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Speaker 1: Jimmy Scarecrow Christmas. Jimmy Scarecrow led a sad life in

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the winter. Jimmy's greatest grief was his lack of occupation.

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He liked to be useful, and in winter he was

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absolutely of no use at all. He wondered how many

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such miserable winters he would have to endure. He was

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a young scarecrow, and this was his first one. He

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was strongly made, and although his wooden joints creaked a

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little when the wind blew, he did not grow in

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the least rickety. Every morning, when the wintry sun peered

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like a hard yellow eye across the dry corn stubble,

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Jimmy felt sad. But at Christmas time his heart nearly broke.

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On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus came in his sledge, heaped

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high with presents, urging his team of reindeer across the field.

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He was on his way to the farmhouse where Betsy

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lived with her aunt Hannah. Betsy was a very good

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little girl, but very smooth yellow curls, and she had

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a great many presents. Santa Claus had a large wax

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dull baby for her on his arm, tucked up against

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the fur collar of his coat. He was afraid to

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trust it in the pack lest it get broken. When

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poor Jimmy Scarecrow saw Santa Claus, his heart gave a

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great leap. Santa Claus, here I am, he cried out,

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but Santa Claus did not hear him. Santa Claus, please

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give me a little present. I was good all summer

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and kept the crows out of the corn. Plaited the

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poor scarecrow in his choking voice, but Santa Claus passed

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by with the merry halloo and a great clamor of bells.

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Then Jimmy Scarecrow stood in the corn stubble and shook

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with sobs until his joints creaked. I am of no

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use in the world, and everybody has forgotten me, he moaned,

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But he was mistaken. The next morning, Bessy sat at

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the window holding her Christmas doll baby, and she looked

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at Jimmy Scarecrow, standing alone in the field amidst the

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corn stubble. Aunt Hannah said she. Aunt Hannah was making

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a crazy patchwork quilt, and she frowned hard, a triangular

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piece of red silk and circular piece of pink, wondering

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how to fit them together? Well, said she. Did Santa

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Claus bring the scarecrow any Christmas present? No, of course

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he didn't. Why not because he's a scarecrow. Don't ask

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silly questions. I wouldn't like to be treated so if

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I was a scarecrow, said Betsy. But Aunt Hannah did

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not hear her. She was busy cutting a triangular snip

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out of the round piece of pink silk so the

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piece of red silk could be feathers stitched into it.

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It was sewing hard out of doors, and the north

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wind blew. The scarecrow's poor old coat got whiter and

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whiter with snow. Sometimes he almost vanished, and a thick

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white storm. Aunt Hannah worked until the middle of the

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afternoon on her quazy quilt. Then she got up and

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spread it out over the sofa with an air of

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pride there, said she. That's done, and that makes yes.

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I've got one for every bed in the house, and

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I've given far away. I'd give this away if I

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knew of anybody that wanted it. Aunt Hannah put on

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her hood and shawl, and drew some blue larne stockings

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on over her shoes, and set out through the snow

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to carry a slice of plum pudding to her sister Susan,

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who lived down the road. Half an hour after Aunt

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Hannah had gone, Betsy put her little red plaid shawl

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over her head and ran across the field to Jimmy Scarecrow.

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She carried her new doll baby smuggled up under her shawl.

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Wish you merry Christmas, she said to Jimmy Scarecrow. Wish

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you the same, said Jimmy, but his voice was choked

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with sobs and was also muffled, for his old hat

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had slipped down to his chin. Betsy looked pitifully at

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the old hat, fringed with icicles like frozen tears, and

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the old snow laden coat. I've brought you a Christmas present,

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said she, and with that she tucked her doll baby

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inside Jimmy Scarecrow's coat, sticking its tiny feet into a pocket.

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Thank you, said Jimmy Scarecrow faintly. You're welcome, said she.

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Keep her under your overcoat, says, The snow won't with

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her and she won't catch cold. She is delicate. Yes,

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I will, said Jimmy Scarecrow, and he tried hard to

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bring one of his stiff outstretched arms around to clasp

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the doll baby. Don't you feel cold in that old

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swimmer coat, asked Betsy. If I batt a little exercise,

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I should be warm, he replied, but he shivered and

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the wind whistled through his rags. You wait a minute,

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said Betsy, and was off across the field. Jimmy Scarecrow

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stood in the corn stubble with the doll baby under

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his coat and waited. And soon Bessy was back again,

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with Aunt Hannah's crazy quilt trailing in the snow behind her. Here,

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said she, Here is something to keep you warm, and

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she folded the crazy quilt around the scarecrow and pinned it.

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Aunt Hannah wants to give it away if anybody wants it,

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she explained. She's got so many crazy quilts in the

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house now she doesn't know what to do with them.

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Good Bye, Be sure you keep the doll baby covered up,

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And with that she ran across the field and left

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Jimmy Scarecrow alone with the crazy quilt and the doll baby.

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The bright fresh of colors under Jimmie's hat brim drazzled

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under his eyes, and he felt a little alarmed. I

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hope this quote is harmless if it is crazy, he said.

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But the quilt was warm, and he dismissed his fears.

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Soon the doll baby whimpered, but he creaked his joints

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a little, and that amused it, and he heard it

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cooing inside his coat. Jimmy Scarecrow had never felt so

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happy in his life as he did for an hour

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or so. But after that the snow began to turn

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to rain, and the crazy quilt was soaked through and through,

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and not only that but his coat and the poor

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doll baby. It cried pitifully for a while, and then

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it was still, and he was afraid it was dead.

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It grew very dark, and the rain fell in sheets.

