brnia Berkeley 
 
 of 
 Keesling, Jr, 
 
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 x* ^ SV* 
 
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ALL THE FAMILY SAID THEY HAD NEVER SEEN 
 
 SO MUCH HAPPINESS IN THE SPACE 
 
 OF THREE HOURS 
 
COPYRIGHT, lSS6, BY KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN 
 
 COPYRIGHT, iSSS, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published September iqi2 
 
 
To 
 
 The Three Dearest Children in the World 
 BERTHA, LUCY, AND HORATIO 
 

Prefatory Letter 
 
 To my Dear First Book : 
 
 Here you are on my desk again after more 
 than a quarter of a century, in an altogether 
 new dress ; a much finer one than you wore, long 
 ago, when you and I began our literary life to- 
 gether. I was young then, taking my first timid 
 steps into an unknown land, and you were the 
 fragile staff on which I leaned. Now we face 
 each other once more at the end of the long 
 journey. I remember so well the beginning of 
 it! The house was on the top of a " heaven- 
 kissing hill." On a clear day, looking far, far 
 down and off, the eye caught the blue glimmer 
 of the Golden Gate and the low green slopes 
 of the Marin shore. It was a smiling, glistening 
 
 vii 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 country ; bathed in sunshine, swept clean by 
 fresh winds, forever bursting into a tumultuous 
 profusion of bloom, on wayside or hillside, in 
 garden or hedgerow. Our part of the world was 
 making ready for a green California Christmas, 
 and though many of its familiar outward accom- 
 paniments were missing, the Spirit of the Star 
 w T as abroad in every heart, and some of it, I 
 hope, crept into the book. 
 
 The room in which I wrote was a wonderful 
 room ! (It always is!) It was peopled with your 
 characters, all of them more real to my mind's 
 eye than I was ever able to make them seem on 
 paper; and the very air of it breathed phrases 
 so melodious that my poor pen could never frame 
 them, nor set down the sentences that should 
 have flowed in beautiful and lawful order on the 
 
 page. 
 
 / 
 NOW T , as I write this preface, I can see only 
 
 a narrow stream of wintry sky between city 
 roofs and chimneys. Youth lies behind me, in 
 
 viii 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 a golden haze, but the wonder is still there, 
 and the afterglow is no less beautiful than the 
 dawn to the traveller who loves every mile of 
 the road. 
 
 You have been a good friend to me, my book, 
 -none better! It was you who " eased my 
 shoulder from the burden," you who " delivered 
 my hands from making the pots. 7 ' At the very 
 first, you earned the wherewithal to take a group 
 of children out of the confusion and dangers of 
 squalid streets, and transport them into a place of 
 sunshine, safety, and gladness. Then you took 
 my hand and led me into the bigger, crowded 
 world where the public lives. You brought me 
 all the new, strange experiences that are so 
 thrilling to the neophyte. The very sight of your 
 familiar title brings them back afresh! Proof- 
 sheets in galleys, of which one prated learnedly 
 to one's awe-stricken family; then the Thing 
 Itself, in covers, and as one opened them tremb- 
 lingly, in secret, there pounced from the text 
 
 ix 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 some clumsy phrase one never noted before in 
 all one's weary quest for errors ! Then reviews, 
 mingling praise and blame; then letters from 
 strangers; then, years after, the story smiling 
 at one cheerily, pathetically, gratefully, from 
 patient rows of raised letters printed for blind 
 eyes; then, finally, the sight of It translated into 
 foreign tongues. 
 
 You are not a great book, my dear first-born ! 
 Do not think it, or allow your head to be turned 
 by the good fortune that has waited upon you 
 ever since your birth. You have really held your 
 place longer than anyone could have hoped, for 
 you had not a Dickens to enshrine a Tiny Tim 
 in the amber of your pages and so make your 
 Carol live forever! You are only a pleasant, cosy 
 little story with a likable something in you that 
 has brought you readers. 
 
 Would that I had had more art even at the 
 expense of having had less heart with which 
 to endow you, but I gave you all of both I had 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL. 
 
 to give, and one can do no more. In return you 
 have repaid me in ways tangible and intangible, 
 ways jnost rare and beautiful, even to bringing 
 me friendships in strange lands, where people 
 have welcomed me for your sake. Then go, little 
 book, on your second journey into the world. 
 Here are my thanks, good comrade, and here 
 my blessing! Hail and farewell! 
 
 KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN. 
 
 NEW YORK, April, 1912. 
 
