by A. A. Milne
“I shall be very much surprised if they’re not,” he assented, “though I begin to find out that ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.’ And yet for all that if I get some nice presents to-night or to-morrow I— sha’n’t be at all sorry,” he added with a laugh.
“Max,” said Lulu reflectively, “you knew about the Christmas tree beforehand last year; hasn’t papa told you whether we’re to have one this time or not?”
“No, not a word; and as he tells me almost always what he intends to have done about the place,” the boy went on with a look of pride in the confidence reposed in him, “I’m afraid it’s pretty good evidence that we’re not to have one.”
For a moment Grace looked sorely disappointed; then brightening, “But I’m most sure,” she said, “that papa and mamma won’t let us go without any presents at all. They love us a great deal, and will be sure to remember us with a little bit of something.”
“Anyway it’s nice that we have something for them,” remarked Lulu cheerily. “Papa helped us choose Mamma Vi’s, and she advised us what to make for papa; so I’m pretty sure they’ll both be pleased.”
It was while waiting for their father to take them to the school-house that they had this talk, and it was brought to a conclusion by his voice summoning them to get into the carriage.
“There is no time to lose, my darlings,” he said, “for it is likely to take about all the morning to trim the two rooms and two trees.”
Chapter 5
Grandma Elsie’s college boys, Harold and Herbert Travilla, had come home for the holidays, arriving the latter part of the previous week. This morning they had come over to Woodburn, very soon after breakfast, “to have a chat with Vi while they could catch her alone,” they said, “for with all the company that was to be entertained at Ion they might not have so good a chance again.”
They stood with her at the window watching the carriage as it drove away with the captain and his children. It had hardly reached the gate leading into the high road when Harold turned to his sister with the remark,
“Well, Vi, we’ve had quite a satisfactory talk; and now for action. As I overheard the captain say to the children, ‘there’s no time to lose.’”
“No; we will begin at once,” returned Violet, leading the way to the large room where the Christmas tree had been set up last year.
A couple of negro men were carrying in its counterpart at one door, as Violet and her brother entered at the other.
“Ah that’s a fine tree, Jack!” she said addressing one of them; “the captain selected it, I suppose?”
“Yes, Miss Wi’let, de cap’n done say dis hyar one was for de Woodburn chillen; an’ we’s to watch an’ fotch ’em in soon’s dey’s clar gone out ob sight.”
“Yes,” she said, “we want to give them a pleasant surprise. I think they are doubtful as to whether their father intends that they shall have a tree this year,” she added, aside to her brothers.
“Then the surprise will be the greater,” Harold returned; “and it is half the fun. I supposed they were pretty certain of the tree, and would be surprised only by the nature of the gifts.”
“They will have a goodly supply of those,” Violet said, with a pleased look, glancing in the direction of a table heaped with packages of various sizes and shapes. “Do you know, boys, when Christmas times come round I always feel glad I married a man with children; it’s such a dear delight to lay plans for their enjoyment and to carry them out.”
“Just like you, Vi,” said Herbert, “and I like to hear you talk in that way; but you have your own two.”
“Yes; but even Elsie is hardly old enough yet to care very much for such things.”
The tree was now in place and the work of trimming it began.
“It’s very good in you boys to come here and help me instead of joining in the fun they are doubtless having at the school-house,” remarked Violet, as she handed a glittering fairy to Harold who was mounted upon a step-ladder alongside of the tree. “There, I think that will look well perched on that topmost bough.”
“Our tastes agree,” he said, fastening the fairy in the designated spot.
“Yes, I think Herbie and I are entitled to any amount of gratitude on your part, for the great self-denial we are practicing, and the wonderful exertions we shall put forth in carrying out your wishes and directions in regard to this difficult and irksome business.”
“And the fine phrases and well turned periods contained in the remarks bestowed upon your unsophisticated country sister,” laughed Violet.
“Of course they must not be forgotten in the reckoning up of your causes for gratitude. Ah, Vi, how my heart goes out in pity and sympathy for you when I reflect that you not only never have shared in the inestimable privileges and delights of college boy life, but are, in the very nature of things, forever debarred from participation in them!”
“I entirely appreciate your feelings on the subject,” she said, with mock gravity, “but would advise that for the present you forget them, and give your undivided attention to the business in hand. That second fairy does not maintain a very graceful attitude.”
“True enough,” he said, promptly altering its position. “There, how’s that for high?”
“Is it possible I hear such slang from the educated tongue of a college boy?” she exclaimed with a gesture of astonishment and dismay.
“She’s high enough,” said Herbert, gazing scrutinizingly at the fairy, “but there’d better be more work and less talk if we are to get through before the captain and his party come home.”
“Herbert, when Mrs. Raymond and I have reached your venerable age you may expect to find us as sedate and industrious as you are now,” remarked Harold, proceeding to hang upon the tree various ornaments, as Herbert handed them to him.
“And in Harold’s case due allowance must be made for the exuberance of spirits of a boy just let out of school,” added Violet.
