She listened to the speaking and the singing with
the greatest appreciation and delight. She sat up perfectly straight in
her prim and stiff basque; she folded her small red hands before her;
her two tight braids inclined stiffly towards her ears, and her face was
all aglow with smiles.
When the distribution of presents began her name was among the first
called. She arose with alacrity, and went with a gay little prance down
the aisle. She took the parcel that the teacher handed to her; she
commenced her journey back, when she suddenly encountered the eyes of
her aunt Lucretia and her aunt Maria. Then her terror and remorse began.
She had never dreamed of such a thing as her aunts coming--indeed, they
had not themselves. A neighbor had come in and persuaded them, and they
had taken a sudden start against their resolutions and their principles.
Young Lucretia's name was called again and again. Every time she slunk
more reluctantly and fearfully down to the tree; she knew that her
aunts' eyes were surveying her with more and more amazement.
After the presents were all distributed she sat perfectly still with
hers around her. They lay on her desk, and the last one was in her lap.
She had not taken off a single wrapping. They were done up neatly in
brown paper, and Lucretia's name was written on them.
Lucretia sat there. The other girls were in a hubbub of delight all
around her, comparing their presents, but she sat perfectly still and
watched her aunts coming.
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