It was Christmas Eve, and the door at the farm was shut to keep out the cold. A woman crept onto the porch, and knocked timidly, then for a while waited. While waiting, she leaned face and hands against one of the side-posts, and from head to foot a slow trembling took hold of her, of cold, and fear, and weakness. After the third knock a bar was let down from within, and the door swung wide on its hinges; warm light streamed out, showing the figure of the supplicant. MollyLet me in, or I shall