‘Dear me!’ said Santa Claus, rubbing his nose with his great fur glove. ‘Dear me! Little Princess Maud won’t want a doll who has been crying. Perhaps you had better jump in, Merrythought, and go with us, after all.’
‘Yes, sir,’ answered Merrythought.
His breath was quite taken away at the idea of going round the world with Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. But he managed to raise Lady Arabella to her feet and together they quickly climbed into place in the sleigh.
Mischief tucked the robe round Lady Arabella and patted her hand. Santa Claus gathered up the reins, he cracked his whip, the Brownies gave three loud cheers, and the sleigh was off.
Lady Arabella still behaved strangely. She wiped her eyes and smiled round at Merrythought. She was not at all ashamed of having had a tantrum, though the Red Jumping Jack and the White Polar Bear gave her a scornful look. Then she hid her face on Merrythought’s shoulder and laughed and laughed and laughed. And not until they were well out of sight of the palace was she able to sit around straight and look about her as she rode.
Now have you guessed the secret that Lady Arabella and Mischief had between them? Just think a moment and I am sure you will.
On sped the sleigh over the snow, the moon and the stars glittering cold and bright in the frosty sky. Snow, snow, still more snow. Then the forests, dark and piney and sweet-smelling. Now and then a house. Up, up, up to the roof would go the sleigh, down the chimney Santa Claus would creep, then back again to his place and off, the reindeer seeming fairly to fly over the snow. Now a village, now a town.
And everywhere children in bed and asleep, their bedrooms dark or dimly lighted by a low night-lamp. And everywhere ready and waiting for Santa Claus, though not always ready in just the same way. Sometimes there would be stockings hung by the chimney place, sometimes a little wooden shoe placed outside the door, sometimes a candle burning in the window to light Noel upon his way. But always Santa Claus knew what to do and just what presents to leave in every house.
Into a big city dashed the sleigh, straight toward a great castle with turrets and towers and many windows sparkling in the frosty starlight. It was the castle where Princess Maud lived, and now Merrythought and Lady Arabella were forced to say good-bye.