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[Illustration: "THE LITTLE RUGGLESES BORE IT BRAVELY" (_page_ 36)]




THE
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL

BY

KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

[Illustration]

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge




COPYRIGHT, 1886, BY KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN
COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1914 AND 1916, BY KATE DOUGLAS RIGGS

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE
THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM



EIGHT HUNDREDTH THOUSAND



The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.



TO THE THREE DEAREST CHILDREN

IN THE WORLD

BERTHA, LUCY, AND HORATIO




CONTENTS AND LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

                                                         PAGE

   "_The little Ruggleses bore it bravely_" (page 36)

                                                _Frontispiece_
    _Vignette_                                         _Title_

  I. A LITTLE SNOW BIRD                                     1

         "_She is a little Christmas Child_"                7

 II. DROOPING WINGS                                        10

III. THE BIRDS' NEST                                       15

          _Carol at her window_                            21

 IV. "BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER"                   22

          _The "Window School"_                            31

  V. SOME OTHER BIRDS ARE TAUGHT TO FLY                    32

         "_I want ter see how yer goin' ter behave_"       39

 VI. "WHEN THE PIE WAS OPENED,  }                          48
     THE BIRDS BEGAN TO SING!"  }

         "_The Ruggleses never forgot it_"                 55

         "_I beat the hull lot o' yer!_"                   62

VII. THE BIRDLING FLIES AWAY                               63

         "_My Ain Countree_"                               65

         "_I thought of the Star in the East_"             69

THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL




I

A LITTLE SNOW BIRD


It was very early Christmas morning, and in the stillness of the dawn,
with the soft snow falling on the house-tops, a little child was born in
the Bird household.

They had intended to name the baby Lucy, if it were a girl; but they had
not expected her on Christmas morning, and a real Christmas baby was not
to be lightly named--the whole family agreed in that.

They were consulting about it in the nursery. Mr. Bird said that he had
assisted in naming the three boys, and that he should leave this matter
entirely to Mrs. Bird; Donald wanted the child called "Dorothy," after a
pretty, curly-haired girl who sat next him in school; Paul choose
"Luella," for Luella was the nurse who had been with him during his
whole babyhood, up to the time of his first trousers, and the name
suggested all sorts of comfortable things. Uncle Jack said that the
first girl should always be named for her mother, no matter how hideous
the name happened to be.

Grandma said that she would prefer not to take any part in the
discussion, and everybody suddenly remembered that Mrs. Bird had thought
of naming the baby Lucy, for Grandma herself; and, while it would be
indelicate for her to favor that name, it would be against human nature
for her to suggest any other, under the circumstances.

Hugh, the "hitherto baby," if that is a possible term, sat in one corner
and said nothing, but felt, in some mysterious way, that his nose was
out of joint; for there was a newer baby now, a possibility he had never
taken into consideration; and the "first girl," too,--a still higher
development of treason, which made him actually green with jealousy.

But it was too profound a subject to be settled then and there, on the
spot; besides, Mamma had not been asked, and everybody felt it rather
absurd, after all, to forestall a decree that was certain to be
absolutely wise, just, and perfect.

The reason that the subject had been brought up at all so early in the
day lay in the fact that Mrs. Bird never allowed her babies to go over
night unnamed. She was a person of so great decision of character that
she would have blushed at such a thing; she said that to let blessed
babies go dangling and dawdling about without names, for months and
months, was enough to ruin them for life. She also said that if one
could not make up one's mind in twenty-four hours it was a sign
that--But I will not repeat the rest, as it might prejudice you against
the most charming woman in the world.

So Donald took his new velocipede and went out to ride up and down the
stone pavement and notch the shins of innocent people as they passed by,
while Paul spun his musical top on the front steps.

But Hugh refused to leave the scene of action. He seated himself on the
top stair in the hall, banged his head against the railing a few times,
just by way of uncorking the vials of his wrath, and then subsided into
gloomy silence, waiting to declare war if more "first girl babies" were
thrust upon a family already surfeited with that unnecessary article.

Meanwhile dear Mrs. Bird lay in her room, weak, but safe and happy, with
her sweet girl baby by her side and the heaven of motherhood opening
again before her. Nurse was making gruel in the kitchen, and the room
was dim and quiet. There was a cheerful open fire in the grate, but
though the shutters were closed, the side windows that looked out on the
Church of Our Saviour, next door, were a little open.

Suddenly a sound of music poured out into the bright air and drifted
into the chamber. It was the boy choir singing Christmas anthems. Higher
and higher rose the clear, fresh voices, full of hope and cheer, as
children's voices always are. Fuller and fuller grew the burst of melody
as one glad strain fell upon another in joyful harmony:--

    "Carol, brothers, carol,
      Carol joyfully,
    Carol the good tidings,
      Carol merrily!
    And pray a gladsome Christmas
      For all your fellow-men:
    Carol, brothers, carol,
      Christmas Day again."

One verse followed another, always with the same sweet refrain:--

    "And pray a gladsome Christmas
      For all your fellow-men:
    Carol, brothers, carol,
      Christmas Day again."

Mrs. Bird thought, as the music floated in upon her gentle sleep, that
she had slipped into heaven with her new baby, and that the angels were
bidding them welcome. But the tiny bundle by her side stirred a little,
and though it was scarcely more than the ruffling of a feather, she
awoke; for the mother-ear is so close to the heart that it can hear the
faintest whisper of a child.

She opened her eyes and drew the baby closer. It looked like a rose
dipped in milk, she thought, this pink and white blossom of girlhood, or
like a pink cherub, with its halo of pale yellow hair, finer than floss
silk.

    "Carol, brothers, carol,
      Carol joyfully,
    Carol the good tidings,
      Carol merrily!"

The voices were brimming over with joy.

"Why, my baby," whispered Mrs. Bird in soft surprise, "I had forgotten
what day it was. You are a little Christmas child, and we will name you
'Carol'--mother's Christmas Carol!"

"What!" said Mr. Bird, coming in softly and closing the door behind him.

"Why, Donald, don't you think 'Carol' is a sweet name for a Christmas
baby? It came to me just a moment ago in the singing, as I was lying
here half asleep and half awake."

"I think it is a charming name, dear heart, and sounds just like you,
and I hope that, being a girl, this baby has some chance of being as
lovely as her mother;"--at which speech from the baby's papa Mrs. Bird,
though she was as weak and tired as she could be, blushed with
happiness.

And so Carol came by her name.

Of course, it was thought foolish by many people, though Uncle Jack
declared laughingly that it was very strange if a whole family of Birds
could not be indulged in a single Carol; and Grandma, who adored the
child, thought the name much more appropriate than Lucy, but was glad
that people would probably think it short for Caroline.

Perhaps because she was born in holiday time, Carol was a very happy
baby. Of course, she was too tiny to understand the joy of
Christmas-tide, but people say there is everything in a good beginning,
and she may have breathed in unconsciously the fragrance of evergreens
and holiday dinners; while the peals of sleigh-bells and the laughter of
happy children may have fallen upon her baby ears and wakened in them a
glad surprise at the merry world she had come to live in.

Her cheeks and lips were as red as holly-berries; her hair was for all
the world the color of a Christmas candle-flame; her eyes were bright as
stars; her laugh like a chime of Christmas-bells, and her tiny hands
forever outstretched in giving.

[Illustration: "SHE IS A LITTLE CHRISTMAS CHILD"]

Such a generous little creature you never saw! A spoonful of bread and
milk had always to be taken by Mamma or nurse before Carol could enjoy
her supper; whatever bit of cake or sweetmeat found its way into her
pretty fingers was straightway broken in half to be shared with Donald,
Paul, or Hugh; and when they made believe nibble the morsel with
affected enjoyment, she would clap her hands and crow with delight.

"Why does she do it?" asked Donald thoughtfully. "None of us boys ever
did."

"I hardly know," said Mamma, catching her darling to her heart, "except
that she is a little Christmas child, and so she has a tiny share of the
blessedest birthday the world ever knew!"




II

DROOPING WINGS


It was December, ten years later.

Carol had seen nine Christmas trees lighted on her birthdays, one after
another; nine times she had assisted in the holiday festivities of the
household, though in her babyhood her share of the gayeties was
somewhat limited.

