The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1901-12-20

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the time, not long ago,
A - when Santa Claus appar-
emily forgot to put in his
or her stocking the toys that had been
especially asked for, when, in short, 1t
really looked in the morning as though
Santa Claus had actually failed to
come at all. Now, the fact is that Santa
did not come, and, though the news OF
his failure was suppressed at the time,
am at last able to reveal the secret.
One day shortly before that Christ
mas Santa Claus was feeling very blue
because Prancer and Dancer were get
ting old, and Bitten was SO much "oH
his feed" that it was very doubtful
whether the reindeer team could start
on its great annual present delivery
run on Christmas eve. Santa knew
that millions of children would be very
much disappointed If he did not visit
their homes He had received such
lot of letters and telephone messages
from good little girls and boys asking
for drums and dolls and bicycles and
all sorts of toys that big tear or two
rolled down his bearded cheek as he
thought Of the sad looks the children
would wear should he fail to come.
Suddenly Santa's face frightened.
"Say!' he shouted. whats the mat
ter with my trying one Of those new
Encyclopedias? They never get old
and stiff In the joints like Prancer and
Dancer and are never off their feed
like poor Bitten. The reindeerless age
has come, and must be strictly up to
date. I'll order naughtymobile this
very day"
When the beautiful machine came,
Santa was as tickled as a little boy
with new red wagon.
he was SO anxious to take spin
in his big new reindeerless toy delivery
wagon that he did not wait for the
automobile teacher to come and show
him how 1t worked. Leaping In, he
turned the power on suddenly, and the
machine gave such a jump forward
that poor fat Santa bounced up in the
air like rubber ball and then nearly
bounced Off into the snow when he
came down on the seat again. He bit
his tongue terribly. TOO, and you know
how that hurts. but he had no time to
think of it because the machine was
tipping toward the north pole like the
lightning exposes going down grade.
Dozens of explorers are anxious to
make dashes for the pole, but as it is
very icy and very hard none of them
would care to run into it with an auto
mobile-going a mile a minute. Santa
Claus felt exactly the same way about
1t, and, giving the steering gear a
quick twist. he Just missed finding the
pole by ahnnt two inches and dashed
straight for his big toy factory at the
same terrific speed.
Heavens! | wish somebody'd move
that building out OF the way, and move
it mighty quicki" he thought ciinch-
ing his teeth and giving the steering
rod another jerk. IF ever hit that
toy factory, there won't be even a
pink elephant left for the children to
smash, and there won't be any Santa
Claus left, either! Whoa! Haw! Geer
The automobile swerved sharply to
the left on two wheels. ran over polar
bear that didn't turn out quick enough
and then made a bee line for the big
barn and yard where the reindeer were
kept. When they saw the strange thing
coming, the reindeer snorted in surprise
and began paving the snow. Bitten,
who was rather ugly because he had
the stomach ache, jumped the fence,
lowered his head and charged straight
toward the machine which doubled
him up like a jackknife and sent him
flying over the barn as easily as a boy
would bat a rubber ball Poor Blitzenl
He never knew what struck him As
for the other reindeer, they kicked up
their heels broke down the fence and
ran for dear life just as Santa and the
automobile, or, to be more exact, the
automobile and Santa, tore the barn
doors from their hinges, roared through
the barn like a cyclone and then start
ed straight for the south pole. 12,430
statute miles away, as if they were
wanted there, and wanted badly
Eli. hi! Head us off. somebody;
head us OFF, yelled Santa Claus.
He tugged frantically at the steering
gear and tried to shut off the power,
but all his efforts We're in vain.
Zip. Bang Bumpty bump bumpty-
bump. Zip! Whir-r-r-r.
'Stop us! Whoa! Back Steady,
boy; steady Naughtymobilea should
say so-the very naughtiest that ever
got loose!" poor Santa Claus cried.
Zip! Bumpty- Whir-r-r.r! On
and on they sped Santa Claus was
powerless, or had too much power, and
the machine never stopped until it
reached the south pole. This took lot
of time, and. as Santa. Of course, had
to walk back those II, 430 statute miles,
he didn't reach his toy shop and the
north pole and the dear old reliable rein
deer until about the middle Of E'ebru-
airy, all of which explains why he and
the reindeer failed to make their usual
toy delivery trip on that particular
Christmas you remember when you did
not get all the things you had asked
him for.
why She Was Silent.
4 very silent old woman was once
asked why it was she had so little to
say. She replied that when she was
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