CHAPTER III
SANTA CLAUS
They had just finished a hearty breakfast, of which home-made pineapplejam and the crisp, crusty rolls that grow on a certain palm had formed apart, when Baby Jane suddenly remarked:
'I do believe it's Christmas Eve!'
The creatures had no idea what that meant, but they knew when she spokein that way there was more fun coming, and they eagerly crowded roundher to hear about it.
'And now,' she went on, 'as it is Christmas Eve, to-night we must allhang up our stockings, and Santa Claus will come and fill them withpresents.'
The creatures set up a shout of delight, and catching one another roundthe waist danced a wild polka round Baby Jane.
All of a sudden they stopped as if turned into statues; a chillysilence fell upon them, and they looked aghast into each other's eyes.Then the Light-Horse, looking in her horror-stricken paleness more likea night-mare, whispered to Baby Jane, 'But we don't wear stockings!'
'Oh, that's all right,' she said; 'I will make something for you thatwill do. Santa Claus is an old dear, and will pretend to think that theyare all real stockings. Bear, bring some woolly stuff from that store ofyours, if you please!'
And then they all sat in a ring, contriving queer bag-shaped things andfitting them on--all except the Rabbit. He sauntered round for a whileamong the creatures picking up a bit of stuff here and another bitthere, and then he disappeared behind a tree.
By-and-bye all the other animals were proudly marching around, each withone leg in a stocking, but it was some time before the Rabbit strolledup from behind his tree with his stocking wrapped round him like aplaid.
'Let us see it,' said Baby Jane.
With a slight blush and some hesitation the Rabbit laid it on thesand--it was big enough for a hippopotamus.
'Nonsense,' said Baby Jane severely; 'you can't wear that.'
'Oh,' said the Rabbit, 'you don't know how my toes swell when I've gotchilblains!'
'You shouldn't try to cheat Santa Claus,' replied Baby Jane, and theRabbit had to cut his stocking down.
It was now some time since tea, and growing dark. It was not an EnglishChristmas Eve, with holly and snow, and darkness lit and warmed by cosyflickering fires, but it seemed to Baby Jane that at that time all overthe world as the darkness deepens there spreads everywhere one samefeeling of coming happiness growing and growing until, as the dawnbreaks, a great loving kiss falls upon the poor world to comfort andbless it, so that it awakes with its heart full of warmth and joy onChristmas morning.
'Now, before we hang up our stockings and go to sleep,' said Baby Jane,'we have got to go out and sing carols, and the people we sing to willgive us hot things to drink, and cake.'
'Oh, will they?' said the Lion. He loyally believed everything that hismistress said, but knowing the folk who lived in this neighbourhood, hehad his doubts of this.
'Now, whom shall we sing to?' she asked.
'Well,' said the Lion rubbing his chin doubtfully, 'there are theOurang-outangs, a decent family--at least, now and then.'
'O'rang o'tang!' said Baby Jane. 'I can't say that word. I used to knowsome people called O'Flanagan; let us call them the O'Flanagans.'
'You are always so clever!' said the Lion admiringly. 'Well, let us goand sing to the Flanagans. They live in the third palm tree on the leftin the riverside avenue.'
So they set off under the starlit sky, Baby Jane on the Bear's shoulder,and the others close round her, all practising their voices and all verymerry.
It was rather undignified of the Lion to sing falsetto, but he seemed tofancy that he did it well, and so he kept it up--a shrill squeal thatnow and then broke down suddenly into his own deep roar.
When they were still some way from the riverside avenue they hearddistant sounds of a terrible riot.
'I do hope it is not the Flanagans,' said Baby Jane.
But unfortunately it _was_ the Flanagans. The screeching and hurrooingand thwack-slamming that was going on up that tree was marvellous.
Now and then down came a shower of cocoa-nuts and little Flanagans, butthe little Flanagans went scuttling up the tree again to join once morein the fray.
Baby Jane was afraid and trembling, and longed to tell the Bear togallop away with her; but that was not what she had come out to do, soshe gathered her scraps of courage and said:
'Let us sing a carol: in the story-books bad people always turn goodwhen they hear a carol'; and she struck up in a shaking voice, 'Heav'nrest you, merry gentlemen!'