For five years, certainly, she had hidden presents for Mamma and Papa in
their own bureau drawers, and harbored a number of secrets sufficiently
large to burst a baby brain, had it not been for the relief gained by
whispering them all to Mamma, at night, when she was in her crib, a
proceeding which did not in the least lessen the value of a secret in
her innocent mind.

For five years she had heard "'Twas the night before Christmas," and
hung up a scarlet stocking many sizes too large for her, and pinned a
sprig of holly on her little white nightgown, to show Santa Claus that
she was a "truly" Christmas child, and dreamed of fur-coated saints and
toy-packs and reindeer, and wished everybody a "Merry Christmas" before
it was light in the morning, and lent every one of her new toys to the
neighbors' children before noon, and eaten turkey and plum-pudding, and
gone to bed at night in a trance of happiness at the day's pleasures.

Donald was away at college now. Paul and Hugh were great manly fellows,
taller than their mother. Papa Bird had gray hairs in his whiskers; and
Grandma, God bless her, had been four Christmases in heaven.

But Christmas in the Birds' Nest was scarcely as merry now as it used to
be in the bygone years, for the little child, that once brought such an
added blessing to the day, lay month after month a patient, helpless
invalid, in the room where she was born. She had never been very strong
in body, and it was with a pang of terror her mother and father noticed,
soon after she was five years old, that she began to limp, ever so
slightly; to complain too often of weariness, and to nestle close to her
mother, saying she "would rather not go out to play, please." The
illness was slight at first, and hope was always stirring in Mrs. Bird's
heart. "Carol would feel stronger in the summer-time;" or, "She would
be better when she had spent a year in the country;" or, "She would
outgrow it;" or, "They would try a new physician;" but by and by it came
to be all too sure that no physician save One could make Carol strong
again, and that no "summer-time" nor "country air," unless it were the
everlasting summer-time in a heavenly country, could bring back the
little girl to health.

The cheeks and lips that were once as red as holly-berries faded to
faint pink; the star-like eyes grew softer, for they often gleamed
through tears; and the gay child-laugh, that had been like a chime of
Christmas bells, gave place to a smile so lovely, so touching, so tender
and patient, that it filled every corner of the house with a gentle
radiance that might have come from the face of the Christ-child himself.

Love could do nothing; and when we have said that we have said all, for
it is stronger than anything else in the whole wide world. Mr. and Mrs.
Bird were talking it over one evening, when all the children were
asleep. A famous physician had visited them that day, and told them that
some time, it might be in one year, it might be in more, Carol would
slip quietly off into heaven, whence she came.

"It is no use to close our eyes to it any longer," said Mr. Bird, as he
paced up and down the library floor; "Carol will never be well again. It
almost seems as if I could not bear it when I think of that loveliest
child doomed to lie there day after day, and, what is still more, to
suffer pain that we are helpless to keep away from her. Merry Christmas,
indeed; it gets to be the saddest day in the year to me!" and poor Mr.
Bird sank into a chair by the table, and buried his face in his hands to
keep his wife from seeing the tears that would come in spite of all his
efforts.

"But, Donald, dear," said sweet Mrs. Bird, with trembling voice,
"Christmas Day may not be so merry with us as it used, but it is very
happy, and that is better, and very blessed, and that is better yet. I
suffer chiefly for Carol's sake, but I have almost given up being
sorrowful for my own. I am too happy in the child, and I see too clearly
what she has done for us and the other children. Donald and Paul and
Hugh were three strong, willful, boisterous boys, but now you seldom see
such tenderness, devotion, thought for others, and self-denial in lads
of their years. A quarrel or a hot word is almost unknown in this house,
and why? Carol would hear it, and it would distress her, she is so full
of love and goodness. The boys study with all their might and main.
Why? Partly, at least, because they like to teach Carol, and amuse her
by telling her what they read. When the seamstress comes, she likes to
sew in Miss Carol's room, because there she forgets her own troubles,
which, Heaven knows, are sore enough! And as for me, Donald, I am a
better woman every day for Carol's sake; I have to be her eyes, ears,
feet, hands,--her strength, her hope; and she, my own little child, is
my example!"

"I was wrong, dear heart," said Mr. Bird more cheerfully; "we will try
not to repine, but to rejoice instead, that we have an 'angel of the
house.'"

"And as for her future," Mrs. Bird went on, "I think we need not be
over-anxious. I feel as if she did not belong altogether to us, but that
when she has done what God sent her for, He will take her back to
Himself--and it may not be very long!" Here it was poor Mrs. Bird's turn
to break down, and Mr. Bird's turn to comfort her.




III

THE BIRDS' NEST


Carol herself knew nothing of motherly tears and fatherly anxieties; she
lived on peacefully in the room where she was born.

But you never would have known that room; for Mr. Bird had a great deal
of money, and though he felt sometimes as if he wanted to throw it all
in the sea, since it could not buy a strong body for his little girl,
yet he was glad to make the place she lived in just as beautiful as it
could be.

The room had been extended by the building of a large addition that hung
out over the garden below, and was so filled with windows that it might
have been a conservatory. The ones on the side were thus still nearer
the Church of Our Saviour than they used to be; those in front looked
out on the beautiful harbor, and those in the back commanded a view of
nothing in particular but a narrow alley; nevertheless, they were
pleasantest of all to Carol, for the Ruggles family lived in the alley,
and the nine little, middle-sized, and big Ruggles children were a
source of inexhaustible interest.

The shutters could all be opened and Carol could take a real sun-bath in
this lovely glass house, or they could all be closed when the dear head
ached or the dear eyes were tired. The carpet was of soft gray, with
clusters of green bay and holly leaves. The furniture was of white wood,
on which an artist had painted snow scenes and Christmas trees and
groups of merry children ringing bells and singing carols.

Donald had made a pretty, polished shelf, and screwed it on the outside
of the foot-board, and the boys always kept this full of blooming
plants, which they changed from time to time; the head-board, too, had a
bracket on either side, where there were pots of maiden-hair ferns.

Love-birds and canaries hung in their golden houses in the windows, and
they, poor caged things, could hop as far from their wooden perches as
Carol could venture from her little white bed.

On one side of the room was a bookcase filled with hundreds--yes, I mean
it--with hundreds and hundreds of books; books with gay-colored
pictures, books without; books with black and white outline sketches,
books with none at all; books with verses, books with stories; books
that made children laugh, and some, only a few, that made them cry;
books with words of one syllable for tiny boys and girls, and books with
words of fearful length to puzzle wise ones.

This was Carol's "Circulating Library." Every Saturday she chose ten
books, jotting their names down in a diary; into these she slipped cards
that said:--

                    "Please keep this book two weeks and read it.

                    With love,     CAROL BIRD."

Then Mrs. Bird stepped into her carriage and took the ten books to the
Children's Hospital, and brought home ten others that she had left there
the fortnight before.

This was a source of great happiness; for some of the Hospital children
that were old enough to print or write, and were strong enough to do it,
wrote Carol sweet little letters about the books, and she answered them,
and they grew to be friends. (It is very funny, but you do not always
have to see people to love them. Just think about it, and tell me if it
isn't so.)

There was a high wainscoting of wood about the room, and on top of
this, in a narrow gilt framework, ran a row of illuminated pictures,
illustrating fairy tales, all in dull blue and gold and scarlet and
silver. From the door to the closet there was the story of "The Fair One
with Golden Locks;" from closet to bookcase, ran "Puss in Boots;" from
bookcase to fireplace, was "Jack the Giant-killer;" and on the other
side of the room were "Hop o' my Thumb," "The Sleeping Beauty," and
"Cinderella."

Then there was a great closet full of beautiful things to wear, but they
were all dressing-gowns and slippers and shawls; and there were drawers
full of toys and games, but they were such as you could play with on
your lap. There were no ninepins, nor balls, nor bows and arrows, nor
bean bags, nor tennis rackets; but, after all, other children needed
these more than Carol Bird, for she was always happy and contented,
whatever she had or whatever she lacked; and after the room had been
made so lovely for her, on her eighth Christmas, she always called
herself, in fun, a "Bird of Paradise."

On these particular December days she was happier than usual, for Uncle
Jack was coming from England to spend the holidays. Dear, funny, jolly,
loving, wise Uncle Jack, who came every two or three years, and brought
so much joy with him that the world looked as black as a thunder-cloud
for a week after he went away again.

