EMILY.—Goodness me! What is that thing coming this way?
MARY.—I am afraid of it. Is it a man?
RUTH.—As I live, it is Uncle Peter!
EMILY.—Who is Uncle Peter?
RUTH.—He is the man, who, every Christmas, buys as many toys as he can carry, and gives them to good children. Here he comes.
(Enter UNCLE PETER, comically dressed, and covered from head to foot with all sorts of toys, he is followed by boys and girls. He dances and sings to music.)
UNCLE PETER'S SONG.
"Christmas comes but once a year, once a year, once a year! So follow me, my children dear, children dear, children dear: So follow me, my children dear, on Christmas Eve so joyful!"
(After dancing, he takes EMILY and MARY by the hand, and runs off with them, followed by the rest.)
As this is Emily's first play, and she is only nine years old, I hope the critics will not be too severe upon it. If well performed, it will be found, I think, far more amusing in the acting than in the reading.