But _I_ was bound to see
Santa Claus and I don't believe anything would've put me to sleep. I
heard the big clock in the sitting-room strike eleven, and I had begun
wonderin' if you never were going to come, when all of a sudden I
heard the tinkle of the bells around your reindeers' necks. Then I
heard the reindeers prancin' on the roof and the sound of your
sleigh-runners cuttin' through the crust and slippin' over the
shingles. I was kind o' scared and I covered my head up with the sheet
and quilts--only I left a little hole so I could peek out and see what
was goin' on. As soon as I saw you I got over bein' scared--for you
were jolly and smilin' like, and you chuckled as you went around to
each stockin' and filled it up."
"Yes, I can remember the night," said Santa Claus. "I brought you a
sled, didn't I?"
"Yes, and you brought Otis one, too," replied Joel. "Mine was red and
had 'Yankee Doodle' painted in black letters on the side; Otis's was
black and had 'Snow Queen' in gilt letters."
"I remember those sleds distinctly," said Santa Claus, "for I made
them specially for you boys."
"You set the sleds up against the wall," continued Joel, "and then you
filled the stockin's."
"There were six of 'em, as I recollect?" said Santa Claus.
"Let me see," queried Joel. "There was mine, and Otis's, and Elvira's,
and Thankful's, and Susan Prickett's--Susan was our help, you know.
No, there were only five, and, as I remember, they were the biggest we
could beg or borrer of Aunt Dorcas, who weighed nigh unto two hundred
pounds.
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