The mail had brought this letter:--


                                        LONDON, NOVEMBER 28, 188-.

     Wish you merry Christmas, you dearest birdlings in America! Preen
     your feathers, and stretch the Birds' nest a trifle, if you please,
     and let Uncle Jack in for the holidays. I am coming with such a
     trunk full of treasures that you'll have to borrow the stockings of
     Barnum's Giant and Giantess; I am coming to squeeze a certain
     little lady-bird until she cries for mercy; I am coming to see if I
     can find a boy to take care of a black pony that I bought lately.
     It's the strangest thing I ever knew; I've hunted all over Europe,
     and can't find a boy to suit me! I'll tell you why. I've set my
     heart on finding one with a dimple in his chin, because this pony
     particularly likes dimples! ["Hurrah!" cried Hugh; "bless my dear
     dimple; I'll never be ashamed of it again."]

     Please drop a note to the clerk of the weather, and have a good,
     rousing snow-storm--say on the twenty-second. None of your meek,
     gentle, nonsensical, shilly-shallying snow-storms; not the sort
     where the flakes float lazily down from the sky as if they didn't
     care whether they ever got here or not and then melt away as soon
     as they touch the earth, but a regular business-like whizzing,
     whirring, blurring, cutting snow-storm, warranted to freeze and
     stay on!

     I should like rather a LARGE Christmas tree, if it's convenient:
     not one of those "sprigs," five or six feet high, that you used to
     have three or four years ago, when the birdlings were not fairly
     feathered out; but a tree of some size. Set it up in the garret, if
     necessary, and then we can cut a hole in the roof if the tree
     chances to be too high for the room.

     Tell Bridget to begin to fatten a turkey. Tell her that by the
     twentieth of December that turkey must not be able to stand on its
     legs for fat, and then on the next three days she must allow it to
     recline easily on its side, and stuff it to bursting. (One ounce of
     stuffing beforehand is worth a pound afterwards.)

     The pudding must be unusually huge, and darkly, deeply,
     lugubriously blue in color. It must be stuck so full of plums that
     the pudding itself will ooze out into the pan and not be brought on
     to the table at all. I expect to be there by the twentieth, to
     manage these little things myself,--remembering it is the early
     Bird that catches the worm,--but give you the instructions in case
     I should be delayed.

     And Carol must decide on the size of the tree--she knows best, she
     was a Christmas child; and she must plead for the snow-storm--the
     "clerk of the weather" may pay some attention to her; and she must
     look up the boy with the dimple for me--she's likelier to find him
     than I am, this minute. She must advise about the turkey, and
     Bridget must bring the pudding to her bedside and let her drop
     every separate plum into it and stir it once for luck, or I'll not
     eat a single slice--for Carol is the dearest part of Christmas to
     Uncle Jack, and he'll have none of it without her. She is better
     than all the turkeys and puddings and apples and spare-ribs and
     wreaths and garlands and mistletoe and stockings and chimneys and
     sleigh-bells in Christendom! She is the very sweetest Christmas
     Carol that was ever written, said, sung, or chanted, and I am
     coming as fast as ships and railway trains can carry me, to tell
     her so.

Carol's joy knew no bounds. Mr. and Mrs. Bird laughed like children and
kissed each other for sheer delight, and when the boys heard it they
simply whooped like wild Indians; until the Ruggles family, whose back
yard joined their garden, gathered at the door and wondered what was
"up" in the big house.

[Illustration]




IV

"BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER"


Uncle Jack did really come on the twentieth. He was not detained by
business, nor did he get left behind nor snowed up, as frequently
happens in stories, and in real life too, I am afraid. The snow-storm
came also; and the turkey nearly died a natural and premature death from
overeating. Donald came, too; Donald, with a line of down upon his upper
lip, and Greek and Latin on his tongue, and stores of knowledge in his
handsome head, and stories--bless me, you couldn't turn over a chip
without reminding Donald of something that happened "at College." One or
the other was always at Carol's bedside, for they fancied her paler than
she used to be, and they could not bear her out of sight. It was Uncle
Jack, though, who sat beside her in the winter twilights. The room was
quiet, and almost dark, save for the snow-light outside, and the
flickering flame of the fire, that danced over the "Sleeping Beauty's"
face and touched the Fair One's golden locks with ruddier glory. Carol's
hand (all too thin and white these latter days) lay close clasped in
Uncle Jack's, and they talked together quietly of many, many things.

"I want to tell you all about my plans for Christmas this year, Uncle
Jack," said Carol, on the first evening of his visit, "because it will
be the loveliest one I ever had. The boys laugh at me for caring so much
about it; but it isn't altogether because it is Christmas, nor because
it is my birthday; but long, long ago, when I first began to be ill, I
used to think, the first thing when I waked on Christmas morning,
'To-day is Christ's birthday--_and mine_!' I did not put the words close
together, you know, because that made it seem too bold; but I first
said, 'Christ's birthday,' out loud, and then, in a minute, softly to
myself--'_and mine_!' 'Christ's birthday--_and mine_!' And so I do not
quite feel about Christmas as other girls do. Mamma says she supposes
that ever so many other children have been born on that day. I often
wonder where they are, Uncle Jack, and whether it is a dear thought to
them, too, or whether I am so much in bed, and so often alone, that it
means more to me. Oh, I do hope that none of them are poor, or cold, or
hungry; and I wish--I wish they were all as happy as I, because they
are really my little brothers and sisters. Now, Uncle Jack dear, I am
going to try and make somebody happy every single Christmas that I live,
and this year it is to be the 'Ruggleses in the rear.'"

"That large and interesting brood of children in the little house at the
end of the back garden?"

"Yes; isn't it nice to see so many together?--and, Uncle Jack, why do
the big families always live in the small houses, and the small families
in the big houses? We ought to call them the Ruggles children, of
course; but Donald began talking of them as the 'Ruggleses in the rear,'
and Papa and Mamma took it up, and now we cannot seem to help it. The
house was built for Mr. Carter's coachman, but Mr. Carter lives in
Europe, and the gentleman who rents his place for him doesn't care what
happens to it, and so this poor family came to live there. When they
first moved in, I used to sit in my window and watch them play in their
back yard; they are so strong, and jolly, and good-natured;--and then,
one day, I had a terrible headache, and Donald asked them if they would
please not scream quite so loud, and they explained that they were
having a game of circus, but that they would change and play 'Deaf and
Dumb Asylum' all the afternoon."

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Uncle Jack, "what an obliging family, to be sure!"

"Yes, we all thought it very funny, and I smiled at them from the window
when I was well enough to be up again. Now, Sarah Maud comes to her door
when the children come home from school, and if Mamma nods her head,
'Yes,' that means 'Carol is very well,' and then you ought to hear the
little Ruggleses yell,--I believe they try to see how much noise they
can make; but if Mamma shakes her head, 'No,' they always play at quiet
games. Then, one day, 'Cary,' my pet canary, flew out of her cage, and
Peter Ruggles caught her and brought her back, and I had him up here in
my room to thank him."

"Is Peter the oldest?"

"No; Sarah Maud is the oldest--she helps do the washing; and Peter is
the next. He is a dress-maker's boy."

"And which is the pretty little red-haired girl?"

"That's Kitty."

"And the fat youngster?"

"Baby Larry."

"And that--most freckled one?"

"Now, don't laugh--that's Peoria."

"Carol, you are joking."

"No, really, Uncle dear. She was born in Peoria; that's all."

"And is the next boy Oshkosh?"

"No," laughed Carol, "the others are Susan, and Clement, and Eily, and
Cornelius; they all look exactly alike, except that some of them have
more freckles than the others."

"How did you ever learn all their names?"

"Why, I have what I call a 'window-school.' It is too cold now; but in
warm weather I am wheeled out on my balcony, and the Ruggleses climb up
and walk along our garden fence, and sit down on the roof of our
carriage-house. That brings them quite near, and I tell them stories. On
Thanksgiving Day they came up for a few minutes,--it was quite warm at
eleven o'clock,--and we told each other what we had to be thankful for;
but they gave such queer answers that Papa had to run away for fear of
laughing; and I couldn't understand them very well. Susan was thankful
for '_trunks_,' of all things in the world; Cornelius, for 'horse-cars;'
Kitty, for 'pork steak;' while Clem, who is very quiet, brightened up
when I came to him, and said he was thankful for '_his lame puppy_.'
Wasn't that pretty?"

