e me. Ime a jentile
cath-lic C. S.
Hannah.

Deer Santy--Bring me any nice things you got left. With love
Hannah.

Deer Santy--Don't let my Mama and my Papa get mad bout you.
Hannah.

Eli began to chortle, and Hannah stirred in her sleep, throwing both
chubby arms over her head. Clutched tightly in her left hand they saw a
rosary of amethyst colored beads.

Rose snapped off the light and pushed Eli out into the hall. He sat down
on the stairs and laughed until he cried. "The dog-gone little mixer!"
he chuckled. "A Gentile Catholic Christian Scientist is she? And if she
has ever happened to hear anything about Mahomet, believe me, she's
sleeping with her feet toward Mecca right now!"

Rose was weeping silently over the message: "Don't let my Mama my Papa
get mad bout you." She touched her husband on the shoulder, "Eli, what
shall we do about it?"

"Do?" He stood up and set his jaw determinedly. "You spoke just now of
the fight between the old and the new generations: do you see what we
are coming to if we don't concede our child her legitimate rights. She
will seek them out, and take them by force, and never forgive us for
withholding them, that's what! Every child who has ever heard of Santa
Claus has a right to enjoy the myth. Didn't I give a hundred dollars to
the Elks and a hundred dollars to the Big Brothers who are looking after
the empty stockings of the poor children, while my own baby----"

He had reached his bedroom door and was kicking off his house slippers.

"Eli, where are you going?"

"Down-town to see Santa Claus if I have to break open a dozen stores,"
he answered determinedly.

* * * * *

It seemed that Santa Claus, never having visited Hannah before, had a
mind to make up for lost time. An overflowing stocking hung from the
mantel; a tree loaded with presents and tinsel stood by her bed; about
the room were placed large gifts, everything a little girl might wish
for. Hannah was dazed. She didn't see her mother and father standing in
the doorway of the nursery, their arms about each other, and smiling.
She tugged at her window until it opened and then called to Nellie
across the intervening space.

"He came! He came!" she screamed, as a tousled, flame-colored head
showed at the window opposite