To Roseanne Murray, Thank you for reading my story and for your kind comments.
Before leaving town, Victoria asked, "Ben, does Catherine always take her dogs to school and church? While we're here, I would like to talk with those boys who beat Cat up on Monday. I need to give them a piece of my mind and I truly hope that Matt and Rip do also."
"No, she doesn't take them to school. The children would spend more time paying attention to them than their lessons. The teacher asked me to bring them for the Christmas party yesterday. However, they do go to church with us and have been ever since I brought Cat home from Dodge. Reverend and Mrs. Long were on the train with us and met Cat and Silver Chief. Lassie was given to her by the general store owner's brother. Reverend Long said he wanted them to come to church, so we bring them. Since the church will be so crowded tomorrow night, I'm going to tell Cat they have to stay at home. Alright, we'll go over to the jail before we head home." Ben took his sister over to the jail and introduced her to Roy who said she was more than welcome to talk with the boys.
He opened the door between his office and the cells and said, "I have someone here who wants to talk to you and I highly recommend you pay attention to what she has to say. I want all four of you on your feet and to remember your manners as you will be talking to a lady." Billy refused to get off the cot so Roy said, "William, your parents have given me permission to deal with you as I see fit. Now either get on your feet or you will feel the sting of my belt on your bare backside!" Billy reluctantly stood up and Roy said, "Alright Mrs. Barkley. The boys are ready to speak with you now."
Victoria asked them why they decided to beat up on Cat and they gave her the same answers they had been giving all along. She became angry and said, "Despite the fact that you have been told differently several times, you still decided that my niece is a foundling and doesn't belong here." The boys eyes got wide when Victoria said that Cat was her niece. "Yes, that's right boys. Catherine is my niece. I am Ben Cartwright's sister and Catherine's mother was our sister. But you already knew that, didn't you? You're just repeating what some old busybody said so you can attempt to justify your actions. My nephews are grown men and you are only fifteen years old. Why did Joe need to ask your permission before allowing his sister to ride his horse? Don't say that Catherine isn't Joe's sister because you know it's true. My brother adopted our niece when her mother was killed so that now makes her Joe's sister. The four of you have got to stop blaming other people for your actions. It is not a nine year old's fault that two boys much older and larger than she is got into trouble for being bullies and hurting children younger and smaller than they are. I need to go now but you can bet that my little visit is not the only one you will be getting from family members. I am positive that Catherine's uncles will want to have words with you as will my two sons that are here with me. You can thank your lucky stars that my second oldest son isn't here because the rest of the family would have a hard time keeping him from ripping your limbs off and staking you out for the buzzards. You can also thank your lucky stars that my eldest son was not here when you saw the judge. He is the family lawyer and would have been in the court room asking the judge to give you the maximum penalty for your actions. Here is something else for you to think about. As I said, I am certain that my brothers-in-law will be here to pay you a visit. One of them is a United States marshal and the other is a major in the Army. I guarantee that they were extremely upset when they learned what you did to our niece. Perhaps your fathers will allow them the privilege of warming your backsides with their belts."
After Ben and Victoria returned to the Ponderosa, she took her list of foods to Hop Sing who said he would be more than happy to make some of them for her.
When the children arrived back at the Ponderosa, they were surprised to find that Hoss and Joe had done more work on Abel's gift. The pine needles had been glued to the bark, all of the animals had been glued together and the trees looked like they had a light dusting of snow on them. Cat hugged her brothers, thanked them and asked what they had used for the snow.
They hugged her back and Hoss said, "Yore welcome Punkin. We told ya we would help 'cause we want to see this wrapped and put under the tree tomorrow. Hop Sing gave us some sugar to use for the snow. We asked him for some flour but he said the sugar looked more like snow. We've still got some time before supper, so why don't ya kids finish painting them critters? Then we can glue all of them to the bark after breakfast and wrap it after dinner."