"It might teach some of us a lesson, mightn't it, little girl?"

"That's what Mamma said. Now I'm going to give this whole Christmas to
the Ruggleses; and, Uncle Jack, I earned part of the money myself."

"You, my bird; how?"

"Well, you see, it could not be my own, own Christmas if Papa gave me
all the money, and I thought to really keep Christ's birthday I ought to
do something of my very own; and so I talked with Mamma. Of course she
thought of something lovely; she always does: Mamma's head is just
brimming over with lovely thoughts,--all I have to do is ask, and out
pops the very one I want. This thought was to let her write down, just
as I told her, a description of how a child lived in her own room for
three years, and what she did to amuse herself; and we sent it to a
magazine and got twenty-five dollars for it. Just think!"

"Well, well," cried Uncle Jack, "my little girl a real author! And what
are you going to do with this wonderful 'own' money of yours?"

"I shall give the nine Ruggleses a grand Christmas dinner here in this
very room--that will be Papa's contribution,--and afterwards a beautiful
Christmas tree, fairly blooming with presents--that will be my part; for
I have another way of adding to my twenty-five dollars, so that I can
buy nearly anything I choose. I should like it very much if you would
sit at the head of the table, Uncle Jack, for nobody could ever be
frightened of you, you dearest, dearest, dearest thing that ever was!
Mamma is going to help us, but Papa and the boys are going to eat
together downstairs for fear of making the little Ruggleses shy; and
after we've had a merry time with the tree we can open my window and all
listen together to the music at the evening church-service, if it comes
before the children go. I have written a letter to the organist, and
asked him if I might have the two songs I like best. Will you see if it
is all right?"


                                        BIRDS' NEST, DECEMBER 21, 188-.

     DEAR MR. WILKIE,--I am the little girl who lives next door to the
     church, and, as I seldom go out, the music on practice days and
     Sundays is one of my greatest pleasures.

     I want to know if you can have "Carol, brothers, carol," on
     Christmas night, and if the boy who sings "My ain countree" so
     beautifully may please sing that too. I think it is the loveliest
     thing in the world, but it always makes me cry; doesn't it you?

     If it isn't too much trouble, I hope they can sing them both quite
     early, as after ten o'clock I may be asleep.

                              Yours respectfully,
                              CAROL BIRD.

     P.S.--The reason I like "Carol, brothers, carol," is because the
     choir-boys sang it eleven years ago, the morning I was born, and
     put it into Mamma's head to call me Carol. She didn't remember then
     that my other name would be Bird, because she was half asleep, and
     could only think of one thing at a time. Donald says if I had been
     born on the Fourth of July they would have named me "Independence,"
     or if on the twenty-second of February, "Georgina," or even
     "Cherry," like Cherry in "Martin Chuzzlewit;" but I like my own
     name and birthday best.

                              Yours truly,
                              CAROL BIRD.




Uncle Jack thought the letter quite right, and did not even smile at her
telling the organist so many family items.

The days flew by as they always fly in holiday time, and it was
Christmas Eve before anybody knew it. The family festival was quiet and
very pleasant, but almost overshadowed by the grander preparations for
the next day. Carol and Elfrida, her pretty German nurse, had ransacked
books, and introduced so many plans, and plays, and customs, and
merry-makings from Germany, and Holland, and England, and a dozen other
countries, that you would scarcely have known how or where you were
keeping Christmas. Even the dog and the cat had enjoyed their
celebration under Carol's direction. Each had a tiny table with a
lighted candle in the centre, and a bit of Bologna sausage placed very
near it; and everybody laughed till the tears stood in their eyes to see
Villikins and Dinah struggle to nibble the sausages, and at the same
time to evade the candle flame. Villikins barked, and sniffed, and
howled in impatience, and after many vain attempts succeeded in dragging
off the prize, though he singed his nose in doing it. Dinah, meanwhile,
watched him placidly, her delicate nostrils quivering with expectation,
and, after all the excitement had subsided, walked with dignity to the
table, her beautiful gray satin trail sweeping behind her, and, calmly
putting up one velvet paw, drew the sausage gently down, and walked out
of the room without turning a hair, so to speak. Elfrida had scattered
handfuls of seed over the snow in the garden, that the wild birds might
have a comfortable breakfast next morning, and had stuffed bundles of
dry grasses in the fireplaces, so that the reindeer of Santa Claus could
refresh themselves after their long gallops across country. This was
really only done for fun, but it pleased Carol.

And when, after dinner, the whole family had gone to the church to see
the Christmas decorations, Carol limped out on her slender crutches, and
with Elfrida's help, placed all the family boots in a row in the upper
hall. That was to keep the dear ones from quarreling all through the
year. There were Papa's stout top boots; Mamma's pretty buttoned shoes
next; then Uncle Jack's, Donald's, Paul's, and Hugh's; and at the end of
the line her own little white worsted slippers. Last, and sweetest of
all, like the children in Austria, she put a lighted candle in her
window to guide the dear Christ-child, lest he should stumble in the
dark night as he passed up the deserted street. This done, she dropped
into bed, a rather tired, but very happy Christmas fairy.

[Illustration]




V

SOME OTHER BIRDS ARE TAUGHT TO FLY


Before the earliest Ruggles could wake and toot his five-cent tin horn,
Mrs. Ruggles was up and stirring about the house, for it was a gala day
in the family. Gala day! I should think so! Were not her nine "childern"
invited to a dinner-party at the great house, and weren't they going to
sit down free and equal with the mightiest in the land? She had been
preparing for this grand occasion ever since the receipt of Carol Bird's
invitation, which, by the way, had been speedily enshrined in an old
photograph frame and hung under the looking-glass in the most prominent
place in the kitchen, where it stared the occasional visitor directly in
the eye, and made him livid with envy:--


                                        BIRDS' NEST, December 17, 188-.

     DEAR MRS. RUGGLES,--I am going to have a dinner-party on Christmas
     Day, and would like to have all your children come. I want them
     every one, please, from Sarah Maud to Baby Larry. Mamma says
     dinner will be at half past five, and the Christmas tree at seven;
     so you may expect them home at nine o'clock. Wishing you a Merry
     Christmas and a Happy New Year, I am

                              Yours truly,
                              CAROL BIRD.




Breakfast was on the table promptly at seven o'clock, and there was very
little of it, too; for it was an excellent day for short rations, though
Mrs. Ruggles heaved a sigh as she reflected that the boys, with their
India-rubber stomachs, would be just as hungry the day after the
dinner-party as if they had never had any at all.

As soon as the scanty meal was over, she announced the plan of the
campaign: "Now, Susan, you an' Kitty wash up the dishes; an' Peter,
can't yer spread up the beds, so't I can git ter cuttin' out Larry's new
suit? I ain't satisfied with his clo'es, an' I thought in the night of a
way to make him a dress out o' my old red plaid shawl--kind o' Scotch
style, yer know, with the fringe 't the bottom.--Eily, you go find the
comb and take the snarls out the fringe, that's a lady! You little young
ones clear out from under foot! Clem, you and Con hop into bed with
Larry while I wash yer underflannins; 'twon't take long to dry
'em.--Yes, I know it's bothersome, buy yer can't go int' s'ciety 'thout
takin' some trouble, 'n' anyhow I couldn't git round to 'em last
night.--Sarah Maud, I think 'twould be perfeckly han'som' if you ripped
them brass buttons off yer uncle's _po_liceman's coat 'n' sewed 'em in a
row up the front o' yer green skirt. Susan, you must iron out yours 'n'
Kitty's apurns; 'n' there, I come mighty near forgettin' Peory's
stockin's! I counted the whole lot last night when I was washin' of 'em,
'n' there ain't but nineteen anyhow yer fix 'em, 'n' no nine pairs mates
nohow; 'n' I ain't goin' ter have my childern wear odd stockin's to a
dinner-comp'ny, fetched up as I was!--Eily, can't you run out and ask
Mis' Cullen ter lend me a pair o' stockin's for Peory, 'n' tell her if
she will, Peory'll give Jim half her candy when she gets home. Won't
yer, Peory?"

