Like sunshine after a storm were the peaceful weeks which
followed. The invalids improved rapidly, and Mr. March began
to talk of returning early in the new year. Beth was soon able
to lie on the study sofa all day, amusing herself with the
well-beloved cats at first, and in time with doll’s sewing, which had
fallen sadly behind-hand. Her once active limbs were so stiff
and feeble that Jo took her for a daily airing about the house
in her strong arms. Meg cheerfully blackened and burned her
white hands cooking delicate messes for ‘the dear’, while Amy,
a loyal slave of the ring, celebrated her return by giving away as
many of her treasures as she could prevail on her sisters to accept.

As Christmas approached, the usual mysteries began to haunt
the house, and Jo frequently convulsed the family by proposing
utterly impossible or magnificently absurd ceremonies, in honor
of this unusually merry Christmas. Laurie was equally impracticable,
and would have had bonfires, skyrockets, and triumphal arches,
if he had had his own way. After many skirmishes and snubbings,
the ambitious pair were considered effectually quenched
and went about with forlorn faces, which were rather belied
by explosions of laughter when the two got together.

Several days of unusually mild weather fitly ushered in a
splendid Christmas Day. Hannah ‘felt in her bones’ that it was
going to be an unusually fine day, and she proved herself a
true prophetess, for everybody and everything seemed bound to
produce a grand success. To begin with, Mr. March wrote that
he should soon be with them, then Beth felt uncommonly well
that morning, and, being dressed in her mother’s gift, a soft
crimson merino wrapper, was borne in high triumph to the window
to behold the offering of Jo and Laurie. The Unquenchables had
done their best to be worthy of the name, for like elves they
had worked by night and conjured up a comical surprise. Out in
the garden stood a stately snow maiden, crowned with holly,
bearing a basket of fruit and flowers in one hand, a great roll
of music in the other, a perfect rainbow of an Afghan round her
chilly shoulders, and a Christmas carol issuing from her lips
on a pink paper streamer.

THE JUNGFRAU TO BETH

God bless you, dear Queen Bess!

May nothing you dismay,

But health and peace and happiness

Be yours, this Christmas day.

Here’s fruit to feed our busy bee,

And flowers for her nose.

Here’s music for her pianee,

An afghan for her toes,

A portrait of Joanna, see,

By Raphael No. 2,

Who laboured with great industry

To make it fair and true.

Accept a ribbon red, I beg,

For Madam Purrer’s tail,

And ice cream made by lovely Peg,

A Mont Blanc in a pail.

Their dearest love my makers laid

Within my breast of snow.

Accept it, and the Alpine maid,

From Laurie and from Jo.

How Beth laughed when she saw it, how Laurie ran up and
down to bring in the gifts, and what ridiculous speeches Jo
made as she presented them.

"I’m so full of happiness, that if Father was only here, I
couldn’t hold one drop more," said Beth, quite sighing with
contentment as Jo carried her off to the study to rest after the
excitement, and to refresh herself with some of the delicious
grapes the ‘Jungfrau’ had sent her.

"So am I," added Jo, slapping the pocket wherein reposed
the long-desired Undine and Sintram.

"I’m sure I am," echoed Amy, poring over the engraved copy
of the Madonna and Child, which her mother had given her in a
pretty frame.

"Of course I am!" cried Meg, smoothing the silvery folds of
her first silk dress, for Mr. Laurence had insisted on giving it.
"How can I be otherwise?" said Mrs. March gratefully, as her
eyes went from her husband’s letter to Beth’s smiling face, and
her hand carressed the brooch made of gray and golden, chestnut
and dark brown hair, which the girls had just fastened on her
breast.

Now and then, in this workaday world, things do happen in
the delightful storybook fashion, and what a comfort it is. Half
an hour after everyone had said they were so happy they could
only hold one drop more, the drop came. Laurie opened the parlor
door and popped his head in very quietly. He might just as well
have turned a somersault and uttered an Indian war whoop, for his
face was so full of suppressed excitement and his voice so
treacherously joyful that everyone jumped up, though he only said,
in a queer, breathless voice, "Here’s another Christmas present
for the March family."

