The Christmas Dinner | Page 8

sitting there behind the curtain. But they have finished the goose and the apple sauce and all the good things that went with them, and now they are just going to begin on the pudding. They don't know a thing about the magic nuts, because the brownies and the fairies stuck them in so neatly, that not one of them shows. Mother is just starting to put the pudding on the saucers. I wonder if she will remember about giving it to the youngest first. That's Gertrude, you know. Do you want to see for yourselves whether she remembers? Well, be very quiet then, for now it is going to begin.

The Third Scene
When the Curtain opens, you again see the kitchen, but it looks a good deal different, because the chairs that Grandmother and Grandfather used to sit in have been moved out; so has the small table on which Mother washed the dishes in the First Scene; and now in front of the fire-place is the great big table that Mother Goose told you about. The table cloth on it is so big that it hangs all the way down to the floor. At one end of the table sits Father; then next to him, back of the table facing you, is Grandfather, then Gertrude, then Walter, then Grandmother and at the other end of the table, next to Grandmother, Mother is seated. The children have on those bright-colored paper caps that the house-fairies made. MOTHER, who is helping the pudding, is the first to speak and this is what she says:
There's the first plateful of our Christmas pudding, and that goes to Gertrude, of course. She hands it to Grandmother, who passes it on to Walter.
Um! says WALTER, holding it for a moment under his nose. That smells good! He passes it to Gertrude.
GERTRUDE asks, Shall I wait till everybody else is served, before I begin?
No, not today, says FATHER. Begin at once. We all want to know how it tastes.
Gertrude tastes it. Oh, it is good, she says.
Mother meanwhile has helped another plateful, and passed it to GRANDMOTHER, who says, Walter, here is yours. And she hands it to him. He tastes it.
Is it good, Walter? asks GRANDFATHER.
WALTER with his mouth very full can only say, Um!
Pass this down to Father, says MOTHER, and she starts to hand another plateful of pudding to Grandmother.
Oh, Mother, exclaims GERTRUDE, aren't you younger than Father?
Yes, just by two months, answers MOTHER, keeping the plateful of pudding in her hand. You think I ought to be helped next? All right; we'll keep strictly to the rules, and I'll set this aside for myself, while I help the others. She helps another plateful. This is for you James, she says to Father, and passes it along. And Grandmother, she says, this is for you. She hands a plateful of pudding to Grandmother.
Grandfather, here is yours last of all, because you are the oldest of us, MOTHER says, and starts the last plateful of pudding on its way to Grandfather.
Suddenly FATHER, who has been eating some of his pudding, exclaims, Here's something new. You never put nuts in the plum pudding before, Mary.
Nuts? says MOTHER, very much surprised, There aren't any nuts in the pudding.
But, indeed there are, FATHER insists, I've just eaten one.
And so have I, adds GRANDMOTHER.
And here is another one, declares GRANDFATHER, and he holds it up in his spoon. It's a hazel nut, he says, and puts it into his mouth.
Why, I don't understand it all, exclaims MOTHER. I didn't put any hazel nuts in the plum pudding. Who ever heard of such a thing! Children, have you found any in yours?
Yes, says GERTRUDE.
I've had two, says WALTER.
Mother has been looking carefully at the pudding on her plate. I declare, you're right, she says. Here's one in mine. She eats it. They are very good nuts, too; but how they ever got into the pudding is a mystery.
During this last speech the lid of the wood box has been pushed up, showing the two brownies, sitting up in the box, and also the top of the clothes basket, showing the fairies, looking out from the basket.
Walter happens to catch sight of the brownies in the wood box. He starts up from his chair, and, pointing toward the wood box, cries, There they are!
What? asks FATHER, looking in the direction to which Walter points.
The brownies, cries WALTER. See! In the wood box.
I don't see anything, says FATHER, except that someone has left the lid of the wood box open.
Oh, and the fairies, cries GERTRUDE, pointing toward the clothes basket. There they are. I see them.
MOTHER turns around to look, and then says to Gertrude. There's nothing there, my dear.
Oh, but there is, GERTRUDE declares. They are in the basket.
Everybody stands