“Now promise, cross your heart and twist your paws you’ll never, never tell if I tell you,” asked Beckie.
“Oh, we promise,” said all the animal girls.
Well, you can easily guess what happened. Beckie told how her brother Neddie had helped Santa Claus out of the tree in his airship. And, of course, all the girls promised not to even whisper it. And then, somehow, all the boys had heard of what happened to Neddie. And, in a short time, everybody in the school knew all about the little boy bear having seen Santa Claus.
“Well, it’s very queer!” exclaimed Beckie when Neddie spoke to her about it. “I only just told a few girls—only a very few, and they all promised not to tell!”
“Huh!” exclaimed Neddie. And then, as he saw that his little sister felt badly, he added: “Never mind, Beckie. You didn’t mean to, and I guess Santa Claus won’t care, anyhow.”
And Neddie let Beckie kiss him again, which was very nice of him, I think.
Then, when recess was almost over, Jackie Bow Bow, the puppy dog boy, said:
“Pooh! I don’t believe Santa Claus comes down the chimney the way they say he does.”
“You don’t believe that?” cried Neddie Stubtail, surprised-like.
“No, I don’t,” said Jackie. “Maybe he has an airship, for you saw that, but nobody ever saw him come down the chimney.”