Oh, how beautiful the country was when the gray dawn came next
morning!--white and still in the dim and slowly growing light.
So still! But the stillest place was the one Bijah woke up in. He could
not guess where he was at first, but he lay awhile and remembered.
"Santa Claus's house, and they're all real good. He's going to give me
to somebody as soon as it's Christmas."
He got up very quickly and looked around him. It was not dark in the
store-room, for there was a great square hole in the middle of the
floor, and a glow of dull red light came up through it which almost made
Bijah feel afraid.
There was his little gray suit of clothes, cap and all, close by his bed
on the floor, and he put them on faster than he ever had done it before.
"Where's my other stocking?"
He searched and searched, but it was of no use, and he said, "I can't
run away in the snow with a bare foot."
[Illustration: "HE CRAWLED FORWARD, AND LOOKED DOWN THROUGH THE SCUTTLE
HOLE."]
He had been getting braver and braver, now he was wide awake, and he
crawled forward and looked down through the scuttle hole. He knew that
room in a minute, but he had to look twice before he knew the tree.
"Ever so many stockings! And they're all full. Look at those sleds! Oh
my!"
Whichever way he looked, he saw something wonderful, and he began to get
excited.
"I can climb down. It's just like going down stairs."
It was just about as safe and easy, with all those branches under him,
and all he had to do was to sit on one, and get ready to sit on the next
one below him. He got about half way down, and there was the grain bag,
with its mouth wide open. Just beyond it on the same bough, but further
out, there hung a very small stocking indeed.
"That's mine!" exclaimed Bijah. "It's cram full, too. They've borrowed
it, after all theirs were full. I want it to put on now, but I can't
reach it out there."
Just then he began to hear noises up stairs, and other noises in the
rooms below--shouts and stamping, and people calling to one another--and
he could not make out what they were saying.
"Oh dear! they're coming. Santa Claus is coming. Christmas is coming.
What'll I do?"
Bijah was scared; but there was the wide mouth of Grandfather Vrooman's
grain-bag "stocking," and almost before Bijah knew what he was doing he
had slipped in.
Poor Bijah! The moment he was in he discovered that he could not climb
out. He tried hard, but there was nothing on the sides of the bag for
his feet to climb on. Next moment, too, he wanted to crouch down as low
as he could, for all the noise seemed to be coming nearer.
So it was, indeed, and at the head of it were grandfather and
grandmother and the other grown-up people, trying to keep back the boys
and girls until they should all be gathered.
"Where's Bijah?" asked grandfather, after he had counted twice around,
and was sure about the rest.
"Bijah!" exclaimed Liph. "Why, I looked in the store-room; he isn't
there."
"Hope the little chap didn't get scared and run away."
"Dear me--through the snow!" exclaimed grandmother.
"Of course not," said Aunt Jane. "He's around somewhere. Let's let the
children in. They're all here."
"Steady, now!" said grandfather, as he swung open the door into the
"dark room." "Don't touch anything till we all get in. Stand around the
tree."
He himself stepped right in front of it, and he looked more like a
great, tall old Santa Claus than ever as he stood there. The children's
eyes were opening wider and wider as they slipped around in a sort of
very impatient circle; but grandfather's own eyes shut for a moment, as
they had a habit of doing sometimes, and his white beard was all of a
tremble. It was only for a moment, but when he looked around again, he
said:
"Now, children, wait. Which of you can tell me what Child it was that
came into the world on the first Christmas morning?"
They had not been quite ready to answer a question that came so
suddenly, and before any of them could speak, a clear, sweet little
voice came right out of the middle of the tree:
"I know. And the shepherds found Him in a manger, and His mother was
with Him. He sent down after my mother last summer."
"Bijah!" exclaimed grandfather, but grandmother was already pushing
aside the boughs, and now they all could see him. Only his curly head
and his little shoulders showed above the grain bag, and Uncle Hiram
shouted:
"Father Vrooman, he is in your stocking! Who could have put him there!"
