Ethel Calvert Phillips

“ But always Santa Claus knew what to do and just what presents to leave in every house.
Into a big city dashed the sleigh, straight toward a great castle with turrets and towers and many windows sparkling in the frosty starlight. It was the castle where Princess Maud lived, and now Merrythought and Lady Arabella were forced to say good-bye. ”

“ 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. ”

“ He used to grow happier and happier as Christmas drew near. He would sing at his work and smile to himself until the whole Snow Palace was in a good humor no matter how busy we might be.’
‘Yes, indeed,’ agreed Kindheart. ‘He was as merry as his name. But he says this year he has lost his feeling for Christmas. He used to love it, the toys and the candy and the surprises. But he doesn’t feel so now. He thinks children want too many toys. ”

“ Merrythought stared at Santa Claus. There was no one in the world quite like him, after all.
‘Here are Bill’s skates and Belinda’s sewing-box with a lock and key,’ went on Santa Claus, reaching down first into one deep pocket and then into the other. ‘Put them on top of the blankets. And here is Ann Mary’s sleepy doll. You made her, Merrythought. She is one of your prettiest. This is Tom’s Jack-in-the-Box. What’s this? Oh, Matilda’s Jumping Jack. How he can jump! ”

“ It would be nothing but toys, toys, toys. That is all children think of nowadays, at Christmas, how many toys they are going to get.’
‘I don’t believe all children have so many toys,’ said Mischief. ‘I think if you went with Santa Claus you would see some children who had very little Christmas indeed.’
‘Humph, I don’t,’ answered Merrythought. ‘Think of that sleigh full of toys, enough for the whole world. And I am tired of toys, I tell you. ”

“ How glad they were to see their old friends, the Toy Lady and the Candy Man, once more! Some of the children settled down to dig, some of them fell to building in the sand, while many of them pulled off their shoes and stockings and happily splashed and paddled about in the cool green waves.
Every one took a holiday, fathers and mothers too. And that night, when dusk fell, they were still romping and playing and enjoying themselves on the beach.
Suddenly, out blazed the light from the Lighthouse and the figures of the King and the Queen stood on the shore. ”

“ You Brownies can do anything, I know. You could ring your bell and run on ahead and lead Buttons straight up Butternut Hill to where the real Boots sits in a tree. I chose you, Fleetfoot, because you could run so lightly and so fast. Once Buttons has found Boots, he will carry him home to bed. There isn’t anything else that he can do. And that will be the end of it, I hope. Just think of my being so busy to-night and having to stop for a boy and a cat.’
Here Jack Frost shook his paint-brush so impatiently that Fleetfoot skipped along at his side faster than ever before. ”

“ Jack Frost and Santa Claus and the Brownies were old, old friends. Jack Frost was always glad to do Santa Claus a good turn, such as making Christmas Day bright and cold, with plenty of snow and ice for the boys and girls with new snow-shoes and sleds and skates. On [54] the other hand, as every one knows, all Brownies, and of course Santa Claus’s Brownies, too, are never so happy as when they are being helpful and kind. These Brownies at the North Pole were quite used to being called upon, day or night, to do some kind or thoughtful act. ”

“ Up, up, up to the roof would go the sleigh, down the chimney Santa Claus would creep, then back again to his place and off, the reindeer seeming fairly to fly over the snow. Now a village, now a town.
And everywhere children in bed and asleep, their bedrooms dark or dimly lighted by a low night-lamp. And everywhere ready and waiting for Santa Claus, [117] though not always ready in just the same way. Sometimes there would be stockings hung by the chimney place, sometimes a little wooden shoe placed outside the door, sometimes a candle burning in the window to light Noel upon his way. ”

“ You have run enough for one night. Tell Santa Claus you were a great help. I never could have got those two home if it hadn’t been for you. Good-bye! I must go back to work. This maple tree isn’t half finished. Look at the green leaves I must paint to-night.’
Jack Frost with a flourish of his paint-brush [69] disappeared among the maple boughs as Fleetfoot climbed upon the shoulder of the friendly West Wind.
They were halfway home, sweeping along through the air, when Fleetfoot suddenly cried out.
‘My shoes!’ cried Fleetfoot. ‘My shoes! I have left them on Buttons’ feet. ”

