"So!" said Mrs. Gratz. "Such is the law, yet? All right, I don't belief in chicken thiefs, no matter how much he comes again. I stick me to Santy Claus. Always will I belief in Santy Claus. Chicken thiefs gives, and wants to take away again, but Santy Claus is always giving and never taking."
"Ye 're fergettin' th' chickens that was took," suggested Mrs. Flannery.
"Took?" said Mrs. Gratz.
"Tooken," Mrs. Flannery corrected.
"Tooked?" said Mrs. Gratz. "I beliefs me not in Santy Claus that way. I beliefs he is a good old man. For givings I beliefs in Santy Claus, but for takings I beliefs in toober-chlosis bugs."
"An' th' busted padlock, then?" asked Mrs. Flannery.
"Ach!" exclaimed Mrs. Gratz. "Them reindeers is so frisky, yet. They have a right to kick up and bust it, mebby."
Mrs. Flannery sighed.
"'T is a grand thing t' have faith, ma'am," she said.
"Y-e-s," said Mrs. Gratz indolently, "that's nice. And it is nice to have nine hundred dollars more in the bank, ain't it?"