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C00005 00003	$\quad$he snow began around three o'clock. Aunt Sally had the little ones turn
C00019 00004	Anna, Gussie, and Lena stood perfectly still. Lena shook her head and
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\ctrline{LENA BERNICE, $\copyright$ 1978 by Elizabeth Ann Shiblaq}
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\ctrline{$\copyright$ 1978 E. A. Shiblaq}
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\ctrline{\:t LENA BERNICE}
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\ctrline{\hjust to 3xgpin{\leaders\hrule\hfill}}
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\ctrline{Her Christmas in Wood County, 1895}
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\ctrline{\hjust to 5.25xgpin{Lena Bernice was our grandmother. She told us about
her first Christmas tree. She told us many things while the snow fell.}}
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\ctrline{\hjust to 5.25xgpin{\hfill Elizabeth Ann and Jill}}
\ctrline{\hjust to 5.25xgpin{\hfill\it Christmas 1978}}
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$\quad$he snow began around three o'clock. Aunt Sally had the little ones turn
to the window and recite their lesson.

\vskip 4pt
\hjust{\hjust to 90pt{\hfill``}See the snow softly fall}
\hjust{\hskip 90pt over barns and churches tall.''}

\vskip 4pt
Gussie was trying to teach Horace at home, so she copied it down. She
wanted Horace to be a member of the state legislature, like Ben James
who was her uncle and the greatest orator in Wood County.

Lena Bernice thought about little Jimmy Reed in the lesson book and how
he wondered if the snow tasted of sugar. She thought about the brave dog,
C\ae sar, who had protected his mistress during the blizzard in Old
Kentucky. She thought about the layer of ice on Rock Pond.

Aunt Sally took up the {\it I\/llustrated Ge\-og\-raphy} and showed The Entire Class
a picture of the Alps and of the dear Saint Bernards who saved many a folk from
certain death.

Anna kept her hands under her desk and worked very fast with the shears. She
cut out eighteen snowflakes from the white envelopes Lena Bernice had saved from
Father's scrap basket. While The Entire Class looked at pictures of Switzerland,
Anna quietly passed each scholar a paper snowflake. When everyone had a flake
Lena raised her hand. ``Teacher,'' she said, ``it is snowing inside our
school.''

Every scholar held up a paper snowflake, even the Liggett boys. ``Why, so it
is,'' said Aunt Sally, ``and right at dismissal time.'' --- Aunt Sally, who
was very poetic, imagined each flake was a lace valentine fluttering from
her scrap book. ``Children,'' she said, ``come take a dot of paste and paste
your flakes on the window so that folks in Bradner will see that we love the
Christmastide snow. Then be extra careful to fasten your wraps so Jack
Frost doesn't nip your nose!'' --- Lena Bernice thought the snow was whiter than
whip cream or even Aunt Sally's shirtwaist.

School let out. The scholars popped from the front door like corn from the
popper. ``Hooray, hooray, Santy's on his way!'' shouted the Liggetts. They
began to ``load up and fire'' snow balls.
Anna, Gussie, and Lena Bernice scooted very fast with their arms around each
other. They knew those Liggetts would do anything, even smack a girl.

Gussie and Anna lived almost next door to each other, and Lena lived just a
piece down the street. When the girls got to the post office the Liggetts
disappeared inside, and the three girls walked more slowly but with their
arms still around each other.

Lena Bernice remembered how Father always said Bradner was as small and
precious as a diamond. She thought it certainly looked like a diamond now.

Icy necklaces hung from the apple trees, the eaves, and the iron fences.
The empty forsythia bushes were decked out with little crystal beads on their
tips. The horse troughs were spilling over with marshmallows and ice cream.
No wonder little Jimmie Reed wondered if the snow tasted of sugar!

Lena, Gussie, and Anna dropped hands and turned round and round slowly in the
middle of North Main Street. They sang, ``Sweetheart, remember, a long time
ago, we took a walk in the beautiful snow.''

``Girls, girls,'' Mrs.\ Wheland called from the front porch of her `gingerbread'
house, ``come see what I have!''

Anna, Gussie, and Lena Bernice looked at each other and ran up the front steps
and into the door with Mrs.\ Wheland.

The hallway smelled of cookies and --- and of the trees in the pine grove on the
hill at the cemetery! The girls stamped their arctics on the doormat and walked
on the hallrunner to the Whelands' front room and peered in. Mrs. Wheland
peered in too. The girls gasped at what they saw.

