CHRISTMAS MORNING
Church bells ring out their glad-tidings over the world that Jesus came as a little child with His love-gift of Himself to all the earth. To teach us how to love and how to live; how to love and how to give! Wise men of the east followed the Star of Bethlehem to find Him. They brought rich gifts unto Him.
Christmas bells ring out their chimes glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth good will to men. Christmas trees glitter in twinkling lights, hanging full of love-gifts to rich and to poor. Children jump out of bed to dive their hands into Christmas stockings. Fire-works shoot upward. Love-gifts are exchanged all over the world for He teaches us the greatest thing in all the world is love! His love makes us sweet and makes us glad; makes us happy and makes us kind.
The dawn of the day shed its gloaming in the east. Jakie’s eyes opened. The room was dark. He pulled himself slowly from under the cover—not to awaken Mamsy. He edged himself from the bed until his feet touched the bare floor. He stretched his hands out before him and felt his way to his stocking. His hands touched his stocking. He eagerly felt it up and down, it stuck out stuffed full as a sausage. The stocking-toe touched something big and curious. He felt it with both hands. It had wheels. His heart beat faster. It had a tongue. It was a boy’s express wagon. He was astonished. He had wanted one all of his life. He felt inside of it. Something mysterious was inside. He lifted it up. A dim light came through the window, he examined the something; it was a new harness for his billy goat. His heart leaped for joy. He stepped to the other side of the hearth to see what Santa Claus brought to Mamsy. No stocking was hanging up. There was nothing! “Not a thing for Mamsy!” he said to himself, “That old Santa Claus is fooled Mamsy same as he fooled me!” A happy idea came to him. He would play Santa Claus to Mamsy too. He crept to the bed on his all-fours and stole one of Mamsy’s stockings out of her shoe. He crept back to the fire-place. He hung the stocking up on a nail across the hearth from his own. Cautiously he lifted his stocking down from the nail, and went back to Mamsy’s stocking. He pulled things out of his own stocking. He dropped them into Mamsy’s stocking until it had as much in it as he had left in his stocking. He carried his stocking back and hung it on the nail. He was cold and shivering. He crept back to bed. He crawled into bed, and snuggled up to Mamsy to get warm. But he could not wait! He put his mouth close to Mamsy’s ear. He whispered:
“Mamsy! Mamsy! Santa Claus is come—sure ’nouf.”
Mamsy opened her eyes.
“Christmas gift!” he blurted out. Mamsy thrust her hand down from the edge of the bed to feel for her shoes and stockings. She always stuffed each stocking into each shoe by her bedside ready to wear next morning.
Jakie lay watching her. She said, “I sure am getting old and forgitful. I was sure I stuffed my stocking in my shoe; now I can’t find it.”
Jakie stuck his head under the cover, to giggle. She got out of bed. She felt along the floor. The stocking was not there. She hopped on the cold floor, one shoe on and one foot bare, to the fire-place, to stir up the fire. She saw her missing stocking hanging on a nail, half-full.
She saw Jakie’s stocking half empty. Jakie was peeping at her from under the cover.
He saw Mamsy take it down and press it against her cheek. He ducked his head back under the cover-lid, grinning, saying: “Mamsy don’t know I is her Santa Claus too.”
Over at Mr. Cripple Jim’s house he was laughing aloud. He awoke and saw the long switch sticking up over his head. “Hah,” he said, “Old Santa has brought me a switch to warn me to be good! How did he come right over my head without my knowing it!” He raised up in bed. He pulled the socks down beside him. He reached for the pack hanging on his bed post. He poured out all the contents on his bed. He looked at the pile of good things. He wagged his head. His face was radiantly happy. He said: “A happy child made me, an old cripple man, hang up my stocking. He said Jesus won’t forgit me—he told the truth. Jesus didn’t forgit me!”
He heard such noisy, jolting, bumping, in his yard. He seized his crutches leaning against the foot of his bed. He hobbled to the door. He opened the door. He peeped out. It was Jakie sitting in his Christmas wagon driving billy harnessed up in the new harness. He yelled out to Jakie “Christmas gift.”
Jakie waved his cap. “I come to cetch you first—and you is cetched me first.” The happy little boy tied billy to the hitching post. He ran into the house to see the happy old man.
Frances had emptied her purse of all of her Christmas money,—but she had wafted Christmas joys to the dear country folk in the backwoods. And a beautiful note came through the mail from her to Jakie and to Mamsy for their love-gifts to her “of lightwood and a turkey.”
The End