connie and jane were very frightened. huddling behind grandfather gordon, they didn’t say a word.

“speak up, or i’ll put a bullet through you!” commanded the gruff voice again.

“is that you, john jeffert?” called grandfather gordon, recovering his power of speech. “don’t shoot!”

for an instant, connie and jane were blinded as a flashbeam played directly in their eyes. then it was turned off, and a tall, heavy-set man with snow-white beard, stepped out in front of them.

“henry gordon!” he exclaimed. “i couldn’t see who it was. hope i didn’t give you a bad scare.”

“well, you did,” admitted grandfather gordon. “not to mention these youngsters i have in tow.”

“i sure am sorry,” mr. jeffert apologized again. “in the dark, i couldn’t tell who was coming through the woods.”

92 “so you thought you’d shoot on general principles?” grandfather gordon was a trifle annoyed to think that the girls might have been injured through mr. jeffert’s carelessness.

the other man had put aside his shotgun. “i wouldn’t have fired,” he said. “that was only bluff.”

“then why are you carrying a gun?”

“it’s like this,” explained mr. jeffert. “lately, a number of my best evergreens have been stolen—cut down at night. the same thing happened last year, and the year before that.”

“you never reported it to the sheriff?” asked grandfather gordon, for this was the first he had heard of the matter.

“no, because i have no idea who is taking the trees. not many have been stolen, but enough so i lose most of my profit. i’m tired of it.”

“can’t say i wouldn’t feel the same,” admitted grandfather gordon.

“this year, i’m keeping watch,” mr. jeffert continued. “always before, my trees have been chopped down just before christmas. if i can catch the thief, i’ll turn him over to the sheriff.”

the man moved nearer, peering curiously at jane and connie. now that they no longer were afraid of him, he looked quite friendly and nice. he was93 inclined to be fat and wore an odd red woolen cap. the long, white whiskers fell nearly to his middle.

“why, you look like santa claus!” gasped connie.

“i may look like the kindly old fellow, but i haven’t his benevolent disposition,” he chuckled. “at any rate, i don’t propose to give away any more of my evergreens to sneak thieves!”

mr. jeffert thanked grandfather gordon for bringing the groceries. it was unnecessary for the brownies to help carry the sacks on to the house.

“i’ll take ’em when i go,” mr. jeffert said. “right now i want to remain here and keep watch.”

he walked with grandfather gordon and the two girls to the rail fence.

“come and see me again,” he called as they bade him good-bye and waded off down the snowy lane.

safely back in the bobsled with the other brownies, connie and jane related their adventure with santa claus jeffert.

“he’s really quite nice and he does look like santa claus!” connie declared. “i should like to meet him again.”

the frosty air had made everyone hungry. thinking of the warm meal awaiting them, the brownies were glad when the team presently turned in at the gordon farm.

94 against a back-drop of tall trees, they beheld the twinkling lights of the big white shingle house.

mrs. gordon, in blue-checked apron, came running to the door. she was a tiny woman for sixty-eight years, with snow-white hair.

one by one, she gave the brownies and veve a welcoming hug.

“you must be starved after that long train ride,” she declared, showing the girls where to hang their coats. “as soon as you’re washed up, we’ll have supper.”

from the kitchen came the most tantalizing odors of baked chicken, pumpkin pie and hot chocolate.

mrs. gordon bustled about, showing the girls to their rooms and making certain that they had towels and soap.

connie, veve, sunny and eileen shared one room with two beds. in the one adjoining, rosemary and jane were to sleep.

neither of the rooms had running water, only a pitcher and a bowl. however, the water had been heated in the kitchen, so the girls were able to scrub themselves thoroughly.

in a twinkling they were downstairs again, exploring the living room and the big kitchen where fluff, the cat, had curled up by the wood stove.

95 a fragrant pine knot blazed on the hearth of the dining room fireplace. it made the room very cozy and friendly.

when all the brownies were downstairs, grandmother gordon called them to the dining room table. she had decorated it prettily with pink chrysanthemums, but the girls saw only the food.

a huge blue platter was piled high with crusty brown chicken. beside it was a dish of cranberry sauce and another of whipped potatoes with a deep lake of melted butter.

for vegetables, the brownies had their choice of carrots, spinach or string beans. dessert was the best of all-pumpkin pie with whipped cream. however, by that time, the girls were so filled, they could not eat it all.

when finally the meal was ended, they said good night to grandfather and grandmother gordon and stumbled off to their beds.

next morning, connie was the first brownie to dress and come down to the warm kitchen. she asked mrs. gordon if she might help.

