Mrs March said I have a treat for you after supper Beth clapped her hands and Jo tossed up her napkin shouting A letter from Father They hurried through their dinner Then their mother read the letter At the end Father gave his love and a kiss to each I think of them every day and pray for them at night I know they will remember everything I said to them and they will be loving children to you work hard and be good girls so that when I come back I may be prouder than ever of my little women They each cried and promised to not be so selfi sh Then they sat and sewed without complaining at all At nine they stopped and sang as usual before going to bed Beth knew how to softly touch the yellow keys of the old piano and make it sound good They never grew too old for their singing time every night 8
2 A Merry Christmas Jo woke up Christmas morning and was disappointed at fi rst that there were no stockings full of goodies Then she remembered her mother’s promise Under her pillow was a little red-covered book Pilgrim’s Progress Each girl woke up with the book with a different color cover under her pillow When they ran downstairs to thank their mother they found Hannah who had lived there since Meg was born Some poor person came begging and your ma went to help Hannah said Everyone put their gifts for their mother into a basket They heard the front door open and close They hid the basket and hurried to the breakfast table 9
Merry Christmas Marmee Thank you for our books they cried Merry Christmas daughters I want to tell you about the poor woman nearby with a newborn baby Six children crowd into one bed to stay warm There is nothing to eat Will you give them your breakfast as a Christmas gift Everyone wanted to help carry the food to the children They soon were in a bare and miserable room with broken windows and no fi re The sick mother and hungry children smiled at the girls You are angels the woman cried Quickly they made a fi re fi xed the broken windows with old hats and fed the family as if they were hungry birds When they returned home they shouted Three cheers for Marmee and sat their mother in a seat of honor She was surprised as they gave her their gifts Then they presented their play 10
Afterward Hannah appeared and invited them to go to supper When they saw the table they were amazed There was ice cream cake fruit and French candies In the middle of the table were four bouquets of fl owers Mrs March said Old Mr Laurence sent it The Laurence boy’s grandfather from next door We don’t even know him Meg said Their mother explained Hannah told one of his servants about what you did with your breakfast He sent a note saying he wanted to send these to you in honor of the day Someday they hoped to get to know the old man who lived next door 11