Contents 
 
 I. A LITTLE SNOW BIRD 1 
 
 II. DROOPING WINGS . . . . . . . ! . , .13 
 
 III. THE BIRD'S NEST . . . 22 
 
 IV. " BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER " . . ,31 
 V. SOME OTHER BIRDS ARE TAUGHT TO FLY . 45 
 
 VI. "WHEN THE PIE WAS OPENED, 
 THE BIRDS BEGAN TO SING ! " 
 
 GS 
 
 VII. THE BIRDLING FLIES AWAY . . . .86 
 
Illustrations 
 
 HALF TITLE i 
 
 THEY HAD NEVER SEEN SO MUCH HAPPINESS . Frontispiece 
 
 TITLE-PAGE . . ' \' ' ' Hi 
 
 CONTENTS . . . . . . xiii 
 
 INITIAL LETTER 1 
 
 HER TINY HANDS FOREVER OUTSTRETCHED IN GIVING . 7 
 
 HER CHEEKS AND LIPS WERE RED AS HOLLY BERRIES . 11 
 
 TAILPIECE 12 
 
 INITIAL LETTER 13 
 
 CAROL WILL NEVER BE WELL AGAIN 17 
 
 LOVE BIRDS AND CANARIES HUNG IN THEIR GOLDEN CAGES 19 
 
 INITIAL LETTER 22 
 
 EVERY SATURDAY SHE CHOSE TEN BOOKS 25 
 
 TAILPIECE 30 
 
 *~**Zv& _ 
 XV 
 
THE BIRDS 7 CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 INITIAL LETTER 31 
 
 PETER RUGGLES CAUGHT HER 35 
 
 ON THE ROOF OF OUR CARRIAGE HOUSE 37 
 
 TAILPIECE 44 
 
 INITIAL LETTER 45 
 
 .SEWED 'EM IN A ROW UP THE FRONT 48 
 
 KITTY'S HAIR WAS CURLED IN THIRTY-FOUR RINGLETS . 53 
 
 .SARAH MAUD SCRUBBED . . 55 
 
 THE DOOR OPENED AND THEY STRAGGLED IN ... 58 
 
 PETER 64 
 
 TAILPIECE 67 
 
 INITIAL LETTER 68 
 
 INTERTWINED WITH THE UMBRELLAS AND CANES . . 72 
 
 THE RUGGLESES NEVER FORGOT IT 76 
 
 KITTY'S SMILE WHEN SHE KISSED HER DOLL .... 82 
 
 TAILPIECE 85 
 
 INITIAL LETTER 86 
 
 THE BOY SOPRANO 87 
 
 TAILPIECE . 91 
 

 The Birds' Christmas Carol 
 
 A LITTLE SNOW BIRD 
 
 T 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 ex- 
 pected 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. 
 
 1 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 chose 
 " 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 every- 
 body 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 to suggest any other, under the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Hugh, the hitherto baby, if that is a pos- 
 
 9: 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 sible term, sat in one corner and said nothing 
 about names, feeling, 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. 
 
 However it was too profound a subject to be 
 settled then and there, on the spot; besides, 
 mother 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 
 
 3 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS C 
 
 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 rail- 
 ing a few times, just by way of uncorking 
 the vials of his wrath, and then subsided into 
 gloomy silence, waiting to declare war if another 
 first girl baby was 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 
 
 4 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 al- 
 ways 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 : 
 
 5 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 Carol, brothers, carol, 
 Christmas Day again." 
 
 One verse followed another, always with the 
 same sweet refrain : - 
 
 " And pray a gladsome Christinas 
 
 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 bun- 
 dle 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 near 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. 
 
 6 
 
HER TINY HANDS FOREVER OUTSTRETCHED 
 
 IN GIVING. SUCH A GENEROUS LITTLE 
 
 CREATURE YOU NEVER SAW 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " 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 is that?" asked Mr. Bird, coming in 
 softly and closing the door behind him. 
 
 "Why, Donald, don't you think 'Carol' is a 
 charming 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 delightful name, dear, 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 father, Mrs. Bird, though she was as 
 
 9 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 prettier than Lucy, but was 
 glad that people would probably think it short 
 for Caroline, and so the family would not be 
 criticised as being over-romantic. 
 
