It was Christmas Eve, and Little Girl had just hung
up her stocking by the fireplace--right where it
would be all ready for Santa when he slipped down
the chimney. She knew he was coming, because--well,
because it was Christmas Eve, and because he always
had come to leave gifts for her on all the other
Christmas Eves that she could remember, and because
she had seen his pictures everywhere down town that
afternoon when she was out with Mother.
Still, she wasn't JUST satisfied. 'Way down in her
heart she was a little uncertain--you see, when you
have never really and truly seen a person with your
very own eyes, it's hard to feel as if you exactly
believed in him--even though that person always has
left beautiful gifts for you every time he has come.
"Oh, he'll come," said Little Girl; "I just know he
will be here before morning, but somehow I wish--"
"Well, what do you wish?" said a Tiny Voice close by
her--so close that Little Girl fairly jumped when
she heard it.
"Why, I wish I could SEE Santa myself. I'd just
like to go and see his house and his workshop, and
ride in his sleigh, and know Mrs. Santa--'twould be
such fun, and then I'd KNOW for sure."
"Why don't you go, then?" said Tiny Voice. "It's
easy enough. Just try on these Shoes, and take this
Light in your hand, and you'll find your way all
right."
So Little Girl looked down on the hearth, and there
were two cunning little Shoes side by side, and a
little Spark of a Light close to them--just as if
they were all made out of one of the glowing coals
of the wood-fire. Such cunning Shoes as they
were--Little Girl could hardly wait to pull off her
slippers and try them on. They looked as if they
were too small, but they weren't--they fitted
exactly right, and just as Little Girl had put them
both on and had taken the Light in her hand, along
came a little Breath of Wind, and away she went up
the chimney, along with ever so many other little
Sparks, past the Soot Fairies, and out into the Open
Air, where Jack Frost and the Star Beams were all
busy at work making the world look pretty for
Christmas.
Away went Little Girl--Two Shoes, Bright Light, and
all--higher and higher, until she looked like a wee
bit of a star up in the sky. It was the funniest
thing, but she seemed to know the way perfectly, and
didn't have to stop to make inquiries anywhere. You
see it was a straight road all the way, and when one
doesn't have to think about turning to the right or
the left, it makes things very much easier. Pretty
soon Little Girl noticed that there was a bright
light all around her--oh, a very bright light--and
right away something down in her heart began to make
her feel very happy indeed. She didn't know that the
Christmas spirits and little Christmas fairies were
all around her and even right inside her, because
she couldn't see a single one of them, even though
her eyes were very bright and could usually see a
great deal.
But that was just it, and Little Girl felt as if she
wanted to laugh and sing and be glad. It made her
remember the Sick Boy who lived next door, and she
said to herself that she would carry him one of her
prettiest picture-books in the morning, so that he
could have something to make him happy all day. By
and by, when the bright light all around her had
grown very, very much brighter, Little Girl saw a
path right in front of her, all straight and trim,
leading up a hill to a big, big house with ever and
ever so many windows in it. When she had gone just a
bit nearer, she saw candles in every window, red and
green and yellow ones, and every one burning
brightly, so Little Girl knew right away that these
were Christmas candles to light her on her journey,
and make the way dear for her, and something told
her that this was Santa's house, and that pretty
soon she would perhaps see Santa himself.
Just as she neared the steps and before she could
possibly have had time to ring the bell, the door
opened--opened of itself as wide as could be--and
there stood--not Santa himself--don't think it--but
a funny Little Man with slender little legs and a
roly-poly stomach which shook every now and then
when he laughed. You would have known right away,
just as Little Girl knew, that he was a very happy
little man, and you would have guessed right away,
too, that the reason he was so roly-poly was because
he laughed and chuckled and smiled all the time--for
it's only sour, cross folks who are thin and skimpy.
Quick as a wink, he pulled off his little peaked red
cap, smiled the broadest kind of a smile, and said,
"Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Come in! Come
in!"
So in went Little Girl, holding fast to Little
Man's hand, and when she was really inside there was
the jolliest, reddest fire all glowing and snapping,
and there were Little Man and all his brothers and
sisters, who said their names were "Merry
Christmas," and "Good Cheer," and ever so many other
jolly-sounding things, and there were such a lot of
them that Little Girl just knew she never could
count them, no matter how long she tried.
All around her were bundles and boxes and piles of
toys and games, and Little Girl knew that these were
all ready and waiting to be loaded into Santa's big
sleigh for his reindeer to whirl them away over
cloud tops and snowdrifts to the little people down
below who had left their stockings all ready for
him. Pretty soon all the little Good Cheer Brothers
began to hurry and bustle and carry out the bundles
as fast as they could to the steps where Little Girl
could hear the jingling bells and the stamping of
hoofs. So Little Girl picked up some bundles and
skipped along too, for she wanted to help a bit
herself--it's no fun whatever at Christmas unless
you can help, you know--and there in the yard stood
the BIGGEST sleigh that Little Girl had ever seen,
and the reindeer were all stamping and prancing and
jingling the bells on their harnesses, because they
were so eager to be on their way to the Earth once
more.
