CONTENTS Introduction STORIES Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol Louisa May Alcott A Country Christmas Lucretia P. Hale The Peterkins’ Christmas-Tree Harriet Beecher Stowe Christmas; or, the Good Fairy L. M. Montgomery A Christmas Inspiration Mary E. Wilkins Freeman The Christmas Masquerade Kate Douglas Wiggin The Romance of a Christmas Card O. Henry The Gift of the Magi William Dean Howells Christmas Every Day L. Frank Baum The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus POEMS Clement Clarke Moore A Visit from St. Nicholas Lewis Carroll Christmas Greetings William Cotter Wilson Birth and Adventures of Santa Claus Edith M. Thomas Mrs. Kriss Kringle Mary Mapes Dodge A Dear Little Schemer Susan Coolidge The Little Christmas-Tree John H. Cook When His Whip Goes Crack Harriet Prescott Spofford Christmas Snow Julie M. Lippmann A New-Fashioned Christmas