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Speaker 1: A Christmas barring out by Stella sea. Shudder. Twas the

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night before Christmas, and all through the house not a

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creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Bobby and Alice

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in pink had hung their stockings by the living room mantle,

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and though it was very very early, they decided to

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go to bed. They always wanted to go to bed

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early on Christmas Eve. Morning seemed to come so much

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more quickly when they went to bed early. They wouldn't

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even wait for a story. They would just say good

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night to Grandma and go right to bed. Why, exclaimed

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Grandma in surprise when they had explained their intentions to her.

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You mustn't go to bed so soon. You'd be awake

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in the morning before daylight. Come in and visit with me, awhile,

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and I'll see if I can't think of a story

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to tell you, the same as on other nights. So

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they went in and sat down on their stools in

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front of the fire. Grandma put on her spectacles, but

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instead of her knitting, she took up her Bible. The

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children were very still while she read the story of

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the First Christmas. How in a stable in Bethlehem, the

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baby Christ was born, and how an angel appeared to

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the shepherds who were watching their flocks and told them

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about the Saviour's birth. And then a host of angels

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came and praised God, saying glory to God on high

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and on earth, Peace, good will toward men, just as

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we sing to day on Christmas. I think, said Grandma,

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that I will tell you tonight about a Christmas treat

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at our school. When I was a little girl, we

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had a custom handed down from pioneer times called barring out.

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A few days before Christmas, the teacher would arrive to

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find the schoolhouse door securely fastened. Before he was admitted,

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he would have to sign a paper promising to treat

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his pupils. In those days, we didn't have much store candy,

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and we looked forward for weeks to the Christmas treat

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we got at school. You wouldn't think much of it

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to day. Six sticks of red and white striped candy,

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apiece winter green and sassafras and clove, and maybe one

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of horehound my, but it tasted good to us. We

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didn't eat it all up at once either, No indeed,

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but one year we didn't know whether to look for

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a treat or not. The teacher, a mister Hazen, was

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from Clayville, and he had been heard to say that

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he did not believe in barring out or in being

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forced to treat his pupils. Nevertheless, we all came early

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to school one morning and locked him out. While we

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all cried treat, Treat at the tops of our voices.

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William Morbison opened the window a tiny bit and thrust

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out the paper they had prepared for the teacher to sign,

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but he refused to touch it. This was not alarming,

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as most all of the teachers stayed out for an

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hour or two just for fun. We played games and

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had a good time. But by time for morning intermission,

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the older pupils had begun to get anxious. Could it

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be possible that the teacher really did not mean to treat?

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At noon, he was still out, walking up and down

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the playground, clapping his hands together, stamping his feet, and

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rubbing his ears to keep warm. We were anxious in earnest.

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Now the wood box was empty and the fire was

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getting low. There was no water in the water bucket,

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and some of the younger children were coaxing for drinks.

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No teacher in our recollection had ever refused to treat.

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There was an old rule that if the teacher persisted

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in refusing to treat, he was to be ducked in

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the nearest stream of water. We had heard of instances

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when this had been done, but no one wanted to

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try it. The older pupils stood around and frightened little groups,

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and some of the smaller children were crying openly when

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the teacher knocked loudly on the door and asked that

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the paper be handed out to him. But the paper

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had disappeared. We searched all over the room, but it

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was nowhere to be found again. The teacher knocked and

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asked rather impatiently for the paper. Then William Orbison sat

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down at his desk and hurriedly prepared another paper and

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handed it out the window to the teacher. He looked

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at it in a puzzled way for a little bit,

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smiled a queer smile, and without a word, signed the

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paper and handed it back to William. Then he was

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admitted and took up books, But all afternoon he kept

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smiling to himself, as if he knew a joke on someone.

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We felt uneasy, though we didn't know why. After school.

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That evening, my brother Truman asked William Orbison to let

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him see the paper the teacher had signed. When he

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read it, he gave a long whistle of astonishment. And

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what do you think William had done In the fuss

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and excitement of writing out the second paper? He had

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omitted the word treat. The teacher had promised nothing that

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explained his smiles. We were a disappointed lot of children,

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I can tell you we shouldn't have any Christmas treat

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for after the way the teacher had talked about treating,

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no one thought he would treat if he could help it,

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and here was a way out for him. The next

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day we were perfectly sure he did not intend to treat,

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for when William Orbison left out a word in his

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reading lesson, the teacher said, watch yourself, William. Leaving out

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words as getting to be quite a habit with you.

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Other years, we could hardly wait till the day before Christmas.

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We wore our best clothes and write. After dinner we

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would speak pieces, have spelling and ciphering matches, sing songs,

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have our treat, and play games the rest of the afternoon.

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Lots of the older brothers and sisters would come to

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visit and they would play with us, and the teacher

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would play too, and we would have lots of fun.

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But this year I should rather have stayed at home

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and watched the Christmas preparations at our house, for there

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wouldn't be much fun at school without any treat. It

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was a cold, windy morning, and father took us to

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school and the sled. We had lessons in the morning

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as usual, and in the afternoon recitations and songs and

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a little play that the teacher had helped us get up.

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Truman gave Hamlet soliloquy and did it very well too,

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and Charlie had a piece, but he forgot all but

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the first verse. We were so interested that we didn't

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think about the treat, and you can imagine how surprised

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we were when the teacher, instead of dismissing us, said

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that we would now have an unexpected but very welcome visitor.

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The door opened and in came old Santa Claus, with

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a white beard and a red coat, and on his

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back the biggest bag. You should have seen our eyes pop.

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Of course, it wasn't the really truly Santa Claus who

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comes in the night and fills the stockings. Oh no,

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this was just to pretend. Santa. He put his bag

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down on the teacher's platform, and after he had made

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a little speech, he opened it up. And what do

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you suppose was in that bag? Candy? Cream candy and

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chocolate drops, and clear candy red and yellow shaped like animals,

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and horns, and baskets such candy as we had never

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seen before. A sack for each pupil. As we went

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up one by one, the smallest first to get our treat,

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Santa asked each one of us to recite something for him.

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The smaller children knew verses out of their readers, and

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some of us recited the pieces we had said earlier

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in the afternoon. But how we all laughed when Longford Henlen,

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who was the tallest boy in school, couldn't think of

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anything to say. But I had a little dog his

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name was Jack. Put him in the barn. He jumped

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through a crack. And now to bed, to bed, and

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go right to sleep. I've heard that if Santa Claus

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comes and finds children awake, he goes away and comes

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back later. That is, he means to come back later.

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But he has been known to get so busy, he

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forgot to come back at all. So say your prayers

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and go to sleep, And of a Christmas barring out

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by Stella's sea shutter,