A forsaken little kitten wandered up and down the street on the day
before Christmas. It had no home; it had no name; it had no ribbon
around its neck; and it had no saucer of nice milk in one corner.
It began to grow dark, and colder too, and the stars came peeping out,
and the first flakes of a real Christmas snowstorm began floating down
through the air. The kitten mewed a trembling little mew, which told as
plainly as it could that it was very hungry, and it fluffed out its fur
to keep itself warm.
Now, somewhere along that street, up on top of a house (hiding behind a
chimney where he couldn’t be seen), was Santa Claus, getting everything
in shape before starting on his evening round. When old Santa saw that
lonesome little kitten strolling around he smiled--yes, old Santa Claus
smiled. He smiled because he knew that two blocks up the street a little
girl was standing with her nose pressed against the window, looking out
into the deepening night.
He had seen her as he went by. And he had also seen the poor little
supper laid out for two on the table, and heard her say to her mother,
in a quavering voice:
“Not even one present, mamma--not the teeniest little one!”
“No, Susie,” her mother had answered, “I’m sorry I couldn’t get anything
for my little girl this year, but--you know there wasn’t any money,
dear.” And there was a tremble in her mother’s voice, too.
[Illustration: “MAMMA THIS IS THE PRESENT SANTA BROUGHT.”]
Susie wiped away the tears, and turned to look out of the window.
Perhaps she said to herself, “perhaps Santa Clause has something for me
after all!”
Now, the sad, really dreadful part about it was that Santa Clause didn’t
have one single thing for Susie in his pack. Perhaps it was because she
had moved into that house since last Christmas, or perhaps for once old
Santa had made a mistake. Anyway, he was just saying to himself: “Why,
bless me, what shall I do about it?” when he caught sight of that
shivering little kitten.
“The very thing!” he thought. “I’ll give them to each other!” and he
chuckled till his reindeer looked around to see what was the matter.
And what happened next? Well, that kitten never knew really. It only
seemed as if there was a sudden rush and jingle of bells, which
frightened it so that it flew up the street as fast as its four little
legs could carry it, until it saw a small friendly face at a window, and
rushed up some steps nearby. Then a door opened, and two soft little
arms picked it up gently from the cold snow and a voice cried:
“Oh, mamma, see the poor little kitten--it’s so cold--oh, we’ll keep it,
won’t we, mamma! The poor little thing. Do you think it would drink
milk?”
Would it drink milk? What a question to ask about a little kitten. While
the little kitten was nearly choking itself trying to drink a saucerful
of milk and purr at the same time, there was a jingle of bells outside,
and Susie said:
“Mamma, I hear old Santa’s bells, and, of course, this is the present he
brought.”