\hsize 5.625xgpin
Somebody had brought a pine tree into the house and set it where the corner
cupboard usually stood! Somebody had wound that little tree around with 
\hjust{. . .} prickly silver ribbons and red satin bows. Someone had hung that
tree with cooky men and candy sticks and all sorts of delicate things made of
tin:

\hsize 4.8xgpin
\def\\{\hangindent 55pt}
\\Butterflies with blue and gold dappled on their wings;

\\Saint Nicks with cotton beards;

\\Angels and little children with wax faces and arti\-ficial curls;

\\Golden trumpets like Joshua blew in the Bible and Jake Fischer had sounded
at Gettysburg;

\\And robins and little setting hens on gilded straw nests.

\hsize 8xgpin
At last Gussie said, ``Why it's as pretty as a picture.''

``Indeed it is,'' said Mrs.\ Wheland. ``I told Chester, `Now that we have the
oil money I'm going to have a tree the same as my Poppa remembered from
Prussia.' Some of the German `roughnecks' who came to work in the oil set up
trees for their folks last year. --- But I was busy fixing cakes for the
Sunday School party and didn't think about it. --- I never dreamed I'd have a
tree same as the one Prince Albert set up for the Queen of England.''

``No indeed,'' said Lena Bernice.

``Gracious,'' said Anna, ``Horace would be fit to be tied.''

``Can I bring him over?'' asked Gussie.

``Of course, dearie,'' said Mrs.\ Wheland. ``Just be sure to keep ahold of his
hand so he doesn't grab the candles off. The bad thing about a tree is that they
catch afire so easy. I have The Girl set a fresh pail of water close by
every day.''

``Yes indeed,'' said Anna.

Everyone stood quietly looking at the tree. Lena Bernice looked very hard, trying
to see how the decorations were made. She knew Anna was doing the same.

They could hear The Girl moving dishes and rustling around in the kitchen.
Nobody could rustle the same as The Girl. Why she must have worn three underskirts,
two pinafores, and a skirt as wide as the sails on the Nina, the Pinta, and
the Santa Maria.

``An apparition in calico and white billows,'' Ben James called her.

The Girl never said a word, but she was as handy as a tinsmith. Before she
became a Methodist like the Whelands she was the featheriest dancer in Wood
County. After she was converted she gave up ``the light fantastic,'' as
Ben James called it, and took up cake frosting instead. It was all Mrs.\
Wheland could do to keep enough powdered sugar.

``She's a sister and grandmother to me and a hard worker besides, even if she
can't say a word,'' offered Mrs.\ Wheland.

``I told Ches', `Now that we have the oil money I intend to give The Girl three
days a week for nothing but decorating.' I am so proud to have A Girl who can
set the whole legislature in frosting! Even the Van Vlecks in Chicago had
never seen the beat of it.''

Lena Bernice wondered if The Girl was trying to make a frosting tree out
there in the kitchen. She wondered if Mrs.\ Wheland ever got tired trying to
bake enough cakes to keep up with The Girl's decorating.

The cuckoo stuck his head out of the clock four times and just at that moment
they heard Mr.\ Whe\-land's sleigh draw up.

``See here, girls,'' said Mrs.\ Wheland, ``step farther in and we'll surprise
Chester when he sees the tree.''

Everybody looked toward the front door.

They heard Mr.\ Wheland stamp his feet, open the door, and set his things on
the rack. He was awhistling ``Jolly old Saint Nicholas.''

``Letitia,'' he called, ``where's my noodle apple strudel? Where's that
Amstudt girl?''

Lena Bernice knew that Mrs.\ Wheland stood in the hall and watched for Mr.\
Wheland every afternoon. ``Ida,'' Mrs.\ Wheland would tell Lena's
mother, ``since the dear Lord hasn't sent us a little one I have to be Chester's
whole family\hjust{. . .} His wife, his Momma, and his little girl too,
poor thing.''

Chester Wheland entered the room. There was snow on his mustaches. ``I declare,''
he said, ``I declare, Lettie, is the Empress of Germany coming to visit?
Take off your wraps, girls. I want you to be here when the Empress of Germany
looks at that tree.''

``Oh, Chester,'' said Mrs.\ Wheland with tears starting, ``isn't it
beautiful?''

``Yes, indeedy,'' said Mr.\ Wheland, ``Yes indeedy do. I bet Old Man Christmas
won't see a tree like this anywhere in Wood County. --- Lettie, have The Girl
bring us a toast!''

Lena Bernice thought Mr.\ Wheland must have been awful hungry to ask for
breakfast eats this close to supper time. Pretty soon The Girl rustled in
carrying a tray of tiny long-stemmed glasses and a plate of fancy cookies.
Why, there was no toasts at all.

``Ida sent over the cookies, Ches','' said Mrs. Wheland.

``Indeed,'' said Chester, ``Ida is as sweet as a frosting angel and just
as pretty. Drink up, girls.''
Anna, Gussie, and Lena stood perfectly still. Lena shook her head and
stared at the tiny glasses. ``Why Lena Bee, what's your worry?'' asked
Mrs.\ Wheland.

