II—PETER AND THE PRINCE
All the children for miles around knew about this garden, of course, but they had never seen it. There is a thick hedge of Christmas trees all around it, and the gate where Santa Claus drives out is always locked with a golden key the moment he goes through.
So you can imagine what excitement there was among the boys when this notice was hung out on the hedge of Christmas trees:—
Wanted:—By the Christmas Monks, two good boys to help in garden work. Apply at the garden on April tenth.
The notice was hung out about five o’clock in the evening, one day in February. By noon the next day all the neighborhood had seen it and read it.
Oh, what fun it would be to work in the garden of the Christmas Monks! There would be the dinner of roast goose and plum pudding every day. There would be the Christmas bells and the Christmas candles every night. And, of course, one could have all the toys he wanted, and pick them out himself.
So, from that very minute until the tenth of April, the boys were as good,—as good as gold.
Then, on the tenth of April, the big Santa Claus gate was opened, and such a crowd poured into the garden! The ground was plowed, but the seed had not been planted, so they could walk about everywhere.
Two of the Christmas Monks sat on a throne trimmed so thick with evergreens that it looked like a bird’s nest. They wore Christmas wreaths on their heads, and their eyes twinkled merrily.
The little boys stood in a long row before them, and the fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, grandmothers, and grandfathers looked on.
It was very sad! One boy had taken eggs from a bird’s nest; and another had frightened a cat. One boy didn’t help his mother, and another didn’t take good care of his little brother.
At last there were only two boys left,—Peter and the Prince.
Now Peter was really and truly a good boy, and always had been. And of course every one said the Prince was a good boy, because a King’s son must be good. So the Monks chose Peter and the Prince to work in the garden.
The next morning the two boys were dressed in white robes and green wreaths like the Monks. Then the Prince was sent to plant Noah’s-Ark seed and Peter was given picture-book seed.
Up and down they went, scattering the seeds. Peter sang a little song to himself, but the Prince grumbled because they had not given him gold-watch seed.
By noon Peter had planted all his picture books and fastened up the card to mark them, but the Prince had planted only two rows of Noah’s Arks.
“We are going to have trouble with this boy,” said the Monks to each other. “We shall have to punish him.”
So that day the Prince had no Christmas dinner, and the next morning he finished planting the Noah’s-Ark seed.
But the very next day he was cross because he had to sow harmonicas instead of toy pianos, and had to be punished again. And so it was every other day through the whole summer.
So the Prince was very unhappy and wished he could run away, but Peter had never been so happy in his life. He worked like a bee all day, and loved to watch the Christmas gifts grow and blossom.
“They grow so slowly,” the Prince would say. “I thought I should have a bushel of new toys every month and not one have I had yet.” Then he would cry, and Peter would try to comfort him.
At last one day the Prince found a ladder in the tool house. The Monks were in the chapel, singing Christmas carols, and Peter was tuning the penny trumpets. It was a fine chance to run away. The Prince put the ladder against the Santa Claus gate, climbed up to the top, and slid down on the outside.