And all the animals joined in--not properly of course, but still as eachkept up one note--the Lion's falsetto rising high above the rest--itmade a fairly good accompaniment to Baby Jane's tune.
After the first few notes the hullaballoo up in the palm tree ceased.
'Oh,' thought Baby Jane, 'it has made them gentle, and the story-booksare right--oh, I am glad!'
But at that moment a storm of cocoa-nuts came pelting down upon them,and a voice exclaimed:
'Ah, it's no manners you have at all to come disturbing a decent familyat this time of the night. Go away with you!'
And with that the riot began again.
'They all want to thrash little Patsey at once,' shouted the Lion inBaby Jane's ear; 'that is what they usually quarrel about.'
'Oh, how cruel!' she sobbed. 'I am going up to save him.'
And before any one could stop her, she was climbing up the tree with askill only given her by her pity for little Patsey. The Light-Horsehappened to be nearest to her, and though equally unused to climbingtrees, up she went in hot pursuit of Baby Jane, with all the creaturesafter her.
The fight that followed, words will not describe. You must imagine foryourself a combat in the branches of a palm tree between a family ofourang-outangs and a lion, a light-horse, a bear, a rabbit, a crocodile,and two little mortals. Thrice were the invaders driven down the tree,and thrice, with Baby Jane and the Light-Horse in the van, they scaledit again. But with that last attack came victory.
Up she went in hot pursuit of Baby Jane.]
Disputing every inch of the branches, the Flanagans were forced backuntil they broke and fled.
Triumphant, though rather scratched and rumpled, Baby Jane rode off intriumph, bearing in her arms the rescued Patsey, who was a quaint littlebrown ape, all hands and feet, with bright inquisitive eyes.
All the way home they sang lustily, and then, having hung up theirstockings--Patsey should share hers, said Baby Jane--with their littlequeen in the middle of them, they curled up and went to sleep.
It should be said that, now that the nights had grown more chilly, theyslept in a hollow in a great bush, and had to crawl in by a narrowtunnel. So thick were the leaves and branches that neither rain, norenemies, nor even sunlight, could enter through the roof, and the floorwas carpeted with soft moss. The Lion always slept in the doorway.
* * * * *
'A merry Christmas to you all,' said Baby Jane, as the new-risen sunshone straight down the tunnel, and she clapped her hands. Patsey, whohad been nestling to her, clapped his hands and tried to say 'A merryChristmas.' That was his way. He would watch her with his head on oneside, and thought it his solemn duty to do everything that she did.
The creatures all nodded and smiled and rubbed their eyes. Then some onesaid the word 'Stockings!' and there was a wild rush and then a joyfulhubbub.
Every one wanted every one else to look at his presents and see how theyworked. The Rabbit was the happiest of all. Though his stocking wasempty there was a huge pile of presents underneath, for the reason thathe had made it without any toes, so that Santa Claus had gone on tryingto fill it up until he grew tired. The Rabbit did not seem a bit ashamedof his deceitfulness, and protested with indignant squeaks when BabyJane picked him off his pile of ill-gotten gains by the ears with onehand and took as much as she could hold with the other and gave them toPatsey.
This was the only touch of unpleasantness.
Out of
the presents each chose one favourite plaything. The Light-Horsehad a skipping-rope, and she and the Bear, back to back, soon steadilyhammered the desert for a hundred skips at a time.
And even then the Light-Horse, calm almost to sadness, was ready foranother cool hundred.
The Rabbit's favourite was a clockwork mouse, but unfortunately he usedits powers for bad purposes.
Among the presents that Baby Jane had taken from the greedy Rabbit andhad given to Patsey was a wooden Dutch doll, and it was the darling ofPatsey's heart. Now the Rabbit cast jealous eyes on that Dutch doll, sowhile the others were playing he decoyed Patsey into a quiet place andthen whispered in a tone of cold, cruel ferocity:
'The very worst pain in the world is to be gnawed by mad clockwork mice.Now you will give me back my Dutch doll, or I'll set my mouse on you!'
