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To make you kids a Chris'mus-call!"
An' we're so glad to know _fer shore_
He's comin', I roll on the floor--
An' here come Trip a-waller'n' roun'

An' purt'-nigh knock the clo'eshorse down!--
An' Etty grab Lee-Bob an' prance
All roun' the room like it's a dance--
Till Ma she come an' march us nen
To dinner, where we're _still_ again,
But _tickled_ so we ist can't eat
But pie, an' ist the hot mincemeat
With raisins in.--But _Uncle_ et,
An' _Ma_. An' there they set an' set
Till purt'-nigh supper-time; nen we
Tell him he's got to fix the Tree
'Fore _Santy_ gits here, like he said.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

We go nen to the old woodshed--
All bundled up, through the deep snow--
"An' snowin' yet, _jee-rooshy-O_!"
Uncle he said, an' he'p us wade

Back where's the Chris'mus-Tree he's made
Out of a little jackoak-top
He git down at the sawmill-shop--
An' Trip 'ud run ahead, you know,
An' 'tend-like he 'uz _eatin'_ snow--
When we all waddle back with it;
An' Uncle set it up--an' git
It wite in front the fireplace--'cause
He says "'Tain't _so_ 'at Santy Claus
Comes down _all_ chimblies,--least, tonight
He's comin' in _this_ house all right--
By the front-door, as ort to be!--

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

We'll all be hid where we can _see_!"
Nen he look up, an' he see Ma
An' say, "It's ist too bad their _Pa_
Can't be here, so's to see the fun

The childern _will_ have, ever' one!"
Well, _we_!--We hardly couldn't wait
Till it wuz dusk, an' dark an' late
Enough to light the lamp!--An' Lee-
Bob light a candle on the Tree--
"Ist _one_--'cause I'm 'The Lighter'!"--Nen
He clumb on Uncle's knee again
An' hug us _bofe_;--an' Etty git
Her little chist an' set on it
Wite clos't, while Uncle telled some more
'Bout Santy Claus, an' clo'es he wore
"_All maked o' furs, an' trimmed as white_

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

_As cotton is, er snow at night_!"
An' nen, all sudden-like, he say,--
"_Hush! Listen there! Hain't that a sleigh
An' sleighbells jinglin'_?" Trip go "_whooh_!"

Like _he_ hear bells an' _smell_ 'em, too.
Nen we all listen.... An'-sir, shore
Enough, we hear bells--more an' more
A-jinglin' clos'ter--clos'ter still
Down the old crook-road roun' the hill.
An' Uncle he jumps up, an' all
The chairs he jerks back by the wall
An' th'ows a' overcoat an' pair