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The snow melted, and Jimmy Scarecrow stood half way up

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his old boots and water. He was saying to himself

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that the saddest hour of his life had come, when

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suddenly he heard Santa Claus the say bells and his

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merry voice talking to his reindeer. It was after midnight,

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Christmas was over, and Santa was hastening home to the

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North Pole. Santa Claus, Dear Santa Claus, cried, Jimmy Scarecrow

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with a great sob, and that time Santa Claus heard

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him and drew rein. Who's there, he shouted out of

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the darkness. It's only me, replied the scarecrow. Who's me,

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shouted Santa Claus. Jimmy, scarecrow. Santa got out of his

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and wait it up. Have you been standing here ever since?

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Corn was ripe? He asked pityingly, and Jimmy replied that

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he had What's that over your shoulders? Santa Claus continued,

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holding up his lantern. It's a crazy quilt. And what

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are you holding under your coat? The doll baby that

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Bessy gave me, And I'm afraid it's dead. Poor Jimmy

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scarecrow sobbed. Nonsense, cried Santa Claus. Let me see it,

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and with that he pulled the doll baby out prom

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under the scarecrow's coat and patted its back and shook

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it a little, and it began to cry, and then

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to crow. It's all right, said Santa Claus. This is

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the doll bay by I give Betsy, and it is

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not at all delicate. It went through the measles and

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the chicken box, and the mumps and the whooping cough,

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before it left the North Pole. Now get into the sledge,

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Jimmy Scarecrow, and bring the doll baby in the crazy quilt.

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I have never had any quilts that weren't in their

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right minds at the North Pole, but maybe I can

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chew this one. Get in, send a cheer up to

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his reindeer, and they drew the sledge up close in

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a beautiful curve. Get in, Jimmy Scarecrow, and come with

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me to the North Pole, he cried. Please, how long

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shall I stay? Asked Jimmy Scarecrow. Why you are going

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to live with me, replied Santa Claus. I've been looking

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for a person like you for a long time. Are

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there any crows the scareway the North Pole? I want

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to be useful, Jimmy Scarecrow said anxiously. No, answered Santa Claus.

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But I don't want you to scareway crows. I want

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you a scare away Arctic explorers. I can keep you

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in work for a thousand whirirers, and scaring away Arctic

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explorers from the North Pole is much more important then

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scaring away crows from corn. Why if they found the pole,

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there wouldn't be a piece an inch long left in

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a week's time, and the earth would cave in like

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an apple without a core. They would whittle it all

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the piece and carry it away in their pockets for souvenirs.

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Come along. I am in a hurry. I will go

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on two conditions, said Jimmy. First, I want to make

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a present. Don't hand on Betsey. Next Christmas. You shall

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make them any present you choose what else? I want

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some way provided to scare the crows out of the

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corn next summer while I am away, said Jimmy. That

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is easily managed, said Santa Claus. Just wait a minute.

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Santa took his phylographic pen out of his pocket, went

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with his Latin close to one of the fence posts,

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and wrote these words upon it. Notice to crows, whichever

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coaw shall hereafter hop, fly or flop into the spield

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during the absence of Jimmy scarecrow, and then from purloin

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steel or abstract corn shall be instantly in a twinkling

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and a trice turned snow white, and be ever after

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a disgrace, a by word, and a reproach to his

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whole race. Per or of Santa Claus. The corn will

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be safe now, said Santa Claus get in, Jimmy got

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into the sledge, and they flew away over the fields,

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out of sight, with merry halloos and a great clamor

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of bells. The next morning, there was much surprise at

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the farmhouse when Aunt Hannah and Bessy looked out of

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the window and the scarecrow was not in the field,

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holding off his stiff arms over the corn stubble. Bessy

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I told Aunt Hannah she had given away the crazy

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quilt and the doll baby, but had been scolded very little.

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You must not give away anything of yours again without

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asking permission, said Aunt Hannah. And you have no right

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to give anything of mine, even if you know I

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don't want it. Now both my pretty quilt and your

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beautiful doll baby are spoiled. That was all Aunt Hannah

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had said. She thought she would send John after the

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quilt and the doll baby next morning, as soon as

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it was light. But Jimmy the scarecrow was gone, and

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the crazy quilt and the doll baby with him. John

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the servant man searched everywhere, but not a trace of

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them could he find. They must have all blown away. Mum,

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he said Aunt Hannah, we shall have to have another

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scarecrow next summer, said she. But the next summer there

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was no need of a scarecrow, for not a crow

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came past the fence post on which Santa Claus had

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written his notice to crows. The cornfield was never so beautiful,

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and not a single grain was torn by a crow,

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And everybody wondered at it, for they could not read

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the crow language in which Santa had written. It is

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a great mystery to me why the crows don't come

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into our cornfield? When there was no scarecrow, said Aunt Hannah.

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But she had a still greater mystery to solve when

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Christmas came round again. Then she and Betsy had each

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a strained present. They found them in the sitting room

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on Christmas morning. Aunt Hannah's present was an old crazy quilt, remodeled,

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with every piece caught square and true and matched exactly

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to its neighbor. Why it's my old crazy quilt, but

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it isn't crazy now, cried Aunt Hannah, and her very

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spectacle seemed to listen with amazement. Bessy's present was her

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doll baby of the Christmas before, but the doll was

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a year older. She had grown an inch and could

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walk and say Mamma, and how do. She was changed

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a good deal, but Bessy knew her at once. It's

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my doll, baby. She cried and snatched up and kissed her.

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But neither aunt Anna nor Betsy ever knew that the

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quilt on the doll were Jimmy Scarecrow's Christmas presents to them.

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And of Jimmy Scarecrow's Christmas by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman