"
As he finished, the children said eagerly:
"Dear Holidays, we love you all;
You're good and true and gay,
And we hope, as you have said,
That all have come to stay.
But though we value all the rest,
'Tis Christmas Day we love the best."
At this the other Holidays stepped out, and bowing to Christmas, said:
"We all unite in words of praise,
And crown him king of Holidays."
Then New Year's Day placed a crown on his head, May-Day gave him a
rose, Fourth of July, a flag, Thanksgiving, an apple, Washington's
Birthday offered his hatchet, and St. Valentine gave him a sugar
heart; and joining hands the children and the Holidays danced around
him, singing:
"We all unite in words of praise,
And crown him king of Holidays."
The curtain fell on a tableau: the Holidays, with their flags and
banners, old Father Time, and the happy children.
The applause was so vehement it had to rise again for a moment, and
then there was an intermission while some of the actors changed their
costumes.
When the curtain went up for the last time the cottage was gone, and
in its place appeared a row of high-backed chairs on which were seated
five little ladies in the quaintest of short-waisted gowns, each with
a reticule on her arm, from which she took her needles and began to
knit.
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