Bessie and Clara were the first ones up. They shouted with delight when they looked in their stockings. There was a dear little dolly in each stocking—a dolly with real hair and eyes that opened and shut, and the dollies were dressed very prettily. They were too large to go into the stockings, so they just stood in them, looking as though they were ready to jump down.
Willie found the funniest jumping-jack in his stocking, and Tom pulled a flute out of his. He had everybody awake in no time after that.
Grace was happy when she looked in her stocking. There was a little
plush box in it, and in the box was a lovely gold watch; while Harry found just what he wanted too—a pair of skates.
But grandma and grandpa were surprised when they discovered the spectacles and the cane.
"Who in the world could have told Santa what we wanted most?" said grandma.
Grandpa said he couldn't understand it either, and then Bessie had to tell the secret.
She ran up to each of them and whispered, "I wrote to him myself!"
Then how they kissed her.
All day long the library was kept closed; not a child was allowed to peep in. But what fun they had all day, and what a Christmas dinner, with a plum pudding as big as a pumpkin.