Annie Fellows Johnston

“ Libby darted a half-frightened look at her. She had called them both by name! Had she been listening down the chimney, too? And those witch scissors! They looked as if they might be a charm to open all sorts of secrets. Maybe she knew some charm to keep stepmothers from being cruel. Oh, if she only dared to ask! Of course Libby knew that one must n't “pick up” with strangers and tell them things. Miss Sally had warned her against that. But this was different. Miss Santa Claus was more than just a person. ”

“ It 's like hooking up a dress, you know. If you start crooked, it will keep on being crooked all the way down to the bottom, unless you undo it and begin over. So if I were you, I ’d begin to work that star-flower charm the first thing in the morning. Remember you can work it on anybody if you try hard enough. And remember that it is true, just as true as it is that you 're each going to have a Christmas stocking!”
She stooped over each in turn and kissed their eyelids down with a soft touch of her smiling lips that made Libby thrill for days afterward, whenever she thought of it. ”

“ At Ridgely, she handed off all the rest of the packages and all of the holly wreaths but two. These she hung up out of the way over her windows, then, taking out a magazine, settled herself comfortably in the end of the seat to read.
On her last trip up the aisle she had noticed the wistful, unsmiling faces of her little neighbors across the way, and she wondered why it was that the only children in the coach should be the only ones who seemed to have no share in the general joyousness. ”

“ But what made the meal one of more than mortal enjoyment, and transformed the earthly food into ambrosia of the gods, was that, while they sifted the powdered sugar over their berries, Miss Santa Claus began to tell them a story. It was about the Princess Ina, who had six brothers whom a wicked witch changed into swans. It was a very interesting story, the way she told it, and more than once both Libby and Will'm paused with their spoons half-way from berries to mouth, the better to listen. ”

“ And sometimes you will see a chance to do something to help her or to please her, without waiting to be asked. You may have to stop playing to do it, and give up your own pleasure. That will scratch your feelings some, but doing it will be like picking a big, golden star-flower whose name is kindness. ”

“ Out of a dry throat Libby at last brought up the question she had been trying to find courage for:
“Is Santa Claus your father?”
“No, but Father and Uncle Norse are so much like him that people often get them all mixed up, just as they do twins, and since Uncle Santa has grown so busy, he gets Father to attend to a great deal of his business. In fact, our whole family has to help. He could n’t possibly get around to everybody as he used to when the cities were smaller and fewer. ”

“ And if you keep on doing this, day after day as Ina did, with never a word of complaint, the time will come when you have woven a big, beautiful mantle whose name is love. And when it is big enough to reach from ‘wing-tip to wing-tip,” you ’ll find that she has grown to be just like a real mother. Do you understand ?”
“Yes, ma'am,” answecred Libby, solemnly. Will'm did not answer, but the far-off look in his eyes showed that he was pondering over what she had just told them. ”

“ On the seat beside him was a young girl, who, waiting only long enough to plant a kiss on one of those rosy cheeks above the snowy beard, sprang out of the sleigh and ran after the boy as hard as she could go. ”

“ Her mind had to work as fast as her fingers. There was n’t a single thing among her belongings that she could make stockings of, unless—she sighed as she picked it up and shook out the folds of the prettiest kimono she had ever owned. It was the softest possible shade of gray with white cherry blossoms scattered over it, and it was bordered in wide bands of satin the exact color of a shining ripe red cherry. ”

“ When the conductor said something about helping Santa Claus, she answered laughingly, “Yes, Uncle thought it would be better for me to bring these breakable things instead of trusting them to the chimney route.” Then, in answer to a question which Libby did not hear, “Oh, that will be all right. Uncle telephoned all down the line and arranged to have some one meet me at each place.” ”

“ Everybody in the car looked up and smiled, and turned and looked again as she went up the aisle, for a lovelier Christmas picture could not be imagined than the one she made in her long red coat, her arms full of packages and wreaths of holly. The lttle fur cap with its scarlet feather was powdered with snow, and the frosty wind had brought such a glow to her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes, that she looked the living embodiment ot Christmas cheer. ”

“ And now you ’ll be getting home at the most beautiful time in all the year.”
“Yes, I think so,” was the happy answer. “Christmas eve to me always means going around with Father to take presents, and I would n’t miss it for anything in the world. I 'm glad there ’s enough snow this year for us to use the sleigh. We had to take the auto last year, and it was n’t half as much fun.”
Libby and Will’'m scarcely moved after that, all the way to Ridgely. Nor did they take their eyes off of her. Mile after mile they rode, barely batting an eyelash, staring at her with unabated interest. ”