a city you don’t hear things any more than the ticking of our little alarm clock.”

“You only need to mention alarm clock to prove it. Do you remember how I can sleep through all the din?” Both girls laughed at the memories of certain early morning hours. “But you don’t know how queer I feel sometimes, Cathalina, as if this is a story and nothing is real.”

“It seems real enough to me. Haven’t I the dearest father and mother and brother?”

“Having some of my own I could not say ‘dearest,’ but they are just wonderful. And why didn’t you tell me, Cathalina, that you lived like this?”

“Well, Hilary, of course, I’m used to my dear home and would not have thought much about it if Mother and Father had not warned me. They said if I wanted to be happy and have the girls feel free with me and maybe love me a little, I must do as the rest do and not ever hint about having a maid or anything. Then they said, as usual, that it is what you are and not what you have that counts and they were anxious to see if I could get along without being waited on and amount to something myself.”

At Hilary’s wondering look she continued: “Of course they were too kind to put it just that way, but I really thought that they must be disgusted with me,—and how I cried, all to myself! But I made up my mind to it and thought at first that I’d show everybody I could stay and work hard at my lessons! Then I liked Greycliff and the girls so well that I forgot all about the beginning or why I went there. I’ve just been understanding since I came back home how worried they must have been about me.”

“I suppose you felt almost as queer at Greycliff as I do here. Still, it’s a big place there and they have servants too. I don’t know how this immense house would have looked to me if I had not been to Greycliff first.”

Cathalina laughed. “But this is a home. It is a big old thing, but I love it. You ought to see some of the other places here. Ours would not seem so much for size, then. But come on, Hilary-Dillary, we’re going to hang up our stockings just like kiddies tonight,—in the den next to my room. Phil promises to do it too, just for fun, as we used to. Did you see Mother buying that horn and jumping-jack?”

“Yes; I thought it was for some little chap in the family.”

“It was for her little kiddie-boy.”

Christmas morning was shining with the combined radiance of sun and snow.

“Merry Christmas, Phil!” Cathalina in negligee and slippers pounded on Phil’s door. Heavy breathing, somewhat exaggerated, greeted her.

“Merry Christmas, Hilary! O, I caught you! You couldn’t hear that old scamp at the end of the hall. I know he was awake, but you’ll see, he’ll come pounding on our door when he hears us talking in here,—and pretend that he never heard me at all.” Cathalina shook off her slippers and with the bulging stockings she settled herself by Hilary. “I left Phil’s by his door. He won’t care much, but he may pretend he does to please me.”

Etta appeared to light the gas in the grate. She laughed in response to their calls of “Merry Christmas”. Going to a drawer in the chiffonier, she drew out two fleecy wraps which she put around the excited girls.

“Now you take out one, Hilary, and then I’ll take one. I feel just like little ‘Catty Buskirk’ aged five. It’s just as well that we’re starting early, because you and I, and Phil, if we can get him to help, are to decorate the Christmas tree. Loads of things came in yesterday and I imagine more will come this morning.”

“For all ‘your sisters and your cousins and your aunts’?” asked Hilary, as she felt again of the knobs in the stocking and drew out first a rectangular package. “My, look at the yellow satin bow!” she cried, as she unwrapped a candy box accompanied by Philip’s card and the familiar inscription “Sweets to the sweet.”

“Phil brought home a great box of sweets that you will get later,” said Cathalina, accepting a bon-bon and starting to unwrap a similar package. “This is just like yours. Mother was pretending to whisk something out of sight that he gave her.”

“That is the fun about Christmas. Everything is so jolly and mysterious. But you have such loads of things all the time that I shouldn’t think it would be so much fun.”

“Yes it is. Really, Hilary, we can’t have everything as you think, especially sweets and jewelry and little gems of things in pictures and books and—O, plenty of things. And all the Van Buskirks and Van Nesses and the rest just love the Christmas fun. The ‘mysteriouser’ everything is the better.”

All the simple things that ought to be in any well-regulated stocking were in theirs. There was even a stick of old-fashioned peppermint candy, wrapped in a slender package as if very precious and marked by Mr. Van Buskirk, while Mrs. Van Buskirk had contributed a china doll for each. It was tiny and dressed in a crochet frock after a fashion of years age.

“They carried out the idea of kiddies with us, too, didn’t they? Isn’t it fun to slip your hand down and feel the little packages?”

Hilary found two gold hat pins from Mrs. Van Buskirk and a bottle of the very best violet perfume from Mr. Van Buskirk. Then, down in the toe was a small package with a card marked, “Merry Christmas to Hilary from her loving roommate, Cathalina.”

Cathalina’s color rose as she said, “I do hope you’ll like it!”

Hilary lifted the little hinged cover.

“O, Cathalina! It matches the pendant! How did you know that I love rings better than anything else? But, honey, you give me these lovely things, and what shall I do?”

“I’ll show you.” Cathalina took the flashing little ring from between the satin pads and slipped it on Hilary’s finger. “‘With this ring I thee’—present! Good, it fits. Do you remember when I was trying my sapphire ring on your finger down by the lake one day?”

“Was that it!” exclaimed Hilary, turning her well-shaped hand to see the opal flash green and red in the light from the fire. Like the pendant, the ring had its tiny diamonds, too. “How beautiful it is!”

“Look inside,” suggested Cathalina.

Hilary drew off the narrow circlet and read the fine letters, “C. to H. Greycliff.”

Cathalina’s stocking was almost a duplicate of Hilary’s, but in the toe she found a dainty wrist watch. She already had an exquisite little watch, but this was in a style for which she had expressed a desire.

“Rah-rah for Greycliff!” cried Cathalina rather irrelevantly, waving the empty stocking, and slid out of bed. Etta came promptly at her ring and assisted both girls. It was Hilary’s first experience at having a maid do her hair. She sat still with sparkling eyes, thinking of the vivid description which she could give June and the boys of little Hilary in the lap of luxury.

“Toot-toot!” and “tat-tat” on their door, “Merry Christmas, ladies!”

“Merry Christmas, you old fraud!” responded Cathalina. “I called ‘Merry Christmas’ hours ago and you heard me too, didn’t you now, Philly?”

“Couldn’t I have been asleep?”

“Yes, you could, but you weren’t.”

“So long,” said Philip; “I smell turkey. Toot-toot.”

“They did give him that horn! Isn’t it awful? We’ll hang that and my ‘dollie’ on the tree.”

“Is everybody coming to dinner?”

“Yes; the whole ‘gens,’ root and branch!”

“Don’t quote Latin; it makes me think of Dr. Carver. Poor thing, I hope she has a nice Christmas!”

“Why ‘poor thing’? She looks down on us! And besides, since the ‘Herr Professor’ came, she lives in hopes, as Ann Maria says.”

“My! Do lady Ph.D’s ever get married?”

“How should I know?” returned Cathalina saucily. “Ready, Hilary? Come on, then to hot waffles and real maple syrup!”

With arms around each other, they started in step down the stairway and began to sing a Christmas carol. Philip, appearing in the drawing room door, joined in with a clear baritone. Then Mr. and Mrs. Van Buskirk came from the library to join the young people and they all went singing to the dining room.