 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 every- 
 thing in a good beginning, and she may have 
 breathed in unconsciously the fragrance of ever- 
 greens and holiday dinners, while the peals of 
 sleigh-bells and the laughter of happy children 
 may have fallen upon her baby ears and wak- 
 
 10 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 ened 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 Christ- 
 
 11 
 
*' CHRISTMAS CAROL, 
 
 mas-bells, and her tiny hands forever out- 
 stretched in giving. 
 
 Such a generous little creature you never saw ! 
 A spoonful of bread and milk had always to be 
 taken by mother or nurse before Carol could 
 enjoy her supper ; whatever bit of cake or sweet- 
 meat found its way into her pretty fingers was 
 straightway broken in half to be shared with 
 Donald, Paul, or Hugh ; and when they made be- 
 lieve nibble the morsel with affected enjoyment, 
 she would clap her hands and crow with delight. 
 
 " Why does she do it ? " asked Donald thought- 
 fully. " None of us boys ever did." 
 
 "I hardly know," said Mother Bird, 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 
 
 .1" 
 
 DROOPING WINGS 
 
 T 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 festivi- 
 ties of the household, 
 
 though in her babyhood her share of the gaye- 
 ties was somewhat limited. 
 
 For five years, certainly, she had hidden pre- 
 sents for father and mother in their own bureau 
 drawers, and harbored a number of secrets suf- 
 ficiently large to burst a baby brain, had it not 
 been for the relief gained by whispering them 
 
 13 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 all to her mother, at night when she was in her 
 crib, a proceeding which did not in the least les- 
 sen the value of a secret in her innocent mind. 
 
 For five years she had heard " 'T was the night 
 before Christmas," and hung up a scarlet stock- 
 ing many sizes too large for her, and pinned a 
 sprig of holly on her little white nightgown, to 
 show Santa Glaus that she was a " truly " Christ- 
 mas 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. Father Bird had gray hairs in his whisk- 
 ers ; and Grandma, God bless her, had been four 
 Christmases in heaven. 
 
 14 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 But Christmas in the Birds' Nest was scarcely 
 as merry now as it used to be in the bygone 
 years, for the little child, who 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 
 that her mother and father noticed, soon after 
 she was live years old, that she began to limp, 
 ever so slightly ; to complain too often of weari- 
 ness, 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 al- 
 ways 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 
 
 15 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 the everlasting summer- time in a heavenly coun- 
 try, 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 pa- 
 tient, that it tilled 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 the heaven from whence she came. 
 
 "It is no use to close our eyes to it any 
 
 16 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 longer, 77 said Mr. Bird, as he paced up and down 
 the library floor; "Carol will never be well 
 again. It seems a burden too heavy to be borne 
 to 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 is get- 
 ting to be the saddest day in the year! " and 
 
 17 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 efforts. 
 
 "But, Donald, dear/ 7 said Mrs. Bird, with 
 trembling voice, "Christinas 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 sorrow- 
 ful 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, devo- 
 tion, 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, 
 
 18 
 
LOVE BIRDS AND CANARIES HUNG IN 
 
 THEIR GOLDEN CAGES AT 
 
 THE WINDOWS 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 because they like to teach Carol, and amuse her 
 by telling her what they read. When the seam- 
 stress 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, dearest." said Mr. Bird more 
 cheerfully; u 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 the mother's 
 turn to break down, and the father's to com- 
 fort her. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE BIRD'S NEST 
 
 AROL 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 
 into 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 
 oould be. 
 
 The room had been extended by the building 
 of a large addition that hung out over the gar- 
 
 22 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 den 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 
 Kuggles 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, 
 
 23 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 narrow 
 white bed. 
 
 On one side of the room was a bookcase tilled 
 with hundreds --yes, I mean it --with hun- 
 dreds 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. 
 
 24 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 This was Carol's Cir- 
 culating 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 
 
 25 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 beauti- 
 ful things to wear, but they were all dressing- 
 gowns and slippers and shawls ; and there were 
 drawers full of toys and games, but they w r ere 
 such as you could play with on your lap. There 
 were no ninepins, nor balls, nor bows and 
 
 26 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 arrows, nor bean bags, nor tennis rackets ; but, 
 after all, other children needed these more than 
 Carol Bird, for she was always happy and con- 
 tented, 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/ 7 
 
 On these particular December days she was 
 happier than usual, for Uncle Jack was com- 
 ing 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 treas- 
 
 27 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 ures that you'll have to borrow the stockings of Bar- 
 num'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 '11 tell you why. I 've set my heart on finding 
 one with a dimple in his chin, because this pony partic- 
 ularly likes dimples ! [" Hurrah ! " cried Hugh ; " bless 
 my dear dimple; I '11 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 did n'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. 
 