Peoria was young and greedy, and thought the remedy so out of all
proportion to the disease, that she set up a deafening howl at the
projected bargain--a howl so rebellious and so entirely out of season
that her mother started in her direction with flashing eye and uplifted
hand; but she let it fall suddenly, saying, "No, I vow I won't lick ye
Christmas Day, if yer drive me crazy; but speak up smart, now, 'n' say
whether yer'd ruther give Jim Cullen half yer candy or go bare-legged
ter the party?" The matter being put so plainly, Peoria collected her
faculties, dried her tears, and chose the lesser evil, Clem having
hastened the decision by an affectionate wink, that meant he'd go halves
with her on his candy.

"That's a lady!" cried her mother. "Now, you young ones that ain't doin'
nothin', play all yer want ter before noontime, for after ye git through
eatin' at twelve o'clock me 'n' Sarah Maud's goin' ter give yer sech a
washin' 'n' combin' 'n' dressin' as yer never had before 'n' never will
agin likely, 'n' then I'm goin' to set yer down 'n' give yer two solid
hours trainin' in manners; 'n' 'twon't be no foolin' neither."

"All we've got ter do's go eat!" grumbled Peter.

"Well, that's enough," responded his mother; "there's more'n one way of
eatin', let me tell yer, 'n' you've got a heap ter learn about it, Peter
Ruggles. Land sakes, I wish you childern could see the way I was fetched
up to eat. I never took a meal o' vittles in the kitchen before I
married Ruggles; but yer can't keep up that style with nine young ones
'n' yer Pa always off ter sea."

The big Ruggleses worked so well, and the little Ruggleses kept from
"under foot" so successfully, that by one o'clock nine complete toilets
were laid out in solemn grandeur on the beds. I say, "complete;" but I
do not know whether they would be called so in the best society. The law
of compensation had been well applied: he that had necktie had no cuffs;
she that had sash had no handkerchief, and _vice versa_; but they all
had shoes and a certain amount of clothing, such as it was, the outside
layer being in every case quite above criticism.

"Now, Sarah Maud," said Mrs. Ruggles, her face shining with excitement,
"everything's red up an' we can begin. I've got a boiler 'n' a kettle
'n' a pot o' hot water. Peter, you go into the back bedroom, 'n' I'll
take Susan, Kitty, Peory, 'n' Cornelius; 'n' Sarah Maud, you take Clem,
'n' Eily, 'n' Larry, one to a time. Scrub 'em 'n' rinse 'em, or 't any
rate git's fur's yer can with 'em, and then I'll finish 'em off while
you do yerself."

Sarah Maud couldn't have scrubbed with any more decision and force if
she had been doing floors, and the little Ruggleses bore it bravely, not
from natural heroism, but for the joy that was set before them. Not
being satisfied, however, with the "tone" of their complexions, and
feeling that the number of freckles to the square inch was too many to
be tolerated in the highest social circles, she wound up operations by
applying a little Bristol brick from the knife-board, which served as
the proverbial "last straw," from under which the little Ruggleses
issued rather red and raw and out of temper. When the clock struck four
they were all clothed, and most of them in their right minds, ready for
those last touches that always take the most time.

Kitty's red hair was curled in thirty-four ringlets, Sarah Maud's was
braided in one pig-tail, and Susan's and Eily's in two braids apiece,
while Peoria's resisted all advances in the shape of hair oils and stuck
out straight on all sides, like that of the Circassian girl of the
circus--so Clem said; and he was sent into the bedroom for it, too, from
whence he was dragged out forgivingly, by Peoria herself, five minutes
later. Then, exciting moment, came linen collars for some and neckties
and bows for others,--a magnificent green glass breastpin was sewed into
Peter's purple necktie,--and Eureka! the Ruggleses were dressed, and
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these!

A row of seats was then formed directly through the middle of the
kitchen. Of course, there were not quite chairs enough for ten, since
the family had rarely wanted to sit down all at once, somebody always
being out or in bed, or otherwise engaged, but the wood-box and the
coal-hod finished out the line nicely, and nobody thought of grumbling.
The children took their places according to age, Sarah Maud at the head
and Larry on the coal-hod, and Mrs. Ruggles seated herself in front,
surveying them proudly as she wiped the sweat of honest toil from her
brow.

"Well," she exclaimed, "if I do say so as shouldn't, I never see a
cleaner, more stylish mess o' childern in my life! I do wish Ruggles
could look at ye for a minute!--Larry Ruggles, how many times have I got
ter tell yer not ter keep pullin' at yer sash? Haven't I told yer if it
comes ontied, yer waist 'n' skirt'll part comp'ny in the middle, 'n'
then where'll yer be?--Now look me in the eye, all of yer! I've of'en
told yer what kind of a family the McGrills was. I've got reason to be
proud, goodness knows! Your uncle is on the _po_lice force o' New York
city; you can take up the paper most any day an' see his name printed
right out--James McGrill,--'n' I can't have my children fetched up
common, like some folks'; when they go out they've got to have clo'es,
and learn to act decent! Now I want ter see how yer goin' to behave when
yer git there to-night. 'Tain't so awful easy as you think 'tis. Let's
start in at the beginnin' 'n' act out the whole business.
Pile into the bedroom, there, every last one o' ye, 'n' show me how yer
goin' to go int' the parlor. This'll be the parlor, 'n' I'll be Mis'
Bird."

[Illustration: "I WANT TER SEE HOW YER GOIN' TER BEHAVE"]

The youngsters hustled into the next room in high glee, and Mrs. Ruggles
drew herself up in the chair with an infinitely haughty and purse-proud
expression that much better suited a descendant of the McGrills than
modest Mrs. Bird.

The bedroom was small, and there presently ensued such a clatter that
you would have thought a herd of wild cattle had broken loose. The door
opened, and they straggled in, all the younger ones giggling, with Sarah
Maud at the head, looking as if she had been caught in the act of
stealing sheep; while Larry, being last in line, seemed to think the
door a sort of gate of heaven which would be shut in his face if he
didn't get there in time; accordingly he struggled ahead of his elders
and disgraced himself by tumbling in head foremost.

Mrs. Ruggles looked severe. "There, I knew yer'd do it in some sech fool
way! Now go in there and try it over again, every last one o' ye, 'n' if
Larry can't come in on two legs he can stay ter home,--d' yer hear?"

The matter began to assume a graver aspect; the little Ruggleses stopped
giggling and backed into the bedroom, issuing presently with lock step,
Indian file, a scared and hunted expression on every countenance.

"No, no, no!" cried Mrs. Ruggles, in despair. "That's worse yet;
yer look for all the world like a gang o' pris'ners! There ain't
no style ter that: spread out more, can't yer, 'n' act kind o'
careless-like--nobody's goin' ter kill ye! That ain't what a
dinner-party is!"

The third time brought deserved success, and the pupils took their seats
in the row. "Now, yer know," said Mrs. Ruggles impressively, "there
ain't enough decent hats to go round, 'n' if there was I don' know's I'd
let yer wear 'em, for the boys would never think to take 'em off when
they got inside, for they never do--but anyhow, there ain't enough good
ones. Now, look me in the eye. You're only goin' jest round the corner;
you needn't wear no hats, none of yer, 'n' when yer get int' the parlor,
'n' they ask yer ter lay off yer hats, Sarah Maud must speak up 'n' say
it was sech a pleasant evenin' 'n' sech a short walk that yer left yer
hats to home. Now, can yer remember?"

All the little Ruggleses shouted, "Yes, marm!" in chorus.

"What have _you_ got ter do with it?" demanded their mother; "did I
tell _you_ to say it? Warn't I talkin' ter Sarah Maud?"

The little Ruggleses hung their diminished heads. "Yes, marm," they
piped, more discreetly.

"Now we won't leave nothin' to chance; git up, all of ye, an' try
it.--Speak up, Sarah Maud."

Sarah Maud's tongue clove to the roof of her mouth.

"Quick!"

"Ma thought--it was--sech a pleasant hat that we'd--we'd better leave
our short walk to home," recited Sarah Maud, in an agony of mental
effort.

This was too much for the boys. An earthquake of suppressed giggles
swept all along the line.

"Oh, whatever shall I do with yer?" moaned the unhappy mother; "I s'pose
I've got to learn it to yer!"--which she did, word for word, until Sarah
Maud thought she could stand on her head and say it backwards.

"Now, Cornelius, what are _you_ goin' ter say ter make yerself good
comp'ny?"