“yes, dear, you may carry in the plates,” mrs. gordon smiled. “breakfast soon will be ready.”

eileen and jane arrived next, and they helped put on the water glasses and arrange the chairs.96 there were only six of the regular straight-back ones, but two of the brownies used the piano bench. miss gordon brought in a kitchen chair for herself.

the brownies hadn’t dreamed they could be so hungry. mrs. gordon had fried tiny sausages and made a giant stack of wheatcakes.

connie ate three of the cakes, and after that lost count. she never had tasted such wonderful food.

when breakfast was over, jane and sunny elected to help with the dishes. connie, veve and eileen volunteered to make all the beds. rosemary cleared the table, and afterwards gave fluff her saucer of milk.

“all work and no play will make brownies very bored people,” grandmother gordon declared. “i suggest you take advantage of the snow while it lasts.”

“let’s go skiing,” cried connie, who wished to try out her birthday present.

“and coasting,” added jane. “but what will we use for sleds?”

“you’ll find several in the barn,” suggested miss gordon. “while they’re not new, i imagine they’ll serve.”

eagerly the brownies donned mittens, snowsuits97 and galoshes. a path had been shoveled from the house to the barn.

“where will we coast?” connie asked.

miss gordon, who looked very young in her black and scarlet ski suit, pointed to hammer hill.

“a trail has been broken by the other children,” she said. “so the coasting should be good despite the heavy snow.”

“do other children live near here?” sunny asked in surprise.

“oh, yes, indeed. the stones are our nearest neighbors. i believe the family has three or four children. we may meet them on the hill.”

in the barn, the brownies found three small sleds, the big bobsled mr. gordon had made, and skip.

skip was a large, friendly shepherd dog, who barked when the brownies called him by name. he sat up and begged to be taken along to the hill.

“may we?” connie asked miss gordon.

“yes, skip loves the snow,” the brownie leader consented.

the horses, ginger and maude, were crunching corn in their stalls. they barely lifted their heads as the brownies dragged out the sleds.

at the hill, the girls found at least a dozen other children their own age. the brownies took turns98 using the small sleds, and riding the big bob which miss gordon steered.

once at the bottom of the hill, the sled overturned, and everyone was dumped into the snow. the brownies howled with laughter and did not mind in the least.

after a while, connie, who had brought along her skis, tried to slide down hill on them. before she had gone six feet she fell. both of the skis flew off.

“these skis aren’t much good,” she said in a discouraged voice. she hurled them away.

“why, connie,” said miss gordon, laughing at her. “have you forgotten the brownie verse?”

“what verse?” asked connie, digging snow from her collar.

“‘now, little brownie,

strap on your skis;

crouch low, little girl,

and bend your knees,’”

“you mean, i’m supposed to bend my knees?”

“that’s the general idea, connie, if you hope to stay on your feet.”

“i guess i’ll try it again.” ashamed that she had given up so easily, connie recovered the skis and strapped them on once more.

99 following miss gordon’s instructions, she bent her knees and was able to slide far down the slope before they again sailed out from under her.

this time, however, she only laughed as she picked herself up. she tried twice more to ski down the hill and finally made it without falling. because the other girls were eager to try their luck, she then turned the runners over to jane.

connie noticed that several new children had arrived at the hill. there were two girls only a little younger than herself, and a small boy. the three newcomers were not as warmly dressed as the brownies and shivered in the wind. they were using large dishpans instead of sleds for coasting.

“how funny!” she exclaimed.

the other brownies began to take notice too, for it really was amusing to see the children try to slide down hill in dishpans. sometimes they turned around and the pans ended up in a snowbank.

“why don’t you get a sled?” jane called to the youngsters.

“sh!” warned miss gordon. “those are the stone children, bennie, barbara and betty.”

“the three b’s!” chuckled jane, who could not guess why the brownie leader was signaling her to remain quiet.

100 “the stone family is very poor,” miss gordon explained in an undertone. “don’t make fun of their dishpans. their parents can’t afford to buy them sleds.”

“oh!” murmured jane, very much ashamed that she had spoken so hastily. “i’m sorry!”

connie had been watching the stone children and could see that they were very envious of the brownie troop’s sleds and her shiny new skis. she couldn’t blame them a bit for feeling that way.

an idea came to her.