They left the children to finish the painting and joined the rest of the family in the great room. "Catherine isn't going to be happy with me," said Ben. "However, I am going to tell her that her puppies have to stay home tomorrow when we go to church. There will be too many people there and they might get stepped on."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," said Adam. "Reverend Long wants them there. He is borrowing two pet sheep from someone and wants Lassie and Silver Chief to be sheep dogs." At the look on everyone's faces, he added, "Reverend Long said that their owner bathed them this morning and is keeping them in his barn so they won't smell tomorrow night. Look at it this way. It's only two sheep when it could be sheep, cows, camels, and a donkey. Think how bad the church would smell then." Everyone had a good laugh at Adam's comments.
When Adam went upstairs to tell the children to wash up for supper, he was pleased to see that they had finished painting all of the pine cone animals and were in the process of cleaning up. "You kids did a great job getting everything painted. All of the animals will be dry by morning and we can glue them to the bark right after breakfast. I think there's a small crate in the barn we can put everything in and just wrap the crate. It will be easier and lessen the chance of anything breaking. Supper is almost ready so once you finish cleaning up, you need to wash."
During supper, Cat asked, "Pa, when are we going to light the candles on the tree?"
"We'll light them after church tomorrow night and then again on Christmas morning. And yes, each one of you children may light a candle tomorrow. As there are six of you who will need to bathe before putting your church clothes on, we'll start baths right after dinner. That way everyone will be ready to leave right after supper, which will be early."
"Our church clothes are at home so we're going to have to go home right after dinner tomorrow," said Jasper. "We didn't know we were going to spend tonight here too or we would have brought them yesterday."
"Don't worry," replied Ben. "I took my sister to town this afternoon and we stopped at your homes and got your church clothes on the way back here. They're in the wardrobe in your and Cat's bedrooms. You and Michael will go home with your parents after church tomorrow night and return here with your families for dinner on Christmas Day. I've talked to your parents and since Mark is here, you will be spending part of your Christmas vacation here and part of it with your families. Laura and Mary will be doing the same thing."
"Oh Cat," said Victoria. "I've been feeling so poorly I almost forgot, Nick gave me a letter for you. Give me a minute and I'll get it for you."
Victoria got the letter out of her bedroom and gave it to Cat who read it and scowled. Ben noticed the look on her face, guessed what the letter said and asked, "What does the letter say Cat? If it's not personal, why don't you share it with the family?"
Cat frowned, sighed and read, "Dear Cat, I am sorry that I am not spending Christmas on the Ponderosa with you and the rest of the family. I know that I have nobody to blame but myself that I am not there with you. Mother and Jarrod will tell you that I am not someone who admits when he's wrong or apologizes, however, I was wrong to spank you the day we left after your mother's funeral. I know you embarrassed Adam because he said he was going to take the money Rip and Matt gave you but all I could think about was that you were only a little kid and should not be embarrassing an adult. He was wrong and so were Heath and I. I am sorry I spanked you and that I didn't apologize to you that day. If it makes you feel any better, both Mother and Jarrod yelled at me on the way home and told me to stop being so mule headed. You are my little cousin and I love you very much and will greatly miss spending Christmas with you. I will see you in the spring when I bring that filly I told you about for Fury. With love, Your Cousin, Nick." Cat sighed again and asked, "When do I have to groom Buck and clean out his stall?"
Ben chuckled and replied, "How about after the holidays? We'll pick a day between January second and tenth. Remember, all you have to do is groom him and clean out his stall once."
Very early Christmas Eve morning, all six children crept downstairs and set the tables. Knowing what they were up to, Hop Sing just smiled and went back to sleep. Once again all of the adults were surprised to see that the tables had been set and were still at a loss as to how to explain it. Joe was pretty sure the kids had done it, but not wanting to spoil their fun, said nothing. Once breakfast was over, the children finished Abel's gift and set it aside for the glue to dry. Adam found a crate it would fit into and carried it up to Hoss' room. "Your project should fit in this crate Cat. We'll put it in here and wrap it right after dinner. The glue should be completely dry by then."
"I have all kinds of things to wrap and don't know how."
Adam sighed. "Why didn't you say something before now? Get your things and we'll help you wrap them."
