It was the Eve of St. Nicholas. In Germany St. Nicholas’s Day comes on
the sixth of December.
The children were in the nursery. On the hearth before the fireplace,
were five little sugar shoes.
Thekla was filling her shoe with oats. Max put rye in his shoe. Hans
put an apple in his, and Gretchen filled hers with lumps of sugar.
Betty, the poor little girl who sometimes helped in the kitchen, had
only a bit of brown bread to put in her shoe.
The children were expecting St. Nicholas, who always comes on a white
horse, and the things in the shoes were for the horse to eat.
As the clock struck six there was a loud knock at the door.
Aunt Hilda opened the door, and in came St. Nicholas. He was very tall
and had a long white beard. He wore a long black robe and a red and
white cap, with a big red tassel.
“Dear little children,” he said, “it will soon be Christmas. I have
come to find the good children. I shall bring gifts to them on
Christmas Eve. Has Thekla learned to knit?”
[Illustration]
“Yes, indeed,” said her mother. “See this pair of stockings she has
knit for Hans.”
“They are very well made,” said St. Nicholas. “I shall surely bring a
gift for Thekla. Has Hans learned to get up early?”
“We have not had to call him for six weeks,” said his father.
“Good,” said St. Nicholas. “Has Max learned his multiplication tables?”
“Max is trying very hard,” said Aunt Hilda. “He knows all but the nines
and twelves.”
“And the dear little Gretchen?” said St. Nicholas, patting the baby’s
golden curls.
They all smiled, and the mother said, “The dear little Gretchen is
always sweet and good.”
“Well, well, I shall certainly bring many beautiful gifts to this
house,” said St. Nicholas.
“And don’t forget little Betty,” said Aunt Hilda.
So the good Saint took the oats, the rye and the apple, the lumps of
sugar, and the bit of brown bread out of the sugar shoes and went out
into the night. I suppose he gave them to his horse.
“St. Nicholas has eyes like Uncle Max,” said Thekla.
“He smiled like Uncle Max, too,” said her brother.
St. Nicholas kept his word. On Christmas Eve there was a Christmas tree
in the parlor. On it there were many beautiful gifts, and little Betty
was not forgotten.
The next night the children hung gifts on the same tree for father,
mother, Uncle Max, Aunt Hilda, and the dear Grandfather.
Each one of the children had something of his very own for Grandfather.
Thekla had knit a warm scarf for him. Max can carve in wood, so he had
made a stout cane and had carved it very handsomely.
Hans drew a picture for him, and the dear little Gretchen gave him two
of her very best kisses.
Oh, it was a very happy Christmas!