Well, well, Father Christmas, I’ll do as you say,
    And put off my trip for the frolic to-day. 
    Your thought of a Christmas reunion is fine
    For all of our relatives—­yours, sir, and mine;—­
    So, though greatly disposed at this season to wander
    Afloat in the air on my very fine gander,
    Instead of such exercise, wholesome and hearty,
    I’ve come with great pleasure to your Christmas party.

  Father Christmas (bowing):

    Thanks, thanks, Mother Goose, for the honor you pay
    To me your old friend now this many a day;
    Tho’ we may not, of course, on all questions agree,
    We’re alike in our love for the children, you see: 
    To give them delight is our greatest of pleasures,
    And freely we share with them best of our treasures;
    Our energies each of us constantly bends
    To keep our loved title “The Children’s Two Friends.”

  Mother Goose: 

    Ah, yes, Father Christmas, my jingles and rhymes,
    The boys and girls know in far separate climes,
    And sometimes I think that your son Santa Claus
    Earns me more than my share of the children’s applause;
    For wherever he goes with his wonderful pack
    Santa always has some of my books on his back;
    When from Christmas-eve dreams children’s eyelids unloose
    Oft they find in their stockings my book, “Mother Goose.”

  Father Christmas: 

    Tis true, my dear madam, that I and my son
    Respect most profoundly the work you have done. 
    The boys from our store-rooms in Christmas-tree Land,
    Get the bonbons we make on the Sugar-loaf Strand;
    The children enjoy them,—­I cannot deny it,—­
    But still need your writings as part of their diet;
    Your rhymes, wise and witty, their minds will retain
    When their toys and their candy are done,—­that is plain.

    (Enter Jack, the son of Mother Goose.  He carries a large
    golden egg.)

Jack:  Oh, there you are, Mother Goose, hobnobbing with Father Christmas!  My goose must have known there was going to be a reunion of the Goose and Christmas families!  She was so obliging as to lay another egg in honor of the occasion.  You shall have it, Father Christmas, and may good luck go with it. (Hands egg.)

Father Christmas:  Thank you, Jack.  That’s a present worth having!  I wish my son Santa Claus had as fine a gift to put in every poor body’s stocking.  He is out on his rounds now, but expects to be back, as he said, “before the fun begins.”

Jack:  Santa’s always ready for fun!

Mother Goose (taking Jack’s hand, as he stands beside her): 

  “This, my son Jack,
  Is a smart-looking lad;
  He is not very good,
  Nor yet very bad.”
(Sound of voices outside.)