“oh, miss gordon,” she said earnestly, “can’t we heeley, eeley leedy pie?”

now the stone children were climbing the hill with their dishpans. connie had used the brownie secret language so that the youngsters, even if they heard, would not know they were being discussed.

all the brownies understood that connie really had said: “can’t we help?” the game was one the troop members frequently played. each nonsensical word made use of each letter of the word that actually was meant.

of course, veve, not being a brownie, was as deeply mystified as the stone children. she thought connie was talking a foreign language.

“your idea is an excellent one, connie,” approved101 the brownie leader. “come along, all of you, and we’ll meet the stone children.”

bennie, barbara and betty were rather shy when miss gordon introduced so many girls at one time. they could think of nothing to say.

“won’t you try my skis?” connie politely invited barbara. “i think i’ll rest for a while.”

“oh, jimminy crickets!” barbara’s large dark eyes kindled with pleasure. “i’ve always wanted to try out a pair!”

the other brownies took their cue from connie. sunny gave the sled she had been using to betty, while eileen and rosemary took turns pulling six-year-old benny.

now the girls could not fail to notice that the little fellow’s mittens were nearly worn out, though they had been mended many times. barbara, the elder of the three stones, wore a misfitting coat made from a garment of her father’s. betty had on a threadbare snowsuit much too small for her.

“i wish i’d get a new sled for christmas,” remarked betty wistfully. “but i won’t. pop said that this year times are harder than ever, and we can’t expect very much.”

“take another slide on mine,” urged sunny.

for half an hour the brownies and the stone children102 had a great deal of fun on the hill. then everyone became acutely aware of the cold. fingers began to tingle and toes to ache.

the stone children said good-bye to their new friends and, with their dishpans, started home.

“i’m freezing too!” announced eileen, stamping her feet.

“so am i,” declared rosemary, slapping her mittens together.

“it soon will be lunch time,” declared miss gordon, squinting up at the sun which had climbed high overhead. “all those in favor of a nice warm fire, vote ‘aye.’”

“aye!” shouted all of the brownies.

dragging the sleds, they took a short cut through a field and across a tiny lake to the gordon farm.

“did you hear what betty said to me about not expecting a sled for christmas?” sunny remarked as they turned in at the lane.

“i did,” replied connie. “and i think it’s a shame!”

“the stone children never have had many toys,” informed miss gordon. “their father is hard pressed to buy food and clothing for the family.”

“i wish we could help,” said connie slowly. she was silent a moment as she reflected that her mother103 had given her two dollars to spend as she wished during the visit at snow valley. “how much does a sled cost?” she asked.

“that depends upon the type,” miss gordon answered. “a fairly good one can be bought for four dollars.”

“i’ll give my two dollars spending money,” offered connie, suddenly making up her mind. “but that won’t be enough.”

“i have a dollar i’ll contribute,” volunteered sunny. “i want the stone children to have a sled for christmas!”

“so do i,” chimed in eileen. “but i can only give fifty cents.”

all of the brownies voted to make a donation, and with a little money miss gordon added to the fund, it was more than enough to buy a good sled.

of the entire group, only veve could not offer to give anything. she had not brought any spending money along.

“miss gordon, will you buy the sled?” connie asked the teacher.

“i’ll be glad to shop for it.” miss gordon noticed veve’s downcast face and added: “that is, if veve will help me make the selection. will you, veve?”

104 “oh, i’d love to, miss gordon!” veve perked up, thinking that the troop leader needed her help.

reaching the gordon farm, the girls swept off their snowsuits and left their galoshes on the porch. then they stomped in to toast themselves by the kitchen stove and the fireplace where a big log crackled.

“lunch will be ready directly,” announced mrs. gordon, bustling to and fro. “hot vegetable soup and all the hamburgers you can eat!”

“miss gordon, tell grandma about our wonderful plan!” jane urged the teacher.

“to be sure. i’m very proud of my brownies for wishing to help others.”

mrs. gordon began dishing soup from the big blue tureen. “so the brownies have found themselves a project?” she inquired. “what is it, may i ask?”

“we’ve decided to give the stone children a christmas present,” declared connie, before miss gordon could answer. “we voted to use our spending money to buy them a new sled.”

now grandmother gordon truly was surprised. the soup ladle clattered from her hand against the rim of the tureen.

she gazed quickly at miss gordon, almost as if she were displeased.

105 “the stone children?” she repeated. “but are you certain—that is—”

she did not finish what she had started to say. instead, with a worried shake of her head, she went on dipping up the hot soup.