Before the words were well out of his mouth, he was whisked
away somehow, and in his place appeared a tall man, muffled up to
the eyes, leaning on the arm of another tall man, who tried to say
something and couldn’t. Of course there was a general stampede,
and for several minutes everybody seemed to lose their wits, for
the strangest things were done, and no one said a word.

Mr. March became invisible in the embrace of four pairs of
loving arms. Jo disgraced herself by nearly fainting away, and
had to be doctored by Laurie in the china closet. Mr. Brooke
kissed Meg entirely by mistake, as he somewhat incoherently
explained. And Amy, the dignified, tumbled over a stool, and never
stopping to get up, hugged and cried over her father’s boots in
the most touching manner. Mrs. March was the first to recover
herself, and held up her hand with a warning, "Hush! Remember Beth."

But it was too late. The study door flew open, the little
red wrapper appeared on the threshold, joy put strength into the
feeble limbs, and Beth ran straight into her father’s arms. Never
mind what happened just after that, for the full hearts overflowed,
washing away the bitterness of the past and leaving only the
sweetness of the present.

It was not at all romantic, but a hearty laugh set everybody
straight again, for Hannah was discovered behind the door, sobbing
over the fat turkey, which she had forgotten to put down when she
rushed up from the kitchen. As the laugh subsided, Mrs. March began
to thank Mr. Brooke for his faithful care of her husband, at which
Mr. Brooke suddenly remembered that Mr. March needed rest, and
seizing Laurie, he precipitately retired. Then the two invalids
were ordered to repose, which they did, by both sitting in one
big chair and talking hard.

Mr. March told how he had longed to surprise them, and how,
when the fine weather came, he had been allowed by his doctor to
take advantage of it, how devoted Brooke had been, and how he was
altogether a most estimable and upright young man. Why Mr. March
paused a minute just there, and after a glance at Meg, who was
violently poking the fire, looked at his wife with an inquiring
lift of the eyebrows, I leave you to imagine. Also why Mrs.
March gently nodded her head and asked, rather abruptly, if he
wouldn’t like to have something to eat. Jo saw and understood
the look, and she stalked grimly away to get wine and beef tea,
muttering to herself as she slammed the door, "I hate estimable
young men with brown eyes!"

There never was such a Christmas dinner as they had that day.
The fat turkey was a sight to behold, when Hannah sent him up,
stuffed, browned, and decorated. So was the plum pudding, which
melted in one’s mouth, likewise the jellies, in which Amy reveled
like a fly in a honeypot. Everything turned out well, which was
a mercy, Hannah said, "For my mind was that flustered, Mum, that
it’s a merrycle I didn’t roast the pudding, and stuff the turkey
with raisins, let alone bilin’ of it in a cloth."

Mr. Laurence and his grandson dined with them, also Mr.
Brooke, at whom Jo glowered darkly, to Laurie’s infinite amusement.
Two easy chairs stood side by side at the head of the table, in
which sat Beth and her father, feasting modestly on chicken and a
little fruit. They drank healths, told stories, sang songs,
‘reminisced’, as the old folks say, and had a thoroughly good time.
A sleigh ride had been planned, but the girls would not leave their
father, so the guests departed early, and as twilight gathered, the
happy family sat together round the fire.

"Just a year ago we were groaning over the dismal Christmas we
expected to have. Do you remember?" asked Jo, breaking a short
pause which had followed a long conversation about many things.

"Rather a pleasant year on the whole!" said Meg, smiling at
the fire, and congratulating herself on having treated Mr. Brooke
with dignity.

"I think it’s been a pretty hard one," observed Amy, watching
the light shine on her ring with thoughtful eyes.

"I’m glad it’s over, because we’ve got you back," whispered
Beth, who sat on her father’s knee.

"Rather a rough road for you to travel, my little pilgrims,
especially the latter part of it. But you have got on bravely,
and I think the burdens are in a fair way to tumble off very soon,"
said Mr. March, looking with fatherly satisfaction at the four
young faces gathered round him.

"How do you know? Did Mother tell you?" asked Jo.

"Not much. Straws show which way the wind blows, and I’ve
made several discoveries today."

"Oh, tell us what they are!" cried Meg, who sat beside him.

