sort do we like to see them take part? It should be a play, surely, in
which the dialogue is simple and natural, not stilted and artificial;
one that seems like a bit of real life, and yet has plenty of fancy and
imagination in it; one that suggests and helps to perpetuate some of
the happy and wholesome customs of Christmas; above all, one that is
pervaded by the Christmas spirit. I hope that this play does not
entirely fail to meet these requirements.

Worcester, Mass.

SHEPHERD KNAPP.




The Introduction


_Before the curtain opens_, MOTHER GOOSE _comes out, and this is
what she says_:

Good evening, dear children. I see you are all expecting me to show you
a Christmas Play. Well, I have one ready, sure enough. And now let me
see, what shall I tell you about it? For one thing it will take place on
Christmas Eve, and then it will be all about Christmas, of course. The
first scene will be in the house, where a little girl and a little boy
live, with their father, who is a doctor, and their mother. It is
evening and the weather is very cold outside. The little girl and boy
are writing letters--can you guess to whom they are writing?--and the
mother is knitting, and the father is reading his newspaper; as you will