"I don't know. I guess I didn't think anyone would help me so I'd just leave everything wrapped in the paper from the store. I didn't even think you would help me make Grandpa's present."
"I'll go wrap Mark's gift," said Jasper. "Mike and I helped Cat pick it out so I know what it is."
After allowing enough time for the children to wrap his and his brother's gifts, Adam knocked on Cat's bedroom door. "Has everything been wrapped?"
"Yes," answered Laura.
"Good. Why don't you kids carry everything downstairs and put it under the tree. I need to talk with my sister for a minute." Once all of the other children had left the room, Adam sat down on Cat's bed. "Come and sit by me for a minute. You and I need to talk about a few things. Don't worry, you're not in trouble and I'm not angry at you. I just want to talk." Cat walked over to him and he pulled her into his lap, hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "I just want you to know how much I love you. I am very sad that your parents died before you got to know them, but I am very happy that you are my little sister now. I know that you're still trying to be used to being part of a family but you need to know that there aren't many things Hoss, Joe, and I wouldn't do for you.
Don't be afraid to ask any one or all three of us for help. We will always help you in any way we can. But just like I told you the day we bought Pa and Grandfather's birthday gifts, we can't help you if we don't know you need it. If we had known you didn't know how to wrap the gifts you bought, we would have helped you when you came home from Carson City. I know what some of the kids at school and some of the women at church have said and they are dead wrong. We won't send you away if you ask for help. Families help each other. Do you remember when we were in Albuquerque and I paid for that parasol you wanted to give Kitty? I told you that's something family members do for each other. As Pa has said on several occasions, you don't need to take care of yourself. That's what we're here for. Pa took care of me when I was little. I took care of Hoss after his mother was killed when we were with the wagon train. Both of us took care of Joe when he was little and now all three of us are going to take care of you. Are those kids at school still teasing you?"
"No, not too much since you, Hoss, and Joe took them to their parents."
"Good. You need to tell us if they start teasing you again and you especially need to tell us if Mrs. Warren or any of the other women who have been so mean to you come to the school or say anything to hurt you. Everything they say to hurt you is a lie and they know it, but you don't know them well enough to know they're lying to you. Remember little sister, we can't help you if we don't know you need it. Now, let's go downstairs before your friends think I've eaten you. It's almost dinner time and I am hungry but I think you're a little too tough for me to eat." Cat giggled and Adam hugged and kissed her again. "Never forget, all of us love you very much and will do everything we can to help you except take your arithmetic tests."
"I've got a better idea. I'll take care of me and you can take my arithmetic tests. You're better at it than I am and you like it but I hate it."
"Sorry Squirt. That's not going to happen. But what is going to happen is that you're going to get tickled because you're so silly." He picked her up, put her over one shoulder and tickled her all the way to the outhouse, stopping long enough for her to put her jacket on.
When Cat and Adam walked back into the house, Hop Sing came out of the kitchen and said, "Dinner for bunkhouse almost done. Little boys and little girls go see if clean."
The children came back into the house and Mary said, "It's a lot cleaner than it was at Thanksgiving but the tables need to be washed. Joe, where are the decorations we made on Thanksgiving?"
"They're in the attic. I'll get them while you kids wash and set the bunkhouse tables."
"What are the children doing?" asked Kitty. "Why did Hop Sing say he was making dinner for the bunkhouse?"
"Cat talked Hop Sing into making Thanksgiving dinner for the hands," replied Ben. "Mary, Laura, Jasper, Mike and their families were here for dinner that day too so the five children cleaned the bunkhouse, set the table, made decorations for the tables, and helped carry the food out there. After all of us ate dinner and helped clean up, the children asked Hop Sing to make Christmas dinner for the hands and he said he would. They're out in the bunkhouse washing and setting the tables. Because we have to leave for church by five, we're going to have a light dinner and an early supper. All six children will need to bathe after dinner."
After dinner, Adam helped Cat wrap her tree bark and pine cone project for Abel, carried it downstairs and put it under the Christmas tree. The children took their baths and began getting into their church clothes. The adults sitting in the great room smiled at the sound of laughter and giggles coming from upstairs. After a few minutes, Kitty and Victoria knocked on Cat's door. "We thought you girls would like help braiding your hair," said Kitty.
