{"product_id":"2940013901865","title":"Little Friend Lydia","description":"Table of Contents\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER I—Christmas Eve\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER II—The Real Christmas Present\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER III—The New Home\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER IV—A Picture and a Party\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER V—The Story of Little Gwen\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER VI—Daffodils and Daisies\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER VII—Dr. Wolfe\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER VIII—Maggie Medicine\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER IX—Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoe\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER X—Robin Hill\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER XI—Who Stole the Brown Betty?\u003cbr\u003e    CHAPTER XII—Roger Comes Home\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIllustrations\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    “We’ll ask her for a drink,” responded Sammy, never at a loss\u003cbr\u003e    “This is your bedroom, Lydia”\u003cbr\u003e    “It’s spring, Lucy Locket,” chattered Lydia. “That’s why you\u003cbr\u003e    have a new hat and a new dress”\u003cbr\u003e    Such a cobbler’s shop had never been seen before\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                          Little Friend Lydia\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I—Christmas Eve\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was Christmas Eve, and twenty little boys and girls were watching for\u003cbr\u003eSanta Claus. Ten little boys in blue-striped blouses and dark-blue\u003cbr\u003eneckties, ten little girls in blue-checked aprons and dark-blue\u003cbr\u003ehair-ribbons fixed their eyes on the big folding doors and thought the\u003cbr\u003etime for them to open would never come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll day long excitement had reigned supreme in the Children’s Home, a\u003cbr\u003eroomy comfortable house set on the very edge of the big city, and where\u003cbr\u003ewere gathered the motherless and fatherless children who found love and\u003cbr\u003ecare under its hospitable roof. Each ring of the doorbell brought\u003cbr\u003echattering groups to hang over the banisters, each sound of wheels on\u003cbr\u003ethe driveway was the signal for excited faces to be pressed against the\u003cbr\u003ewindow-pane and for round eyes to try in vain to bore through the paper\u003cbr\u003ewrappings of mysterious bundles whisked out of sight all too soon. Peeks\u003cbr\u003ethrough the parlor keyhole were forbidden, but passing the door on the\u003cbr\u003eway to luncheon several children were seen to stop and sniff the air as\u003cbr\u003ethough they might actually smell out the secret.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Nurse Norrie called it an ‘entertainment,’” said big Mary Ellen to a\u003cbr\u003egroup gathered round her in the playroom. “I do wonder what ’t will be.\u003cbr\u003eIt will be to-night anyway; she said so.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It’s cowboys and Indians, that’s what it is,” declared Sammy, an agile\u003cbr\u003eyouth who all morning had somehow managed to look out of the window and\u003cbr\u003eover the banisters at the same time when occasion demanded. “It’s going\u003cbr\u003eto be a Wild West show to-night, I think.” And Sammy galloped up and\u003cbr\u003edown the playroom in imitation of the dashing broncos he hoped to see\u003cbr\u003ethat night.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Do you think Miss Martin would have horses in the parlor?” asked Mary\u003cbr\u003eEllen scornfully. “I hope it will be tableaux.” And Mary Ellen\u003cbr\u003eimmediately pictured herself the most beautiful tableau of them all,\u003cbr\u003eattired as a Red Cross nurse draped in the American flag, with a noble\u003cbr\u003eexpression on her face, and perhaps supporting a wounded soldier or two.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLittle Tom took his finger out of his mouth long enough to say, “I hope\u003cbr\u003eit’s candy”; and at this pleasing thought Luley and Lena, the fat little\u003cbr\u003etwins, clapped their hands in agreement. Polly, always a little\u003cbr\u003ebehindhand, hadn’t made up her mind yet what the surprise was to be. So\u003cbr\u003eMary Ellen turned to Lydia, a quiet little girl whose brown eyes looked\u003cbr\u003eout shyly upon the world from under a thatch of yellow curls. Now Lydia\u003cbr\u003eremembered clearly her Christmas a year ago, so although she felt a\u003cbr\u003elittle shy about speaking out before them all, she was sure she had\u003cbr\u003eguessed the secret.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I think it’s Santa Claus,” said Lydia timidly, “and maybe a Christmas\u003cbr\u003eTree too.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMiss Martin, who took good care of these little children and loved them\u003cbr\u003eevery one, stood in the doorway listening and laughing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I’ll give you just one hint,” said she, “if you promise not to ask me\u003cbr\u003eanother question. Lydia is the warmest. Sammy is freezing cold, so is\u003cbr\u003eMary Ellen. Tom is warm, too, but Lydia is hot, red-hot I should say.”\u003cbr\u003eAnd then Miss Martin closed the door and fled. In the hall she met fat\u003cbr\u003eNurse Norrie carrying a pile of clean blouses.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070340841712,"sku":"2940013901865","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013901865_p0.jpg?v=1763596895","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013901865","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}