Happy Hearts — A Closer Reading

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In Category - Childrens Adventures

Authors: Isle, June Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2012 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Family -- Juvenile fiction; Siblings -- Juvenile fiction; Christmas -- Juvenile fiction; Charity -- Juvenile fiction; Happiness -- Juvenile fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 7,139

Reading time 32 min

Text sections 1

Before opening Happy Hearts — A Closer Reading, the edition data offers a quick orientation: 7,139 words, 32 min estimated reading time, and 1 detected text section.

The text analysis averages about 18.8 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #38564

In this 1864 children's story, the Payson children write to Santa Claus, visit poor families on Christmas morning, and learn that helping others brings true happiness. The narrative moves from anxious letters to charitable rides, with stars and pine trees framing each scene.

Editorial Edition Score 4.3/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

Calculated from edition completeness, EPUB availability, text structure and catalogue metadata. Not a user rating.

How this score is calculated

Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg38564

Read the Text

Mr. and Mrs. Payson had three little children, who were very dear to them, and whom they amused and instructed in many pleasant ways.

One Spring, just as the leaves were bursting open and the birds were filling the air with gay songs, Mr. Payson told the children he had bought a home for them in the country.

This pleased the little ones, and they talked from morning till night about what they would do in their new home.

In the pretty country they watched the birds building their nests, and saw them feeding their young and teaching them to fly; and then they saw them in great cawing, twittering, fluttering swarms moving off to warmer lands when the yellow Autumn leaves began to fall.

But when the Winter winds sung through the old pine trees, the children began to talk about Christmas.

"I wonder if Santa Claus will come away out here, with his great pack of toys," said Rebecca one day. "I am afraid he will forget us, he has so many children to remember."

"He may perhaps forget us," said Joshua; "for cousin Nelly says that he, one time, forgot to put any thing in her stocking, although she hung it where he could find it."

"But," said Rebecca, "Nelly said it was a very stormy night, and they lived on a hill, and the wind blew so hard they were afraid it would blow the house down. And I think Santa Claus was afraid the wind would upset his pack of toys if he went up on aunt Judd's roof."

"I think," said Joshua, "we had better send Santa Claus a letter, telling him that we have moved from town out into this pretty pine grove, then he will know where to find us."

"That will be a good way," said Rebecca; "for I remember when Mrs. White, who lives in our house in town, was here last week, she told mamma that many persons had called there since we left, and asked for Mr. Payson. Now, if the people do not know that we have moved away, Santa Claus may not; so he may go there and slide down the chimney, and, without asking any thing about it, put all the nice things, which he has in his pack for us, in Tommy and Jenny White's stockings."

"I will write to Santa Claus," said Joshua, "as soon as I can find time."

Joshua said this in rather of a large way, for he wished to talk like a man of business.

"I will run and get your slate now," said Rebecca; and she soon came with the slate and pencil.

They all sat down and Joshua took the pencil to write; but he found he could not do much, as his mamma was not there to spell the words for him.

"Let us ask papa to send word to Santa Claus," said Rebecca.

"And let us ask Mrs. White," said Newton, "to watch, and, when Santa Claus comes to her house, tell him where we live."

"But Mrs. White might watch all night, and then not see him," said Rebecca; "for I think Santa Claus never makes any noise till he is just going out of sight; then his eight tiny reindeers jingle their bells as they scamper away with the sleigh full of toys."

Mrs. Payson came into the nursery, and the children told her what they had been saying.

"Santa Claus shall be told where to find you," said Mrs. Payson, "and you will have a happy Christmas if you are happy in your own hearts. You shall have a Christmas tree, and we will invite some friends to come and enjoy its fruits with us. But I wish you to remember, my darlings, if you have naughty thoughts you can not have a happy Christmas."

"But if some naughty thoughts come, what can we do?" asked Rebecca.

"Try to think about something good and pleasant," said Mrs. Payson, "and ask God to help you. Yesterday, when I heard Joshua telling Newton, in an angry way, that he hoped Santa Claus would not bring him any thing, I thought my dear boy's thinker was wrong."

