the first christmas after miss sullivan came to tuscumbia was a great event. every one in the family prepared surprises for me, but leased me most, miss sullivan and i prepared surprises for everybody else. the mystery that surrouhe gifts was my greatest delight and amusement. my friends did all they could to excite my curiosity by hints and half-spelled sentences which they preteo break off in the nick of time. miss sullivan and i kept up a game of guessing which taught me more about the use of language than a lessons could have done. every evening, seated round a glowing wood fire, we played uessing game, which grew more and more exg as christmas approached.
on christmas eve the tuscumbia schoolchildren had their tree, to which they invited me. in the tre of the schoolroom stood a beautiful tree ablaze and shimmering in the soft light, its branches loaded with strange, wonderful fruit. it was a moment of supreme happiness. i danced and capered round the tree in aasy.
when i learhat there was a gift for each child, i was delighted, and the kind people who had prepared the tree permitted me to hand the presents to the children. in the pleasure of doing this, i did not stop to look at my own gifts; but when i was ready for them, my impatience for the real christmas to begin almost got beyond trol. i khe gifts i already had were not those of which friends had thrown out such tantalizing hints, and my teacher said the presents i was to have would be even han these. i ersuaded, however, to tent myself with the gifts from the tree and leave the others until m.
that night, after i had hung my stog, i lay awake a long time, pretending to be asleep and keeping alert to see what santa claus would do when he came. at last i fell asleep with a new doll and a white bear in my arms. m it was i who waked the whole family with my first "merry christmas!" i found surprises, not iog only, but oable, on all the chairs, at the door, on the very window-sill; indeed, i could hardly walk without stumbling on a bit of christmas ed up in tissue paper. but when my teacher presented me with a ary, my cup of happiness overflowed.
little tim was so tame that he would hop on my finger a died cherries out of my hand. miss sullivan taught me to take all the care of my new pet. every m after breakfast i prepared his bath, made his cage and sweet, filled his cups with fresh seed and water from the well-house, and hung a spray of chickweed in his swing.
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