The Mansion

A pillar of the community, a man of rectitude and charity, differs with his son about several matters. The son wants to give up business for a while and to assist a friend of his in need, both of which the father disapproves of. On Christmas Eve, the father dreams of his arrival in Heaven, which shows him the true worth of his life and actions.

Van Dyke wrote several inspiring fables of this sort. This one takes aim at the self-satisfied and comfortable. The message is still apt.

Perfectly pedantic and suired to the turn of the century. I enjoyed it, perhaps especially because it was a graduation gift in 1914 from three spinsters. It's an admonition about where you should focus your life's works, so this was grand. The best graduation present ever. LOL

A nice short story that only took a few hours to read. I can see why some people like to read this every year.