Little Prudys Sister Susy | Page 5

old gentleman, encouraged by the
applause,--"yes, my dears, here I am, as jolly as ever! But bless your
sweet little hearts, I've had a terrible time getting here! The wind has
been blowin' me up as fierce as you please, and I've been shook round
as if I wasn't of more account than a kernel of corn in a popper!
"O, O, I've been ducked up to the chin in some awful deep snow-drifts,
up there by the North Pole! This is the very first time the storms have
come so heavy as to cover over the end of the North Pole! But this year
they had to dig three days before they could find it. O, ho!
"I was a-wanderin' round all last night; a real shivery night, too! Got so
broke up, there's nothing left of me but small pieces. O, hum!
"Such a time as I had in some of those chimneys, you haven't any idee!

Why, if you'll believe me, over there in Iceland somebody forgot to
clear out the chimney, and there I stuck fast, like a fish-bone in your
throat; couldn't be picked out, couldn't be swallowed!
"The funniest time that was! How I laughed! And then the children's
mother woke up, and, 'O, dear,' said she; 'hear the wind sigh down the
chimney!' 'Only me,' says I; 'and I've caught you napping this time!'
She helped me out, and when I had caught my breath, I climbed out the
window; but, deary me, I shouldn't wonder if that very woman went to
sleep again, and thought it was all a dream! Heigh-ho! that's the way
they always treat poor Santa Claus nowadays."
(Here the children laughed, and Susy said, "I guess he must have
bumped his nose against that chimney: see what a hump!")
"O, O, don't you make sport of me, children! My nose is big, to be sure,
but I'm going to keep it and make the best of it! If you love Santa as he
loves you, you wouldn't mind the looks. I was going to change my coat
and dickey; but then, thinks I, I'll come just as I am! I patted myself on
the shoulder, and says I, 'Santa Claus, don't you fret if you are growin'
old! You may look a little dried up, but your heart isn't wrinkled; O no!'
You see father Adam and me was very near of an age, but somehow I
never growed up! I always thought big folks did very well in their place;
but for my part, give me the children. Hurrah for the children!"
(Great clapping and laughing.)
"I tell you, darlings, I haven't forgot a single one of you. My pockets
are running over. I've been preparing presents for you ever since last
fall, when the birds broke up housekeeping.
"Here's a tippet for the Prudy girl, and she may have it for nothing; and
they are cheaper 'n that, if you take 'em by the quantity.
"I'm a walkin' book-case. Why, I've brought stories and histories
enough to set up a store! I've got more nuts than you can shake a
hammer at; but I think there's more bark to 'em than there is bite. O, O,
I find I can't crack 'em with my teeth, as I used to a hundred years ago!

"But my dear, sweet, cunning little hearers, I must be a-goin'. Queen
Victoria, said she to me, said she, 'Now, Santa, my love, do you hurry
back to fill my children's stockings before the clock strikes twelve.'
Queen Vic is an excellent woman, and is left a poor widow; so I can't
disappoint her, poor soul!
"I must be a-goin'! Would like to hug and kiss you all round, but can't
stop. (Kisses his hand and bows.) A Merry Christmas to you all, and a
Happy New Year."
So saying, Santa Claus suddenly disappeared at the hall door, dropping
his heavy pack upon the table.
In another minute the lively old gentleman was in the front parlor
without any mask, and of course it was nobody but cousin Percy "with
his face off."
Then they all fell to work sorting out presents. Prudy seized her fur
tippet, and put it on at once.
"O, how pretty I look," said she; "just like a little cat! Ain't I cunning?"
But nobody could pause to attend to Prudy, though she chatted very
fast, without commas or periods, and held up to view a large wax doll
which "would be alive if it could talk." They all had gifts as well as
Prudy, and wished to talk rather than to listen. They asked questions
without waiting for answers, and did not mind interrupting one another,
and talking all at once, like a party of school children.
All this