ter breakfast they all sat down
by the kitchen fire, and father got the big family Bible, and laid it
on Grandfather's lap, and Grandfather polished up his spectacles till
they shone, and put them on his nose, and then he read about the story
of the first Christmas long ago in Bethlehem. And it was all so quiet
while he was reading that you could almost hear the snow flakes
falling outside, for it had begun to snow. Then, when Grandfather had
finished reading, and closed the Bible, they all sang a Christmas
carol, which they always sings together every Christmas in that house;
and they sang it out so clear and strong, that a traveler in a sleigh,
way down at the cross-roads, heard it, and it sounded so good that he
stopped his horse in spite of the storm, and listened till it was
over. Well, I can't tell you everything else they did that morning
except that Father found the floor all swept, and knew it must have
been done by the brownies; and then Mother found the paper caps that
the house-fairies had made. She was ever so glad; and so were the
children when they opened them up and put them on. You'll see how they
look on the children's heads when the curtain opens. Then about the
dinner. Father had brought in the big table, and set it up in the
kitchen in front of the fire-place, and Mother put on the plates and
the forks and the knives and the spoons and all the rest. Then the
goose was roasted, and, oh, how good it smelt when it was cooking. At
last everything was ready and twelve o'clock came, and they all sat
down at the table. And do you know, I believe they are still sitting
there behind the curtain. But they have finished the goose and the
apple sauce and all the good things that went with them, and now they
are just going to begin on the pudding. They don't know a thing about
the magic nuts, because the brownies and the fairies stuck them in so
neatly, that not one of them shows. Mother is just starting to put the
pudding on the saucers. I wonder if she will remember about giving it
to the youngest first. That's Gertrude, you know. Do you want to see
for yourselves whether she remembers? Well, be very quiet then, for
now it is going to begin.

The Third Scene

When the Curtain opens, you again see the kitchen, but it looks a
good deal different, because the chairs that Grandmother and
Grandfather used to sit in have been moved out; so has the small table
on which Mother washed the dishes in the First