"I think I know," said grandfather, in a very low, husky kind of voice;
but all the Simpsons and Hopkinses and Hardys broke loose at that very
moment, and it took them till breakfast-time to compare with each other
the things they found in their stockings, and all the other wonderful
fruits of that splendid Christmas tree.
Bijah was lifted out of the bag, and he got his stocking on after it was
empty. For some reason he couldn't guess why all the grown-up people
kissed him, and grandfather made him sit next to him at breakfast.
That was a great breakfast, and it took ever so long to eat it, but it
was hardly over before grandmother followed grandfather into the hall,
and they heard her say,
"Now, husband, what are you wrapping up so for, just to go to the barn?"
"Barn? Why, my dear, I'm going to town. I told Pat to have the team
ready."
"To town? Why, husband--"
"Mother, there'll be stores open to-day. I can buy cords of toys and
candy and things. When I get to the Orphan Asylum, to tell 'em what has
become of Bijah, and why he won't ever come back there again, I'm going
to have enough to go around among the rest of 'em--I am, if it takes the
price of a cow."
"Give 'em something for me."
Uncle Hiram heard it, and he shouted, "And for me," and Uncle John
followed, and all the rest, till the children caught it up, and there
was a contribution made by every stocking which had hung on that
Christmas tree. They all gave just as fast as they understood what it
was for, and the last one to fully understand was Bijah.
"You ain't going to take me?"
His lip quivered a little.
"No, Bijah, not unless you want to go. Wouldn't you rather stay here?"
"Course I would."
That was not all, for both his hands were out, holding up the store of
things which had come to him that morning, and he added, "Take 'em."
Something was the matter again with Grandfather Vrooman's beard, but he
told Bijah he would get plenty of other things in town.
"Keep 'em, Bijah. Good-by, all of you. I'll be back in time for dinner.
Children, you and Bush must be kind to Bijah. He came to us on Christmas
morning, and he has come to stay."
Bush and the children did their part, and so did all the rest, and so
did Bijah, and so it was a perfect Christmas.
THE MAGIC CLOCK;
OR,
THE REWARD OF INDUSTRY.
A Trick Pantomime for Children.
BY G. B. BARTLETT.
* * * * *
The FARMER, afterward the miserly King.
His Wife JANE, " the Old Woman with the Broom.
POLLY, " Little Miss Muffit }
MABEL, " Cinderella } The Farmer's
MARGARET, " Bopeep } Daughters.
ISABEL, " A Beggar }
WILLIE, " A Beggar.
ROBIN, a Servant, " the Prince.
JACK, " the Insatiate Hen } The Farmer's
TOM, " the Spider } Sons.
The FAIRY, disguised as a poor Old Woman.
* * * * *
One small boy is concealed in the chimney, and another under the
table.
The clock, fire-place, table, fowl, etc., are fully explained, so
that they can be easily prepared by children.
* * * * *
This pantomime, can be acted in any room with a simple curtain, or in a
large hall. Lively music adds to the spirit of the performers, and
enables them to give directions to each other without being heard.
SCENE.
The farmer's kitchen, a fire-place at the right, with a crane from which
a kettle hangs, with great logs which rest on high brass andirons. A
tall old-fashioned clock case stands against the back wall, nearly in
front of which is a large table covered with a white cloth, and set for
supper. At the left is a small table, over which hangs a mirror. Six
chairs and two stools, a rocking-chair, broom, and dishes, are also
needed. The tanner sits at the right of the fire, counting money from a
leather bag. His wife sits in the rocking-chair, knitting.
Mabel is employed in brushing the hearth. The proud daughter Isabel is
trimming a showy hat; as she adds new decorations to it, she
contemplates her face in the mirror, and tries it on with evident
delight, occasionally walking about the room, and appealing for
admiration.
Polly is cooking the Christmas supper, and often swings forward the long
crane, from which an iron pot hangs over the fire, adding a little salt
from time to time. The idle Margaret reclines in a low chair; her sewing
has fallen from her listless hands, which lie idly in her lap, and she
seems to be careless of all around her. Jack sits by the fire, and is
constantly eating from the contents of his pockets, which are full of
nuts, apples, cakes, and candy.
