THE BROWNIE WHO FOUND CHRISTMAS
THE BROWNIE WHO FOUND CHRISTMAS
Merrythought was tired of Christmas.
‘I can scarcely believe it,’ said Santa Claus. ‘I never heard of such a thing before.’
‘Neither did I,’ answered Merrythought, shaking his head until the tip of his scarlet cap wagged to and fro. ‘But it is true, Santa Claus. I am tired of Christmas.’
Merrythought was a Brownie. He was not only a Brownie, he was Santa Claus’s very best workman as well. It was Santa Claus himself who said so, and surely he ought to know.
All the year round Merrythought sat in the Snow Palace, at the very tip-top of the North Pole, making toys for Christmas—toys for boys, toys for girls, toys for babies too, and no one but the most skillful Brownie could have made such beautiful, shining Christmas toys. There is not the slightest doubt in the world about that.
It was the week before Christmas and all the other Brownies who help Santa Claus stood together in a corner of the work-room whispering about Merrythought behind their hands.
‘To think that Merrythought is tired of Christmas!’ said Brownie Kindheart, who was in charge of the smallest baby dolls because of his gentle, friendly way. ‘Why, I think Merrythought’s dolls are the most beautiful of all. Their eyes are the bluest, and their cheeks are the rosiest, and their lips have the sweetest smiles. I don’t see how Merrythought can be tired of Christmas.’
‘He says he doesn’t like toys any more,’ spoke up Nimbletoes, ‘but I never saw such fine Jumping Jacks as he has made this year. They leap and dance and fling their arms and legs about until I can scarcely stand still.’