“And in your case, my dear madam, for what? a youthful flow of spirits consequent upon a temporary release from the heavy responsibilities of wifehood and motherhood?”
“Very temporary,” laughed Violet; “my husband will be here again in a few hours, and the call to attend to my babies may come at any moment.”
“I daresay if the captain had consulted only his own inclination he would be here now, overseeing this job,” remarked Harold, half interrogatively.
“Yes,” replied Violet; “but he thought his duty called him to the other places; and I think my good husband never fails to go where duty calls. We talked it over and concluded that the best plan we could hit upon was for me to stay at home and see to this work, while he should take his children and assist at the decoration of the school-houses.”
“To secure you an opportunity to prepare a pleasant surprise for them,” supplemented Harold.
Their work was finished, its results surveyed with satisfaction, and the door of the room closed and locked upon it, before the return of the carriage bringing Capt. Raymond and his merry, happy little flock.
Dinner filled up the greater part of the interval between their home-coming and return to the school-house on the corner of the estate, to witness the distribution of gifts to the poor whites of the neighborhood; and by a little management on the part of their father, Violet and her brothers, they were kept from the vicinity of the room where the Christmas tree stood, and got no hint of its existence.
Their thoughts were full of the doings of the morning and the coming events of the afternoon, and their tongues ran fast on the two subjects. Their father had to remind them once or twice that older people must be allowed a chance to talk as well as themselves; but his tone was not stern, and the slight reproof, though sufficient to produce the desired effect, threw no damper upon their youthful spirits.
They were in the carriage again soon after leaving the table, Violet with them this time, Harold and Herbert riding on horseback alongside of the vehicle, for they desired a share in witn
essing the bestowal of the gifts.
They found teacher and pupils there before them; every face bright with pleasurable anticipation.
The Jones children, whose mother had died the year before, and who had continued to find a good friend in Capt. Raymond, were among the number.
Grandma Elsie, Zoe, Rosie, Walter and Evelyn Leland arrived in a body soon after the Woodburn family, and then the exercises began.
The captain offered a short prayer, and made a little address appropriate to the occasion; teacher and scholars sang a hymn, a Christmas carol; then the tree was unveiled amid murmurs of admiration and delight, and the distribution of the gifts began.
Every child received a suit of warm, comfortable clothes, a book, a bag of candy, a sandwich or two, some cakes and fruit.
The tree was hung with rosy-cheeked apples, oranges, bananas, bunches of grapes and strings of popcorn. There were bright tinsel ornaments too, and a goodly array of gaily dressed paper dolls, mostly Gracie’s contribution.
She had given up all her store for the gratification of the poor children.
“I’ve had such good times myself, playing with them and dressing them, that I do believe the poor children, that don’t have half the pleasures I do, will enjoy them too, and I can do very well without,” she said to Lulu on deciding to make the sacrifice.
So she told her father they were not to be used merely as a temporary ornament for the tree, but to be given away to some of the younger girls attending the school.
They, along with other pretty things, were taken from the tree and presented last of all, and the delight manifested by the recipients more than made amends to Gracie for her self-denial.
From the Woodburn school-house our friends all repaired to the one at Ion, and a similar scene was enacted there. The exercises and the gifts to the children were very nearly the same, but there were older people— house servants and laborers on the estates— to whom were given more substantial gifts in money and provisions for the support of their families.
The afternoon was waning when the Raymonds again entered their family carriage and the captain gave the order, “Home to Woodburn.”
And now the children began to think of the home celebration of Christmas eve, and to renew their wonderings as to what arrangements might have been made for their own enjoyment of its return. Still they asked no question on the subject, but they sobered down and were very quiet during the short drive.
“Tired, children?” queried their father, putting an arm round Grace as she leaned confidingly up against him, and smiling affectionately upon them all.
“Oh, no, sir, not at all!” replied Max, quickly, straightening himself with the air of one who had no thought of fatigue.
“Not at all, papa,” echoed Lulu.
“Only just a little bit, papa,” Grace said with cheerful look and tone. “We have had such a nice day.”
“Giving pleasure to others,” he remarked, patting the rosy cheek resting against his shoulder; “there is nothing more enjoyable. The little girls were very glad to get your dollies.”
“Yes, sir; I’m so glad I gave them.”
The carriage stopped. They were at their own door. In another minute they had all alighted and the children were following their father and Violet into the house.
A Newfoundland dog, a magnificent specimen of his race, met them almost at the threshold.
“Oh!” cried the children, in excited chorus, “where, did he come from? Whose dog is he?”
“Max’s; a Christmas gift from papa,” answered the captain.
“Oh!” exclaimed Max, his face sparkling all over with delight, “what a splendid fellow! Papa, thank you ever so much! You couldn’t have given me a more acceptable present.”
“Ah? I’m glad you like him. But come into the library, all of you, for a moment. It is not quite tea time yet.”
The captain led the way as he spoke, everybody else following.