ACTION.
Willie enters, struts about the room with a profusion of low bows, of
which little notice is taken by any one but the farmer's wife, who
shakes his hand, and gives him a cordial welcome. She leads him toward
Isabel, who rises, makes him a low courtesy, taking hold of her dress
with both hands, to do which she lays the hat in a chair. Willie seems
struck with the courtesy, and imitates it so clumsily that all laugh. In
his confusion he sits down on the hat, and jumps up quickly. Isabel
picks up the hat, which is crushed flat, and tries in vain to restore it
to shape; then claps it on Willie's head as if to try the effect, while
he sits in a very stiff attitude in imitation of a milliner's block.
Robin then enters, rubbing his hands as if suffering from the cold; he
approaches the fire to warm them; the farmer looks scornfully at him,
and motions him away; he seems ashamed, and retreats to the back of the
room, and sits on a stool beside Willie, who laughs and upsets the stool
with his foot. Robin sits heavily down upon the floor, and in falling
hits Willie's foot, who falls forward. Isabel laughs, but Mabel runs to
his aid, forgetting her dusty hands, which cover his coat with ashes, as
he clumsily regains his seat.
Robin rises, and nearly sits down upon Tom, a small boy who has picked
up the stool, and is lying across it. Tom crawls away just in time, and
tries to wake up Margaret, tangles his mother's yarn about his feet, and
seems intent upon mischief. The farmer rises as if angry at being
disturbed, but Mabel goes toward him, as if apologizing for the
accident; then runs to the door as a knock is heard. A poor old woman
enters, and asks alms from each, begging money from the farmer, who
refuses, and points to the door, which motion all follow in turn, except
Robin and Mabel. Jack pretends to give her an apple, which he holds near
her lips, but withdraws it as she is about to taste, and crowds it into
his own mouth; then claps his hands as if he had done a clever action.
The old woman next tries to lift the lid off the kettle, but Polly
resists, and pushes her away so hastily that she burns her fingers, and
begins to cry. Mabel and Robin try to comfort her, and Mabel takes a
cake from Jack, and hands it to the old woman, who eats it as if she was
very hungry. Jack begins to cry for his cake, and Mabel motions that he
has plenty more, but he shakes his head and cries again. A great cake
then comes from the chimney, strikes Jack on the head, and fastens
around his neck like a gigantic old-fashioned doughnut with a hole
through the centre.
Jack seems much pleased, and tries to taste his new collar, but finds it
impossible to get his teeth into it. The farmer begins to scold at the
old woman, and lays down his purse upon the settle, in order to push her
out, when the purse flies up the chimney, and hangs just out of his
reach. He jumps for it, and it begins dancing up and down. All the rest
except Mabel and Robin chase the old woman round the room, led by the
farmer's wife, who secures a broom, and tries to strike her. The old
woman rushes from side to side, and Mabel opens the clock, into which
she springs, and is concealed in a moment. The farmer makes a frantic
leap for his money bag, and knocks over the kettle. Jack and Tom jump
about violently as if scalded, while Mabel picks up the fowl, places it
upon the table, and persuades her father to come to supper. Robin places
chairs, and all sit down.
The clock strikes, and as the farmer turns around, he sees instead of
the face of the clock, that of a pretty little girl with blonde hair. He
calls the attention of the rest of his family to this change, but when
they look the clock face alone appears. The farmer seems very much
astonished, and puts on his spectacles, when he again beholds the sweet
face, which disappears as soon as he has called the attention of the
family.
They resume their meal. As the farmer attempts to cut up the fowl, it
lifts itself up and gives a loud crow. The farmer drops his knife in
fear and trembling, but is encouraged by Jack, who expresses in
pantomime that he is very hungry. The farmer makes a second attempt, at
which the fowl leaps from the table and disappears up the chimney. The
farmer and his wife rush out of the room in eager haste, followed by all
the family.
