Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-20
CHAPTER III.
The Deputies of Santa Claus.

Claus a vast amount of trouble before he
| discovered a way to overcome it. But, for
| tunately it was the last trial he was forced
| to undergo.
| One Christmas eve when his reindeer had
| leaped to the top of new building Santa
| Claus was surprised to find that the CHM
| ney had been built much smaller than
| usual. But he had no time to think about
| it just then, so he drew in his breath and
made himself as small as possible and slid
| down the chimney.
| II ought to be at the bottom by this tme,"
| he thought, as he continued to slip down
| ward; but no fireplace Of any sort met his
| view, and by and by he reached the very
end Of the chimney, which was In the Gel
| lar.
This Is odd!' he reflected, much puzzled
| by this experience. IF there is no fire.
place, what on earth Is the chimney good
| for?'
Then he began to climb out again and
| found it hard work-the space being so
| small. And on his way up he noticed
thin, round pipe sticking through the side
| of the chimney, but could not guess what
, it was for.
Finally he reached the roof and said to
| the reindeer:
There was no need of my going down
| that chimney, for 1 could find no fireplace
| through which to enter the house. fear
| the children who live there must go without
Then he drove on, but soon came to an
other new house with a small chimney.
| This caused Santa Claus to shake his head
| doubtfully but he tried the chimney, never
theless, and found it exactly like the other.
Moreover, he nearly stuck fast in the mar
| row fiue and tore his jacket trying to get
| out again; so, although he came to several
| such chimneys that night, he did not ven
| ture to descend any more of them.
What in the world are people thinking
| of, to build such useless chimneys?" he
| exclaimed. I'm all the years 1 have trav-
eled with my reindeer 1 have never seen the
like before"
True enough; but Santa Claus had not
then discovered that stoves had been in
vented and were fast coming into use.
When he did find it out he wondered how
the builders of those houses could have so
little consideration for him, when they
knew very well 1t his custom to climb
down chimneys and enter houses by way of
the fireplaces. Perhaps the men who built
those houses had outgrown their own love
| for toys, and were Indifferent whether San
| ia Claus called on their children or not.
| Whatever the explanation might be, the
poor children were forced to bear the bur-
| den of grief and disappointment
The following year Santa Claus found
more and more Of the new-fashioned Chin
neys that had no fireplaces, and the next
year still more. The third year. so numer-
even had few toys left in his sledge that
he was unable to give away, because he
could not get to the children.
The matter had now become so serious
| that 1t worried the good man greatly, and
he decided to talk it over with Kiter and
Peter and Nuter and Wisk.
kilter already knew something about It,
| for it had been his duty to run around to
all the houses, just before Christmas and
gather up the notes and letters to Santa
| Claus that the children had written tell
| Ing what they wished put in their stockings
or hung on their Christmas trees. But
| Kilter was silent fellow, and seldom spoke
Of what he saw in the cities and villages
The others were very indignant.
Those people act as If they do not wish
| their children to be made happyr' said
| sensible Peter, In a vexed tone. 1.-The idea
| of shutting out such a generous friend to
| their little ones!
But it is my intention to make children
happy whether their parents wish 1t or not"
| returned Santa Claus. Years ago, when 1
| first began making toys, children were even
| more neglected by their parents than they
are now; SO have learned to pay no at
| tention to thoughtless or selfish parents
| but to consider only the longings Of child
hood"
| You are right, my master" said Nuter,
| the Ryl; many children would lack a
| friend If you did not consider them, and try
| to make them happy"
| Then declared the laughing Wisk, I'VE
! must abandon any thought of using these
| new-fashioned chimneys, but become burg
| lars and break into the houses some other
| way"
What way?" asked Santa Claus.
why, walls of brick and wood and plas-
| ter are nothing to Fairies. 1 can easily
pass through :hem whenever wish, and so
can Peter and Nuter and Kilter. Is it not
| so, comrades?"
| Il often pass through the walls when
| gather up the letters" said Kilter, and that
was long speech for him, and so surprised
Peter and Nuter that their big round eyes
nearly popped out of their heads.
! Therefore" continued the Fairy, "you
I well take with M
| journey, and when we come to one of those
houses with stoves instead of fireplaces we
will distribute the toys to the children with
out the need of using a chimney"
| THAT seems to me a good PLAN" replied
Santa Claus, well pleased at having solved
the problem. I'VE will try it next year"
| That was how the Fairy, the Pixie the
Knock and the Ryl all rode in the sledge
! with their master the following Christmas
eve; and they had no trouble at all in en-
| tering the new-fashioned houses and leav-
ing toys for the children that lived in them
And their deft services not only relieved
| Santa Claus of much labor, but enabled
him to complete his own work more quickly
than usual, so that the merry party found
| themselves at home with an empty sledge a
full hour before daybreak.
The only drawback to the journey was
that the mischievous Wisk persisted in
tickling the reindee. with long feather to
see them jump; and Santa Claus found 1t
necessary to watch him every minute and
to tweak his long ears once or twice to
make him behave himself.
But. taken all together the trip was a
great success and to this day the four little
folk always accompany Santa Claus on his
yearly ride and help him in the distribution
of his gifts.
But the Indifference Of parents. which had
so annoyed the good saint, did not con-
tinue very long, and Santa Claus soon found
they were really anxious he should visit
their homes on Christmas eve and leave
| presents for their children
| So, to tighten his task, which was fast
becoming very difficult, indeed, old Santa
decided to ask the parents to assist him.
Get your Christmas trees all ready for
my coming" he said to them; land then ]
shall be able to leave the presents without
loss Of time, and you can put them on the
trees when 1 am gone"
And to others he said: ''See that the chill
dren's stockings are hung up in readiness
for my coming, and then can fill them as
quick as wink
And often. when parents were kind and
good-natured. Santa Claus would simply
fling down his packages of gifts and leave
| the fathers and mothers to fill the stock
| ings after he had darted away in his sledge
81 will make all loving parents my depu
| ties!' cried the jolly old fellow. land they
/ c,o halp 40 Ernri 10 ~