"Yes please. Thank you," said Cat as she hugged Kitty.
"Who usually does it for you?"
"Joe, but you do it lots better."
"I'm sure he does the best he can. Come and sit in front of me so I can braid your hair. I miss doing this for you."
After Victoria braided Laura's hair, she asked, "Mary, would you like me to braid your hair too?"
"No thank you. I'm not going to braid it tonight."
"That's fine. Cat, I don't know if Ben has told you, but your hair is exactly the same as your mother's was. It's brown with red in it."
"He told me when I first came here from Dodge but I forgot. What was my mama like?"
"You are a lot like her. She was fun loving, free spirited, loved to laugh and was very good with animals. I don't think she ever met an animal she didn't like and that didn't like her. She was around your age when John caught her petting a skunk. Don't ask me why, but that skunk just loved your mother and even let her play with her babies when she had them. Nobody else could get near them but that mama skunk just followed her around like a puppy. Kate hated going to school and struggled with arithmetic but she loved to read. She loved to play jokes on the rest of us. John got angry with her one day because he thought she had taken his homework but all she had done was swap tablets with him and gave his back when we got to school. When he got his tablet back, he wasn't sure if he wanted to hug her or kill her for driving him crazy. She had a bad temper, didn't always control it, and got into many fights at school, many of which she started. Ben, John, and I did our best to keep her out of trouble at school but we weren't always successful.
She loved your father very much and they were both overjoyed when you were born. They had such high hopes for the future but the war changed all of that. Your mother was heartbroken when your father was killed and couldn't stand the thought of living here without him. Both Ben and I tried to convince her not to go and live with our father but she wouldn't listen to us. If I had known he was going to force her to marry that man, I would have done everything I could to drag her back here where she belonged. I know she left you with Matt because she was afraid Ben and I would give you to Father when he demanded we do so, but I promise you that neither one of us would have done that. After our mother died, he turned into a person we didn't recognize, which is why we didn't want your mother to live with him. We knew she would not be happy but her grief was overwhelming and she took you and went to him. The last time I heard from her was a letter saying Father was forcing her to marry a man she didn't even like, let alone love. He used to pretend to have some kind of attacks to get people to do what he wanted and that's how he got her to marry Stephen Jacobs. She was afraid to go against him out of fear he would have an attack and die. Unfortunately, by the time I got the letter, you were in Dodge and she was on her way to Australia. I will admit that the two of us were never close. She was born when our mother was almost too old to have children, our parents spoiled her, and I was jealous. That all changed when she married your father and you were born."
When Kitty, Laura, and Mary walked back downstairs, Ben looked at them and asked, "Where are Victoria and Cat?"
"Victoria is telling Cat about her mother," replied Kitty. "I decided that they needed to spend some time together so the three of us left them alone."
After supper, Adam and Joe harnessed teams to the sleigh and surrey and six children, two dogs, and four adults climbed into the sleigh. Cat picked up the reins, put them down, ran back into the house and returned with her saddle bags. "Why are you bringing those?" asked Ben.
"Because Mr. Miller said to."
"That's fine but we had better get moving. You kids need to be at the church early." When they arrived at the church, Jasper and Mike helped Cat introduce Lassie and Silver Chief to the sheep. Then Cat told her puppies to listen to Jasper and Mike and left to join the other children.
While he was greeting his friends and introducing the visiting family members to them, Ben spotted Andy Walker in the crowd and invited him to join them. "Where is Adam?" inquired Andy.
"You'll see shortly," replied Ben. "Right now, we had better go inside before the service begins."
Reverend Long welcomed everyone to the service and sat down in the front row to watch the play with his wife and Adam. When it was time for the shepherds to enter, Jasper, Mike, and Mitch walked up the center of the church with Cat's puppies gently nudging the sheep along.
As the congregation finished singing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Adam picked up a chair that had been placed near where he was sitting, walked up to the front of the church and set it down. When Cat joined him, he picked her up, hugged her, and set her down on the chair. He pulled his guitar in front of him and began to play an introduction to the first hymn he and Cat would sing. Cat put her hand on his shoulder and began to sing.
