And plainer than words they told a tale
To the woman who wept and wrung her hands.
And the little girl with the gold-crowned head
Looked up with her tear-wet eyes of blue;
“Oh, please don’t cry, mamma,” she said,
“Old Santa Claus forgot me, too.”
—Copyright by Harr Wagner Co., San Francisco, and used by kind permission of author and publisher.
DICKENS IN CAMP
By Bret Harte
Above the pines the moon was slowly drifting,