“ At the words ‘Toy Tinker’ the Pony’s tail had begun to swish. When Merrythought had told where Mr. Mendham lived, the Pony’s ears had twitched to and fro. And no sooner did the Pony have a moment to himself than over to the window he rocked and tried to push it open with his little red nose. How he knew his way about without any eyes I don’t know. And once he had opened the window, did he mean to jump out?
Nobody can tell. For Brownie Kindheart [14] felt the cold air on his doll babies and closed the window. And just then back came Merrythought and Sharpeyes with a pot of Mr. Mendham’s glue. ”

“ Boots!’ cried Buttons, standing at the foot of the tree and stretching up his arms. ‘Come down! [64] Come down! We are all alone. There is no one here but me.’
Fleetfoot wanted to laugh as he peeped from behind the roots of the tree. All alone, were they? Not to mention himself, over the top of a bayberry bush Fleetfoot could see the white plume in Jack Frost’s cap. He had followed them all the way up the hill. Indeed, Boots and Buttons were not alone.
But neither Jack Frost nor Fleetfoot stirred nor made a sign. They both wanted Boots and Buttons to run home at once. ”

“ The Candy Man and the Toy Lady both talked at once, they were so excited at seeing the Brownies and so anxious to tell their tale.
‘It is the new King’s fault,’ said they, together. ‘He won’t have a bit of noise. He doesn’t want the children to romp and be noisy, and that is why they must go to school all day and never play on the beach. That is why he sent us over here to live. He doesn’t want the children to eat candy nor to play with toys. All the King does from morning till night is to think of different things we mustn’t do and [42] then make signs to tell us so. ”

“ And Santa Claus laughed in spite of himself to see his Brownies turning somersaults in the soft snow.
[30] ‘Oh, Santa Claus, we want a holiday!’ shouted the Brownies. ‘We don’t feel like working at all. We want a holiday, Santa Claus. Do say that we may.’
‘Yes, yes, indeed,’ nodded Santa Claus, laughing again to see his Brownies’ antics in the snow. ‘You will work all the better for a little fun. ”

“ Merrythought took the pie. He almost wanted to cry, but he took a bite of crust instead.
‘Delicious!’ said Merrythought. ‘It is the best pie I ever ate.’
But at that moment Merrythought’s face grew very bright. ”

“ One night the Little Brown Boy lay in bed as wide awake as ever he could be. He had been so sleepy when his mother put him to bed that he couldn’t stand up straight to take off his clothes. But once tucked in bed and his mother gone downstairs, the Little Brown Boy’s eyes flew [74] open and he felt as lively as if it were morning instead of his usual bed-time, seven o’clock.
The Little Brown Boy looked from his bed out of the open window at the tree-tops that were tossing and nodding in a gay West Wind. ”

“ All the other Brownies were hard at work in Santa Claus’s work-room, making Christmas toys. Although December and Christmas seemed far away, when [6] you stop to think how many toys Santa Claus must have ready on Christmas Eve, you will see why the Brownies were kept busy the whole year long.
Kindheart was fitting a blue flannel jacket on a tiny baby doll. Silvertongue was finishing off a great white furry rabbit, with gleaming ruby-red eyes and the cunningest little bob-tail in the world. Mischief was painting a gay yellow sled. Fleetfoot was whittling the sticks of a drum. ”

“ What was the matter with the Rocking-Horse Pony?
[23] The mended toys in the work-room were trying to help the little brown Pony.
‘I know Mr. Mendham keeps his eyes in that basket over there,’ said a black-and-white dog with a bright red tongue, ‘but, as you can see, he hasn’t a blue eye left, not one.’
‘He put his last blue eyes in my head,’ said a big white furry kitten, who had a golden bell tied about his neck. ‘For my part I don’t like blue eyes. I prefer green. They shine so well in the dark. ”