 28 
 
BIRDS* CHRISTMAS C 
 
 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 before- 
 hand 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 ex- 
 pect 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 bed- 
 side 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 '11 
 have none of it without her. She is better than all the tur- 
 keys and puddings and apples and spare-ribs and wreaths 
 
 29 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 gar- 
 den, gathered at the door and wondered what was 
 going on at the big house. 
 
IV 
 
 "BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER" 
 
 NCLE 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 
 ain afraid. The snow-storm 
 came also ; and the turkey nearly died a nat- 
 ural 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 hand- 
 some head, and stories - - bless me, you could n'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 
 
 31 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 is n'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, l To- 
 
 32 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 day is Christ's birthday - - and mine! ' I did n't 
 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 don't quite 
 feel about Christmas as other girls do. Mother 
 says she supposes that ever so many other chil- 
 dren have been born on that day. I often won- 
 der 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 some- 
 body happy every single Christmas that I live, 
 and this year it is to be the Euggleses in the 
 
 rear." 
 
 " That large and interesting brood of children 
 
 33 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 in the little house at the end of the back 
 garden?' 7 
 
 "Yes ; is n't it nice to see so many together? 
 - and, Uncle Jack, why do the big families al- 
 ways live in the small houses, and the small 
 families in the big houses? We ought to call 
 them the Ruggles children, of course ; but Do- 
 nald began talking of them as the ' Ruggleses 
 in the rear/ and father and mother 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 does n't care what hap- 
 pens 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 worse 
 headache than usual, and Donald asked them if 
 they would please not scream quite so loud, and 
 they explained that they were having a game 
 
 34 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 of circus, but that they would 
 change and play 'Deaf and 
 Dumb Asylum ' all the after- 
 noon. 77 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Un- 
 cle 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 mother 
 nods her head, * Yes/ that means ' Carol is very 
 well/ and then you ought to hear the little 
 Ruggleses yell, - - 1 believe they try to see how 
 much noise they can make ; but if mother shakes 
 her head, 'No/ they always play at quiet games. 
 Then, one day, 'Gary/ rny pet canary, flew out 
 of her cage, and Peter Euggles caught her and 
 
 35 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 
 dressmaker's boy.' 7 
 
 "And which is the pretty little red-haired 
 girl?" . 
 
 "That's Kitty." 
 
 "And the fat youngster?' 7 
 
 "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 Pe- 
 oria, Illinois; 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." 
 
 36 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " 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 ropf 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 Elfridahad to run away for fear of laughing; 
 
 37 
 
BIRDS* CHRISTMAS CAROL. 
 
 and even I could n'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.' Was n't that 
 pretty?" 
 
 " It might teach some of us a lesson, might n't 
 it, little girl?" 
 
 "That's what mother 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 father 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 mother. Of course she thought of some- 
 thing beautiful ; she always does : her head is 
 just brimming over with lovely thoughts, all 
 
 38 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 little 
 girl 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, "ray own 
 niece a real author ! And what are you going to 
 do with this wonderful money of yours? " 
 
 "I shall give the nine Ruggleses a grand 
 Christmas dinner here in this very room - - that 
 will be father's contribution, --and afterwards 
 a beautiful Christmas tree, fairly blooming with 
 presents that will be my part; for I have an- 
 other 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 ! Mother is going to 
 
 39 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 help us, but father 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 the singing begins before the 
 children go. I have written a letter to the organ- 
 ist, 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 great- 
 est 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 ; does n'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. 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 mother's head to 
 call me Carol. She did n'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 ran- 
 sacked books, and introduced so many plans, 
 
 41 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 w r ere keeping 
 Christmas. Even the dog and the cat had en- 
 joyed 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. Vil- 
 likins barked, and sniffed, and howled in impa- 
 tience, 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 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 
 
 42 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 the sausage gently down, and walked out of the 
 room without turning a hair, so to speak. Bl- 
 frida 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 fire- 
 places, 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 church to see the Christmas deco- 
 rations, Carol limped out on her slender crutches, 
 and with Elfrida's help, placed all the family 
 shoes in a row in the upper hall. That was to 
 keep the dear ones from quarreling all through 
 the year. There were father's stout top boots ; 
 mother'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 
 
 43 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 - -J:*. 
 
 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 
 Christinas fairy. 
 

