Every one was very busy preparing not only for the feast of the evening, but for the two coming holidays.  Christmas Day in Sweden being followed by a Second Christmas Day, equal to the first one in leisure if not in sanctity.  No one had any time to spare for the boy, who found himself in the way wherever he turned.  In the end he was ordered pointblank out of the kitchen, where his mother, Granny and the servant girl needed all the space at their disposal.  The door to the parlour was closed although the lodger had left town for the holidays, and so nothing but the living-room remained.  There Keith whiled away the long hours in vain speculation on the contents of the mysterious package.

He tried to recall what things he had wished for during the year.  He felt sure that nothing of the kind could be in the package.  Any desire openly expressed was disregarded by his father, Keith thought, if not actually resented.  The reason given was that a Christmas present should be a complete surprise, and if the recipient had openly asked for it, there could be no talk of surprising him.  Of course, Keith could whisper what he wanted into his mother’s ear now and then but always with the provision that she must convey the proper information to the father as coming from herself.

Even this process of elimination failed, however, and so the day dragged on interminably, with no help from without for a mind weary of waiting.  The customary dinner was passed up.  Everybody snatched a bite off the kitchen table without breaking away from the work.  Three or four times people arrived with packages from relatives or friends.  Each visitor had to be treated, even though he be a stranger of the humblest character.  Then dull monotony reigned once more, and Keith resumed his fidgeting back and forth between the kitchen door and his own corner.  The old toys were simply unendurable....

It had long been dark when the father returned home at last, laden with parcels and tired out by personal delivery of Christmas gifts to the various members of the family.  His face was slightly flushed and he talked with unusual eagerness.  An atmosphere of reckless good-will surrounded him, and when he made a remark about there being no presents, even Keith knew it to be facetious.

The last hour was the longest.  The father and the mother had withdrawn to the parlour and closed the door behind them.  The girl was setting the table and couldn’t be disturbed.  Granny was nervous and irritable because she knew that she would be forced to join the rest at the table that night.  Keith felt like a disembodied soul let loose in infinite space without goal or purpose.