Ethel Calvert Phillips

“ And, hastily emptying her bowl, Susan departed to station herself upon the low stone wall that separated the Tallman house from her own. She saw heads pass and repass the open windows, sounds of hammering floated out upon the sweet spring air, rugs were vigorously shaken on the little back porch. The butcher’s cart rumbled noisily past on the main road, and a slim lady, with fair hair and a long blue apron, stepped out on the porch and, shading her eyes with her hand, gazed down the driveway as if she were expecting some one. ”

“ Every time Buttons stepped on a stone and cried, ‘Ouch!’ Fleetfoot winced as if his own tiny toes had been hurt. Brownies are the kindest little people in the world and their hearts are very tender, you must know.
Behind them, lurking in the shadows, marched Jack Frost, carrying his paint-brush like a banner, and stopping now and then to paint a scarlet spray on a bush or to trace with white the leaves of a late wayside flower. Jack Frost felt happy. He had been troubled about Buttons, wandering out in his night-clothes on this frosty night. ”

“ Now she gave her dolly a tight little hug, and gently placed a kiss on Polly’s red lips.
‘Are you happy, Dearie?’ whispered Anne Marie. ‘I am. Oh, how I hope no one ever comes to take you away from me.’
[50] If Polly could only have spoken, without startling everybody and making them jump, she would have answered truthfully that she was happy, too. Anne Marie had loved her dearly from the very moment that she had first seen Polly, and Polly with her tender heart had soon learned in her turn to love Anne Marie.
But do not think for a moment that Polly had forgotten Patty King. ”

“ For Lydia was dragging the children into her bedroom, and telling them of Mother and Father and Miss Puss, and bidding them look at Lucy Locket’s cradle, and the doll carriage, and the picture-books, all in one breath, and before they even had time to take off their hats and coats. From the noise, and the confusion, and the rushing about, and the sound of many voices all talking at once, as Lydia took them from one end to the other of that little house, you might have thought that all twenty children from the Children’s Home had come visiting instead of four! ”

“ Over the land again, Santa Claus stopping so often now that Merrythought grew quite used to holding the reins. Here were more children fast asleep, here were mothers and fathers trimming Christmas Trees, and people trudging through the snow carrying presents and wreaths of holly and bunches of mistletoe.
‘Gay, isn’t it?’ asked Santa Claus, smiling with all his might. ‘There is nothing in the world quite like Christmas and plenty of toys for every one. ”

“ So Mother and Sally and Alice, carrying Jack Tar, walked home along the rocky shore. The sea breeze blew their hair about their ears. The waves thundered up among the rocks and broke into creamy foam. The boats in the harbor danced up and down and bobbed about on the tossing gray water.
Then, suddenly, the sun shone out, warm and golden, and turned the whole world into blue and white. Blue sky, blue waves, white boats, and great white clouds! ”

“ She was delighted when Uncle Charles met them at the Four Corners Station with the old two-seater and the farm team of horses, instead of the automobile. As the horses pulled and plunged through the snow, Patty and Polly peeped over the edge of the carriage robe, their eyes very bright and their noses very red, but with their fingers as warm as toast in their new Christmas gloves, and both of them enjoying every moment of their ride. ”

“ All work and play were forbidden. No fire might be lighted, no bed made. Naomi had been well taught in the Law. She knew that it would be sinful for her even to carry a handkerchief tucked in her belt. And so surely not until Sabbath was over would the trip to Jerusalem be discussed.
She sat alone in the shade of the fig-tree that grew beside their door, and wished that she might see her friends Rachel and Rebekah to tell them the good news. She watched the great sun flame through the bright Syrian sky until her eyes burned and ached, but still it was not sundown. ”

“ Polly carried a white rabbit and a big picture-book off into her special corner. Sammy, skillfully performing on horn and drum simultaneously, woke echoes in the attic. Toy trains ran merrily round and round. Fire engines dashed bravely in every direction. It seemed as if Santa Claus’s pack must be empty. But no, there he stood holding a baby doll in long white dress and little white cap, a baby doll who stretched out her arms as if asking some one to come and hold her, please. ”

“ Sure enough, while Sally and Andy and Alice waited, scarcely winking an eyelash nor drawing a long breath, the procession moved slowly off, each periwinkle carrying his little gray house that did not look unlike the gray houses of Seabury Town itself.
‘If they were walking in the sand, each one would leave a little track, wouldn’t he, Father?’ said Sally, blowing upon the slowly moving houses as if to make their tenants hurry along.
‘I shouldn’t like to live all alone in a house,’ said Andy. ”

“ But there was no sound of wheels; only rumblings of thunder growing ever louder, the rustle of leaves in the rising wind, and the call of the birds to one another as they hastened to shelter from the coming storm.
“It’s blue sky overhead, anyway,” said Susan. “Let’s run.”
“It’s raining,” announced Phil, heavily burdened with slippers and pail. “I hear it on the leaves. I can’t run. Let’s sit down under a tree.”
“No, no!” exclaimed Susan, seizing his hand. “Come on! It’s blue sky overhead. I want to get home to Grandmother. I don’t like it in the woods in the rain. Come on! Do hurry—Run!” ”

