"The stars are beginning to twinkle," he said, "and look, youngsters, there is a whole army of Christmas trees for you."
They turned around and gazed in the direction in which his finger pointed, and there, sure enough, the evergreens,--the spruces, pines, and hemlocks, the firs, and the cedars, too, were standing so still, and the stars were peeping out between their twigs and branches all over the hill, twinkling like little candles. There were hundreds and hundreds of Christmas trees, standing up straight on that hill, with millions and millions of candles on them.
"My, but that's pretty!" the Toyman exclaimed.
As for the children, they said, "Oh," and "Ah," all in one breath. It was so wonderful to see all those live Christmas trees growing and shining in the forest.
"You see," the Toyman went on to explain, "that's how they first got the notion of a Christmas tree, seein' the little stars shine through the forest.--A good notion, too, I should say."
A good one? Why, the best in the world! So the Three Happy Children thought as they drove down the hill and back by the river.
And when they turned in the drive and Teddy and Hal walked off to the barn, the sleighbells jingling like Christmas chimes in the air, they shouted "hooray" again, one and all.
Then Jehosophat said as they reached the door,--
"And now for tomorrow!"----