 SOME OTHER BIRDS ARE TAUGHT TO FLY 
 
 EFORE 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. 
 (Jala day! I should think so! 
 Were not her nine children in- 
 vited 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 pro- 
 minent place in the kitchen, where it stared the 
 
 45 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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. Mother 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 din- 
 ner-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 7 Kitty wash up the dishes; an 7 
 
 46 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 Peter, can't yer spread up the beds, so 't 1 can 
 git ter cuttin' out Larry's new suit ? I ain't sat- 
 isfied 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 underfoot! Clem, you and Con hop into 
 bed with Larry while I wash yer underflannins ; 
 't won't take long to dry 'em. - -Yes, I know it 's 
 bothersome, but 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 't 
 would be perfeckly han'some if you ripped them 
 brass buttons off yer uncle's policeman'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 aint 
 
 47 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 but nineteen anyhow yer fix 'em, 'n' no nine 
 pairs mates nohow ; V I ain't goin' ter have my 
 children 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' stock- 
 in's for Peory, V tell her if she will, Peory 11 
 
 48 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 give her 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 dis- 
 ease, 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 7 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 
 
 49 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 through eatin' at twelve o'clock me 'n' Sarah 
 Maud's goin' ter give yer sech a washin' V 
 combin' V dressin' as yer never had before V 
 never will agin likely, 'n ? then I 'm goin' to set 
 yer down V give yer two solid hours trainin' in 
 manners; V 't won'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 7 vittles in the kitchen be- 
 fore I married Ruggles ; but yer can't keep up 
 that style with nine young ones 'n' yer Pa 
 always off ter sea." 
 
 The big Euggleses 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 
 
 50 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 beds. 1 say "complete 77 ; but I do not know 
 whether they would be called so in the best so- 
 ciety. 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/ 7 said Mrs. Ruggles, her 
 face shining with excitement, "everything's 
 red up an 7 we can begin. 1 7 ve got a boiler 7 n 7 
 a kettle 7 n' a pot o 7 hot water. Peter, you go 
 into the back bedroom, V 1 7 11 take Susan, Kitty, 
 Peory, 7 n 7 Cornelius ; 7 n 7 Sarah Maud, you take 
 Clem, V Eily, 7 n 7 Larry, one to a time. Scrub 
 ? em 7 n 7 rinse 'em, or 7 t any rate git 7 s fur 7 s yer 
 can with 7 em, and then 1 7 11 finish 7 em off while 
 you do yerself. 77 
 
 Sarah Maud could n 7 t have scrubbed with 
 any more decision and force if she had been 
 doing floors, and the little Ruggleses bore it 
 
 51 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 bravely, not from natural heroism, but for the 
 joy that was set before them. Not being satis- 
 lied, however, with the tone of their complex- 
 ions, 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 op- 
 erations by applying a little Bristol brick from 
 the knife-board, which served as the proverbial 
 "last straw," from under which the little Rug- 
 gleses 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 ring- 
 lets, 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 
 
 52 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS 
 
 for it, too, from whence he was dragged out for- 
 givingly, by Peoria herself, live minutes later. 
 Then, exciting moment, came linen collars for 
 some and neckties and bows for others ; a mag- 
 nificent green glass breastpin was sew r ed into 
 Peter's purple necktie, and Eureka! the Rug- 
 gleses were dressed, and Solomon in all his 
 glory was never 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 
 
 53 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 the family had rarely wanted to sit down all at 
 once, somebody always being out or in bed, or 
 otherwise engaged, but the woodbox and the 
 coal-hod finished out the line nicely, and no- 
 body 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/ 7 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 7 at yer sash? Haven't I told yer if 
 it comes ontied, yer waist V skirt '11 part com- 
 p'ny in the middle, 'n' then where '11 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 ! 
 
 54 
 
SARAH MAUD COULD NT HAVE SCRUBBED 
 
 WITH ANY MORE DECISION AND FORCE 
 
 IF SHE HAD BEEN DOING THE FLOORS 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 Your uncle is on the police 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 de- 
 cent ! Now I want ter see how yer goin' to be- 
 have when yer git there to-night. 'T ain't so 
 awful easy as you think 't is. 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 '11 be the parlor, an I'll be Mis' Bird." 
 
 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 de- 
 scendant 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. 
 
