“My dear,” said Mother Christmas, “it’s no use. You can’t go.”
“Nonsense,” said Father Christmas. “Of course I shall go. I’ve never
missed yet. The children would never get over it.”
“Then let _me_ go,” said Mother Christmas. “It’s absurd for you to think
of it with a cold like that on you. I can manage perfectly. After all,
it was I who packed up all the presents and I know exactly where to take
them.”
“And how are you going to manage the reindeer, I’d like to know, with
all those telegraph wires about?” said her husband. “No, my dear, it’s a
man’s job. I shall be all right. Mix me a hot drink and I’ll have a five
minutes’ snooze by the fire before I start.”
[Illustration:
It made him very sleepy.
]
Mother Christmas said no more, but there was an odd gleam in her eye as
she mixed Father Christmas’s glass of hot lemon and water. It’s my
belief she put something more than lemon into the hot water; however
that may be, it certainly made him very sleepy. The five minutes’ snooze
lengthened into ten—fifteen—twenty. Mother Christmas was moving about
the room very quietly and softly. She wrapped herself up in all manner
of woollies, and at last put on her husband’s great red coat and hood
all trimmed with white fur, and stole quietly out of the door.
Plup, plup, plup—there was a noise of light hoofs flying over the snow.
Plup, plup, plup—softer and softer it grew. At last it died away.
Father Christmas still slept by the fire.
* * * * *
When he woke up it was quite dark, and it didn’t take him many minutes
to realize what had happened. He hurried to the reindeer shed—empty.
The snow was falling thickly. He was terribly upset. What was to be
done? He had no other sleigh and no other reindeer, and of course it was
impossible to follow his wife down to earth on foot.
Finally he decided to ring up the Fairy Queen. She was always so kind
and helpful.
“Please, your Majesty,” he said when he had got through, “I’m nearly
distracted. My wife insisted upon taking out the Christmas presents
because I had such a cold, and I’m so afraid she may get lost, or stick
somewhere.”
“Dear, dear,” said the Queen. “Hold the line a minute while
I tell the head of the look-out department to put on his
million-horse-power-wireless-radio-telescope-spectacles in order to see
where she is.” In a minute or two came news.
[Illustration:
“She’s caught on some telegraph wires.”
]
“She’s caught on some telegraph wires and the reindeer and the sleigh
are all tangled up in them. He can see them quite plainly. What would
you like me to do?”
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said poor Father Christmas. “I’m afraid the only
thing to do is to cut the wires, and the wire-cutter is in the tool-box
under the seat of the sledge. She’ll never think of that.”
“Would you like me to send her a message?” said the Queen.
“Oh, your Majesty, if you _would_ ...” said Father Christmas.
So the Queen sent down a messenger at once with instructions about the
wire-cutter.
* * * * *
Mother Christmas was in a dreadful tangle. She simply could not get out,
and the reindeer were kicking and plunging in a most troublesome way.
Large snowflakes were falling. They fell on to Mother Christmas’s hair
and nose and spectacles.
She put up her hand to brush one off her ear.
“Hi,” said a tiny voice. “You mustn’t treat me like that. I’m a Queen’s
Messenger.”
Mother Christmas took off her spectacles and wiped them and put them on
again.
A tiny dapper little person sat on the rail of the sleigh. He really did
look rather like a snowflake in his snug white cap and ulster, but he
was very much alive.
“The wire-cutter’s in the tool-box under the seat,” he said, and was off
like a flash. He wanted to get home to bed I expect. And so Mother
Christmas got back safely after all, and she had delivered all the
presents too. You may guess what a welcome she received from her husband
and what a lot the reindeer had to talk about to one another before
_they_ went to sleep.
* * * * *
“There must have been a terrible gale last night,” people said on
Christmas morning. “Quite a lot of telegraph wires are down.”
The head of the listening department in Fairyland heard them and told
the Queen what they said. How she laughed!
[Illustration: A stylized illustration of a winged, fairy-like creature
with a small crown sitting centered in a black, arched frame, with two
small, domed structures placed on either side.]