Sarah Elizabeth Birdsall Otis

“ Except for her love of the moon, she was only an ordinary little girl, with hair to be curled, lessons to learn and all such unpleasant things to attend to.
One night Gertrude's mamma had tucked her safely in bed and left her with a kiss, and she lay wondering whether the moon were shining, as it seemed very dark, and whether she dared get up for one peep or not, when bang! away went the window shade, right to the top, without any warning, and instantly the room was filled with a silver light. ”

“ Slowly the larger articles, including the tinsel animals, were removed and put away, until nothing remained but a few cheaper paper ornaments and the sad eleven balls, with their pride gone, and their souls humbled to the dust. For they were to be thrown out,—they, the pride of the Christmas tree table, and all their boasts were for nothing. The rich had bought them, and now the rich were throwing them away. The thought of the ash can made them shiver, and the gold ones hoped they would break in the act. ”

“ Sapphira's mamma and papa owned a flying pig. Of course people who have not had a flying pig in the family do not know how uninteresting they are. Sapphira knew, and the Flying Pig was a great trial to her. In the first place, he was locked up in a large wire cage so that he couldn't possibly fly, then he was watched all the time by two little page boys, so that nothing could ever disturb or annoy him, and he was never taken out except when the family were giving a party, and he was called on to entertain the guests. ”

“ Was it then a disgrace to come from Wanamaker's? The red ball looked pale, and the green balls grew greener still.
"Wanamaker's is a large department store, is it not, where all sorts of things are sold?" asked a silver horse, who pranced on one of the upper branches.
"Yes," said its companion, a gold cow, who seemed out of place, hanging as it did head down from a lower branch. "They sell everything from a wardrobe to a rolling pin."
"They have a lovely toy department," spoke up a new voice; and looking towards the corner from whence it came they beheld a rather the worse for wear doll. ”

“ Finally the one with the red hair became so angry that he stepped on the Looking-glass Sea, and put his foot on the orange peel that the squirrel had laid in a nice heap. His feet flew out from under him just as Teddy's had done, and he came down with such an awful crash that he went right through and disappeared.
"There's one gone," said the squirrel, pleased "and easily too. ”

“ It would spoil the looks to have no top on the pie."
"Oh, I should think that could be managed," said Jack, "the maid's good-natured, that is, if she has the tip of her nose. Perhaps she would make a new top."
"Well, that doesn't solve the question of getting the pie," said Jill, settling herself on the kitchen table, and swinging her feet. "I tell you who runs fast, Tom, Tom, the Piper's son."
"But he'd never be able to bring the pie back," said Mother Goose, "he always has the pig to carry. Since they killed the first pig he doesn't dare put this one down. ”

“ Jane thought she ought to go home, but didn't know how to go. Mr. Bear said he couldn't possibly take her, it was much too far. Mamma said she couldn't possibly take her, because she was much too fat, and Baby Bear said she couldn't possibly stay where she was because he couldn't think of letting her sleep in his bed. So it seemed for a little while as though Jane would never get home. Suddenly Mamma Bear had an idea.
"Why don't you call in Red Riding-Hood's wolf? He goes by every day, and perhaps he will know how she can get out of the forest." ”

“ The ball, being a fairy one, and knowing perfectly well what was expected of it, led the boys farther and farther away from the cage until they were quite out of sight, and Sapphira, running to the bars, called
"Flying Pig! Flying Pig! wake up. The Squawking Cockatoo is coming, he's going to bite through the bars of your cage, and you are to take me on your back to the Walruses, so that I may spend the day with them. Do you hear, Flying Pig?" ”

“ After dinner the biggest Walrus suggested that they should go and visit the Old Man of the Sea, so Sapphira got into the boat, and the Walruses pulling it, they went quite a long way till they came to a funny little pointed rock that rose right out of the sea, and had a little gold bell hanging on its top. This bell one of the Walruses rang, and then they all waited. Pretty soon there was a sort of a bubbling on the surface of the water near the rock, and a most beautiful mermaid appeared. ”

“ Then the lid was taken off the box, and the balls saw that they were in a large room, full of people. In the center a great tree stretched its branches, waiting to be trimmed; innumerable bundles tied with bright ribbons were piled around, and the walls were hung with greens and wreaths. Near the tree was "their lady," and it was the little girl who had opened the box. She looked more happy and interested now, and was even more gorgeous than ever, with a velvet frock and lace collar, a big bow on her yellow curls.
"This," said the gold balls, "is richness and luxury. ”

“ They're poor, too, and we love Billy."
"Sadie takes care of him in the daytime when his mother gets work, and she's a splendid nurse," said Jimmy with pride. Then with nods and smiles they started. The man watched them until they disappeared, and then with a half sigh returned to his chopping.
"I wish I had asked where they lived, I would like to have seen the tree and Billy," he thought, but it was too late, the ragged pair and the old sled with its cheery burden had gone around the corner.
And what of our friends, the balls, down in their nest of pine boughs? They were too happy to speak. ”