"Do? Me? Dunno!" said Cornelius, turning pale, with unexpected
responsibility.

"Well, ye ain't goin' to set there like a bump on a log 'thout sayin' a
word ter pay for yer vittles, air ye? Ask Mis' Bird how she's feelin'
this evenin', or if Mr. Bird's hevin' a busy season, or how this kind
o' weather agrees with him, or somethin' like that.--Now we'll make
b'lieve we've got ter the dinner--that won't be so hard, 'cause yer'll
have somethin' to do--it's awful bothersome to stan' round an' act
stylish.--If they have napkins, Sarah Maud down to Peory may put 'em in
their laps, 'n' the rest of ye can tuck 'em in yer necks. Don't eat with
yer fingers--don't grab no vittles off one 'nother's plates; don't reach
out for nothin', but wait till yer asked, 'n' if you never _git_ asked
don't git up and grab it.--Don't spill nothin' on the tablecloth, or
like's not Mis' Bird'll send yer away from the table--'n' I hope she
will if yer do! (Susan! keep your handkerchief in your lap where Peory
can borry it if she needs it, 'n' I hope she'll know when she does need
it, though I don't expect it.) Now we'll try a few things ter see how
they'll go! Mr. Clement, do you eat cramb'ry sarse?"

"Bet yer life!" cried Clem, who in the excitement of the moment had not
taken in the idea exactly and had mistaken this for an ordinary
bosom-of-the-family question.

"Clement McGrill Ruggles, do you mean to tell me that you'd say that to
a dinner-party? I'll give ye one more chance. Mr. Clement, will you take
some of the cramb'ry?"

"Yes, marm, thank ye kindly, if you happen ter have any handy."

"Very good, indeed! But they won't give yer two tries to-night,--yer
just remember that!--Miss Peory, do you speak for white or dark meat?"

"I ain't perticler as ter color,--anything that nobody else wants will
suit me," answered Peory with her best air.

"First-rate! Nobody could speak more genteel than that. Miss Kitty, will
you have hard or soft sarse with your pudden?"

"Hard or soft? Oh! A little of both, if you please, an' I'm much
obliged," said Kitty, bowing with decided ease and grace; at which all
the other Ruggleses pointed the finger of shame at her, and Peter
_grunted_ expressively, that their meaning might not be mistaken.

"You just stop your gruntin', Peter Ruggles; that warn't greedy, that
was all right. I wish I could git it inter your heads that it ain't so
much what yer say, as the way you say it. And don't keep starin'
cross-eyed at your necktie pin, or I'll take it out 'n' sew it on to
Clem or Cornelius: Sarah Maud'll keep her eye on it, 'n' if it turns
broken side out she'll tell yer. Gracious! I shouldn't think you'd ever
seen nor worn no jool'ry in your life.--Eily, you an' Larry's too
little to train, so you just look at the rest an' do's they do, 'n' the
Lord have mercy on ye 'n' help ye to act decent! Now, is there anything
more ye'd like to practice?"

"If yer tell me one more thing, I can't set up an' eat," said Peter
gloomily; "I'm so cram full o' manners now I'm ready ter bust, 'thout no
dinner at all."

"Me too," chimed in Cornelius.

"Well, I'm sorry for yer both," rejoined Mrs. Ruggles sarcastically; "if
the 'mount o' manners yer've got on hand now troubles ye, you're
dreadful easy hurt! Now, Sarah Maud, after dinner, about once in so
often, you must git up 'n' say, 'I guess we'd better be goin';' 'n' if
they say, 'Oh, no, set a while longer,' yer can set; but if they don't
say nothin' you've got ter get up 'n' go.--Now hev yer got that int' yer
head?"

"_About once in so often!_" Could any words in the language be fraught
with more terrible and wearing uncertainty?

"Well," answered Sarah Maud mournfully, "seems as if this whole
dinner-party set right square on top o' me! Mebbe I could manage my own
manners, but to manage nine mannerses is worse 'n staying to home!"

"Oh, don't fret," said her mother, good-naturedly, now that the lesson
was over; "I guess you'll git along. I wouldn't mind if folks would only
say, 'Oh, childern will be childern;' but they won't. They'll say, 'Land
o' Goodness, who fetched them childern up?'--It's quarter past five, 'n'
yer can go now:--remember 'bout the hats,--don't all talk ter
once,--Susan, lend yer han'k'chief ter Peory,--Peter, don't keep
screwin' yer scarf-pin,--Cornelius, hold yer head up straight,--Sarah
Maud, don't take yer eyes off o' Larry, 'n' Larry you keep holt o' Sarah
Maud 'n' do jest as she says,--'n' whatever you do, all of yer, never
forget for one second that yer mother was a McGrill."




VI

"WHEN THE PIE WAS OPENED,
THE BIRDS BEGAN TO SING!"


The children went out of the back door quietly, and were presently
lost to sight, Sarah Maud slipping and stumbling along
absent-mindedly, as she recited rapidly under her breath,
"Itwassuchapleasantevenin'n'suchashortwalk, that
wethoughtwe'dleaveourhatstohome.--Itwassucha
pleasantevenin'n'suchashortwalk,thatwethoughtwe'd leaveourhatstohome."

Peter rang the door-bell, and presently a servant admitted them, and,
whispering something in Sarah's ear, drew her downstairs into the
kitchen. The other Ruggleses stood in horror-stricken groups as the door
closed behind their commanding officer; but there was no time for
reflection, for a voice from above was heard, saying, "Come right up
stairs, please!"

    "Theirs not to make reply,
    Theirs not to reason why,
    Theirs but to do or die."

Accordingly they walked upstairs, and Elfrida, the nurse, ushered them
into a room more splendid than anything they had ever seen. But, oh woe!
where was Sarah Maud! and was it Fate that Mrs. Bird should say, at
once, "Did you lay your hats in the hall?" Peter felt himself elected by
circumstance the head of the family, and, casting one imploring look at
tongue-tied Susan, standing next him, said huskily, "It was so very
pleasant--that--that"----"That we hadn't good hats enough to go 'round,"
put in little Susan, bravely, to help him out, and then froze with
horror that the ill-fated words had slipped off her tongue.

However, Mrs. Bird said, pleasantly, "Of course you wouldn't wear hats
such a short distance--I forgot when I asked. Now will you come right in
to Miss Carol's room? She is so anxious to see you."

Just then Sarah Maud came up the back stairs, so radiant with joy from
her secret interview with the cook that Peter could have pinched her
with a clear conscience; and Carol gave them a joyful welcome. "But
where is Baby Larry?" she cried, looking over the group with searching
eye. "Didn't he come?"

"Larry! Larry!" Good gracious, where was Larry? They were all sure that
he had come in with them, for Susan remembered scolding him for tripping
over the door-mat. Uncle Jack went into convulsions of laughter. "Are
you sure there were nine of you?" he asked, merrily.

"I think so, sir," said Peoria, timidly; "but anyhow, there was Larry;"
and she showed signs of weeping.

"Oh, well, cheer up!" cried Uncle Jack. "Probably he's not lost--only
mislaid. I'll go and find him before you can say Jack Robinson!"

"I'll go, too, if you please, sir," said Sarah Maud, "for it was my
place to mind him, an' if he's lost I can't relish my vittles!"

The other Ruggleses stood rooted to the floor. Was this a dinner-party,
forsooth; and if so, why were such things ever spoken of as festive
occasions?

Sarah Maud went out through the hall, calling, "Larry! Larry!" and
without any interval of suspense a thin voice piped up from below, "Here
I be!"

The truth was that Larry, being deserted by his natural guardian,
dropped behind the rest, and wriggled into the hat-tree to wait for her,
having no notion of walking unprotected into the jaws of a fashionable
entertainment. Finding that she did not come, he tried to crawl from his
refuge and call somebody, when--dark and dreadful ending to a tragic
day--he found that he was too much intertwined with umbrellas and canes
to move a single step. He was afraid to yell (when I have said this of
Larry Ruggles I have pictured a state of helpless terror that ought to
wring tears from every eye); and the sound of Sarah Maud's beloved
voice, some seconds later, was like a strain of angel music in his ears.
Uncle Jack dried his tears, carried him upstairs, and soon had him in
breathless fits of laughter, while Carol so made the other Ruggleses
forget themselves that they were presently talking like accomplished
diners-out.

