The cold weather held; that evening the grocer’s boy appeared again,
and once more emptied his pockets and a paper bag on the birds’ tray.
And the next morning Santy or one of his emissaries had again swept the
tray and refilled it. On the snow-draped and trailing spruce hung a
second placard. It was more elaborately printed than the first one had
been, and touches of holiday scarlet relieved the black of its letters.
In the asylum, a dozen small faces now appeared at the windows where
one small child had flattened her nose against the pane two days
before. The children were all wrapped in blankets, and wore green
shades over their eyes. This is what they read on the placard:
To His Grace The Cardinal, And His Friends, Near And Far. Please Take
Notice. Gifts will be Ready for Distribution from this Tree To-morrow,
Christmas Day in the Morning.