"I know, mamma," said Joshua, "that I wish to be good. But, if God lets me be naughty, what good does it do to ask him to help me?"

"God will help you if you ask him in the right way, and if you watch yourselves," said Mrs. Payson. "If we wished to be happy ourselves we must do something to make others so; and even little children can do much good if they try."

"When we are trying to make others happy," said Joshua, "we shall have good thoughts."

Continue Reading →

The story opens with the Payson children—Rebecca, Joshua, and Newton—discussing whether Santa Claus will find them after their move to a country home. Their solution is to write him a letter, a plan that reveals both their earnestness and their limited spelling skills. The narrative then follows them on Christmas morning as they deliver baskets of food and gifts to three struggling households, each visit rendered with distinct emotional tones: the Grants' gleeful uproar, the Fishers' gloomy shame, and the Kellys' quiet gratitude.

Letters, Slates, and the Man of Business

The children's plan to contact Santa Claus is handled with a blend of childish logic and adult mimicry. Joshua declares he will write “as soon as I can find time,” and the narrator notes he said this “in rather of a large way, for he wished to talk like a man of business.” Rebecca fetches a slate and pencil, but Joshua cannot proceed without his mother to spell the words. This small scene captures the book’s interest in the gap between children’s ambitions and their actual abilities. The letter-writing attempt is abandoned in favor of asking their father to send word, a shift that underscores the children’s reliance on adult help even in their most independent schemes.

Three Homes, Three Moods

The Christmas morning visits are structured as a series of contrasts. At Mrs. Grant’s, the children find “quite an uproar” as the little Grants spread out their first-ever stocking gifts. At Mrs. Fisher’s, the scene is “gloomy and unhappy”: Mr. Fisher sits with hair over his eyes, children huddle around a half-warmed stove, and the mother tries to cook breakfast. The Paysons’ arrival brings tears and a “ray of light.” At Mrs. Kelly’s, the sick mother smiles from her rocking chair while little Martha dances around holding up a Sunday frock and a story book. Each home responds differently—glee, shame, joy—but all receive the same basket of good things and tickets for coal and food.

The Stars as Witnesses

The chapter titles and repeated references to stars create a framing device. Chapter IV is titled “What the Stars Saw,” and the narrative notes that “the stars were yet winking through the pine trees” when the children woke. Later, after the Christmas-tree party, “the stars winked and smiled over little hearts that were brimful of love.” The stars are not merely decorative; they function as silent observers of the children’s good deeds, linking the natural world to moral approval. This motif recurs in the earlier chapter “What the Stars Saw,” suggesting that the book uses celestial imagery to validate the children’s actions and to connect the domestic Christmas story with a larger, orderly universe.

Movement Between Scenes

The story’s structure relies on short, episodic journeys. The Payson children move from their home to Mrs. Grant’s, then to Mrs. Fisher’s, then to Mrs. Kelly’s, and finally back home for the evening party. Each transition is marked by a ride in the carriage, with Mr. Payson providing commentary. After the Fisher visit, the children ride home “carrying hearts filled anew with love, and gentleness, and kindness.” After the Kelly visit, Rebecca declares “This is a happy Christmas.” These repeated departures and returns give the narrative a rhythmic, almost processional quality, emphasizing that happiness is not found in receiving gifts but in the act of giving and the journey itself.

Readers may notice how the book balances the children’s perspective with adult moral instruction. Mr. Payson’s speeches—about duty, happiness, and the contrast between “bad hearts” and “sunshine”—are woven into the action rather than delivered as separate lessons. The story’s brevity (about 7,000 words) and its four-chapter structure make it a quick read, but the careful repetition of images (stars, pine trees, baskets) rewards attention to detail.

Sometimes I think about those Payson children, watching their anxious letters float toward the stars, and how the real gift came wrapped in a carriage ride to someone else's door. It reminds me of Minnie's Pet Horse — Context and Discussion, where that same quiet warmth lingers around a different kind of companionship. Strange how old stories still hold that particular hush.