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem and see
Him Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
See Him in a manger laid
Jesus Lord of heaven and earth;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
With us sing our Savior's birth.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Cat sang the first line of the first verse, Adam sang the second line, and they both sang the Glorias. Cat sang the entire second verse and Adam joined her on the Glorias. Adam sang the third verse, Cat sang the Glorias with him, and they both sang the fourth verse together. When they had finished the hymn, Adam picked Cat up, hugged her and set he down on the floor. Then he picked up the chair and both of them walked over to rejoin the Longs.
After the last line of the play had been spoken, Adam and Cat walked back up to the front. As he had done earlier, he picked her up, hugged her, set her down on the chair, and began to play the introduction to the second hymn.
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
Cat sang the entire first verse and Adam sang the chorus with her. He sang the second verse, Cat joined him on the chorus, and they sang the last verse together. After the final note died away, Adam picked Cat up, gave her a big hug, told her she had done a great job, and set her on the floor. Reverend Long thanked the children for doing a great job on the play, Adam and Cat for singing, and everyone for coming. He said he would see everyone on Sunday morning and wished them a Merry Christmas. "Who is that little girl that sang with Adam?" Andy asked of Ben. "He seems to love her very much. Is she his daughter?"
"No, she is not Adam's daughter," laughed Ben. "I'll introduce you when they are able to join us. Where are you staying?"
"I arrived just before the service began, but I'm going to stay at the hotel. The farm just isn't the same now that both of my parents are gone."
"You are more than welcome to stay at the Ponderosa."
"Your family is here and the house will be too crowded for an outsider."
"You are not an outsider and we'll find room for you. You know me well enough to know that I'm not going to take no for an answer."
When Cat and Adam joined the family, Hop Sing hugged Cat before anyone else could. "Missy Cat do vely good. Sing vely nice. Hop Sing proud of her."
"Thank you Hop Sing." Cat found herself being picked up by Hoss who hugged her and passed her around to the rest of the family. Ben introduced her to Andy and she said, "I heard you sing in Dodge last year. Since you were singing in the Long Branch, I couldn't go in but Uncle Matt let me sit outside and listen. You were real good."
"Thank you Cat. I'm going to be in Virginia City for a few weeks and I'll find someplace to sing where the children can come. Would you like that?"
"Yes sir. I sure would. Thank you."
Gerald Miller walked up and told Cat how well he thought she sang. "I found your saddle bags in the sleigh and put your project in them. You kids did a very good job on it."
"Thanks Mr. Miller."
"You're welcome Cat."
When they reached the Ponderosa, Victoria and Kitty helped Caroline carry the pies into the kitchen were Hop Sing started making coffee and hot cocoa for everyone. Once everyone was settled in the great room with coffee, hot cocoa, and cookies, Ben picked up a book and said, "In the past, I have always read A Christmas Carol to my family on Christmas Eve, but since I seem to have inherited a house full of little girls, I am going to start a new tradition this year. This story is called The Nutcracker."
He began reading and told the story of Christmas Eve 1830, in the home of a European city official, President Stahlbaum. He and his wife and children, Clara and Fritz, welcome their guests to the annual Christmas party. The party grows festive with music and dance as Uncle Drosselmeyer, Clara's godfather, arrives. Drosselmeyer is a skilled clock and toy maker. He is a mysterious figure and when he first arrives he scares all the children except Clara and Fritz. Every Christmas, Drosselmeyer brings the children strange and wonderful toys. The mood of the party changes when he presents magnificent life-size dancing dolls. Clara asks her uncle if she can keep the dolls, but he has brought her something even better — a toy nutcracker. Clara loves the Nutcracker but Fritz is jealous and snatches the Nutcracker from Clara and breaks it. Uncle Drosselmeyer bandages the Nutcracker and Clara puts him to bed for the night.