 57 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 
 
 58 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 line, seemed to think the door a sort of gate of 
 heaven which would be shut in his face if he 
 did n't get there in time ; accordingly he strug- 
 gled 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, 
 V 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 expres- 
 sion 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, V act kind o' 
 careless-like ! Nobody's goin' ter kill ye; that 
 ain't what a dinner-party is ! " 
 
 59 
 
THE BIRDS* CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 The third time brought deserved success, and 
 the pupils took their seats in a row. 
 
 " Now, yer know,' 7 said Mrs. Ruggles impres- 
 sively, "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 need n't wear no hats, 
 none of yer, V when yer get int' the parlor, V 
 they shouldn't take notice o' your heads, an' 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 Kuggleses shouted, "Yes, 
 inarm ! " in chorus. 
 
 "What have you got ter do with it?" de- 
 manded their mother: "did I tell you to say 
 it? Warn't I talkin' ter Sarah Maud?" 
 
 60 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 The little Ruggleses hung their diminished 
 heads. "Yes marm," they piped, more dis- 
 creetly. 
 
 i 'Now we won't leave nothin' to chance; git 
 up, all of ye, an 7 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 earth- 
 quake 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. 
 
 61 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " Now, Cornelius, what are you goin' ter say 
 ter make yerself good couip'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 sea- 
 son, or how this kind o' weather agrees with 
 him, or soinethin' like that. Now we '11 make 
 b'lieve we've got ter the dinner, --that won't 
 be so hard, 'cause yer '11 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 lingers, 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' 
 
 62 
 
THE BIRDS* CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 Bird '11 send yer away from the table-- V I 
 hope she will if yer do ! ... Susan ! keep your 
 handkerchief in your lap where Peory can bony 
 it if she needs it, 'n' I hope she '11 know when 
 she does need it, though I don't expect it. ... 
 Now we '11 try a few things ter see how they '11 
 go! Mr. Clement, do you eat cramb'ry sarse?" 
 
 "Bet yer life! " cried Clem, who in the ex- 
 citement of the moment had not taken in the 
 idea exactly arid had mistaken this for an ordi- 
 nary bosom-of-the-family question. 
 
 " Clement McGrill Ruggles, do you mean to 
 tell me that you 'd say that to a dinner-party ? 
 I '11 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, just remember that ! . . . 
 Miss Peory, do you speak for white or dark meat? " 
 
 " I ain't perticler as ter color, anything that 
 
 63 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 nobody else wants will suit me," answered Peory 
 with her best air. 
 
 "First-rate! Nobody could speak more gen- 
 teel 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/ 7 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. 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " You just stop your gruntin', Peter Euggles; 
 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 vow 1 11 take it out o' you 'n' sew it on to Clem 
 or Cornelius ; Sarah Maud 11 keep her eye on it, 
 V if it turns broken side out she 11 tell yer. 
 Gracious ! I should n'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 
 
 65 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 V say, ' I guess we 'd better be goin' ; ' 
 V 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 V go. 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-na- 
 turedly, now that the lesson was over ; " I guess 
 you '11 git along. T would n't mind if folks would 
 only say, ' Oh, childern will be childern ' ; but 
 
 66 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 they won't. They '11 say, ' Land o' Goodness, who 
 fetched them childern up ? ' . . . It 's quarter 
 past live, 'n' yer can go now : remember 'bout 
 the hats, . . . don't all talk ter once. . . . 
 Susan, lend yer han'k 'chief terPeory, . . . Peter, 
 don't keep screwin' yer scarf-pin, . . . Corne- 
 lius, 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 
 forgit for one second that yer mother was a 
 McGrill!" 
 
VI 
 
 WHEN THE PIE WAS OPENED, 
 THE BIRDS BEGAN TO SING!" 
 
 HE children went out of the back 
 door quietly, and were presently 
 lost to sight, Sarah Maud slip- 
 ping and stumbling along absent- 
 mindedly, as she recited rapidly 
 under her breath, u Itwassucha 
 pleasantevenin'n'suchashortwalk, 
 thatwethoughtwe'dleaveourhatstohome. Itwas 
 such a pleasante venin V such a short walk, that we 
 thoughtwe'dleaveourhatstohome." 
 
 Peter rang the door-bell, and presently a ser- 
 vant 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 
 
 68 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 commanding officer ; but there was no time for 
 reflection for a voice from above was heard, 
 saying, "Come right upstairs, please!" 
 
 " Theirs not to make reply, 
 Theirs not to reason why, 
 Theirs but to do or die." 
 