“ The next moment the little boy, who [87] was dressed in his night-clothes, came scrambling through the half-open window into the room. Straight to Santa Claus he ran and clasped him round his great high boots.
‘No! No! No!’ called out the little boy again, squeezing Santa Claus’s boots close in his arms. ‘Don’t cross out my name! I will be good! I will put away my toys every night! Don’t leave a coal in my stocking at Christmas! Don’t give me an apple with a bite! Oh! Oh! ”

“ So I made the pies for the children. They have apples and molasses and sugar in them. And the children will like them just as well as toys.’
The children did like them. They were hopping round the table and calling out, ‘Smell mine! Smell mine!’
But Merrythought did not like it at all. He thought of the many toys he had made that year in Santa Claus’s Snow Palace on the very tip-top of the North Pole, he thought of Santa Claus’s sleigh still well filled, he thought of the stockings and [131] Christmas Trees that other children would enjoy on Christmas Day. ”

“ Mendham’s glue. He may have left a little when he was here a year or so ago. There is no glue in the world like Mr. Mendham’s.’
‘Mr. Mendham is a very fine Toy Tinker, isn’t he?’ asked Sharpeyes. ‘I believe he could mend any broken toy. Do you remember the Christmas time he and Mrs. Mendham came here to help Santa Claus make the toys?’
‘Of course I do,’ answered Merrythought, smiling at the question. ‘He came to help because we Brownies were all ill in bed from eating too many of Sweet-Tooth’s rich caramel creams.’
‘Does he live far from here?’ asked Sharpeyes. ”

“ Early in December, Santa Claus had a letter from Princess Maud’s grandmother in which she said that she would like Princess Maud to have a big little-girl doll for Christmas this year. Santa Claus took the letter to Merrythought, his best workman, and Merrythought sat himself down and made Lady Arabella. ”

“ Mischief, Nimbletoes, and Fleetfoot scampered down to a great smooth stretch of snow back of the stable where the eight tiny reindeer lived.
‘We want to run races, Santa Claus,’ [31] called they, ‘more than anything else in the world.’
Kindheart, Silvertongue, and Sweet-Tooth, chief of the candy cooks, stood for a moment wondering just where they would go. ”

“ Down in the kitchen Sweet-Tooth, chief of the candy cooks, was showing his tidy little band of helpers, each in [4] white apron and cap, how to make very-black licorice drops.
‘Now that March is here some Brownie is sure to catch a Spring cold,’ said Sweet-Tooth, [5] measuring and mixing with all his might, ‘and there is nothing better than licorice drops for a cold in the Spring.’
Out in front of the Palace stood Nimbletoes, sweeping off the steps with great strokes of his broom. ”

“ So I hurried up Butternut Hill, and there at the top, huddled in a tree, sat Boots. The foolish fellow [60] had dreamed that a dog was chasing him. I heard him say so, talking to himself. There he sat and wouldn’t come down. Dream or no dream, he was afraid that the dog was at the foot of the hill. I pinched him and nipped him on ears and nose and toes, but still he wouldn’t move for me. ”

“ The Little Brown Boy held tightly to the window-sill and almost put his head into the room.
Of course he knew what the Book of Good Children was. We all do. The Book in which Santa Claus keeps the names of all the Children whom he is to visit on Christmas Eve. What surprised the Little Brown Boy was that Santa Claus had actually crossed out a little boy’s name from his Book. ”

“ Now came the evergreen trees, tall and thick and green, and the Rocking-Horse Pony and the Brownies found themselves racing through a dense little wood.
‘I know where he is going!’ shouted Nimbletoes, who, with Brownie Fleetfoot, was running well in the lead. ‘I [20] believe he is going to Mr. Mendham’s house!’ ”

“ And over the frock he put a pink-and-white pinafore that covered her from top to toe, a good, sensible pinafore that was not in the least like a lace dress with satin bows and pale blue kid shoes to match. The pinafore had pockets and in one pocket was a tiny handkerchief and in the other a purse just large enough to hold a penny. Oh! Merrythought knew how to do things When it came to making dolls. ”