END OF ACT I.
ACT II.
SCENE.—Same as in Act I. Sleigh bells heard in distance coming nearer, until they stop at C.; Santa Claus enters C., followed by Gussie and preceded by Footman.
(Exit, Footman.
Gus. Your majesty has returned. You are even more prompt than usual. No one would suspect that those venerable whiskers of yours had been silvered by the frosts of many hundreds of winters.
Santa. No, Gus my boy, time has no power to dampen the ardor of old Santa Claus, nor to make him the less able to perform his self-appointed duties. But that reminds me Gus.; last night my daughter made a strange request. You heard it did you not?
Gus. Yes, your majesty, I heard it, and thought it strange that you should make the promise that you did.
Santa. And so it was, and would have been much worse than strange had not a happy thought struck me with a force like unto a hod of falling bricks.
Gus. In other words, you had an idea.