She could hardly wait for Santa to come, and just
as she had begun to wonder where he was, the door
opened again and out came a whole forest of
Christmas trees, at least it looked just as if a
whole forest had started out for a walk somewhere,
but a second glance showed Little Girl that there
were thousands of Christmas sprites, and that each
one carried a tree or a big Christmas wreath on his
back. Behind them all, she could hear some one
laughing loudly, and talking in a big, jovial voice
that sounded as if he were good friends with the
whole world.
And straightway she knew that Santa himself was
coming. Little Girl's heart went pit-a-pat for a
minute while she wondered if Santa would notice her,
but she didn't have to wonder long, for he spied her
at once and said:
"Bless my soul! who's this? and where did you come
from?"
Little Girl thought perhaps she might be afraid to
answer him, but she wasn't one bit afraid. You see
he had such a kind little twinkle in his eyes that
she felt happy right away as she replied, "Oh, I'm
Little Girl, and I wanted so much to see Santa that
I just came, and here I am!"
"Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!" laughed Santa, "and here you
are! Wanted to see Santa, did you, and so you came!
Now that's very nice, and it's too bad I'm in such a
hurry, for we should like nothing better than to
show you about and give you a real good time. But
you see it is quarter of twelve now, and I must be
on my way at once, else I'll never reach that first
chimney-top by midnight. I'd call Mrs. Santa and ask
her to get you some supper, but she is busy
finishing dolls' clothes which must be done before
morning, and I guess we'd better not bother her. Is
there anything that you would like, Little Girl?"
and good old Santa put his big warm hand on Little
Girl's curls and she felt its warmth and kindness
clear down to her very heart. You see, my dears,
that even though Santa was in such a great hurry, he
wasn't too busy to stop and make some one happy for
a minute, even if it was some one no bigger than
Little Girl.
So she smiled back into Santa's face and said: "Oh,
Santa, if I could ONLY ride down to Earth with you
behind those splendid reindeer! I'd love to go;
won't you PLEASE take me? I'm so small that I won't
take up much room on the seat, and I'll keep very
still and not bother one bit!"
Then Santa laughed, SUCH a laugh, big and loud and
rollicking, and he said, "Wants a ride, does she?
Well, well, shall we take her, Little Elves? Shall
we take her, Little Fairies? Shall we take her, Good
Reindeer?"
And all the Little Elves hopped and skipped and
brought Little Girl a sprig of holly; and all the
Little Fairies bowed and smiled and brought her a
bit of mistletoe; and all the Good Reindeer jingled
their bells loudly, which meant, "Oh, yes! let's
take her! She's a good Little Girl! Let her ride!"
And before Little Girl could even think, she found
herself all tucked up in the big fur robes beside
Santa, and away they went, right out into the air,
over the clouds, through the Milky Way, and right
under the very handle of the Big Dipper, on, on,
toward the Earth land, whose lights Little Girl
began to see twinkling away down below her.
Presently she felt the runners scrape upon
something, and she knew they must be on some one's
roof, and that Santa would slip down some one's
chimney in a minute.
How she wanted to go, too! You see if you had never
been down a chimney and seen Santa fill up the
stockings, you would want to go quite as much as
Little Girl did, now, wouldn't you? So, just as
Little Girl was wishing as hard as ever she could
wish, she heard a Tiny Voice say, "Hold tight to his
arm! Hold tight to his arm!" So she held Santa's arm
tight and close, and he shouldered his pack, never
thinking that it was heavier than usual, and with a
bound and a slide, there they were, Santa, Little
Girl, pack and all, right in the middle of a room
where there was a fireplace and stockings all hung
up for Santa to fill.
Just then Santa noticed Little Girl. He had
forgotten all about her for a minute, and he was
very much surprised to find that she had come, too.
"Bless my soul!" he said, "where did you come from,
Little Girl? and how in the world can we both get
back up that chimney again? It's easy enough to
slide down, but it's quite another matter to climb
up again!" and Santa looked real worried. But Little
Girl was beginning to feel very tired by this time,
for she had had a very exciting evening, so she
said, "Oh, never mind me, Santa. I've had such a
good time, and I'd just as soon stay here a while as
not. I believe I'll curl up on his hearth-rug a few
minutes and have a little nap, for it looks as warm
and cozy as our own hearth-rug at home, and--why, it
is our own hearth and it's my own nursery, for there
is Teddy Bear in his chair where I leave him every
night, and there's Bunny Cat curled up on his
cushion in the corner."
And Little Girl turned to thank Santa and say
goodbye to him, but either he had gone very quickly,
or else she had fallen asleep very quickly--she
never could tell which--for the next thing she knew,
Daddy was holding her in his arms and was saying,
"What is my Little Girl doing here? She must go to
bed, for it's Christmas Eve, and old Santa won't
come if he thinks there are any little folks about."
But Little Girl knew better than that, and when she
began to tell him all about it, and how the
Christmas fairies had welcomed her, and how Santa
had given her such a fine ride, Daddy laughed and
laughed, and said, "You've been dreaming, Little
Girl, you've been dreaming."
But Little Girl knew better than that, too, for
there on the hearth was the little Black Coal, which
had given her Two Shoes and Bright Light, and tight
in her hand she held a holly berry which one of the
Christmas Sprites had placed there. More than all
that, there she was on the hearth-rug herself, just
as Santa had left her, and that was the best proof
of all.
The trouble was, Daddy himself had never been a
Little Girl, so he couldn't tell anything about it,
but we know she hadn't been dreaming, now, don't we,
my dears?
