As Christmas arrives, each evening Charles turns his skills to creating an intricate and beautifully-carved shelf that will be his Christmas present to Caroline. His wife, on the other hand, is busy making food for the holiday, including a molasses and sugar candy that harden in the snow. The girls’ Uncle Peter; Aunt Eliza; and cousins Peter, Alice, and Ella come over the day before Christmas on a bobsled. The kids get noisy immediately, but Alice suggests they “make pictures” in the snow. They have so much fun that they are too excited to sleep in the evening, but must or Santa won’t come.

The children, still awake, hear Uncle Peter tell the adults about how their dog, Prince, once suddenly started pulling Aunt Eliza with his teeth and tore her dress while she was going to get water at the spring. He jumped on the path in front of her, then growled and snapped at her. Frightened, she ran into the house and shut the door. Prince remained outside all day, pacing and growling so that she and the children could not leave. Later in the afternoon, he was back to normal as she tried to get water again.