“Bless their hearts!” exclaimed the sailorman with the wooden leg, as he stumped toward the parlor. “What a fine thing it is to be a child, and to have Christmas! But there! I’m happy, too, for I have a wooden leg, and it isn’t every one who has that.”
Then he went into the room where the Christmas tree was, all glowing with colored lights, for it was still early morning, you know, and dark yet. And the stockings were hung up, too, close by the fireplace, where Santa Claus didn’t have much trouble to come down and fill them, and they were filled, too, if you will kindly believe me.
And such a sight as the jolly sailor saw! There were the children looking at their toys and picture books, and there stood Suzette, the nursemaid, and Mr. and Mrs. Trippertrot, looking at the children, and smiling to see them so happy.
“Well, what did you get, children?” asked the sailorman.
“Oh, what didn’t we get!” gasped Tommy.
“Such a lovely Christmas!” said Mary, with a happy sigh.
“And such beautiful presents,” murmured Johnny, as he looked at a little train of cars that ran by electricity, and the engine had a real electric light in front, to scare pink or green cows off the track.
And Tommy was beating a drum, and walking around with a toy gun, making believe he was a soldier.
And what do you think Mary was doing? Why, she was looking inside and outside of the nicest doll house you could ever imagine. It had a real chimney on top, and there was a bathtub, into which you could put real water, to give a doll a bath, and there was a kitchen with real dishes in it—only small ones, of course—and there was a parlor, with a tiny piano in it, and a real rug on the floor. Oh, but Mary was the happy girl!
And then, of course, there were presents for papa and mamma, and for Suzette, and—there, if I nearly didn’t forget the jolly sailorman. But Santa Claus didn’t forget him. The night before Christmas, Mary had loaned him one of her stockings, and so had Tommy and Johnny, so there were three stockings hanging up for the jolly sailorman. But he said he ought only to hang up one, for his wooden leg never had a stocking on it. However, they made him hang up all three, and now every one was filled!