``Why Mr.\ and Mrs.\ Wheland,'' said Lena, ``drink\-ing wine is against the
Methodist Discipline.''

``Pity's sakes, girls,'' said Letitia Wheland, ``it's only grape juice. I
wouldn't want Chester to break the pledge.''

``No indeedy,'' said Mr.\ Wheland. ``Here's to Ida James and Lettie Wheland
and the Empress of Germany.''

``And to Prince Albert and The Queen of England,'' said Anna.

``And to the noble dogs in Switzerland,'' said Gussie.

``And to Martha Washington and Ben James,'' said Lena Bernice, not realizing
that she was making toasts.

Mrs.\ Wheland began to sing, ``Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannenbaum, Thy leaves are
green forever.''

Lena, Gussie, and Anna took little sips of grape juice. They held their cookies
in one hand and sang between sips and nibbles. Mrs.\ Wheland sounded teary but
happy. ``Helvetia,'' she said, ``roll out the music box.''

The Girl rustled and wheeled in the music box as though 'twas a baby carriage.
When she bent over to wind it her skirts stood out like a giant
chrysanthemum.

Mrs.\ Wheland reached into her heart-shaped apron pocket and took out a silver
star. ``It came from Bavaria,'' she said. ``You put it on, Ches'.''

While the girls watched, Chester Wheland stood on the footstool and fastened
the star to the tree. Lena, Gussie, and Anna held their breaths, for as the
music box began to play, Mr.\ and Mrs.\ Wheland started to waltz around the
tree.

The Girl stood in the archway to the dining room and turned round and round
until she looked like a pink and white calico balloon.

The girls stood still as teacups. Once in awhile The Girl would stop and
wind up the music box. But the Whelands would continue to waltz in
snowfall time during the silence.

Pretty soon the girls heard the six o'clock bell and they put on their
wraps and slipped quietly out of the Whelands' white `gingerbread' house.
A fresh show was falling. The girls imagined they could hear the music
box halfway down the street.

``Well,'' said Lena Bernice, ``I expect it's perfectly alright by the
Discipline to dance the waltz with your very own husband in your very own
house.''

She was surprised at herself, surprised that she had recognized the waltz.

Lena Bernice did not tell Momma or Grandma about the waltz, but she did tell
Momma about the tree while they were clearing away the supper things.
Lena Bernice knew that Momma would look in The Discipline to see if 'twas
allowed, to have a tree.

After the dishes were done Poppa looked in the spare room. ``Why, Lena
Bernice, what are you playing at?'' he asked.

``It's the tannenbaum tree, Poppa, like the Empress of Germany and Prince
Albert set up for the Queen of England.''

``Well for pity's sakes,'' Poppa said.

Lena had set the broom upside down in the coal scuttle. She had fastened bits of
ribbon and yarn on the broomstraws. BobbieLamb was tied to the broken chair
where he kicked and bleated.

Lena picked him up and untied him. She held him close while she took sliding
steps. ``Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, Thy leaves are green forever,''
she sang. Poppa coughed.

``See here,'' said Momma pointing to the little black book. ``I don't see a thing
in the Discipline about the Christmas tree, for or against. I'll ask Grandpa and
Grandma to pray about it and if that don't work we'll ask the preacher. ---
Of course, we can't buy expensive decorations like the Whelands but we can have an
awful pretty tree anyhow.''

Lena's heart beat very fast. She could see herself and Gussie popping corn and
teaching Horace to make flour paste while Anna cut out paper angels.

``Now set Bobbie in the washtub, Lena, for it's late, and tomorrow being
Saturday we'll redd up the house early so Anna and Gussie can come bake cookies.''

``Cookies will be sweet as manna when Grandpa and I get the team back from
Pemberville. I don't see a word against baking cookies in this,'' he said, tapping
the black book.

``No indeed,'' said Momma.

The days before Christmas flew. Every Saturday Anna, Gussie, and Lena baked cookies
almost all day. Grandma and Momma helped. Mrs.\ Wheland helped or sent The
Girl in her place.

Sometimes Horace rolled out dough and cut cooky shapes on the bread board which
Gussie set on the extra milking stool. ``For pity's sakes, Horace,'' said Anna,
``there's more flour on you than on the bread board.''

``Hush,'' said Gussie. ``Young folks should be encouraged to be industrious.''

Sometimes Lena Bernice tied Bobbie\-Lamb to the table leg and allowed him to watch.
``Honestly,'' Momma said, ``Mary's little lamb is as good as gold whenever there's
sweets around.''

``That may be,'' said Grandma, ``but my cooky dough isn't worth carpet tacks with
Horace and Bobbie\-Lamb both in the kitchen. It's got to be one or 'tother. When
we frost, Horace gets into the powdered sugar and wipes his fingers on Bobbie\-Lamb
and we have to hold him under the pump.''