The clock case opens and shows a beautiful fairy, who waves her wand in
the air five times, and transforms the whole family into Mother Goose
personages. The farmer returns dressed in a long red robe with a huge
crown on his head, and personates the King who spends all his time
counting out his money. This he constantly does, taking it from a large
bag; and as soon as he has counted all the pieces, he puts his hand up
to his crown, trying in vain to lift it off, as if it made his head
ache; then he begins again to count over and over his tiresome money.
The farmer's wife comes in next as the old woman with the broom. She
rushes about, raising a great dust, and then jumps up and down, brushing
the ceiling of the room, as if trying to brush the cobwebs from the sky.
Isabel then flaunts into the room, followed by Willie, taking long
strides, and seeming full of vanity, turning their heads from side to
side as if lost in admiration of themselves. The others all laugh at the
sight, for they have become the beggars, and are flaunting about in rags
and tags, which they are as proud of as if they were dressed in velvet
gowns.
Margaret enters next as little Bopeep, groping around in search of her
lost sheep; she sometimes leans upon her crook with her left hand, and
points off eagerly with her right, and finally throws herself into her
chair and goes to sleep.
Polly appears as little Miss Muffit, eating curds and whey from a large
bowl which she carries in her left hand; she draws a stool toward the
fire-place, and sits down. Tom, as the spider, rushes out from under the
table and sits down beside her, at which Polly drops the bowl and spoon
in fright. She then rushes round the room three times, pursued by the
spider.
Jack then enters as the insatiate hen, who eats more victuals than
threescore men; he rushes around the room, and seems wholly unsatisfied
with all he can devour. Mabel is changed into Cinderella, and sits by
the fire in a dejected attitude, upon which the fairy comes down from
the clock, and calls her attention to the Prince, Robin, whose rough
frock flies away up the chimney, and he kneels before her as a Prince in
gorgeous raiment. Mabel's old robe then disappears in the same manner.
Robin fits a glass slipper upon her foot, which makes her dance with
delight. He leads her to the upper end of the room toward the King her
father, who is so overcome by her beauty that he forgets his avarice,
and bestows the whole of the money upon her.
The happy pair, followed by the King, then march around the room to each
of the personages, and the old woman sweeps a path before them, as if
eager to make their way pleasant and easy. The beggars seem to forget
their pride, and their ragged dresses fly away up the chimney, and they
appear neatly clad. The fairy touches the spider with her wand; he
stands upright, offers his arm to Miss Muffit, and they join the
procession.
The fairy then enters the clock, which marches twice around the room
followed by all the characters, and then resumes its place. All join in
a grand reel; the King, taking the old woman for his partner, stands
opposite Cinderella and the Prince, who take the head of the set. The
two repentant beggars take one side, with Miss Muffit and the spider
opposite. They dance all hands round, then the first lady promenades
around the set outside, followed by her partner, who then joins her, and
all promenade together around once. The ladies then go forward into the
centre, and the gentlemen turn them into place with their right hand,
and then turn corners with the left, after which they go into the centre
again and form basket, go once around, divide in front, and march
forward in the same position. The gentlemen raise their hands, and the
ladies go forward alone, the gentlemen march after, and turn them into
place. The hen then wakes Bopeep, and all form a semicircle, with the
Prince and Cinderella in the centre. The clock then advances and takes
up its position behind them, bowing to each in turn. The fairy springs
forward into the centre of the group, and after waltzing around, stops
in the centre, and all salute as the curtain falls.
COSTUMES.
The farmer has a plain brown suit, over which he throws a loose robe of
Turkey red cloth, trimmed with ermine. This ermine is made of white
cotton flannel, with black marks drawn upon it with charcoal. He also
wears a crown made of gilt paper. His money bag has a black linen thread
fastened to the top, one end of which is in the hand of the boy
concealed in the chimney.
The farmer's wife has a plain black dress with white kerchief, and a
high cap on which a neat front of white tow or yarn is fastened in the
centre, so that the ends can be pulled out quickly when she assumes her
second part. For this she wears a red skirt under the black, and ties a
long red cloak over her shoulders, the cape of which she draws over her
cap.
Polly wears a long-sleeved checked apron, which covers her next dress.
