The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-12-21

fu1s, and Susan Prickett's-Susan was
our help, you know. No, there was only
five, and, as l remember, they were the
biggest we could beg or borrer of Aunt
Dorcas, who weighed nigh onto 200
pounds. Otis and didn't like Susan
Prickett, and we were hopin' you'd put
a cold potato in her stockin'."
"But Susan was a good girl" remon-
strated Santa Claus. You know I put
cold potatoes in the stockin's of boys and
girls only WHO are bad and don't believe
in Santa Claus"
cat any rate" said Joel, you filed all
the stockin's with candy and popcorn and
nuts and ~raisins, and | can remember you
said you were afraid you'd run ont of pop
corn balls before you got around. Then
you left each OF US a book. Elvira got the
best one, which was The Garland of
Friendship and had poems in it about the
bleeding of hearts, and so forth. Father
wasn't expectin' anything. but you left
him a new pair Of mittens and mother got
a new fur boa to wear to meetin'."
"Of course" said Santa Claus: 81 never
forgot father and mother"
"Well, it was as much as l could do to
lay still" continued Joel. ''fcr I'd been
longin' for a sled an the sight of that red
sled with Yankee Doodle painted on it
jest made me wild. But, somehow or
other, began to get powerful sleepy all
at once and l couldn't keep my eyes open.
The next thing I knew Otis was uudgin'
me in the ribs. Git up, JOEL, says he:
it's Christmas an Santa Claus has been
here Merry Christmas! Merry Chris
mast we cried as we tumbled out o. bed.
Then Elyira an Thankful came in, not
more'n half dressed, and Susan came In,
too, an w jast made Rome howl with
Merry Christmas! Merry Chris'mas!' to
each other. Ell you children don't make
less noise in there, cried father, I'll hev
to send you all back to bedr The idea of
askin' boys an girls to keep quiet on
Christmas mornin' when they've got new
sleds an Garlands of Frien'ship!,"
Santa Claus chuckled; his rosy cheeks
fairly beamed with joy.
"Otis an l didn't want any breakfast"
said Joel. "We made up our minds that
a stockin'ful of candy and pop corn an
raisins would stay us for awhile. I do
believe there wasn't buckwheat cakes
enough in the township to keep us indoors
that mornin'; buekwheat cakes don't size
up much 'longside of a red sled with
Yankee Doodle painted onto it and a
black sled named Snow Queen We
didn't care how cold it was-so much the
better for slidin' down hill, All the boys
had new sleds-Lafe Dawson, Bill Hol-
brook, Gum Adams, Rube Playford,
Leander Merrick, Ezra Purple-all on 'em
had new sleds excep' Martin Peavey, and
he said he calculated Santa Claus had
skipped him this year cause his father had
broken his leg haulin' logs from the Pei
ham woods and had been KEEP indoors six
weeks. But Martin had his OF sled, and
he didn't hev to ask any odds of any of us,
neither"
II brought Martin a sled the next Christ
mas - said Santa Claus.
Likes not; but did you ever slide down
hill, Santa Claus? | don't mean such hills
as they hev here in this new country,
but one of them old-fashioned New Eng
land hills that was made specially for
boys to slide down-full of bumpers an
thank-ye-marms, and about ten times
longer comm up than it is goin' down!
The wind blew in our faces and almos'
took our breath away. Merry Christmas
to We, little boys!' it seemed to say, and it
united our muffiers an whirled the snow
in our faces, just as if it was a boy, too,
an wanted to play with us. An OF crow
came flappin' over US from the cornfeld
beyond the meadow. He said: Cav,
cav when lie saw my new sled; | s'pose
he'd never seen a red one before. Otis had
a hard time with his sled-the black one
an he wondered why it wouldn't 60 as
fast as mine would. 'Hev you scraped the
paint off7n the runners?:' asked W~ralsey
Goodnow. Course I hev,' said Otis;
broke my own knife an Lutte Ingraham's
a-doin' it, but it don't seem to make no
diff rence-the darned oil thing won't
go!' Then, what did Simon Buzzell say
but that, likes not, it was because Otis
sled's name was Snow Queen Never
did see a girl sled that was worth a cent,
anyhow SEE Simon. Well, now, that
Jest about broke Otis up in business. 1t
amt a girl sled,' seq he, and its name
amt Snow Queenl I'm a'goin' to call it
Dan'l Webster, or Oliver Optic, or Sheriff
Robbins, or after some other big man!
An the boys plagued him so much about
that pesky girl sled that he scratched off
the name, an, as | remember, it did go
better after thatr'
'Aboat the only thing continued Joel,
that marred the harmony of the occasion,
as the editor of the Hampshire County
PAaair used to say, was the ashes that
Deacon Morris Frisbie sprinkled out in
front of his house. He said he wasn't
going to have folks breakin' their necks
jest on account of a LOT of frivolous boys
that was goin' to the gallows as fas' as
they could, Oh, how we hated him. and
we'd We s~nowbalIed him, too, il we hadn't