Of course, every one knows that Santa Claus brings them. He comes in a sleigh, driving eight reindeer, and carries the presents down the chimney in a pack on his back.
But where does he get them? That is the question. And the answer is,—in the garden of the Christmas Monks.
This garden is in a beautiful valley far away. But I must not tell you the name of the valley, for if I did you would all want to go there to live.
The Christmas Monks live in a stone castle covered with ivy and evergreen vines. There are holly wreaths in every window, and over the door is an arch, with “Merry Christmas” in evergreen letters.
The Christmas Monks wear white robes embroidered with gold, and they never go without a Christmas wreath on their heads. Every morning they sing a Christmas carol, and every evening they ring a Christmas chime on the bells.
For dinner every day they have roast goose and plum pudding and mince pie, and at night they set lighted candles in all of the windows.
But the best place of all is the garden, for that is where the Christmas presents grow.
It is a very large garden and is divided into beds, just like our vegetable gardens. Every spring the Monks go out to plow the ground and plant the Christmas present seeds.
There is one big bed for rocking-horses, another for drums, and another for sleds. The bed for the balls is not so large, and the top bed is quite small, because tops do not need much room when they are growing.
The rocking-horse seed looks like tiny rocking-horses. The Monks drop these seeds quite far apart, then they cover them up neatly with earth, and put up a signpost with “Rocking-horses” on it in evergreen letters.