Carol's bed had been moved into the farthest corner of the room, and she
was lying on the outside, dressed in a wonderful dressing-gown that
looked like a fleecy cloud. Her golden hair fell in fluffy curls over
her white forehead and neck, her cheeks flushed delicately, her eyes
beamed with joy, and the children told their mother, afterwards, that
she looked as beautiful as the angels in the picture books.

There was a great bustle behind a huge screen in another part of the
room, and at half past five this was taken away, and the Christmas
dinner-table stood revealed. What a wonderful sight it was to the poor
little Ruggles children, who ate their sometimes scanty meals on the
kitchen table! It blazed with tall colored candles, it gleamed with
glass and silver, it blushed with flowers, it groaned with good things
to eat; so it was not strange that the Ruggleses, forgetting altogether
that their mother was a McGrill, shrieked in admiration of the fairy
spectacle. But Larry's behavior was the most disgraceful, for he stood
not upon the order of his going, but went at once for a high chair that
pointed unmistakably to him, climbed up like a squirrel, gave a
comprehensive look at the turkey, clapped his hands in ecstasy, rested
his fat arms on the table, and cried with joy, "I beat the hull lot o'
yer!" Carol laughed until she cried, giving orders, meanwhile,--"Uncle
Jack, please sit at the head, Sarah Maud at the foot, and that will
leave four on each side; Mamma is going to help Elfrida, so that the
children need not look after each other, but just have a good time."

A sprig of holly lay by each plate, and nothing would do but each little
Ruggles must leave his seat and have it pinned on by Carol, and as each
course was served, one of them pleaded to take something to her. There
was hurrying to and fro, I can assure you, for it is quite a difficult
matter to serve a Christmas dinner on the third floor of a great city
house; but if it had been necessary to carry every dish up a rope ladder
the servants would gladly have done so. There were turkey and chicken,
with delicious gravy and stuffing, and there were half a dozen
vegetables, with cranberry jelly, and celery, and pickles; and as for
the way these delicacies were served, the Ruggleses never forgot it as
long as they lived.

Peter nudged Kitty, who sat next him, and said, "Look, will yer, ev'ry
feller's got his own partic'lar butter; I s'pose that's to show you can
eat that 'n' no more. No, it ain't either, for that pig of a Peory's
just gettin' another helpin'!"

"Yes," whispered Kitty, "an' the napkins is marked with big red letters!
I wonder if that's so nobody'll nip 'em; an' oh, Peter, look at the
pictures stickin' right on ter the dishes! Did yee ever?"

"The plums is all took out o' my cramb'ry sarse an' it's friz to a stiff
jell'!" whispered Peoria, in wild excitement.

"Hi--yah! I got a wish-bone!" sang Larry, regardless of Sarah Maud's
frown; after which she asked to have his seat changed, giving as excuse
that he "gen'ally set beside her, an' would feel strange;" the true
reason being that she desired to kick him gently, under the table,
whenever he passed what might be termed "the McGrill line."

"I declare to goodness," murmured Susan, on the other side, "there's so
much to look at I can't scarcely eat nothin'!"

"Bet yer life I can!" said Peter, who had kept one servant busily
employed ever since he sat down; for, luckily, no one was asked by Uncle
Jack whether he would have a second helping, but the dishes were quietly
passed under their noses, and not a single Ruggles refused anything that
was offered him, even unto the seventh time.

Then, when Carol and Uncle Jack perceived that more turkey was a
physical impossibility, the meats were taken off and the dessert was
brought in--a dessert that would have frightened a strong man after such
a dinner as had preceded it. Not so the Ruggleses--for a strong man is
nothing to a small boy--and they kindled to the dessert as if the turkey
had been a dream and the six vegetables an optical delusion. There were
plum-pudding, mince-pie, and ice-cream; and there were nuts, and
raisins, and oranges. Kitty chose ice-cream, explaining that she knew
it "by sight, though she hadn't never tasted none;" but all the rest
took the entire variety, without any regard to consequences.

[Illustration: "THE RUGGLESES NEVER FORGOT IT"]

"My dear child," whispered Uncle Jack, as he took Carol an orange,
"there is no doubt about the necessity of this feast, but I do advise
you after this to have them twice a year, or quarterly perhaps, for the
way these children eat is positively dangerous; I assure you I tremble
for that terrible Peoria. I'm going to run races with her after dinner."

"Never mind," laughed Carol; "let them have enough for once; it does my
heart good to see them, and they shall come oftener next year."

The feast being over, the Ruggleses lay back in their chairs languidly,
like little gorged boa-constrictors, and the table was cleared in a
trice. Then a door was opened into the next room, and there, in a corner
facing Carol's bed, which had been wheeled as close as possible, stood
the brilliantly lighted Christmas tree, glittering with gilded walnuts
and tiny silver balloons, and wreathed with snowy chains of pop-corn.
The presents had been bought mostly with Carol's story-money, and were
selected after long consultations with Mrs. Bird. Each girl had a blue
knitted hood, and each boy a red crocheted comforter, all made by Mamma,
Carol, and Elfrida. ("Because if you buy everything, it doesn't show so
much love," said Carol.) Then every girl had a pretty plaid dress of a
different color, and every boy a warm coat of the right size. Here the
useful presents stopped, and they were quite enough; but Carol had
pleaded to give them something "for fun." "I know they need the
clothes," she had said, when they were talking over the matter just
after Thanksgiving, "but they don't care much for them, after all. Now,
Papa, won't you _please_ let me go without part of my presents this
year, and give me the money they would cost, to buy something to amuse
the Ruggleses?"

"You can have both," said Mr. Bird, promptly; "is there any need of my
little girl's going without her own Christmas, I should like to know?
Spend all the money you like."

"But that isn't the thing," objected Carol, nestling close to her
father; "it wouldn't be mine. What is the use? Haven't I almost
everything already, and am I not the happiest girl in the world this
year, with Uncle Jack and Donald at home? You know very well it is more
blessed to give than to receive; so why won't you let me do it? You
never look half as happy when you are getting your presents as when you
are giving us ours. Now, Papa, submit, or I shall have to be very firm
and disagreeable with you!"

"Very well, your Highness, I surrender."

"That's a dear Papa! Now what were you going to give me? Confess!"

"A bronze figure of Santa Claus; and in the 'little round belly that
shakes when he laughs like a bowlful of jelly,' is a wonderful
clock--oh, you would never give it up if you could see it!"

"Nonsense," laughed Carol; "as I never have to get up to breakfast, nor
go to bed, nor catch trains, I think my old clock will do very well!
Now, Mamma, what were you going to give me?"

"Oh, I hadn't decided. A few more books, and a gold thimble, and a
smelling-bottle, and a music-box, perhaps."

"Poor Carol," laughed the child, merrily, "she can afford to give up
these lovely things, for there will still be left Uncle Jack, and
Donald, and Paul, and Hugh, and Uncle Rob, and Aunt Elsie, and a dozen
other people to fill her Christmas stocking!"

So Carol had her way, as she generally did; but it was usually a good
way, which was fortunate, under the circumstances; and Sarah Maud had a
set of Miss Alcott's books, and Peter a modest silver watch, Cornelius
a tool-chest, Clement a dog-house for his lame puppy, Larry a
magnificent Noah's ark, and each of the younger girls a beautiful doll.

You can well believe that everybody was very merry and very thankful.
All the family, from Mr. Bird down to the cook, said that they had never
seen so much happiness in the space of three hours; but it had to end,
as all things do. The candles flickered and went out, the tree was left
alone with its gilded ornaments, and Mrs. Bird sent the children
downstairs at half past eight, thinking that Carol looked tired.

"Now, my darling, you have done quite enough for one day," said Mrs.
Bird, getting Carol into her little nightgown. "I'm afraid you will feel
worse tomorrow, and that would be a sad ending to such a charming
evening."

"Oh, wasn't it a lovely, lovely time," sighed Carol. "From first to
last, everything was just right. I shall never forget Larry's face when
he looked at the turkey; nor Peter's when he saw his watch; nor that
sweet, sweet Kitty's smile when she kissed her dolly; nor the tears in
poor, dull Sarah Maud's eyes when she thanked me for her books; nor"--

"But we mustn't talk any longer about it tonight," said Mrs. Bird,
anxiously; "you are too tired, dear."