“ She had no one with whom to talk.
Over in a corner of the room, her knitting in her lap, Anne Marie’s grandmother, called Grand’mère, napped and woke and napped again. On the mantel-shelf the white marble clock, upon which rode a bright gilt horse and horseman who went nowhere, Anne Marie knew, ticked, ticked, ticked solemnly in the quiet room.
Downstairs in the Bakery, which was owned by Anne Marie’s father, sat Anne Marie’s mother in a gay little golden cage from which she gave change to the customers who filed past her with packages of rolls or cakes or pastries or tarts in their arms. ”

“ Naomi caught up her little scarlet cloak from out the carven chest, and as Ezra came past the door, leading the little gray donkey, she flung it across her brother's arm.
"The journey down into Egypt is far, and the night winds are cold. It may be my scarlet cloak will keep the little Messiah warm."
She threw her arms about her donkey's neck and laid her cheek against his soft furry nose.
"Fare thee well, little Michmash," she whispered. "Stumble not nor falter on the way. Thou carriest the Light of all the world, the Hope of every heart upon thy back. ”

“ Santa Claus stood on the front steps of his Snow Palace at the very tip-top of the North Pole.
Softly, very softly, the great door behind him swung open and out rushed the Brownies, pulling on their scarlet caps, fastening their mittens, and laughing and shouting and calling as they came.
‘Santa Claus! Santa Claus!’ shouted the Brownies. ‘Here we come, Santa Claus! Here we all come!’
‘What does this mean?’ asked Santa Claus in surprise, his eyes twinkling with fun. ‘Why aren’t you hard at work upstairs, making toys? ”

“ Naps followed such early rising as a matter of course, and Lydia, after a peep, came tiptoeing out on the porch as softly as could be for fear of wakening him. Her ill-humor had vanished, and she listened to her mother’s directions with not a cloud on her face.
“Go up the village road and take the first turn,” said Mother in a whisper. “Walk along until you come to something that doesn’t look one bit like a shoemaker’s shop. You will know it by the flowers, and by the trademark over the door. The shoemaker’s name is Mr. Jolly.”
So Lydia skipped up the road with her old shoes under her arm. ”

“ Andy was sure that he had never seen a prettier sight than his little sail-boat dancing on the waves, and he sat alone near the edge of the water letting ‘The Mermaid’ drift in and out long after the little girls had gone back to their sand-digging farther up the beach.
But Andy knew how to dig fully as well as he knew how to sail a boat. He flourished his blue shovel and fell to work with a will when he joined Sally and Alice, who sat cool and comfortable in the shade of the great lighthouse, that towered up and up into the air high above their heads. ”

“ So the front-room door was thrown open and in they went, first Anne Marie and Ailie and Patty, carrying Isabel, and then Grandmother and Mother and Father close behind.
The first thing they saw, that filled all one side of the room, was—well, can’t you guess? A Christmas Tree! A great, shining Christmas Tree that touched the ceiling of the room and spread out its branches far and wide on either hand. A great, shining Christmas Tree, covered with glittering balls and bells and chains, with beautiful stars and candles of every hue. ”

“ But he seemed dispirited, and Grandmother, who had sharp eyes and ears as well as a warm heart, and who had guessed something of Phil’s unhappy afternoon, looked from the drooping little figure on the steps to the red-rimmed eyes of her own Susan.
“Susan,” said she briskly, “it’s a long while to supper-time. You run over and ask Mrs. Vane to let Philip come back here with you. Tell her I have a little treat for you two. I hope I won’t give them bad dreams,” Grandmother added to herself, as Susan gladly sped over the garden wall and across the green lawn on her pleasant errand. ”

“ We shall go everywhere together, thou and I."
"Speak more plainly, Ezra," said Aunt Miriam, seeing the puzzled look upon his sister's face. "The donkey is thine, Naomi. Thy Uncle Simon and I have given it to thee. Ezra means that he will take thee riding upon it whenever and wherever thou wilt. No longer shalt thou lurk in the house with white cheeks from sunrise to sunrise. We shall have thee as rosy as a poppy again ere long." ”

“ The Brownies stared at Lady Arabella, and Santa Claus stared too. Such a thing as a crying doll had never happened before. The toys were always happy and excited on Christmas Eve, looking forward to their new homes, wherever Santa Claus might leave them.
‘What is the matter, Lady Arabella?’ asked Santa Claus in his kindest voice. ‘Have you a pain? Are you hungry? What is the matter with you?’
‘I am homesick,’ sobbed Lady Arabella. ‘I am homesick and lonely too. I don’t want to go riding all aloney-loney-loney. ”

