The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-12-20

given her it had pretty head and blue
eyes, but the head turned to smile at
one from all sides, so Bessie gave it
the name of the Two-headed Woman.
After the head came off entirely she
continued to call her by that name.
Then there was Molly Wad, the big
doll that Santa Claus brought her one
Christmas. Molly was once young and
very beautiful, but the heat from the
stove and the hard thumps she so often
got had wrinkled and bruised her so
badly that now she was only" Poor Old
Molly" Last, but not least by any
means, was lido, delicate-looking lit
tie lady, very nice and proper, whom
Bessie was extremely fond of. She
named her after her auntie Ida. Bes-
sic always called her auntie lido, so she
called her dolly lido, too.
After the children had finished tea
and put their dolls in bed it was time
for Hope and Ruthie to 90 home.
Their nurse Katy tucked them up snug
and warm in their sleigh, and after
great many kisses and good -bys they
started down the street. The bells on
the sleigh jingled and jingled and grew
fainter and fainter until Bessie could
hear them no longer. Then she
crawled up into her mothers lap and
talked it all over; what nice visit they
had had that afternoon, and what they
were going to write to Santa Claus, I'M
til the little golden head dropped, the
brown eyes closed and little Bessie was
in the Land of Dreams, where white
kittens, blue-eyed dolies and Christ
mas-trees were all dancing a polka to a
tune rung out by sleigh-bells.
BY-Low II.
Down the mountain road from Snow
Land, the home of Santa Claus, flew a
dashing sleigh drawn by two reindeer.
Dasher and Prancer. The driver, Robin
Goodfellow, was funny-looking little
man; he had bright, twinkling eyes
that flashed out from under his fur cap
and seemed to see everything all about
him. He was done up in a big fur coat,
which made him look like great shaggy
bear. He was Santa Claus agent and
confidential clerk, and attended to the
children's department entirely. He
had started out that day to look up Door
children and to collect the mail-ma after
for Santa Claus. For about Christmas
time there is big bundle of letters
every day, and sometimes Dasher
and Prancer talked about it on their
way home, and wondered what the
children could find to say that made
such heavy load for them every night.
This day as Robin was coming down
the road he spied small house, all by
itself, on the side of the mountain.
so he thought he would drive there
and see if any family with chill
dren were living in the house. Pretty
soon he drew up before the house and
saw no living thing but poor hungry
looking COW, under dilapidated shed:
but when he came to the door,
right down on the step was a
wee bit of white kitten, so cold
and starved that his heart was
touched in an instant, and he said TO
himself: Now, am sure to find a
letter from some little girl in nv mail
bag tonight asking for white kitten,
so | think | will step inside the house
and see about buying this one." He
went in and found family of Germans
living there. They were evidently
very poor, for there was no fire, and
the children-there were seven-were
poorly clothed.
One of the boys spoke little English,
and not knowing that Robin could speak
any language under the sun he talked
to him in English, though he could have
talked a good deal better in German.
He said his father was sick and could
not work, and they had no money to
buy food, and they were very cold.
They had no beds but a few old blank
els spread upon the floor. The boy
seemed nice and polite; he said they
felt badly about the COW not having any
hay. Then Robin asked him about
the kitten. The boy was very glad to
give it to him, so he tucked it away in
the pocket of his fur coat, where it lay
all cuddled up and went to sleep.
Robin sprang into his sleigh, and
away flew Dasher and Prancer down
the crisp snow-path, and Robin had to
look sharp and hold tight rein, for his
steeds felt very lively and frisky in the
frosty air. Robin first made visit to
Rev. Mr. Tucker, very kind-hearted
man, the pastor of one of the churches
in B, the nearest village, and told
him about the German family on the
the hill, and begged him to interest his
parish in them and to see if something
could be done for them. The good
Mr.. Tucker said he would attend to it
at once, and babe Robin good-day.
The next thing Robin did was to collect
the letters; and o, ,Ohat a big bundle
there was for him to look over when he
got home. He tucked the bag under
the seat of the sleigh, and then turned
and started for home. He always
watched for the children on their way
from school and noticed if they were
well-behaved or if they we're rude.
The sleigh drew up before the post
office-Robin did not depend upon the
new free delivery about the time
school closed, and Robin had a good
chance to observe the children as they
came merrily along in crowds. They
were joyous little band, and he failed
to see anything rough or rude in their
manners, and he was delighted, for he
always felt so sorry to have to tell dear
old Saint Nick about any saucy boys or
rude girls, because he knew how sorely
it would grieve the kind old heart.
Doh, Al.N ~.