the month before christmas was always the most exciting and mysterious time in the joseph household. such scheming and planning, such putting of curly heads together in corners, such counting of small hoards, such hiding and smuggling of things out of sight, as went on among the little josephs!
there were a good many of them, and very few of the pennies; hence the reason for so much contriving and consulting. from fourteen-year-old mollie down to four-year-old lennie there were eight small josephs in all in the little log house on the prairie; so that when each little joseph wanted to give a christmas box to each of the other little josephs, and something to father and mother joseph besides, it is no wonder that they had to cudgel their small brains for ways and means thereof.
father and mother were always discreetly blind and silent through december. no questions were asked no matter what queer things were done. many secret trips to the little store at the railway station two miles away were ignored, and no little joseph was called to account because he or she looked terribly guilty when somebody suddenly came into the room. the air was simply charged with secrets.
sister mollie was the grand repository of these; all the little josephs came to her for advice and assistance. it was mollie who for troubled small brothers and sisters did such sums in division as this: how can i get a ten-cent present for emmy and a fifteen-cent one for jimmy out of eighteen cents? or, how can seven sticks of candy be divided among eight people so that each shall have one? it was mollie who advised regarding the purchase of ribbon and crepe paper. it was mollie who put the finishing touches to most of the little gifts. in short, all through december mollie was weighed down under an avalanche of responsibility. it speaks volumes for her sagacity and skill that she never got things mixed up or made any such terrible mistake as letting one little joseph find out what another was going to give him. "dead" secrecy was the keystone of all plans and confidences.
during this particular december the planning and contriving had been more difficult and the results less satisfactory than usual. the josephs were poor at any time, but this winter they were poorer than ever. the crops had failed in the summer, and as a consequence the family were, as jimmy said, "on short commons." but they made the brave best of their small resources, and on christmas eve every little joseph went to bed with a clear conscience, for was there not on the corner table in the kitchen a small mountain of tiny—sometimes very tiny—gifts labelled with the names of recipients and givers, and worth their weight in gold if love and good wishes count for anything?
it was beginning to snow when the small small josephs went to bed, and when the big small josephs climbed the stairs it was snowing thickly. mr. and mrs. joseph sat before the fire and listened to the wind howling about the house.
"i'm glad i'm not driving over the prairie tonight," said mr. joseph. "it's quite a storm. i hope it will be fine tomorrow, for the children's sake. they've set their hearts on having a sleigh ride, and it will be too bad if they can't have it when it's about all the christmas they'll have this year. mary, this is the first christmas since we came west that we couldn't afford some little extras for them, even if 'twas only a box of nuts and candy."
mrs. joseph sighed over jimmy's worn jacket which she was mending. then she smiled.
"never mind, john. things will be better next christmas, we'll hope. the children will not mind, bless their hearts. look at all the little knick-knacks they've made for each other. last week when i was over at taunton, mr. fisher had his store all gayified up,' as jim says, with christmas presents. i did feel that i'd ask nothing better than to go in and buy all the lovely things i wanted, just for once, and give them to the children tomorrow morning. they've never had anything really nice for christmas. but there! we've all got each other and good health and spirits, and a christmas wouldn't be much without those if we had all the presents in the world."
mr. joseph nodded.
"that's so. i don't want to grumble; but i tell you i did want to get maggie a 'real live doll,' as she calls it. she never has had anything but homemade dolls, and that small heart of hers is set on a real one. there was one at fisher's store today—a big beauty with real hair, and eyes that opened and shut. just fancy maggie's face if she saw such a christmas box as that tomorrow morning."
"don't let's fancy it," laughed mrs. joseph, "it is only aggravating. talking of candy reminds me that i made a big plateful of taffy for the children today. it's all the 'christmassy' i could give them. i'll get it out and put it on the table along with the children's presents. that can't be someone at the door!"
"it is, though," said mr. joseph as he strode to the door and flung it open.
two snowed-up figures were standing on the porch. as they stepped in, the josephs recognized one of them as mr. ralston, a wealthy merchant in a small town fifteen miles away.
"late hour for callers, isn't it?" said mr. ralston. "the fact is, our horse has about given out, and the storm is so bad that we can't proceed. this is my wife, and we are on our way to spend christmas with my brother's family at lindsay. can you take us in for the night, mr. joseph?"
"certainly, and welcome!" exclaimed mr. joseph heartily, "if you don't mind a shakedown by the kitchen fire for the night. my, mrs. ralston," as his wife helped her off with her things, "but you are snowed up! i'll see to putting your horse away, mr. ralston. this way, if you please."
when the two men came stamping into the house again mrs. ralston and mrs. joseph were sitting at the fire, the former with a steaming hot cup of tea in her hand. mr. ralston put the big basket he was carrying down on a bench in the corner.
