. Miss Santa Claus of the Pullman . n full enjoyment 97 MISS SANTA CLAUS of what he had longed for. The man didnot look at Willm, however. He was toobusy attending to the wants of impatientgrown people to notice a quiet little boy whosat next the wall and made no demands. Then the waiter came, balancing an enor-mous tray on one hand, high above his head,and the children watched him with thebreathless fascination with which they wouldhave watched a juggler play his tricks. Itwas a simple supper, for Miss Santa Clauswas still young enough to remember whathad been served to her in her nursery day
. Miss Santa Claus of the Pullman . n full enjoyment 97 MISS SANTA CLAUS of what he had longed for. The man didnot look at Willm, however. He was toobusy attending to the wants of impatientgrown people to notice a quiet little boy whosat next the wall and made no demands. Then the waiter came, balancing an enor-mous tray on one hand, high above his head,and the children watched him with thebreathless fascination with which they wouldhave watched a juggler play his tricks. Itwas a simple supper, for Miss Santa Clauswas still young enough to remember whathad been served to her in her nursery days,but it was crowned by a dish of enormousstrawberries, such as Willm had seen in therefrigerator of the car kitchen, but nowhereelse. They never grew that royal size at theJunction. But what made the meal more than one ofmortal enjoyment, and transformed theearthly food into ambrosia of the gods, wasthat while they sifted the powdered sugarover their berries, Miss Santa Claus began totell them a story. It was about the Princess 98. It was abuiit tlie Princess Iiia OF THE PULLMAN Ina, who had six brothers whom a wickedwitch changed into swans. It was a very in-teresting story, the way she told it, and morethan once both Libby and Willm pausedwith their spoons half way from berries tomouth, the better to listen. It was quitesad, too, for only once in twenty-four hours,and then just for a few moments, could theprinces shed their swan-skins and be realbrothers again. At these times they wouldfly back to their sister Ina, and with tears intheir eyes, beg her to help them break thecruel charm. At last she found a way, but it would be ahard way for her. She must go alone, and inthe fearsome murk of the gloaming, to a spotwhere wild asters grow. The other namefor them is star-flower. If she could pickenough of these star-flowers to weave into amantle for each brother, which would coverhim from wing-tip to wing-tip, then theywould be free from the spell as soon as itwas thrown over the
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Keywords: ., bookauthorjohnston, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