Patsey made no answer, but burst into a roar of terror and grief, andholding the doll above his head for safety, he pattered away as fast ashis little legs could carry him.
After him, straight and swift as a motor-car, with a cruel gleam in itsbead eyes, hissed the clockwork mouse, with the Rabbit racing behind,holding it by a string.
The Rabbit racing behind, holding it by a string.]
But when Patsey already felt the mouse's whiskers tickling his legs, astrange thing happened. There was a click inside it and it suddenlywheeled round, and, to the Rabbit's horror, made straight for _him_. Hedropped the string and ran faster than he had ever run before, because,to his guilty conscience, it seemed that it was some spirit of Justiceand not clockwork that propelled that mouse.
While this was going on, the Lion and the Crocodile were learning how touse their new roller skates upon a smooth hard patch of sand, and soonwere swaying round and round like swallows on the wing. To see themlink arms and, with the other hand on the hip, sweep along on theoutside edge was wonderful, and Miss Crocodile's slender and flexiblefigure was shown to great advantage.
Miss Crocodile's slender and flexible figure was shown to great advantage.]
Baby Jane and the Piccaninny also had the very presents they had wanted,but Baby Jane had no time to play with hers just then.
The creatures played with their things all the morning until the timefor dinner, which was as fine as you ever saw. In fact, the only thingwanting was a sprig of holly to stick in the rich fruit of theplum-pudding plant. And the cooking? Oh, there is no difficulty aboutcooking in a place where you use your window-sill for an oven and whereyou only use dish-covers to keep the food from being burned.
After dinner, Baby Jane and the creatures prepared a fine Punch and Judyshow, with living figures.
'Nobody but relations, or tortoises laid on their backs, will watchtableaux, but everybody likes a Punch and Judy show,' said Baby Jane.
By using palm-stems with bamboos tied across and draped, they built avery passable Punch's house, and soon all were crowded inside ready tobob up and act while Baby Jane did the squeaky talking.
It is wonderful how soon a crowd collects round a Punch and Judy show.Here in five minutes there were five hundred beasts and niggers seatedin rows--all too curious and excited to think of eating one another. Andat the last moment up came the Flanagans in a body and took frontseats. For it was good-hearted souls that they were, and they bore nomalice. Perhaps they were a trifle excitable--that was all.
The excitement reached its highest point when Joey the clown (MasterRabbit) outwitted Punch (Mr. Lion). The Policeman (Mr. Bear) and theBlack Man (Master Piccaninny) had popped up and had been promptlyknocked on the head, and then the wily Joey appeared and was apparentlyslain also--a dozen times Punch reckoned to have knocked the stuffingout of Joey, but each time that cunning rascal caused the Policeman orthe Black Man to receive the whacks.
Then Punch began counting up his slain, 'One, two, three----'
'And four!' squeaked Joey, hitting Punch a sounding crack and laying himflat.
All this was as it should be, but when the much battered Bear andPiccaninny saw the Lion laid low, they arose and rushed at him andpummelled him until he roared again.
'Now we are going to do some of the hitting,' they said.
At this the Flanagans in the front row cheered wildly, and would havestormed the stage and joined in the fight if the whole of the charactershad not disappeared downwards with a jerk.
Then there was a great heaving of the curtains, and the sound ofargument within.
'I don't believe that "Exit" is Latin for being jerked off the stage bythe legs,' said a voice.
'If you don't behave, it will be Latin for being fed on dry bread-fruitfor a week,' replied the voice of Baby Jane.
But soon afterwards the actors popped up again, though rather breathlessand rumpled, and the rest of the show went splendidly to a triumphantclose, and Baby Jane had to climb up and make a speech before the crowdwould disperse.
'Ladies and Gentlemen,' she said, whereupon the audience, unused tobeing so addressed, cheered loudly; and then her feelings of joy andpride at the success of her Christmas effort to soften and teach theseneglected creatures so overcame her, that she fell backwards on top ofher company of actors, who bore her home in triumph.
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