he read

the paper and smoked — when suddenly there was a knock at the door, and George's little brother ran to it, though he could not reach the latch to open it, shouting:

— Mama, open the door, Mama...

George opened the door, and his mother came near to see who had come at such an hour, and Papa came near too; and in came a man carrying a big box:

— Is this the house of Mr. Amin Naaman?

— Yes.

— This box is for you. And he set the box on the table. Papa and Mama wondered — had the man got the wrong house? And they asked him:

— Who sent it to us?

— Mr. Asaad al-Homsi.

And George wondered: were steamship tickets so enormous as to need a box of that size? Then the man handed Papa a letter and went away. Papa opened the letter and read aloud: "A gift from Father Christmas." After that he read a long letter from Mr. Asaad al-Homsi, explaining how George had come to him, and what he had asked of him, and how he had questioned the boy and understood from his artless answers everything about their painful condition; then he advises his old friend not to think of emigrating at all, since those whom luck helps and who grow rich as he did are a tiny minority, while of the rest some are of middling condition, and most are destitute poor who live "the life of pigs," as the saying about them goes, and cannot find enough to

keep body and soul together! Then Mr. Asaad says that he has found for him, after some effort, work in his cousin's office, to oversee the accounts — he remembered how clever he was at figures when they were together at school — and he will begin work in a week's time.

At this Mama burst into tears from the excess of her joy, and took George in her arms and pressed him to her breast, kissing him.

And then they noticed the little boy trying to open the big box the man had brought... and in it they found a magnificent "Express" train and many bags of sweets; and George's heart overflowed with joy at the sight, and he began jumping up and down and clapping his hands for sheer joy... Ah, how happy he was on that Christmas Eve!!!...