"'He is so very old, I don't wonder,' I murmured; 'but perhaps he's
not. I'll fetch father.'
"My father and Kitty were soon on the spot. Kitty was as strong as a
man; and they carried Father Christmas between them into the kitchen.
There he quickly revived.
"I must do Kitty the justice to say that she did not utter a word of
complaint at the disturbance of her labours; and that she drew the old
man's chair close up to the oven with her own hand. She was so much
affected by the behaviour of his dog that she admitted him even to the
hearth; on which puss, being acute enough to see how matters stood, lay
down with her back so close to the spaniel's that Kitty could not expel
one without kicking both.
"For our parts, we felt sadly anxious about the tree; otherwise we
could have wished for no better treat than to sit at Kitty's round
table taking tea with Father Christmas. Our usual fare of thick bread
and treacle was to-night exchanged for a delicious variety of cakes,
which were none the worse to us for being 'tasters and wasters'--that
is, little bits of dough, or shortbread, put in to try the state of the
oven, and certain cakes that had got broken or burnt in the baking.
"Well, there we sat, helping Old Father Christmas to tea and cake, and
wondering in our hearts what could have become of the tree.
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