and L. corners facing front
for these lanterns._)

SERGIUS. I'm going to stretch out here and take a little nap.
(_Reclines on floor._) Be sure and wake me up, Hulda, just as soon as
you hear the bells on his reindeer.

TOMASSO (_yawns_). I wonder what has become of Anita?

HULDA (_stretches_). I believe I'm getting sleepy, too.

OTHERS. So are all of us.

BIDDY MARY. We're all noddin', nid, nid noddin', sure I think it's
time we were all of us fast asleep.

ALL (_sing sleepily_).

"WE'RE ALL NODDIN'."

[Music illustration:

1. We are all nod-din', nid, nid nod-din',
We are all nod-din', and drop-ping off to sleep.
So see San-ta Claus we've all done our best,
[Transcriber's Note: probably should be "To see"]
But we're aw-ful-ly sleep-y, so we'll take a rest.

2. We are all nod-din', nid, nid nod-din',
We are all nod-din', and drop-ping off to sleep.
It's aw-ful-ly late, we'll no lon-ger de-lay,
But ride with the Sand-man, a-way and a-way.]

(ALL _are sound asleep. Stage is dark._)

KLINKER (_talking in his sleep_). Noddin', nid, nid noddin'.

SCHWILLIE (talking in his sleep). Dropping off to sleep, ain't we,
Klinker?

_Soft, mysterious music._ ANITA _dances in from R. She dances around
the stage, keeping time to the music and bending over the little
sleepers._

ANITA. Asleep! Every last one of them is verra sound asleep. Meeny and
Biddy Mary, and Sergius and Tomasso and the leetla Dutch twins and
all! (_Goes to curtain at rear._) Jack Frost! Jolly Jack Frost! Come-a
quick, come-a quick! They're all asleep.

JACK FROST (_sticks his head out of the curtains_). Hello, what is it?

ANITA. It is Anita. The leetla children are all here and sound asleep.

JACK FROST (_coming down to her_). And so was I. They sang a song
about noddin', nid, nid noddin', and I just went to sleep myself. I
dreamed I was hunting a polar bear way up by the North Pole.
(_Yawns._) I'm still awfully sleepy.

ANITA. I didn't know that you ever went to sleep.

JACK FROST. You bet I do. That's the one thing I've got against my
daddy's Christmas trip every year. It wakes us all up right in the
middle of the night.

ANITA. The middle of the night? What _do_ you mean?

JACK FROST. Middle of the north pole night. If it wasn't for Christmas
we could go to bed about half past October and sleep until a quarter
of May, but ma thinks we ought to help pa and then wait up until he
co