 Accordingly they walked upstairs, and El- 
 frida, 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 leave your hats in the hall ? " Peter felt him- 
 self 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 had n'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 
 
 69 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 course you wouldn't wear hats such a short 
 distance, I quite 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 in- 
 terview with the cook that Peter could have 
 pinched her with a clear conscience ; and Carol 
 gave them a joyful welcome. u But where is 
 Baby Larry? " she cried, looking over the group 
 with searching eye. " Did n'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 when you left home ? ' ' 
 he asked, merrily. 
 
 "I think so, sir," said Peoria, timidly; "but 
 anyhow, there was Larry; " and she showed signs 
 of weeping. 
 
 A*^^ 
 
 70 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " 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 Robin- 
 
 son!' 
 
 "I'll go, too, if you please, sir," said Sarah 
 Maud, " for it was my place to mind him, an 7 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, call- 
 ing, " 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. Find- 
 ing that she did not come, he tried to crawl 
 
 71 
 
Jl THE BIRDS' CHKISTMAS CAROL 
 
 from his refuge and call somebody, when, 
 dark and dreadful ending to a tragic day, he 
 four' 1 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 help- 
 less 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 
 
 72 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 
 
 73 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 un- 
 mistakably 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; mother is going 
 to help Elfrida, so that the children need not 
 look after one another, but j ust have a good time. ' ' 
 A sprig of holly lay by each plate, and noth- 
 ing 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 
 
 74 
 
THE BIRDS* CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 take something to her. There was hurrying to 
 and fro, I can assure you, for it is quite a dif- 
 ficult 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 Kuggleses never forgot it as long as 
 they lived. 
 
 Peter nudged Kitty, who sat next to him, and 
 said, " Look, will yer, ev'ry feller's got his own 
 particular 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 '11 nip 'em ; an' oh, Peter, look at the 
 
 75 
 
BIRDS 1 CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 pictures stickin' right on ter the dishes! Did 
 yer ever?" 
 
 "The plums is all took out o' uiy cramb'ry 
 sarse an' it 's friz to a stiff jell' ! r> whispered 
 Peoria, in wild excitement. 
 
 "Hi yah ! I got the 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." 
 
 ^ v _ 
 
 76 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " 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 Euggles re- 
 fused 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 fright- 
 ened 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 kin- 
 dled to the dessert as if the turkey had been a 
 dream and the six vegetables an optical delu- 
 sion. There were plum-pudding, mince-pie, and 
 
 77 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 ice-cream ; and there were nuts, and raisins, 
 and oranges. Kitty chose ice-cream, explaining 
 that she knew it "by sight, though she had n't 
 never tasted none " ; but all the rest took the 
 entire variety, without any regard to conse- 
 quences. 
 
 "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 Euggleses lay back 
 in their chairs languidly, like little gorged boa- 
 constrictors, and the table was cleared in a trice. 
 
 78 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 Mrs. Bird, 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 
 
 79 
 
BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 for them, after all. Now, father, won't youplease 
 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 with- 
 out her own Christmas, I should like to know ? 
 Spend all the money you like. 77 
 
 "But that isn't the thing," objected Carol, 
 nestling close to her father; "it wouldn't be 
 mine. What is the use ? Have n't I almost every- 
 thing 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, father, submit, or 
 I shall have to be very firm and disagreeable 
 with you! r 
 
 "Very well, your Highness, 1 surrender." 
 
 80 
 
THE BIRDS* CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " That 's a dear ! Now what were you going 
 to give me ? Confess ! " 
 
 " A bronze figure of Santa Glaus; 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 get 
 up to breakfast, nor go to bed, nor catch trains, 
 I think my old clock will do very well ! NOW T , 
 mother, what were you going to give me?" 
 
 " Oh, I had n'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 Christ- 
 mas stocking! " 
 
 So Carol had her way, as she generally did ; 
 but it was usually a good way, which was fortu- 
 
 81 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 nate under the circumstances ; and Sarah Maud 
 had a set of Miss Alcott's books, and Peter a 
 
 modest silver watch, Cor- 
 nelius 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 happi- 
 ness 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. 
 
 82 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 " Now, my darling, you have done quite 
 enough for one day," said Mrs. Bird, getting Carol 
 into her nightgown. " I 'm afraid you will feel 
 worse to-morrow, and that would be a sad end- 
 ing 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 
 to-night," said Mrs. Bird, anxiously; "you are 
 too tired, dear." 
 
