Revision [28145]
This is an old revision of Christmas1869 made by BillHamilton on 2013-02-14 16:10:10.
Related Events: Christmas1868 Christmas1870
Per the standing custom, Cole has gifts for all the orphans. This year, however, instead of having individual gifts for everyone, he has several group gifts. The first gift is the sheet music to the "can-can" - a very popular song in the local concert saloons. He says the girls who want to can learn to play it and that those who want to dance to it can dance to it. The second gift doesn't look like much at first - being a slightly warped board about a foot wide with a pair of holes in it and some rope. Cole explains that it's a swing and that he has gotten Ms. Lizzy's permission to attach it to one of the taller trees in the yard. He asks if King Callahan will do the honors and climb the tree to attach it. "My final gift," he says with great drama, "was inspired by our newest sister, Ella. But you will all have to wait until New Year's Eve it get it!" It takes very little prodding from the other kids for Cole to continue. He says that he has made friends with a boy a few years old, by the name of "Dutch." Dutch is a cabin boy on the steamboat, "Viking Princess" which is currently docked in New Orleans and will be for about a week longer. Cole has made a deal with Dutch for Dutch to sneak the kids on the steamboat and give them a guided tour. The tour has to be on New Year's Eve because most of the passengers and crew will be ashore celebrating and that's the best time for sneaking them on.
