"Saw him, did you?" he replied, smiling. "Well, perhaps he gave all the toys away till there were none left, and then, as the shops were shut, there were no more to be had!"
Minna now felt sure her father was joking as usual, and that there must be some secret.
"But perhaps, Minna, Santa Claus came to my room by mistake," he added. "In fact, it occurred to me that he might. He's getting short-sighted, you know, and—we are so very much alike. Suppose you go and see!"
Away she ran, and there, sure enough, were Funnyums's two socks hung up! One looked full, the other looked empty. She found in the full one all sorts of good things to eat. Minna emptied it quickly.
"I wish Funnyums wore stockings," she murmured. Then she went to the empty one, which wasn't empty, because right down in the toe there was a gold piece!
Then Funnyums was hugged, and Funnyums was thanked, and scolded for being up to his tricks again, and then hugged once more to make it all right. All that stirring time he was quietly pretending to read his newspaper—just as though he really wanted to read it at all!
And Minna forgot everything in the excitement of Christmas Day. That night she slept soundly. The following day she went to the pantomime, and afterwards dreamt about Columbine.
It was only on the morrow that she noticed again her favourite picture, and then her mind wandered back to the wonderful things that had happened there. And as she gazed at the little girl in red, who was going out so joyously for her morning walk, it occurred to her where the little Picture Girl must be going to—she was going out, as Minna was, to spend the gold piece her father had given her!
"Ah, she deserved it," Minna said to herself. "I—I don't quite think I've deserved mine—that is, quite so much. I should like to do something for children who suffer and are poor," she muttered, "like—like the children in the hospital." And slowly, as she thought it out, she made up her mind that the doll she was going to buy should be a very small one, and that the rest of the money from the gold piece she would send to the "Children's Hospital Fund."
Seldom has any child felt happier than Minna did that sunny morning as she donned her red pelisse and hat, and took her muff from its box. She paused at the door, and glanced at the little Picture Girl, who was smiling back at her. "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" said Minna out loud, dropped her a little curtsey, nodded gaily, and ran out.