I thought you hated us all . '' Turning to Juliet , he said with a fatherly smile , `` What a terrible girl it is for having its own way ! Who ever heard of a Gordon bride doing such an unconventional thing ? There , scamper off to the house before your guests come . Laura has made your roses up into what she calls ' a dream of a bouquet , ' I 'll take Cousin Corona up more leisurely . '' `` Oh , I knew that something beautiful was going to happen when the old rose-tree bloomed , '' murmured Miss Corona happily . The Josephs ' Christmas The month before Christmas was always the most exciting and mysterious time in the Joseph household . Such scheming and planning , such putting of curly heads together in corners , such counting of small hoards , such hiding and smuggling of things out of sight , as went on among the little Josephs ! There were a good many of them , and very few of the pennies ; hence the reason for so much contriving and consulting . From fourteen-year-old Mollie down to four-year-old Lennie there were eight small Josephs in all in the little log house on the prairie ; so that when each little Joseph wanted to give a Christmas box to each of the other little Josephs , and something to Father and Mother Joseph besides , it is no wonder that they had to cudgel their small brains for ways and means thereof . Father and Mother were always discreetly blind and silent through December . No questions were asked no matter what queer things were done . Many secret trips to the little store at the railway station two miles away were ignored , and no little Joseph was called to account because he or she looked terribly guilty when somebody suddenly came into the room . The air was simply charged with secrets . Sister Mollie was the grand repository of these ; all the little Josephs came to her for advice and assistance . It was Mollie who for troubled small brothers and sisters did such sums in division as this : How can I get a ten-cent present for Emmy and a fifteen-cent one for Jimmy out of eighteen cents ? Or , how can seven sticks of candy be divided among eight people so that each shall have one ? It was Mollie who advised regarding the purchase of ribbon and crepe paper . It was Mollie who put the finishing touches to most of the little gifts . In short , all through December Mollie was weighed down under an avalanche of responsibility .
It speaks volumes for her sagacity and skill XXXXX she never got things mixed up or made any such terrible mistake as letting one little Joseph find out what another was going to give him .
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