“Howdy do? Where you been?” called out a rather harsh voice, and sending a surprised, inquiring glance about in search of the speaker, the children presently spied a cage with a parrot in it; an African parrot; grey, with a scarlet tail.
“Polly wants a cracker!” screamed the bird. “Time for breakfast, Lu! Where you been?”
“How will Polly suit you for a Christmas gift, Lulu?” asked the captain, smiling down into the flushed, delighted face of his eldest daughter.
“O papa, is it for me?” she cried half breathlessly.
“Yes, if you want it, though I fear she may prove a rather troublesome pet. Here is Gracie’s gift from papa,” he added, pointing to a beautiful Maltese kitten curled upon the rug before the fire. “We mustn’t let Max’s big gift swallow your little one. I trust that in time we can teach them to be friends.”
Grace loved kittens and was no less delighted with her present than her brother and sister with theirs.
“O the pretty pet!” she exclaimed, dropping down on the rug beside it and gently stroking its soft fur. “I’d like to take you on my lap, pretty pussy, but you’re fast asleep, and I won’t wake you.”
“That is right, my darling; I am glad to see my little girl thoughtful of the comfort of even a cat,” her father said, bending down to stroke Gracie’s hair with tenderly caressing hand.
“I s’pose they have feelings as well as other folks, papa,” she said, smiling up affectionately into his face. “I mean to be very kind to this pretty pussy; and oh I’m ever so much obliged to you for her!”
His reply was prevented by a sudden, loud bark from the dog, as he spied pussy on the rug.
“Turn him out into the hall, May,” the captain said, hastily stepping in between dog and cat. “Don’t be alarmed for your pet, Gracie; he shall not be permitted to harm her.”
“Nor my Polly either, shall he, papa?” asked Lulu, who was trying to make acquaintance with her new possession.
“No; certainly not. But take care of your fingers, daughter; she may snap at them and give you a bite that you will remember for a long while. Now go and get yourselves ready for tea. It is almost time for the bell to ring.”
The children made haste to obey. The captain and Violet lingered behind for a moment.
“How pleased they are!” she said with a joyous look up into her husband’s face. “It’s a perfect treat to witness their delight on such occasions. I can hardly wait to show them the tree with all its treasures.”
“Dear wife, your affection for my darlings is a well-spring of joy to me,” he said with tender look and smile; “and theirs for you no less so. I am sure you have completely won their hearts.”
“You make me very happy,” she responded, her eyes shining with joy and love. “But there! do you hear little Elsie calling for papa and mamma?”
The faces that surrounded the tea table that evening were very bright, though the children had no expectation of the treat in store for them; each had had a present from papa, and that was almost more than they had ventured to hope for.
But they were in gay spirits, looking forward to a time of rare enjoyment in spending the Christmas holidays with Grandma Elsie, at Ion.
“We’ll be glad to go,” remarked Lulu, “and then glad to come back to our own dear home.”
“So you will be twice glad,” said her father.
“Yes, that is just the way I feel about it,” Violet said. “Mamma’s house will always be a home to me— a dear home; and yet my husband’s doubly so.”
“It should, seeing that it is quite as much yours as his,” he said, with a gratified smile. “Well, my dear, I see we have all finished eating. Shall we go now?”
“Yes, sir; if you please. Our little girls will want to take another peep at their new pets,” she said, rising and slipping her hand into his arm.
They passed out of the room together, the children following.
But on reaching the hall, instead of going into the library they turned toward the parlor on the other side of it, in which, as the chi
ldren well remembered, last year’s Christmas tree had been set up.
The captain threw open the door, and then stood a larger and finer tree blazing with lights from many tapers and colored lamps, and loaded with beautiful things.
“Oh! oh! what a beauty! what a splendid tree!” cried the children, dancing about and clapping their hands in delight. “And we didn’t know we were to have any at all. Mamma Vi you must have had it set up, and trimmed it while we were gone this morning. Didn’t you? Oh thank you ever so much!”
“Your father provided it, and your thanks are due to him far more than to me,” Violet replied, with a smiling-glance in his direction.
At that they crowded about him, Max putting a hand affectionately into his and thanking him with hearty words of appreciation, while the little girls hugged and kissed him to his heart’s content.
The servants had gathered about the door, little Elsie’s mammy among them, with her nursling in her arms.
“Oh pretty, pretty!” shouted the little one, clapping her hands in an ecstacy of delight. “Let Elsie down, mammy.”
“Come to papa,” the captain said, and taking her in his arms carried her to the tree and all around it, pointing out the pretty things.
“What would you like to have?” he asked. “What shall papa give you off this beautiful tree?”
“Dolly,” she said, reaching out for a lovely bisque doll seated in a tiny chair attached to one of the lower branches.
“You shall have it; it was put there on purpose for papa’s baby girl,” he said, taking it up carefully and putting it into her arms. “Now let us see what we can find for mamma and your brother and sisters.”
His gift to Violet was some beautiful lace selected with the help of her mother. He had contrived to add it to the adornments of the tree without her knowledge. She was greatly pleased when he detached and handed it to her.
