_Susy_: "We've caught you, we've caught you."
_Jim_: "I just bet it was you, and now I've won, haven't I, mother?"
_Susy_: "And I've won, too, haven't I, father?" Arrested at sight of
her father in the hooded bath-gown: "He does look like Santa Claus,
doesn't he, Jimmy? But the real Santa Claus would be all over snow,
and a long, white beard. You can't fool _us_!"
_Jim_: "You can't fool _us_! We know you, we know you! And mother
dressed up, too! There isn't any Mrs. Santa Claus, and that proves
it!"
_Mrs. Fountain_, severely: "Dreadful little things! Who said you might
come here? Go straight back to bed, this minute, or-- _Will_ you send
them back, Clarence, and not stand staring so? What are you thinking of?"
_Fountain_, dreamily: "Nothing. Merely wondering what we shall do when
we've got rid of our superstitions. Shall we be the better for it, or
even the wiser?"
_Mrs. Fountain_: "What put that question into your head? Christmas, I
suppose; and that's another reason for wishing there was no such
thing. If I had my way, there wouldn't be."
_Jim_: "Oh, mother!"
_Susy_: "No Christmas?"
_Mrs. Fountain_: "Well, not for disobedient children who get out of
bed and come in, spoiling everything. If you don't go straight back,
it will be the last time, Santa Claus or no Santa Claus."
_Jim_: "And if we go right back?"
_Susy_: "And promise not to come in any more?"
_Mrs. Fountain_: "Well, we'll see how you keep your promise. If you
don't, that's the end of Christmas in _this_ house."
_Jim_: "It's a bargain, then! Come on, Susy!"
_Susy_: "And we do it for you, mother. And for you, father. We just
came in for fun, anyway."
_Jim_: "We just came for a surprise."
_Mrs. Fountain_, kissing them both: "Well, then, if it was only for
fun, we'll excuse you this time. Run along, now, that's good children.
_Clarence!_"
X