“But they haint any harness,” said Tommy, using the word Peake always used,—“I mean, hisn’t any—no, I mean haven’t any harness. I wish I had some harness for them.”
“Pooh! wishing doesn’t do anything by itself,” said Santa Claus.
“Oh! I tell you. I’ve a lot of string that came off some Christmas things my mother got for some poor people. I put it in my pocket to give it to Johnny to mend his goat-harness with, and I never thought of it when I saw him last night.”
“So,” said Santa Claus. “That’s better. Let’s see it.”
Tommy felt in his pocket, and at first he could not find it. “I’ve lost it,” he said sorrowfully.
“Try again,” said Santa Claus.
Tommy felt again in a careless sort of way.
“No, I’ve lost it,” he said. “It must have dropped out.”
“You’re always losing something,” said Santa Claus. “Now, Johnny would have used that. You are sure you had it?”
Tommy nodded. “Sure; I put it right in this pocket.”