This is made of bright cretonne tucked over a gay skirt. The waist is
long and pointed, with a high ruff of white.
Mabel wears a dark skirt and loose white waist, under which is a pretty
silk dress with long train, and a square-necked waist trimmed with wax
beads. She changes the black dress for a ragged loose robe, and when
first transformed to Cinderella sits in the chimney-corner while the
thread is hooked on to the robe by which it can be drawn up chimney.
Margaret has a bright skirt and loose waist over her Bopeep dress, which
is composed of a skirt of blue cambric with a red waist, the flaps of
which are cut in squares, which as well as the skirt are trimmed with
yellow braid. Under the work which lies in her lap is a straw hat
trimmed with flowers.
Isabel may wear the most showy dress which can be found.
Willie has a black dress-coat, which can easily be made by sewing tails
on a jacket. He can have white pantaloons, and ruffles of white paper on
his shirt, a showy neck-tie, and white hat. Both he and Isabel for their
next dress have long robes, which may be water-proof cloaks covered with
rags of every color.
Robin wears a long farmer's frock over his Prince's dress, which may be
made of satteen for less than one dollar by an ingenious girl. It
consists of a loose pink body, and blue trunks, or knee-breeches, with a
cape of blue from the shoulders, each garment trimmed with long points
of the opposite color. Pink stockings, and lace collar and cuffs, and
pink and white bows on the shoes complete the costume. He has a small
slipper covered with glass beads for Cinderella.
Jack and Tom appear in shabby boy's dress at first, and their next
dresses are put on over them. The hen is made of a long garment like a
shirt, one half of brown cambric, the other half of yellow, and the
sleeves of large size are sewed up at the ends. It is drawn over the
boy's head so that the brown part covers his back, his feet go into the
sleeves, and then his hands also, with which he grasps his knees. A cap
of brown cambric, with a red comb, and marked with eyes, is drawn over
the head and pinned to the robe, and the ends are tied in a bunch
opposite.
The spider has a suit of snuff-brown cambric, the feet and arms of which
are sewed up like bags; on his back is fastened a pointed stuffed bag,
and a false leg cut from brown pasteboard is fastened to each side; he
runs on all fours at first, and shakes his head, which is enveloped in a
cambric bag ornamented with two curved horns, and points of yellow cloth
are sewed upon the back and around the legs. He hides under the table
until it is time to appear.
The fairy is dressed in white tarlatan, trimmed with tinsel, over which
she has a long cloak with a hood, into which white hair is sewed. She
has a cane, and bends forward.
PROPERTIES.
The clock is a frame seven feet high, two feet wide, with a door in
front, all made of thin strips of wood covered with brown cambric, dull
side out; the face, painted on pasteboard with movable hands, slides up
and down in a groove, and is kept in place by a button at the bottom. A
high stool is hidden inside, on which the fairy climbs when she shows
her own face. She has her hand directly under the clock's face, so that
she can push it instantly into place. Straps are arranged at the height
of the fairy's shoulders, by which she can walk forward with the clock.
There are hinges near the top, so it can bow forward, and also a bell
which will strike. The fire-place is a large box three feet high, with
the upper portion taken off. Boards, painted a dull red, with lines
representing bricks, are slanted from the front and sides to the
ceiling. Turkey red cloth is nailed at the top of the box inside, which
is drawn tight by the logs which lie on the andirons. The effect of fire
is produced by a lamp behind the red cloth, and pieces of red gelatine
pasted on the logs.
A small boy, concealed by the chimney, holds four threads, to which the
articles to be drawn up are fastened. The fowl is hooked on to the
thread by Jack. A real fowl may be used, which is elevated by a wire
thrust through the table by the boy, who also imitates the crowing; or a
good chicken can be made of paper. Any table will do in which a hole can
be made; there must be one also through the tin dish. The cake is made
of brown cambric. The action should be distinctly marked, and keep time
with the music, and all performers should bow as the curtain falls.
* * * * *
NOTICE.--_The Serial Story, Post-office Box, and Exchanges, omitted from
our Christmas Number, will be resumed next week._