“ He stared at the castle in hopeless despair.
"They must be large giants," he said.
"They are," answered the squirrel, "the very largest."
"I suppose I'd better cross the sea," remarked Teddy.
[Pg 8]
"I suppose you'd better try to cross the sea," said the squirrel.
So Teddy put one foot on the edge, then the other foot and then he took one step, and then he landed flat on his back with a most awful thump. This both surprised and hurt him, and he crawled on his hands and knees to the bank, feeling discouraged.
"I think I had better peel an orange," he said, " I'll never be able to walk over." ”

“ Then came the difficulty of carrying the pie, which was very large and heavy, to Mother Goose's house, but here the Queen came to the rescue. She had offered some of her bread and honey to the party, and she suggested that Cinderella would probably let Boy Blue have her pumpkin coach to drive back in.
"You know," said the Queen, "she sends her coach into the village every day, to drive past the house where the proud sisters live so as to make them envious, and as it is empty, Boy Blue might just as well ride in it." ”

“ He seemed so put out that Teddy felt himself growing very red and embarrassed.
"I am sure I am very sorry," he said, "and I am glad I was able to help you."
The gnome continued, but with much severity, "you then said, after you had driven away the savage animal,——"
"Topsy is not a savage animal," interrupted Ted, "she is a very nice cat."
"She is a savage animal to us," said the gnome, and all the other gnomes repeated, "savage animal," in a sort of a growl. ”

“ I'm going to give you three oranges, which you must peel as you need them. The Looking-glass Sea is at the top of this hill, and the giants live on the other side of the Sea. Do not use the oranges unless you have to, and above all things, do not step on the peel."
Teddy thanked her very much, took the oranges, and began promptly to climb the hill, where the squirrel was waiting for him. ”

“ The balls swelled with pride at this, and then being unable to restrain their curiosity any longer, they opened their eyes, and looked right up into the pale, pretty face of a little girl, who was gazing at them, but with a very small show of interest. Goldy decided she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. ”

“ To-day won't be any different. Come on, Jill," and each taking one of Bo-peep's hands, and [Pg 45] waving gaily to Mother Goose, they dragged her off down the hill.
Mother Goose started across the fields on her goose, turning over in her mind the different people who might go for the blackbird pie. Suddenly she came upon a haycock and under it, sound asleep, with his head resting on his arm, was Little Boy Blue. Mother Goose dismounted, and picking up the horn that lay alongside of him, gave him a good rap over the head with it. ”

“ A large Santa Claus, resplendent in a red overcoat, stood on the top shelf in the center, trying to keep order, and around him a row of smaller and less magnificent Santa Claus' with black coats, trying to help, but he was not so expensive as the balls, so they paid no heed to him.
"Of course," said the goldy balls—they always spoke together,—"you may say what you like, but none of you shine as we do."
[Pg 32]
"We think we give a purer and less lurid light," remarked the silver.
"You may do that, but you don't light up as we do," said the red balls.
"And we;" "And we," shouted the others. ”

“ The giants will come, [Pg 3]
If we cease from our song,
And eat us all up,
So sing, sing along."
Another curious thing Teddy noticed, was the presence of about a hundred blue elephants. They walked in solemn procession around the outskirts of the open space, each one holding with his trunk the tail of the one in front of him. Occasionally, the largest would put up his trunk and trumpet, and then they all would do the same, solemnly turn around, and walk the other way.
While Teddy stood watching these strange sights one of the gnomes, who seemed to be an overseer, looked up and saw him. ”

“ They stopped in front of one of the doors, and out ran the Baby Bear. When he saw Jane sitting on his father's back, he gave a funny little squeal, and hurried into the house, calling,
"Oh, Mamma, Mamma, put away my chair, and my blue bowl, here's another horrid little girl, come with Pa, and I'm sure she will break them again. She's much bigger than the other one." ”

“ The children arrived at half past eight, and were much interested to see Mother Goose's kitchen, her cat, the celebrated goose, and Bo-peep's sheep, which were all there, just as Jack said they would be. Of course their tails weren't fitted on, but this made it all the more interesting. For the children could put the tails on themselves. ”

“ SIX GIANTS AND A GRIFFIN
Gnomes were Teddy's favorites. He had no brothers and sisters, so was obliged to make up games for himself, and invent people to play with him, and the people were almost always gnomes. ”

“ Otherwise they could hardly have been for a Christmas tree. They were twelve in a box, and they ran in twos as to color—by this I mean that there were two blues, two reds, two greens, two silvery, two goldy, and two bright pink. The box was divided into little compartments, one for each ball, and lined with a peculiar, dirty cotton, common to Christmas ornament boxes, and the compartments were meant to keep the balls from knocking against each other and breaking. ”

“ As she spoke she noticed something sliding towards her, down the silvery band, very fast, and while she looked, it grew bigger and bigger, until it landed on the roof of the Piazza, [Pg 14] when she saw that it was a white sled, and on it there was the prettiest little girl she had ever seen. ”

“ They were always very anxious for her to come [Pg 23] out and see them, and they had promised her the loveliest time if she could only spend the day, but there was always the difficulty of her getting out through the breakers to them, as she couldn't swim, so they had been obliged to give it up. ”