The guests leave and all is quiet. Unable to sleep, Clara tiptoes downstairs to check on her beloved nutcracker doll. She falls asleep with the Nutcracker in her arms. Suddenly strange things begin to happen and large mice invade the room. Then, as the clock strikes midnight, Drosselmeyer returns, and, to Clara's astonishment, he magically makes the Christmas tree grow high above her and brings the Nutcracker to life. The toy soldiers around the tree come alive while the room fills with an army of mice, led by the fierce Mouse King. The Nutcracker leads his army of toy soldiers into battle against the mice. After the Nutcracker has fallen and all hope seems lost, Clara kills the Mouse King with her shoe. Drosselmeyer reappears, and raises the Nutcracker, who is transformed into a handsome young prince. He invites Clara to journey with him to his real home – the Land of Sweets, the Kingdom of the Sugar Plum Fairy. They are guided on their way by the Winter Snows, who have been brought to life by the magic of Christmas.
Arriving in the Land of Sweets, Clara is welcomed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara's most beautiful dreams come to life. The Nutcracker Prince tells the Sugar Plum Fairy about their daring battle with the army of mice and how Clara saved his life in his battle with the Mouse King. The Sugar Plum Fairy announces that a huge banquet shall be held in Clara's honor where she is rewarded with a celebration of dances. From near and far, marvelous characters come to entertain her. When Clara thinks she has seen everything beautiful in the land, the Sugar Plum Fairy dances with her Cavalier. Soon the Land of Sweets begins to get hazy and Clara opens her eyes to find herself in the old armchair in her parents' house, wondering if it was all a dream…
When Ben finished reading, Cat said, "Please read more Pa."
"Alright. One more story and then it's bed time. Santa won't come if you children aren't asleep in bed." He picked up another book and read,
"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!"
He set the book down and said, "Ok children. Carry your cups into the kitchen and get ready for bed. Caroline, I've given you and Charles the downstairs bedroom. That way you won't have to worry about Carrie possibly falling down the stairs if she needs to use the outhouse in the middle of the night. Hoss put Joe's old trundle bed in there for her."
Cat remembered that she left her saddle bags in the sleigh, grabbed her coat and headed for the door. "Where are you going Cat?" asked Ben.
"I forgot my saddle bags in the sleigh. I have to get them. The project he, Jas, and Mike helped me with is in them." She ran out to the barn, got her saddle bags and put the packages under the Christmas tree before going upstairs. Once all of the children were in bed, Adam and Joe brought the sleds in from the tack room and put them behind the tree. Then they helped put the rest of the gifts there too.
A/N: Wayne Newton played Andy Walker in 2 episodes, The Unwritten Commandmentin season 7 & A Christmas Story in season 8. I wish those episodes had been filmed before Pernell Roberts left the show at the end of season 6. I would have loved to have heard Wayne and Pernell sing together.
The lyrics to the Christmas carol Angels We Have Heard on High are based on the French carol Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes. The author of the french original is unknown. The most common English version is a translation made by James Chadwick in 1862.
O Holy Night is a Christmas Carol composed in 1847 by the French composer Adolphe Adam. The original lyrics to O Holy Night are a French poem named Minuit, Chrétiens – in English Midnight Christians – written by Placide Cappeau. The English lyrics were written by the minister John Sullivan Dwight.
The Nutcracker Ballet is based on the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" written in 1816 by E.T.A. Hoffman. Hoffman's story was a bit darker and scarier than the story told in the modern ballet. The Nutcracker ballet was actually based upon an adaptation of Hoffmann's original story written by French author Alexandre Dumas in 1844 and titled "The Nutcracker of Nuremberg". Dumas' adaptation was lighter and less scary than Hoffmann's original version. Although what is seen on the stage today is different in detail from the original story, the basic plot remains the same. The story of a young German girl who dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and his fierce battle against a Mouse King.
"A Visit from St. Nicholas", more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, who claimed authorship in 1837.
The poem has been called "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American" and is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today. It has had a massive effect on the history of Christmas gift-giving. Before the poem gained wide popularity, American ideas had varied considerably about Saint Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors. "A Visit from St. Nicholas" eventually was set to music and has been recorded by many artists.