ittle Elves hopped and skipped and brought Little Girl a
sprig of holly; and all the Little Fairies bowed and smiled and brought
her a bit of mistletoe; and all the Good Reindeer jingled their bells
loudly, which meant, "Oh, yes! let's take her! She's a good Little
Girl! Let her ride!" And before Little Girl could even think, she found
herself all tucked up in the big fur robes beside Santa, and away they
went, right out into the air, over the clouds, through the Milky Way,
and right under the very handle of the Big Dipper, on, on, toward the
Earthland, whose lights Little Girl began to see twinkling away down
below her. Presently she felt the runners scrape upon something, and
she knew they must be on some one's roof, and that Santa would slip down
some one's chimney in a minute.

How she wanted to go, too! You see if you had never been down a chimney
and seen Santa fill up the stockings, you would want to go quite as
much as Little Girl did, now, wouldn't you? So, just as Little Girl
was wishing as hard as ever she could wish, she heard a Tiny Voice say,
"Hold tight to his arm! Hold tight to his arm!" So she held Santa's arm
tight and close, and he shouldered his pack, never thinking that it
was heavier than usual, and with a bound and a slide, there they were,
Santa, Little Girl, pack and all, right in the middle of a room where
there was a fireplace and stockings all hung up for Santa to fill.

Just then Santa noticed Little Girl. He had forgotten all about her for
a minute, and he was very much surprised to find that she had come, too.
"Bless my soul!" he said, "where did you come from, Little Girl? and
how in the world can we both get back up that chimney again? It's easy
enough to slide down, but it's quite another matter to climb up again!"
and Santa looked real worried. But Little Girl was beginning to feel
very tired by this time, for she had had a very exciting evening, so she
said, "Oh, never mind me, Santa. I've had such a good time, and I'd
just as soon stay here a while as not. I believe I'll curl up on his
hearth-rug a few minutes and have a little nap, for it looks as warm and
cozy as our own hearth-rug at home, and--why, it is our own hearth and
it's my own nursery, for there is Teddy Bear in his chair where I leave
him every night, and there's Bunny Cat curled up on his cushion in the
corner."

And Little Girl turned to thank Santa and say goodbye to him, but
either he had gone very quickly, or else