Back to School with Betsy (8 page)

"'Maybe we better,' said the first, ' 'fore we turn into hot dogs.'"

"Oh, Father!" Betsy laughed. "The dogs didn't really talk, did they?"

"Yes, they did, in my dream," replied Father.

"So what happened then?" asked Betsy.

"Well, Santa Claus began to laugh and the dogs began to laugh. They laughed and laughed and laughed and then I woke up," said Father.

"And what did you do when you woke up?" asked Betsy.

"I jumped out of bed and ran to the window," said Father. "When I looked out, it looked like fairyland. The ground was covered with a heavy blanket of snow. It hung thick on the trees. And it was still snowing hard."

"Did it snow all day?" asked Betsy.

"All day!" exclaimed Father. "It snowed all day and all night and all the next day. On the second night the wind came up and it howled around the corners of the house and blew the snow into great drifts. By the second day you couldn't see where the roads were and most of the fences were buried. The snow had drifted against the front of the house so that the front door was covered up. We couldn't open it, the snow was so heavy against it."

"My goodness!" cried Betsy. "How did you get out?"

"We could still use the back door," said Father. "It finally stopped snowing, late in the afternoon of the second day," he continued.

"And then did you go for a sleigh ride?" asked Betsy.

"Oh, my, no!" said Father. "It was a couple

of days before we could shovel a path to the road. First of all we had to shovel our way to the barn so that Uncle Dan could feed the animals.

"By New Year's Day the snow was packed down on the main roads, and every now and then we could hear the jingle of sleigh bells. Every time I heard them, I could feel a tingling right up and down my backbone.

"On New Year's afternoon Uncle Dan said that he would hitch up the sleigh and we would drive over to see Aunt Harriet and Uncle Joe. I went out to the barn and watched Uncle Dan put the harness and the sleigh bells on the horses. When they were hitched to the sleigh, I could hardly wait to get in. There was straw in the bottom of the sleigh to keep our feet warm.

"Uncle Dan took the sleigh around to the front of the house. Aunt Mattie came out with the rugs. She had a great many and I remember one of them was made of fur. Aunt Mattie tucked the fur rug all around me so that only my head showed. Then we started off. The horses trotted as though they liked pulling the sleigh. How the bells jingled! When we passed other sleighs, everyone shouted, 'Hello!'

"Uncle Dan kept wondering whether we would be able to take the cross-country cut to Uncle Joe's. The road lay in the open country. Aunt Mattie said that he had better not try it because we didn't want to get stuck in a snowdrift.

"'Now, Mattie,' said Uncle Dan, 'there's no cause for you to worry. I can tell where the road is by the fence posts. They're just sticking above the snow.'

"For about fifteen minutes our way lay along the edge of a wood. Then we came to a fork in the road. One road had been traveled. The other looked like icing on a cake.

"'Here's where we turn,' said Uncle Dan.

"'Now, Daniel,' said Aunt Mattie, 'you take my advice and take the traveled road.'

"'Mattie,' said Uncle Dan, 'I know my way. It's perfectly safe.'

"Then Uncle Dan turned the horses into the other road. But the road wasn't where Uncle Dan thought it was. Suddenly, before our very eyes, the horses disappeared from sight. They sank into a snowdrift that covered all but their backbones. The sleigh seemed to be sitting way up high.

"Like a flash Uncle Dan leaped from the front seat onto the back of Rob. He quickly unfastened the harness, and in snow up to his shoulders he led the horses out of the drift. In a few minutes he had them back on the safe road. Aunt Mattie held one of the horses and I held the other. Then Uncle Dan pulled the sleigh around and harnessed the horses again."

"What did Aunt Mattie say?" asked Betsy.

"Aunt Mattie said, 'Daniel, maybe someday you'll learn to take my advice.'

"And Uncle Dan said, 'Maybe so, Mattie. Maybe so. Well, it will make a fine story to tell Harriet and Joe when we get there.'

"'Humph!' said Aunt Mattie."

When Father finished, Betsy said, "Oh, Father! I should love to go for a sleigh ride!"

"Well, perhaps you can go for a sleigh ride," Father answered. "Perhaps I can hire a sleigh and we can go for a sleigh ride in the big park."

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" cried Betsy. "Do you think we can go soon?"

"I'll see about it," replied Father. "And now you run along to bed."

