Wanted:—By the Christmas Monks, two good boys to help in garden work. Apply at the garden on April tenth.
The notice was hung out about five o’clock in the evening, one day in February. By noon the next day all the neighborhood had seen it and read it.
Oh, what fun it would be to work in the garden of the Christmas Monks! There would be the dinner of roast goose and plum pudding every day. There would be the Christmas bells and the Christmas candles every night. And, of course, one could have all the toys he wanted, and pick them out himself.
So, from that very minute until the tenth of April, the boys were as good,—as good as gold.
Then, on the tenth of April, the big Santa Claus gate was opened, and such a crowd poured into the garden! The ground was plowed, but the seed had not been planted, so they could walk about everywhere.
Two of the Christmas Monks sat on a throne trimmed so thick with evergreens that it looked like a bird’s nest. They wore Christmas wreaths on their heads, and their eyes twinkled merrily.
The little boys stood in a long row before them, and the fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, grandmothers, and grandfathers looked on.
It was very sad! One boy had taken eggs from a bird’s nest; and another had frightened a cat. One boy didn’t help his mother, and another didn’t take good care of his little brother.
At last there were only two boys left,—Peter and the Prince.