``Who, Horace?'' asked Father, who was helping stack the colled cookies. Everybody
giggled.

``Honestly, Ida,'' said Father, ``the spareroom and the pantry cupboard
is filled and this morning I noticed you had used the bedroom closet and set
cooky boxes under the bed. I expect there must be ninety thousand cookies
in the house.''

``Oh, Wellington,'' said Momma, ``when I lie in bed at night and think about
those cookies I feel as rich as the Empress of China. I want to give a
dozen to everyone in Bradner and Pemberville and have enough for the
church watch party.''

``I counted three hundred stars of Bethlehem,'' said Gussie.

``Six hundred yuletide bells and two hundred and five jolly Saint Nicks. Five
hundred thirteen drums, six hundred eighty harps of gold,'' said Anna.

``Four hundred gingerbread kittens and eight hundred cooky children,'' said
Lena Bernice.

``Hosanna in the Highest,'' said Grandma, ``Bless His Name.''

``Why Ida,'' said Father, ``with the price of store goods what they are,
the house and egg money together wouldn't pay for the flour. --- And Griff
Morgan says that sugar is sky high.''

``Why J. W.,'' said Momma, ``I don't pay by myself. Momma and Letitia Wheland
goes in with me, and Cassie and Maria Mor\-gan send over flour and sugar so they
can be part of the baking. Why, we might have enough for the railroad to
carry up to Toledo to the orphanage.''

Grandpa set down the {\it Advocate} and slipped into the kitchen. ``Sweeter than
sugar, sugar so fine, is the ruffled-aproned lady, I'm going to make her mine,''
he sang. And he gave Grandma a kiss.

Lena Bernice, Gussie, and Anna were so busy making cookies and giving them out
that they almost forgot about wanting a tree.

On Christmas morning Momma came into Lena's room and they read a chapter from
the Testament together. Lena Bernice looked out her window to see if Grandpa
and Grandma were looking out of their bedroom window and they were.

While Lena was dressing she heard Saint Nick's sleigh and knew Grandpa was
out by the back porch shaking the sleigh bells.

Lena Bernice knew when she stood at the top of the steps that they had given
her a tree, for she could sniff the wild pine tree fragrance.

Sure enough. The tree stood higher than Father's shoulder and appeared to
shimmer in the fine sunlight of a Christmas morning.

Why there was a praying cooky angel on top, and a row of flying cooky
cherubims under that, and row upon row of gingerbread kittens and pink
cooky children. Somebody had strung little circles of gold and silver paper
on a string, and wound it about that tree!

``Why, Father,'' said Lena, ``it's fit for the Empress of Germany.''

``Yes, indeed,'' said Poppa.

``Oh, Momma, let me go tell Gussie and Anna.''

``Breakfast first,'' said Momma.

``Prayers before breakfast,'' said Poppa.

Lena Bernice thought Momma looked like an angel herself while the three of
them sat at the kitchen table and said the prayers. She knew that Gussie
and Anna were sitting at their kitchen table and saying {\it their}
prayers, and that next door Grandma was telling Grandpa, ``Now don't eat your
eggs too fast, we'll get over to Ida's soon enough.''

After breakfast Lena put on the wrap Cassie Mor\-gan had made her from Mrs.\
Wheland's ``Worth'' cloak and left the house which was swelling with the
warm fragrance of coffee, frosting, and blue pine. She jumped from the front
steps into the snowy street and hadn't scooted but three yards when she saw Anna
scooting out from her house and Gussie and Horace from theirs. All three
slid into the middle of North Main Street and almost bumped noses.

Lena Bernice looked at Anna and Gussie, and they all knew when they looked at
each other that each one had a Christmas tree.

``If this isn't the best Christmas ever,'' Lena said.

``Indeed it is,'' said Anna.

``Yes indeedy do,'' said Horace, jumping up and down.

``We can go 'round the mulberry bush and visit each other's trees and kiss each
other's fathers and mothers and the Morgan sisters and the Whelands,'' said
Anna breathlessly.

``And if we eat all the cookies on one tree we'll take more out of the
cooky jars and decorate all over again,'' said Gussie.

``Hosanna in the Highest,'' said Lena without thinking, ``Bless His Name.''

And they all scooted over to Lena's house first because Grandma and Grandpa
would be waiting there.
\vskip 3xgpin
\ctrline{\jpar1000\hjust to 4xgpin{Elizabeth Ann wrote the story
for this book, and Jill designed the pages and drew the pictures.
The book was typeset by Don Knuth using the
\hjust{T\hskip-3.5pt\lower3.3pt\hjust{E}\hskip-3.5pt X}
system, and printed by Homer Weathers at THE RAINSHINE PRESS.}}
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