Pleased as punch that they got their price. I tried to get you on the phone to relieve your mind last night but couldn’t. But say, what was the great rush? You’re surely not expecting to move into a new house for Christmas, are you?”

The doctor smiled as he took the document out of the envelope and looked at it delightedly as if it were a treasure long desired.

“Not move in,” he said happily, “but I’m expecting to put this deed in Natalie’s stocking Christmas morning. It’s her Christmas gift. You see, she’s been keen on this house for about two years now, always wanting to drive by it, always saying she would like to build one just like it if we ever got wealthy enough to do it. She hasn’t an idea, either, that it was even for sale, so it will be a complete surprise. A real Christmas gift!”

“Some Christmas gift!” said Monteith with a bit of a sigh and a wistful look in his eyes. “Any woman ought to be contented with that!”

“Well, I know she’ll be delighted,” said the doctor with satisfaction, touching the envelope again as if the mere handling of it gave him delight. “You see,” he went on, “it isn’t as if I were giving her something I wasn’t sure about. She went through the house when they had some club committee meeting there and she raved about it for days afterward, telling me of this and that advantage it had over any other house she’d ever seen.

“Well, Alan, I’m all kinds of grateful to you for getting this deal through before Christmas. It’s going to make my Christmas perfect. You know, being able to hand over the actual deed to an article instead of just telling about it makes all the difference in the world. And besides, I wanted to have something special this year. It’s our tenth anniversary this month. Ten years since we were married and went to live in a four-room cottage on Maple Street! This year means a lot to me!”

“Well, I certainly was glad to be able to help,” said Alan. “Christmas isn’t what it used to be for me. All my folks are gone, you know.”

“I know,” said the doctor sympathetically. “Natalie and I were speaking about it the other day. You were just a kid in college when we were married. If we were only going to be at home we would want to have you with us. But Natalie’s people wanted us to come to them this year. They are still living at the old farm, and I don’t suppose they’ll keep it much longer now. They’re getting too old to stay alone so far away from everywhere. I imagine they’ll come and live with us, now that we have a real house.”

There was a ring in the doctor’s voice as if the anticipation was a pleasant one.

“You’re fond of them, aren’t you?” said Alan wistfully.

“I certainly am,” said the doctor heartily. “They’ve been all the father and mother I ever knew, you know. Mine died when I was too small to remember.”

“It must be great to feel like that about them!” said Alan, trying to speak cheerfully. “You’re leaving soon?”

“Yes, I have just two patients to see after my office hours and I’m taking the noon train. It will get me there a little before midnight. Just in time to fill the stockings. Father will be down with his car to meet me.