Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-18


Jane was never 100 much employ to re-
Ply TO Dorothys many questions. for the
good soul loved the little girl tenderly
Aunt Jane. do you s'pose Santa Claus
gets all letters sent to him befor, Christ
mas?" asked Dorothy. turning from the
window and the contemplation OF the
eat white world without
"Oh. yes. dearie, Santa Claus gets all
his mail. and very promptly" assured
Aunt Jane. But why your question? DID
you forget to ask for something in your
last letter to him?"
IVY. / asked him not to forget To
bring to me the mum had already writ
ten for in my first lette ;" exp aimed Dor
othy. You see. my hands get so cold
much to have mum to keep them warm
But, say. Auntie. how long does II take
fer letter to rea Santa's realm?'
Aunt Jane was busy testing a cake with
a straw. STOPPING befo re the great open
oven that looked SO like a huge cave.
oh. l reckon letter would reach Santa
In about two hours-maybe sooner" she
replied. Then she vent on. turning the
SUBJECT from Santa C.aus and his mail to
the Christmas preparations: Say. honey.
run and ask mamma what sort Of firing
shal put In the cake. whipped cream
Dorothy ran to her mothers room, but
before returning to the kitchen with in
structions for Aunt Jane regarding the
cakes filling she paused In the hall to
ponder bit. IF Santa gets a letter in
two hours after 1t is mailed to him, /
still have time to send him anothe mes
sage she thought. Then she flew into
the sitting room. went to the writing
table In the corner and began to write on
q piece OF note paper. The letter when
"Dere sanity Klous. Please excuse Me
for Rfting You again, but wood much
Rather have some hing What is alive to
Pay with than The Muff asked for In
my last letter. I wood Enjoy haveing a
Muf But l wood rather have pet Dog
ovi0
Play with me and Run about. like Ba-
bies. but l don't Spose you Handle such
Things Do you. Thanking you For the
Many favers have had from You at
friend Dr. rothy Grace Abbott
The letter was quickly placed in an en-
ye'ope. which was hurriedly addr ssed to
Sanity klous up in The Skie." and then
up the fl eless CRATE chimney in the par
Tor. Then, with a p ased and expectant
smile on her face. Dorothy ran to the
kite hen to tell Aunt Jane to make cholo
chocolate cake. and mamma had allowed
her to make thu choioe Of cake filling"
And while all the hustle and prepare
ton was going on In the m'l'ions Of
eve cd Santa was fast asleep. ge ting the
needed st for his strenuous night which
was at hand. 1t may not be generally
known by children, but Santa Caus al
ways sleeps al day long on Oh istmas
eve for on the night before Christmas
he never Gets time to take wink. but
must be out for the long twelve hours
between shutdown and dawn-dis' ribu.ing
the many mil ions Of gifts to the little
cnes al over the land. &c. while Doro-
thy talked and p ann and while millions
of other It'll lie ones did the same thing
old Santa 'ay In his snug bed up In the
white clouds, s'umbering. And as the
evening drew near. and the sledee and
reind er we e ready at the gate. Mrs.
thrice before she could reuse him from
his fwentyfour hours nap, for that long
had Santa been sleeping.
Come. wake up. my dear" cried Mrs.
Santa by tn shou der. Come, my dea-.
You should be on this minute. Why
sleep here now? Come. the little folk
are expecting you"
eff ct for Santa's mind. even in s'eep.
was filled with thoush.s of his little ones
on the earth. Quickly jumping from his
bed. the coed fat San.a was So n plung'ng
ing him al that she could.
And at the gate the reindeer were paw
ing In the snow, impa lent 70 be off. They
were SC well trained that they knew they
wer, getting a late sta t. And so they
were. for when Santa sprang mo the
sledge and gave the cry TO BE of ike
the wird. my fine felows.' he was just
twenty minu es later than h, should have
been. And twenty minutes meant a lot
to busy Santa
"Ah. we're making fine time" he chuck
led. as they few through the sncw-
laden Clouds. TIL he beran going over
his notebook. marking the stopping places
en- re ute acr IS he continent. After this
work was done he gave the reindee the
siFnal to go earthward.
Just as tn s'edge struck terra firma
Santa noticed a great stork s'eeping in
the shelter Of high snow drift. bv his
side warmly wrapped bundle. "Heigh-
n uyh INTO hon I0 6rax -afr
bes de tn, sleeping stork and walked the
lazy fellow by punching him with the
handle of his whip. Gene. what delays
sou ner re- mg y'od sT Is
The stork reused. then beho'ding his
old friend Santa. said: "Ah my coed
San-a Claus. l am lost. And I have a
pr c'ous bunHie. too. as you may know"
Into my s'edge at once" commanded
Santa. "P'l take you with me- We may
find the place that you are booked for"
THE fact is explained the sto k. now
fully awake. Il met a snow sprite bit
ago who tod M that you would receive
letter asking for that which I am ar
rying. and that you would know whittier
to cad me with my burden"
"A letter. queried Santa, looking puz-
zed
Eyes. an undelivered letter. for 1t was
posted too lata for the s-ow-sprte ca rier
ure. So the sp lite left the letter in the
chimney where 1t had beer p ac-d."
'Ah that Is good" said Santa. "We'I
find the letter without difficulty. Come
into my sledfe!
In iify he s'edge was OF again. this
time carving the s'ork and his bundle
add ID to the load Of gifts. And AZ er a
few minutes they Stopped at a city
home. Here is our frs' stop" said
Santa. "Ycu see. I take them alphabet
ical'y. The Abbot live here
Then he hurried to the chimney and
prepared to descend. He was about half
way down when his foot struck something
that made a noise. Reaching In to re-
move the obstacle. Santa's hand ciutched
the newspaper-wrapped letter. "Ah, the
undelivered letter." he exclaimed. Then
and the he read the letter from Doro-
thy. who was at that nom mt fast asleep.
well friend Sir Stork, here Is the
place for that precious bundle o. yours
Santa said. putting his head out At the