You have not come too soon.
Northward you must go
To the land of ice and snow.”
And so one day the little boy found a ship that was going to sail to the Northland and in this ship he went. The ship sailed and sailed a long time until it finally came to where the sea was all frozen over, to the land of icebergs and snow fields. The ship could go no farther, so what do you suppose the little boy did then? He was in the land of the reindeer, and over the snow fields he went in search of Santa Claus.
One day, as he was traveling over the snow fields to find Santa Claus’ house, he saw not far away what at first seemed to be a hill, but soon he saw that it was not a hill, but a house covered with ice and snow. “That must be Santa Claus’ house,” he said. Soon the little boy was standing in front of the great building whose towers seemed to reach the sky. Up the shining steps he went and soon he was standing in front of the door. The little boy saw no door bell and so he knocked on the door. No one answered and then louder he knocked again. Still no one answered. He began to feel afraid, perhaps this was the house of a giant. If Santa Claus lived there, he might be angry with him for coming, but once more he knocked. And then he heard a noise far down at the other end of the hall. Some one was coming. Then suddenly the latch went “click,” and the door stood wide open, and who do you suppose was there? Santa Claus? No; a little boy with blue eyes and a bright sweet face. Then the little boy said, “Good morning. Does Santa Claus live here?” And the other little boy said, “Yes. Come in, come in. I am Santa Claus’ little boy.” He took him by the hand and said, “I am very glad to see you.”
Then the two little boys walked down the long hallway, doors on this side and doors on that, until they came to the last door on the left-hand side. On this door Santa Claus’ little boy knocked, and a great voice said, “COME IN.” He opened the door and walked in, and who do you suppose was there? Santa Claus? Yes, there was Santa Claus himself; a great, big fat man sitting by the fire, with long white beard, blue eyes and the merriest, cheeriest face you ever saw. Then Santa Claus’ little boy said, “Father, here is a little boy who has come to see you.” Santa Claus looked down over his spectacles and said, “Well, how are you? I am mighty glad to see you. Yes, yes, I know him. I have been to his house on many a night and filled up his stocking. How are Elizabeth and Louise and Katherine?” Over on the other side of the fireplace sat Mrs. Santa Claus. She was a grandmother-looking woman, with white hair and gold-rimmed spectacles. She was sitting by the fire knitting; she put her arms around the little boy and kissed him.
Then the two little boys sat down in front of the fire and talked together. By and by, Santa Claus’ little boy said to the other little boy, “Don’t you want to go over the building and see what we have in the different rooms? This building has a thousand rooms.” And the little boy said, “who-o-o-o-e.” And Santa Claus’ little boy said, “Yes, and something different in every room.”
Then they went in a large room and what do you suppose was in there? Nothing but doll babies; some with long dresses and some with short; some with black eyes and some with blue. Then into another room they went, and it was full of toys, wagons and horses; another room was full of story books; another room was a candy kitchen where Santa Claus made candy; another room was a workshop where Santa Claus made toys for the children. Then they went in a long, large room, the largest of them all, and in this room were a great many tables. On these tables were suits, cloaks and hats and shoes and stockings for the children. The little boy wanted to know what they did with so many clothes, and Santa Claus’ little boy said, “We take these to the little children who have no father or mother to make them clothes.” And so they went through all the rooms of the great building, except one, which was away upstairs in the corner. What was in this room no one would tell the little boy, nor would they take him into the room. And the little boy wondered what was in the room.
The little boy stayed at Santa Claus’ house several days and he had a splendid time. Some days the two little boys would slide down the hill on a sled, some days they would hitch up the reindeer and go sleighing, some days they would go into the candy kitchen and help Santa Claus make candy, or into the workshop and help him make toys.
But one day something happened. Santa Claus came to the little boy and said, “I am going away today for a little while; my wife and my little boy are going with me. Now,” he said, “you can go with us or you can stay here and keep house for us while we are gone.” The little boy thought to himself that Santa Claus had been so good to him that he would stay and keep house while Santa Claus was away. So he said he would stay and then Santa Claus gave him a great bunch of keys and said, “Now you can go in all the rooms and play, but you must not go in that room upstairs in the corner.” The little boy said, “Alright,” and with that Santa Claus, his wife and his little boy went down the steps, got into the sleigh, wrapped themselves up in furs, popped the whip and away they went! The little boy stood and watched them until they disappeared behind the snow hills.