ON THE TRAIL OF SANTA CLAUS
Mrs. Mulvaney failed the seven.
"What do you think, anyway?" whispered Chinky when the children were
gathered in Hannah's room at bed-time. "What ails ma?"
Hannah shook her head gloomily. "Does anybody know?" she asked.
"Not me," declared Mike. "How'll we ever get such a whoppering tree in
the house? She won't even go to look at it."
"Nope," added Johnnie, "ma said first thing that if Mr. Hodgkins
thought it was right, it was right, and since he's been over here to
talk to her about it you dassn't hardly say tree."
"She—she's getting a new dress made," offered Nora.
"Yes," agreed Dora, "and she says this—this Christmas party is
something we won't never forget."
"I bet we won't, if we have that tree," grumbled Chinky. "We might as
well begin chopping holes through the floor and the roof, and I don't
know but we'll have to cut a little chunk out of the clouds to make
room for our Christmas tree."
"Oh, thay," put in Stubbins, "make the hole in the floor big, Chinky,
tho we can look down and thee Thanta Clauth."
"That shows how much little kids know," explained Chinky. "You'll have
to get out on the roof, Stubbins, to see Santa Claus, because I suppose
when he catches sight of so much tree sticking through the roof he'll
think it's the whole thing and he'll hang all the presents up on top of
the house."
This speech was greeted by laughter so loud Mrs. Mulvaney opened the
stair door and spoke.
"If you young ones don't get in bed inside of five minutes," said
she, "you'll be sorry. Now I don't want to hear another sound. How do
you suppose I can sew up your Christmas clothes if you make such an
uproar?"
The next day Chinky sharpened his hatchet on Mr. Randall's grindstone.
In the afternoon, accompanied by his brothers and sisters he went to
the woods to cut down the tree.
[Illustration]
"Now you all want to stand back far enough," cautioned Chinky, "so as
to give me enough room to swing my arms."
"Let me chop some," begged Mike.
"Me, too," added Johnnie.
"Look a-here," declared Chinky. "No little shavers allowed on this job.
You ought to be glad to have a chance to see me do the chopping."
"Oh, thay," cried Stubbins when the children reached the edge of the
woods. "Who'th took our tree? Ith gone."
"It's that Randall kid," sputtered Chinky, scarcely able to believe
his eyes. "Look at the stump, will you, all hacked to pieces—he said
he bet he knew more about cutting down trees than me. That looks like
it! I'll fix him. Come on, don't stand here like ninnies looking at the
place where our tree stood."
"Leth—leth tell Mithter Hodgkinth," sobbed Stubbins.
"All right," assented the angry brother, "and then I'll give Smarty
Randall a taste of my fist."
"Your tree is gone!" repeated Mr. Hodgkins when the seven burst upon
him. "Well, there! I know who took it!"
"Who?" demanded Mike.
"Santa Claus, sir, the rascal! I thought that tree he brought in looked
extremely familiar!"
"What tree?" asked Stubbins.
"You come in my sitting-room and see, children."
"It's our tree, sure enough," said Johnnie, "and did he put it up, too?"
"You better believe he did, and what's more, you look in this closet."
Mr. Hodgkins opened a door, allowing the children one brief glimpse of
Christmas packages, dolls, books, sleds, and toys of all kinds.
"Oh, oh, oh!" cried the seven.
"They are all for you and every one who comes to the Christmas party,"
declared the man. "Santa Claus says this house is the place for your
party because it's bigger than yours and he brought these presents
ahead of time because he is so busy he was afraid he might miss us on
Christmas Eve."
"Aw," began Chinky, but checked himself and laughed. "Won't it be
jolly," said he, "that is if you don't mind."
"Oh, I'm delighted," insisted Mr. Hodgkins, "only I've asked the
minister to come and"—
"The minister," groaned Chinky, "what did you go and invite him for?"
"That's all right," interrupted Hannah. "You ought to have the minister
to a Christmas tree, don't you remember?"
"It was like this, children," said Mr. Hodgkins. "Your mother said I
was to make the speech, but I persuaded her that the minister could do
it better."
"Bother the minister," whispered Mike.
"I thay tho, too," echoed Stubbins.
[Illustration: "THE SEVEN STOOD IN A ROW"]