A few days before Christmas Father said that he had a surprise for Betsy.

Betsy shouted, "I bet I know! It's a sleigh ride!"

"Yes," said Father. "If the snow lasts, I have arranged for a sleighing party. It will be on Christmas Eve. You can invite five of the children from school."

"Oh, Father!" cried Betsy. "It's wonderful! Will we go sleighing in the park?"

"Yes," said Father, "in the park."

Betsy invited Billy and Ellen and Christopher, Mary Lou and Peter. They were just as excited as Betsy was.

Betsy told the children about Father's sleigh ride when he was a little boy. She also told them about Father's funny dream.

"Oh, boy!" said Billy. "I wish I could go sleigh riding with Santa Claus, the way your father did."

When Christmas Eve arrived, the snow was packed hard on the roads. It was so hard and frozen that it was shiny and made a squeaky noise. The night was clear and the stars seemed brighter than ever to Betsy.

By seven o'clock the children were all at Betsy's house. Father put them into the car and drove them to a livery stable near the park. In front of the stable there was a big sleigh with two horses. The sleigh had a high seat for the driver and two wide seats behind that faced each other.

"Now, Billy and Ellen can ride with the driver first," said Father. "Then Christopher and Mary Lou can have a turn, and on the way back Peter and Betsy can ride up front."

This satisfied the children and they scrambled into the sleigh. Father tucked the rugs around them. The horses stamped their feet and shook their heads. The sleigh bells jingled.

"Are you going to drive the sleigh, Father?" asked Betsy.

"Oh, my, no!" said Father, as he climbed into the backseat beside Betsy. "The driver will be here in a moment."

"I wish we were going for a sleigh ride with Santa Claus, the way you did in your dream," said Billy.

No sooner had Billy said this than the door of the stable opened. Who should walk out but Santa Claus! He was wearing a bright red suit and cap trimmed with fur and he had on high black boots. The sleigh bells around his waist jingled as he walked.

"Hello, boys and girls!" he shouted. "So you're going for a ride with me tonight!"

The children could hardly believe their eyes. They were speechless as Santa Claus climbed up into the driver's seat and took the reins in his hand.

"Gee up!" said Santa Claus to the horses.

The sleigh started with a lurch. They were off!

Billy was the first to find his tongue. He said, "Are you really Santa Claus?"

"Sure, me boy, I'm his twin brother," replied Santa Claus, "and just as good. He'd 'a' come himself but he's having a big night tonight getting up and down chimneys."

"Do you live at the North Pole?" asked Mary Lou.

"Not me!" said Santa Claus. "It's too cold. My whiskers freeze."

"Don't you have to help your brother on Christmas Eve?" asked Christopher.

"No," replied Santa Claus, "I never was any good getting up and down chimneys. Always seemed sort of roundabout to me, but me brother's all for it. Did it even as a little fellow. Never would come in through the door like other folks. It was the chimney for him from the first."

The children laughed very hard and asked a great many questions. They were driving through the park now. It was very quiet. There was no sound but the sound of the sleigh bells. Betsy looked up at the tall trees. The stars peeped between the branches and winked at her. In the distance she could hear other sleigh bells. She burrowed down into the warm rugs and held Father's hand. She felt all happy inside. Betsy hadn't known that a sleigh ride could be so wonderful.

"Let's sing 'Jingle Bells,'" shouted Billy.

They all sang,

"Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way,
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh."

"Let's sing, 'two-horse open sleigh,'" said Christopher. "'Cause that is what this sleigh is."

So then they all sang, "Oh, what fun it is to ride in a two-horse open sleigh."

All of a sudden the horses changed their gait. The sleigh jolted and Billy toppled right off the front seat. He went head first into a big snowdrift.

"Whoa!" cried Santa Claus, as he pulled up the horses.

The sleigh stopped and Betsy's father jumped down. He ran back to Billy. The children turned around to see where Billy was. All that they could see were two legs covered with dark green snowpants sticking out of the snowdrift. The legs were kicking furiously.

In a moment Father had pulled Billy out. He looked very much like the snowman in Betsy's garden.

Father brushed him off and they ran back to the sleigh.

"I fell out," said Billy, when he reached the sleigh.

"You don't mean to tell me!" said Santa Claus. "Sure, and I thought you were practicing diving."

The children changed places in the sleigh. Christopher and Mary Lou sat up with Santa