THE FIRST DECEMBER SURPRISE
When Dotty had made the Surprise Book upon that memorable day when she had not been able to go to school, she had calculated wrongly, so Marjorie’s Surprise Book had more than the usual number of leaves and it lasted till the following Christmas. The first surprise of that December which closed Marjorie’s Surprise Book seemed very thick and fat indeed. It proved to be two stories in place of one and with them was a Christmas card. “I’m sorry that the Surprise Book must end,” sighed Marjorie. “Aren’t you, Dot?” And of course, Dotty held out hopes that Santa Claus might bring another! I shouldn’t wonder if he did, for Santa Claus likes to make surprises. Maybe it was he, himself, who had told Mother how to make the first Surprise Book, long ago. They each chose one of the Surprise Book’s Christmas surprise stories for Mother to read aloud on Christmas afternoon when the stories were opened. Dotty’s came first. It was “The Directory Santa Claus.”
XIV
The Directory Santa Claus
Christmas holidays had begun and school was out. The scholars had spoken Christmas pieces that told of gift-giving and Santa Claus.
Rose Schneider and Lili Fifer, with school-books under their arms, pushed open the heavy oak door of the big city library and trotted with one accord upstairs to join the line of children waiting to get in.
“I got a dandy book,” Lili volunteered as they wedged into the waiting line. “It was all about a little girl that went to see Santa Claus. I’m bringin’ it back now. Say, Rose, you get it on your card. It’s an awfully nice story.”
But Rose shook her head. The thin snub of her nose turned up even higher than ever. It added emphasis to her refusal. “There ain’t any Santa Claus,” she said. “I never had any Christmas presents from him.”
“Well,” Lili insisted, “I ain’t either but I think there is a Santa Claus all right. He don’t know us, maybe, but he’s awfully good to some children. My cousin that goes to Sunday School gets a doll, and a box of candy, and an orange from him every Christmas. He has a long white beard an’ he’s ever so jolly!”