“ To-day, after dinner, at which Roger did not appear, Lydia, with arms about Mary Ellen and Polly, visited the pets, and listened to all the hopes and plans of her friends, not, however, without telling a few of her own.
Tom, growing brown and rosy and more boyish every day, led her to the swing lately put up in the woodshed, and gave her a swing in his finest style, running under and back in a manly fashion that he much admired. ”

“ JACK TAR
[33] So Jack Tar was chosen to go home with Alice, and once the choice was made, the girls felt free to wander about and look at the Captain’s ships, of which there were every kind and color that a little boy would care to own.
There were sail-boats and row-boats, yachts and schooners, fishing smacks and dories, even a little warship and a tiny submarine. They ranged in color from gayest red and blue and yellow to the sober gray of the small man-o’-war.
Before they were halfway round the room, Sally and Alice had almost begun to wish that they were little boys. ”

“ Once, too, Maman actually stepped out of her golden cage for a moment and waved her hand and blew a kiss as she watched Anne Marie run up and down the street.
By-and-by it stopped snowing, and then Polly Perkins came out for a ride. Snugly wrapped in the pink-and-blue tufted coverlet she rode smilingly up and down, lying flat on the sled, staring up at the sky, and enjoying it all without any doubt.
Anne Marie enjoyed it too. She grew so bold that she could run and slide with the sled, run and slide again. It was great fun. ”

“ The house Susan lived in with Grandmother and Grandfather Whiting and Snuff the dog was a broad, low, white house that stood far back from the road at the end of Featherbed Lane.
Susan thought this the funniest name she had ever heard.
As she and Grandfather, hand in hand, would carefully pick their way over the stones that covered the road from house to highway, she never tired of asking, “Grandfather, why do you call it Featherbed Lane? It’s not a bit like a feather bed. It’s as hard as hard can be.” ”

“ Silvertongue carried toy cats and dogs, elephants, sheep, and camels, too. Very gently Kindheart brought out the dolls, tucking them carefully into warm and comfortable nooks. Mischief dragged down the steps two rocking-horses at a time, their manes and tails blowing in the frosty air. Fleetfoot and Merrythought were everywhere at once, tying a bicycle on the back of the sleigh, pushing in a stray Noah’s Ark, squeezing a Jack-in-the-Box into place. Little by little the sleigh was filled. Higher and higher grew the pile of toys. It was more and more difficult to find a place for each toy now. ”

“ But of all the comfort Naomi knew, apart from the love of her father and mother, the companionship of Ezra was the greatest. He amused her, he waited upon her, he revived her drooping spirits with his own high hopes and plans for her.
"Thou shalt see again, Naomi," he would declare confidently. "All the cures have not been tried yet. Thou art not like the beggars by the roadside. Say not that again, or I will dip thee some day in the well behind the myrtle bush that thou wilt be digging ere long. ”

“ This satisfied Alice, but Andy had a question to ask.
‘Aren’t there any little boy mermaids like me?’ asked Andy.
‘There are men,’ said Sally, ‘mermen, you call them, but nobody seems to think much about them. Let’s sail your boat, Andy. Have you a string?’
Indeed, Andy had a string, a long one, tied to the bow of ‘The Mermaid,’ and presently the children were running up and down the beach, the gay little boat sailing bravely along, dipping and bobbing about in the waves for all the world like the big boats anchored near by. ”

“ The living-rooms were spacious and cool, the bedrooms sunny and airy. A big attic, meant for play on rainy days, crowned the top of the house, and there each child had a place for the treasures that would otherwise have been strewn from one end to the other of Robin Hill, or have been banished altogether. Sticks, stones, weeds, cocoons, acorns, “Anything that can’t walk, swim, or fly,” was Miss Martin’s decree. “Live-stock must go into the barn.”
So out in the barn lived Snowball and Nig, the white and the black rabbits given Sammy by Dr. Wolfe. ”

“ So Polly must have seen Santa Claus, for certainly Ailie’s stocking was filled when she woke in the morning, and who, may I ask, [106] filled the stocking unless Santa Claus himself had been there?
Polly, too, through the window, must have watched the moon sail slowly past in the Christmas sky. She must have seen the stars twinkle and burn and then grow pale as little by little the light grew stronger and at last morning came. No doubt Polly saw the great gray snow-clouds spread and spread until the whole sky was covered over and the first frosty flakes came softly fluttering down. ”

“ At dinner, Susan discovered that “Bussels sprouts” were like baby cabbages, but it was not until later in the evening that Mrs. Spargo, seeing Susan’s bewilderment at Letty’s talk of the Blackbird Pie, made clear the mystery to her.
“It is not a real pie, Susan,” said she. “It is going to be the largest dishpan we can buy, covered with paper to look like a pie and filled with little articles and toys that cost five or ten cents each. You will pull a string, and out of the pie will come something nice. And the blackbird curtains are to drape the booth. Do you understand?” ”