“The idea!” cried Beckie. “What a funny boy! Of course he comes down the chimney.”
“How can he with a pack on his back? Answer me that!” cried Jackie. Neddie and Beckie looked at one another. They both thought of the same thing. Then Neddie said:
“Of course Santa Claus comes down the chimney. What if he is big? I’m bigger than Sammy Littletail, the rabbit, and I can go down a chimney.”
“So can I!” cried Beckie.
“And we’ll do it, too!” added Neddie. “We have a few minutes of recess yet. Beckie and I will go down the school chimney to show them all that Santa Claus can do the same thing.”
Then, while all the other animal children looked on in wonder, Beckie and Neddie scrambled up on the roof of the schoolhouse. They could easily do this as there was a tree growing near it. Then Neddie got in the chimney first. It was a large, wide one.
“You’ll get all black soot,” said Beckie.
“Never mind, it will all wash off,” spoke Neddie. “Come on in, Beckie. There’s lots of room.”
So Beckie got in the chimney, too. Just then the school bell rang. Recess was over. All the animal children had to run in.
“Oh, you’ll get a bad mark!” they cried to Neddie and Beckie. “You’ll be late!”