Life — December 1, 1921 — page 18: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ITTLE ELSIE was so excited ZL that she could hardly keep from jumping up and down. It just didn’t seem as if she could wait for Christmas to come. She had been looking forward for oh, so long to Santa Claus’s visit, for she knew that the kindly old saint was sure to bring all sorts of nice presents to little girls who had been good all through the whole long year. : And little Elsie had been just as good as ever a little girl could be. She never put anything on her face except pure soap and warm water, she was careful to wrap up her throat and ankles well before going out in the cold, she never teased to stay up after bedtime, and she always said, “Why, I don't know what you mean,” to the little boys. No wonder that she was so excited and happy as Christmas drew nearer every day! But poor little Lilyan had been a very naughty girl indeed. She painted her pretty dark hair yellow, she often neglected to write to her good, kind Daddy and Mummy to tell them how she was getting on with her singing lessons, she used words that she had picked up from the little boys, and sometimes she even said things that were not quite true. And you know that the only presents Santa Claus leaves in the stockings of bad little girls are lumps of nasty black coal. Elsie had to work hard to keep the tears from her bright eyes when she thought how sadly disappointed Lilyan would be on Christmas morning. At last Christ- mas Eve came. It was very cold. The moon shone on the snow and made it sparkle just like dia- monds, and the dear little snow- flakes danced happily in the air. Elsie thought she never had seen such a pretty night. She blew “Mummy, aren’t we good? A Christmas Hable Borothy Parker a kiss to the big round yellow moon. And now it was time to hang up the stockings. Little Elsie could not help hoping that Santa would notice how neatly she had darned hers. Lilyan hung up one of her newest dozen with the imported lace set in over the instep, and both little girls scampered off to bed, to dream of jolly old Saint Nick and his scurrying reindeer. Very early next morning, before any- thing else was stirring, Elsie tiptoed downstairs as quietly as a little mouse to see what was in her stocking. She could hardly wait to untie all the red ribbons from the white tissue paper packages, she was so anxious to see what they contained. When they were all finally unwrapped, she sat right down on the floor and spread her gifts all around her. There was the prettiest coat-hanger all painted with cunning little kittens’ faces, and a lovely calendar with a quotation from Whittier for each month in the year, and a dear little tea-cozy with “When you want hot tea just call on me” done across it in outline stitch, and a pair of bayberry candles with Dbluebirds for happiness on them, and the cutest bag to hold toothpaste when travelling, and a whole box full of great big pieces of home-made fudge! And this was not all by any means. There were all sorts of the cleverest We've just been cleanin’ out the chimley so’s it'll be all nice for Santa to-morrow night!” cards that ever you saw in your life, to tell Elsie that they hoped she would have a nice, nice Christmas, and just the very happiest of happy New Years, There was one with a little lady in a big sunbonnet painted on it, and an- other with a sweet little country church with its roof covered with shiny make- believe snow, and a whole lot with pic- tures of Santa in his bright red suit and his bright white whiskers. And then there was one with a wee china kewpie tied to it with a pink bow, and on the card was printed: “I cannot be with you myself to-day, So I send this little kewpie To wish you a merry Christmas cay And a New Year filled with beauty.” Elsie thought that this one was very nearly the nicest of all. My, how many things there w when she had them all arranged 1 ly on the floor. You may be sure that little Elsie was glad to remember how very, very good she had been all through the whole long year. “Just think,” she said to herself, “I now have this unique tea-cozy, these pretty candles, this quaint little coat- hanger, this novel toothpaste bag, this useful and poetic calendar, and all this rich candy. If I had not been so good, I would not have received them, and then where would I be to-day?” For Lilyan’s stocking hung limp and empty where she had hung it. There were no tempting little tis- sue paper pack- ages peering out of the top of it. All that poor lit- tle Lilyan found, when she came down at quarter to one to see what she had for her Christmas, was a Rolls-Royce lim- ousine and an au- tographed clieck, of a horrid shade of pink, with an ugly blank space left where the amount was not filled in. But little Elsie still believes in Santa Claus. comicbooks.com