"Here is one." And taking up the hand which lay on the arm
of his chair, he pointed to the roughened forefinger, a burn on
the back, and two or three little hard spots on the palm. "I
remember a time when this hand was white and smooth, and your
first care was to keep it so. It was very pretty then, but to
me it is much prettier now, for in this seeming blemishes I read
a little history. A burnt offering has been made to vanity, this
hardened palm has earned something better than blisters, and I’m
sure the sewing done by these pricked fingers will last a long
time, so much good will went into the stitches. Meg, my dear,
I value the womanly skill which keeps home happy more than white
hands or fashionable accomplishments. I’m proud to shake this
good, industrious little hand, and hope I shall not soon be
asked to give it away."

If Meg had wanted a reward for hours of patient labor, she
received it in the hearty pressure of her father’s hand and the
approving smile he gave her.

"What about Jo? Please say something nice, for she has tried
so hard and been so very, very good to me," said Beth in her
father’s ear.

He laughed and looked across at the tall girl who sat opposite,
with and unusually mild expression in her face.

"In spite of the curly crop, I don’t see the ‘son Jo’ whom I
left a year ago," said Mr. March. "I see a young lady who pins
her collar straight, laces her boots neatly, and neither whistles,
talks slang, nor lies on the rug as she used to do. Her face is
rather thin and pale just now, with watching and anxiety, but I
like to look at it, for it has grown gentler, and her voice is
lower. She doesn’t bounce, but moves quietly, and takes care of
a certain little person in a motherly way which delights me. I
rather miss my wild girl, but if I get a strong, helpful,
tenderhearted woman in her place, I shall feel quite satisfied.
I don’t know whether the shearing sobered our black sheep, but I do
know that in all Washington I couldn’t find anything beautiful enough
to be bought with the five-and-twenty dollars my good girl sent me."

Jo’s keen eyes were rather dim for a minute, and her thin
face grew rosy in the firelight as she received her father’s praise,
feeling that she did deserve a portion of it.

"Now, Beth," said Amy, longing for her turn, but ready to wait.

"There’s so little of her, I’m afraid to say much, for fear
she will slip away altogether, though she is not so shy as she used
to be," began their father cheerfully. But recollecting how nearly
he had lost her, he held her close, saying tenderly, with her cheek
against his own, "I’ve got you safe, my Beth, and I’ll keep you so,
please God."

After a minute’s silence, he looked down at Amy, who sat on
the cricket at his feet, and said, with a caress of the shining
hair . . .

"I observed that Amy took drumsticks at dinner, ran errands
for her mother all the afternoon, gave Meg her place tonight, and
has waited on every one with patience and good humor. I also
observe that she does not fret much nor look in the glass, and has
not even mentioned a very pretty ring which she wears, so I
conclude that she has learned to think of other people more and of
herself less, and has decided to try and mold her character as
carefully as she molds her little clay figures. I am glad of
this, for though I should be very proud of a graceful statue made
by her, I shall be infinitely prouder of a lovable daughter with
a talent for making life beautiful to herself and others."

"What are you thinking of, Beth?" asked Jo, when Amy had
thanked her father and told about her ring.

"I read in Pilgrim’s Progress today how, after many troubles,
Christian and Hopeful came to a pleasant green meadow where lilies
bloomed all year round, and there they rested happily, as we do
now, before they went on to their journey’s end," answered Beth,
adding, as she slipped out of her father’s arms and went to the
instrument, "It’s singing time now, and I want to be in my old
place. I’ll try to sing the song of the shepherd boy which the
Pilgrims heard. I made the music for Father, because he likes
the verses."

So, sitting at the dear little piano, Beth softly touched the
keys, and in the sweet voice they had never thought to hear again,
sang to her own accompaniment the quaint hymn, which was a
singularly fitting song for her.

He that is down need fear no fall,

He that is low no pride.

He that is humble ever shall

Have God to be his guide.

I am content with what I have,

Little be it, or much.

And, Lord! Contentment still I crave,

Because Thou savest such.

Fulness to them a burden is,

That go on pilgrimage.

Here little, and hereafter bliss,

Is best from age to age!