Then how they kissed her.
All day long the library was kept closed; not a child was allowed to
peep in. But what fun they had all day, and what a Christmas dinner,
with a plum pudding as big as a pumpkin.
In the evening the library door was opened, and there was the
prettiest Christmas tree, all blazing with candles and hung with
pretty things; while piled around it were books and toys and
everything that everybody wanted most.
And just think of it! There, lying in front of the tree and looking as
happy as the children themselves, was a great, big, noble dog, who got
up and came to meet them as they trooped in.
"Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!" cried Bessie, bending to pat his head. "What's your
name, you great, big darling? Ooo! Ooo! Whose is he, papa?"
"Ask Santa Claus," said papa; and sure enough, Santa Claus stepped out
from behind the tree.
"His name is on his collar," said Santa Claus. Then the children all
rushed for him for they knew it was grandpa dressed up like Santa Claus.
[Illustration]
Afterwards Bessie spelled out the dog's name, "C-a-r-l-o," on his
collar, and her own name on a card which was tied to it, and she was
the happiest little girl in the world.
But everyone else was happy too, and they all said it was the very
merriest Christmas they had ever seen, and Clara and Bessie dreamed
that Santa Claus told them he himself had never had so much fun before.
_Fannie E. Ostrander._