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Page 30
"Then go at once!" cried Claus, eagerly. "I am sure the friendly
Knooks will give their consent, and by the time you are back I shall be
ready to harness you to my sledge."
Flossie and Glossie, being deer of much intelligence, had long wished
to see the great world, so they gladly ran over the frozen snow to ask
the Knooks if they might carry Claus on his journey.
Meantime the toy-maker hurriedly began the construction of a sledge,
using material from his wood-pile. He made two long runners that
turned upward at the front ends, and across these nailed short boards,
to make a platform. It was soon completed, but was as rude in
appearance as it is possible for a sledge to be.
The harness was more difficult to prepare, but Claus twisted strong
cords together and knotted them so they would fit around the necks of
the deer, in the shape of a collar. From these ran other cords to
fasten the deer to the front of the sledge.
Before the work was completed Glossie and Flossie were back from the
Forest, having been granted permission by Will Knook to make the
journey with Claus provided they would to Burzee by daybreak the
next morning.
"That is not a very long time," said Flossie; "but we are swift and
strong, and if we get started by this evening we can travel many miles
during the night."
Claus decided to make the attempt, so he hurried on his preparations
as fast as possible. After a time he fastened the collars around the
necks of his steeds and harnessed them to his rude sledge. Then he
placed a stool on the little platform, to serve as a seat, and filled
a sack with his prettiest toys.
"How do you intend to guide us?" asked Glossie. "We have never been
out of the Forest before, except to visit your house, so we shall not
know the way."
Claus thought about that for a moment. Then he brought more cords and
fastened two of them to the spreading antlers of each deer, one on the
right and the other on the left.
"Those will be my reins," said Claus, "and when I pull them to the
right or to the left you must go in that direction. If I do not pull
the reins at all you may go straight ahead."
"Very well," answered Glossie and Flossie; and then they asked: "Are
you ready?"
Claus seated himself upon the stool, placed the sack of toys at his
feet, and then gathered up the reins.
"All ready!" he shouted; "away we go!"
The deer leaned forward, lifted their slender limbs, and the next
moment away flew the sledge over the frozen snow. The swiftness of
the motion surprised Claus, for in a few strides they were across the
Valley and gliding over the broad plain beyond.
The day had melted into evening by the time they started; for, swiftly
as Claus had worked, many hours had been consumed in making his
preparations. But the moon shone brightly to light their way,
and Claus soon decided it was just as pleasant to travel by night
as by day.
The deer liked it better; for, although they wished to see something
of the world, they were timid about meeting men, and now all the
dwellers in the towns and farmhouses were sound asleep and could not
see them.
Away and away they sped, on and on over the hills and through the
valleys and across the plains until they reached a village where Claus
had never been before.
Here he called on them to stop, and they immediately obeyed. But a
new difficulty now presented itself, for the people had locked their
doors when they went to bed, and Claus found he could not enter the
houses to leave his toys.
"I am afraid, my friends, we have made our journey for nothing," said
he, "for I shall be obliged to carry my playthings back home again
without giving them to the children of this village."
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