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
Earthland, whose lights Little Girl began to see twinkling away down
below her.
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