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Page 32
"What is that gray streak in the sky?"
"It is the coming dawn of day," answered Claus, surprised to find that
it was so late.
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Glossie; "then we shall not be home by
daybreak, and the Knooks will punish us and never let us come again."
"We must race for the Laughing Valley and make our best speed,"
returned Flossie; "so hold fast, friend Claus!"
Claus held fast and the next moment was flying so swiftly over the
snow that he could not see the trees as they whirled past. Up hill
and down dale, swift as an arrow shot from a bow they dashed, and
Claus shut his eyes to keep the wind out of them and left the deer to
find their own way.
It seemed to him they were plunging through space, but he was not at
all afraid. The Knooks were severe masters, and must be obeyed at all
hazards, and the gray streak in the sky was growing brighter every moment.
Finally the sledge came to a sudden stop and Claus, who was taken
unawares, tumbled from his seat into a snowdrift. As he picked
himself up he heard the deer crying:
"Quick, friend, quick! Cut away our harness!"
He drew his knife and rapidly severed the cords, and then he wiped
the moisture from his eyes and looked around him.
The sledge had come to a stop in the Laughing Valley, only a few feet,
he found, from his own door. In the East the day was breaking, and
turning to the edge of Burzee he saw Glossie and Flossie just
disappearing in the Forest.
9. "Santa Claus!"
Claus thought that none of the children would ever know where the toys
came from which they found by their bedsides when they wakened the
following morning. But kindly deeds are sure to bring fame, and fame
has many wings to carry its tidings into far lands; so for miles and
miles in every direction people were talking of Claus and his
wonderful gifts to children. The sweet generousness of his work
caused a few selfish folk to sneer, but even these were forced to
admit their respect for a man so gentle-natured that he loved to
devote his life to pleasing the helpless little ones of his race.
Therefore the inhabitants of every city and village had been eagerly
watching the coming of Claus, and remarkable stories of his beautiful
playthings were told the children to keep them patient and contented.
When, on the morning following the first trip of Claus with his deer,
the little ones came running to their parents with the pretty toys
they had found, and asked from whence they came, they was but one
reply to the question.
"The good Claus must have been here, my darlings; for his are the only
toys in all the world!"
"But how did he get in?" asked the children.
At this the fathers shook their heads, being themselves unable to
understand how Claus had gained admittance to their homes; but the
mothers, watching the glad faces of their dear ones, whispered that
the good Claus was no mortal man but assuredly a Saint, and they
piously blessed his name for the happiness he had bestowed upon
their children.
"A Saint," said one, with bowed head, "has no need to unlock doors if
it pleases him to enter our homes."
And, afterward, when a child was naughty or disobedient, its mother
would say:
"You must pray to the good Santa Claus for forgiveness. He does not
like naughty children, and, unless you repent, he will bring you no
more pretty toys."
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