and bright.
You'll find me 'neath a silver moon,
Each crisp, fresh winter night.

(_Enter Old Winter_)

_Winter_: What, ho! my children, here I am,
I've sought you everywhere.
And now to busy work away,
For you must all prepare
To do your duty while I hold
In check your enemy,
The great round sun, whose rays with you.
My children, disagree.
Now up, away! Wind, to the west
And come again in glee;
And join with Frost and Snow and Ice,
In one grand jubilee.
And paint the cheeks with roses
Of all these children who,
Right joyously will run and shout,
_My_ children dear, with you.
Away! to work, you must not shirk
Your duties, dears; and now,
To these, your firmest friends, make each
Your most engaging bow.

(_All bow and retire Old Winter following_.)

* * * * *

=Santa Claus.=

(Let the first line be given by a small boy as a herald,
carrying a trumpet, and dressed in tunic, tights, and velvet
cap. The second line it taken up by Santa Claus, in costume of
fur, with white beard and hair.)

A voice from out of the northern sky:
"On the wings of the limitless winds I fly.
Swifter than thought, over mountain and vale,
City and moorland, desert and dale!
From the north to the south, from the east to the west
I hasten regardless of slumber or rest;
O, nothing you dream of can fly as fast
As I on the wings of the windy blast!

"The wondering stars look out to see
Who he that flieth so fast may be,
And their bright eyes follow my earthward track
By the gleam of the jewels I bear in my pack.
For I have treasures for high and for low:
Rubies that burn like the sunset glow;
Diamond rays for the crowned queen;
For the princess, pearls with their silver sheen.

"I enter the castle with noiseless feet--
The air is silent and soft and sweet;
And I lavish my beautiful tokens there--
Fairings to make the fair more fair!
I enter the cottage of want and woe--
The candle is dim and the fire burns low;
But the sleepers smile in a happy dream
As I scatter my gifts by the moon's pale beam.

"There's never a home so low, no doubt.
But I in my flight can find it out