"I am not so very tired, Mamma. I have felt well all day; not a bit of
pain anywhere. Perhaps this has done me good."

"Perhaps; I hope so. There was no noise or confusion; it was just a
merry time. Now, may I close the door and leave you alone, dear? Papa
and I will steal in softly by and by to see if you are all right; but I
think you need to be very quiet."

"Oh, I'm willing to stay by myself; but I am not sleepy yet, and I am
going to hear the music, you know."

"Yes, I have opened the window a little, and put the screen in front of
it, so that you won't feel the air."

"Can I have the shutters open? and won't you turn my bed, please? This
morning I woke ever so early, and one bright, beautiful star shone in
that eastern window. I never noticed it before, and I thought of the
Star in the East, that guided the wise men to the place where the baby
Jesus was. Good-night, Mamma. Such a happy, happy day!"

"Good-night, my precious Christmas Carol--mother's blessed Christmas
child."

"Bend your head a minute, mother dear," whispered Carol, calling her
mother back. "Mamma, dear, I do think that we have kept Christ's
birthday this time just as He would like it. Don't you?"

"I am sure of it," said Mrs. Bird, softly.

[Illustration]




VII

The Birdling Flies Away


The Ruggleses had finished a last romp in the library with Paul and
Hugh, and Uncle Jack had taken them home and stayed a while to chat with
Mrs. Ruggles, who opened the door for them, her face all aglow with
excitement and delight. When Kitty and Clem showed her the oranges and
nuts that they had kept for her, she astonished them by saying that at
six o'clock Mrs. Bird had sent her in the finest dinner she had ever
seen in her life; and not only that, but a piece of dress-goods that
must have cost a dollar a yard if it cost a cent.

As Uncle Jack went down the rickety steps he looked back into the window
for a last glimpse of the family, as the children gathered about their
mother, showing their beautiful presents again and again,--and then
upward to a window in the great house yonder. "A little child shall lead
them," he thought. "Well, if--if anything ever happens to Carol, I will
take the Ruggleses under my wing."

       *       *       *       *       *

"Softly, Uncle Jack," whispered the boys, as he walked into the library
a while later. "We are listening to the music in the church. The choir
has sung 'Carol, brothers, carol,' and now we think the organist is
beginning to play 'My ain countree' for Carol."

"I hope she hears it," said Mrs. Bird; "but they are very late to-night,
and I dare not speak to her lest she should be asleep. It is almost ten
o'clock."

The boy soprano, clad in white surplice, stood in the organ loft. The
light shone full upon his crown of fair hair, and his pale face, with
its serious blue eyes, looked paler than usual. Perhaps it was something
in the tender thrill of the voice, or in the sweet words, but there were
tears in many eyes both in the church and in the great house next door.

    "I am far frae my hame,
      I am weary aften whiles
    For the langed-for hame-bringin',
      An' my Faether's welcome smiles
    An' I'll ne'er be fu' content,
      Until my e'en do see
    The gowden gates o' heaven
      In my ain countree.

[Illustration: "MY AIN COUNTREE"]

    The earth is decked wi' flow'rs,
      Mony tinted, fresh an' gay,
    An' the birdies warble blythely,
      For my Faether made them sae;
    But these sights an' these soun's
      Will as naething be to me,
    When I hear the angels singin'
      In my ain countree.

    Like a bairn to its mither,
      A wee birdie to its nest,
    I fain would be gangin' noo
      Unto my Faether's breast;
    For He gathers in His arms
      Helpless, worthless lambs like me,
    An' carries them Himsel'
      To his ain countree."

There were tears in many eyes, but not in Carol's. The loving heart had
quietly ceased to beat, and the "wee birdie" in the great house had
flown to its "home nest." Carol had fallen asleep! But as to the song, I
think perhaps, I cannot say, she heard it after all!

       *       *       *       *       *

So sad an ending to a happy day! Perhaps--to those who were left; and
yet Carol's mother, even in the freshness of her grief, was glad that
her darling had slipped away on the loveliest day of her life, out of
its glad content, into everlasting peace.

She was glad that she had gone as she had come, on the wings of song,
when all the world was brimming over with joy; glad of every grateful
smile, of every joyous burst of laughter, of every loving thought and
word and deed the dear last day had brought.

Sadness reigned, it is true, in the little house behind the garden; and
one day poor Sarah Maud, with a courage born of despair, threw on her
hood and shawl, walked straight to a certain house a mile away, up the
marble steps into good Dr. Bartol's office, falling at his feet as she
cried, "Oh, sir, it was me an' our children that went to Miss Carol's
last dinner-party, an' if we made her worse we can't never be happy
again!" Then the kind old gentleman took her rough hand in his and told
her to dry her tears, for neither she nor any of her flock had hastened
Carol's flight; indeed, he said that had it not been for the strong
hopes and wishes that filled her tired heart, she could not have stayed
long enough to keep that last merry Christmas with her dear ones.

And so the old years, fraught with memories, die, one after another, and
the new years, bright with hopes, are born to take their places; but
Carol lives again in every chime of Christmas bells that peal glad
tidings, and in every Christmas anthem sung by childish voices.

[Illustration]




THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL

[Dramatized Edition]

_By Kate Douglas Wiggin_


This beautiful story, which has been a home and school favorite for
forty years, takes to itself new vividness and interest in Mrs. Wiggin's
own dramatization.

In preparing this version, the author had in mind the limitations of the
amateur and the time available for school theatricals. The book is so
arranged that any single scene or the entire story may be staged with
equal effect either with or without stage settings or costumes.

For the school, the home, or the amateur dramatic club this is an ideal
play--simple, practical, thoroughly interesting, and always successful.

Books by Kate Douglas Wiggin

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS. Small Brochure.

THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER. Illustrated.

CREEPING JENNY.

MY GARDEN OF MEMORY. Illustrated.

THE QUILT OF HAPPINESS. In Evergreen Series.

HOMESPUN TALES. Rose o' the River, The Old Peabody Pew, and Susanna
and Sue, in one volume. Illustrated.

LADIES-IN-WAITING. With frontispiece.

THE ROMANCE OF A CHRISTMAS CARD. Illustrated.

PENELOPE'S POSTSCRIPTS. With frontispiece.

A CHILD'S JOURNEY WITH DICKENS.

MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS. Illustrated.

ROBINETTA. Illustrated.

REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM.

REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM. _Holiday Edition._ Illustrated.

NEW CHRONICLES OF REBECCA. Illustrated.

THE AFFAIR AT THE INN. Illustrated.

THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL. Illustrated.

THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL. _Holiday Edition._

THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL. _Dramatic Version._

THE STORY OF PATSY. Illustrated.

THE DIARY OF A GOOSE GIRL. Illustrated.

A CATHEDRAL COURTSHIP, and PENELOPE'S ENGLISH EXPERIENCES.
Illustrated.

A CATHEDRAL COURTSHIP. _Holiday Edition_, enlarged. Illustrated
by C. E. BROCK.

PENELOPE'S PROGRESS. (In Scotland.)

PENELOPE'S IRISH EXPERIENCES.

PENELOPE'S EXPERIENCES. I. England; II. Scotland; III. Ireland.
_Holiday Edition._ With many illustrations by CHARLES E BROCK.

TIMOTHY'S QUEST. A Story for Anybody, Young or Old, who cares to
read it. _Holiday Edition._ Illustrated.

POLLY OLIVER'S PROBLEM. Illustrated.

MARM LISA.

THE VILLAGE WATCH TOWER.

A SUMMER IN A CAÑON. A California Story. Illustrated.

NINE LOVE SONGS AND A CAROL. Music by MRS. WIGGIN. Word
by HERRICK, SILL, and others.

       *       *       *       *       *

By Mrs Wiggin and
Miss Dora Archibald Smith

THE STORY HOUR. A Book for the Home and Kindergarten. Illustrated.

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS. A Book of Nursery Logic.

THE REPUBLIC OF CHILDHOOD. In three volumes.
  I. FROEBEL'S GIFTS.
 II. FROEBEL'S OCCUPATIONS.
III. KINDERGARTEN PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
BOSTON AND NEW YORK





End of Project Gutenberg's The Bird's Christmas Carol, by Kate Douglas Wiggin