"thought i'd better bring our christmas flummery in," he said. "you see, mrs. joseph, my brother has a big family, so we are taking them a lot of santa claus stuff. mrs. ralston packed this basket, and goodness knows what she put in it, but she half cleaned out my store. the eyes of the lindsay youngsters will dance tomorrow—that is, if we ever get there."
mrs. joseph gave a little sigh in spite of herself, and looked wistfully at the heap of gifts on the corner table. how meagre and small they did look, to be sure, beside that bulgy basket with its cover suggestively tied down.
mrs. ralston looked too.
"santa claus seems to have visited you already," she said with a smile.
the josephs laughed.
"our santa claus is somewhat out of pocket this year," said mr. joseph frankly. "those are the little things the small folks here have made for each other. they've been a month at it, and i'm always kind of relieved when christmas is over and there are no more mysterious doings. we're in such cramped quarters here that you can't move without stepping on somebody's secret."
a shakedown was spread in the kitchen for the unexpected guests, and presently the ralstons found themselves alone. mrs. ralston went over to the christmas table and looked at the little gifts half tenderly and half pityingly.
"they're not much like the contents of our basket, are they?" she said, as she touched the calendar jimmie had made for mollie out of cardboard and autumn leaves and grasses.
"just what i was thinking," returned her husband, "and i was thinking of something else, too. i've a notion that i'd like to see some of the things in our basket right here on this table."
"i'd like to see them all," said mrs. ralston promptly. "let's just leave them here, edward. roger's family will have plenty of presents without them, and for that matter we can send them ours when we go back home."
"just as you say," agreed mr. ralston. "i like the idea of giving the small folk of this household a rousing good christmas for once. they're poor i know, and i dare say pretty well pinched this year like most of the farmers hereabout after the crop failure."
mrs. ralston untied the cover of the big basket. then the two of them, moving as stealthily as if engaged in a burglary, transferred the contents to the table. mr. ralston got out a small pencil and a note book, and by dint of comparing the names attached to the gifts on the table they managed to divide theirs up pretty evenly among the little josephs.
when all was done mrs. ralston said, "now, i'm going to spread that tablecloth carelessly over the table. we will be going before daylight, probably, and in the hurry of getting off i hope that mr. and mrs. joseph will not notice the difference till we're gone."
it fell out as mrs. ralston had planned. the dawn broke fine and clear over a vast white world. mr. and mrs. joseph were early astir; breakfast for the storm-stayed travellers was cooked and eaten by lamplight; then the horse and sleigh were brought to the door and mr. ralston carried out his empty basket.
"i expect the trail will be heavy," he said, "but i guess we'd get to lindsay in time for dinner, anyway. much obliged for your kindness, mr. joseph. when you and mrs. joseph come to town we shall hope to have a chance to return it. good-bye and a merry christmas to you all."
when mrs. joseph went back to the kitchen her eyes fell on the heaped-up table in the corner.
"why-y!" she said, and snatched off the cover.
one look she gave, and then this funny little mother began to cry; but they were happy tears. mr. joseph came too, and looked and whistled.
there really seemed to be everything on that table that the hearts of children could desire—three pairs of skates, a fur cap and collar, a dainty workbasket, half a dozen gleaming new books, a writing desk, a roll of stuff that looked like a new dress, a pair of fur-topped kid gloves just mollie's size, and a china cup and saucer. all these were to be seen at the first glance; and in one corner of the table was a big box filled with candies and nuts and raisins, and in the other a doll with curling golden hair and brown eyes, dressed in "real" clothes and with all her wardrobe in a trunk beside her. pinned to her dress was a leaf from mr. ralston's notebook with maggie's name written on it.
"well, this is christmas with a vengeance," said mr. joseph.
"the children will go wild with delight," said his wife happily.
they pretty nearly did when they all came scrambling down the stairs a little later. such a christmas had never been known in the joseph household before. maggie clasped her doll with shining eyes, mollie looked at the workbasket that her housewifely little heart had always longed for, studious jimmy beamed over the books, and ted and hal whooped with delight over the skates. and as for the big box of good things, why, everybody appreciated that. that christmas was one to date from in that family.
i'm glad to be able to say, too, that even in the heyday of their delight and surprise over their wonderful presents, the little josephs did not forget to appreciate the gifts they had prepared for each other. mollie thought her calendar just too pretty for anything, and jimmy was sure the new red mittens which maggie had knitted for him with her own chubby wee fingers, were the very nicest, gayest mittens a boy had ever worn.
mrs. joseph's taffy was eaten too. not a scrap of it was left. as ted said loyally, "it was just as good as the candy in the box and had more 'chew' to it besides."