 " I am not tired, mother. 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 
 
 83 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 I close the door and leave you alone, dear? Fa- 
 ther 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. 7 ' 
 
 " 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 w T ise men to the place where 
 the baby Jesus was born. Good-night, mother. 
 Such a happy, happy day!" 
 
 " Good-night, my precious Christmas Carol 
 mother's blessed Christmas child." 
 
 "Bend your head a minute, before you go," 
 
 84 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS C 
 
 whispered Carol. "Mother, 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. 
 
VII 
 
 THE BIRDLING FLIES AWAY 
 
 HE 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 aston- 
 ished 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 
 
 86 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 he looked back 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 lie 
 walked into the library a 
 while later. "We are listen- 
 ing to the music in the 
 church. The choir has sung 'Carol, brothers, 
 carol/ and now we think the organist is begin- 
 ning to play 'My ain countree' for Carol. 17 
 
 "I hope she hears it," said Mrs. Bird; "but 
 
 87 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 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 '11 ne'er be fu' content, 
 
 Until my e'en do see 
 The gowden gates o' heaven 
 
 In 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 ; 
 
 88 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 But these sights an' these soun's 
 Will as nae thing be to me, 
 
 When I hear the angels singin' 
 In my aiu 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' 7 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 beloved child had slipped away on the 
 
 89 
 
THE BIRDS* CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 brightest 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 grate- 
 ful 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. Bai'tol'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 
 
 90 
 
THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
 been for the strong hopes and wishes that filled 
 her tired heart, she could not have stayed long 
 enough to keep that last merry Christinas 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 Christ- 
 mas anthem sung by childish voices. 
 
 THE END 
 
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 THE BIRDS' CHRISTMAS CAROL 
 
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 THE CHILDREN'S OWN HOW ENGLAND GREW UP 
 
 LONGFELLOW By Jessie Pope 
 
 This new edition of the most popular of Longfellow's English history told in 54 quaintly humorous colored pic- 
 
 poems for children is beautifully illustrated in color and tures ;\ccompanied by an entertaining text. 75 cents net. 
 
 makes an ideal gift. $1.25 net. 
 
 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 
 
 By C. C. Moore 
 
 Every child will welcome this captivating edition of this poem so dear to all hearts. Illustrated in color by 
 JESSIE WILLCOX SMITH. $1.00 net* 
 
 THE FARM BOOK NOAH'S ARK 
 
 By E. Boyd Smith By E. Boyd Smith 
 
 " A thoroughly wholesome book. There is a great deal for " It will please every childish eye. . . . Such skillful animal 
 
 children to learn in these pictures, and they will have real drawing is seldom seen." The Nation. 26 pictures in 
 
 fun in learning it." Chicago Post. 12 full-page illustra- color by the author. $1.25 net. 
 tions and 24 text pictures by the author. $1.50 net. 
 
 THE BEST STORIES TO TELL TO CHILDREN 
 
 By Sara Cone Bryant 
 
 A charming collection of stories which the author has found most popular with the young. Fully illustrated in 
 color by PATTEN WILSON. $i.$onet. 
 
 LITTLE GIRL BLUE TOMMY SWEET-TOOTH 
 
 By Josephine Scribner Gates By Josephine Scribner Gates 
 
 This story of " How Little Girl Blue Lived in the Woods " The prettiest of modern fairy tales." Milwaukee Free 
 
 until She Learned to Say Please" will give pleasure to Press. Illustrated in color and line by ESTHER V. CHUR- 
 
 thousands of children. 4 full-page illustrations in color and BUCK. -,o cents net. 
 26 other pictures by VIRGINIA K. CLARK. 50 cents net. 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE LITTLE PAST 
 
 By Josephine Preston Peabody 
 
 A collection of delightful poems about children. Among them are Making a House, The Busy Child, The 
 Christmas Tree, Secrets, etc. 6 full-page illustrations and pictorial title and cover in color by ELIZABETH 
 SHIPPEN GREENE. $1.50. 
 
 BUNNIKINS IN CAMP BUNNIKINS IN EUROPE 
 
 By Edith B. Davidson By Edith B. Davidson 
 
 The adventures of a family of bunnies and their friends How the same family took an amusing trip abroad. 4 full- 
 
 while camping out for the summer. 4 full-page illustra- page illustrations in color and soother pictures by CLARA 
 
 tions in color and over 60 other pictures and decorations E. ATWOOD. 50 cents net. 
 
 by CLARA E. ATWOOD. 50 cents net. 
 
 A charge for postage will be made by the publishers 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY