Join Host Bree Carlile as she reads the fifteenth chapter of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

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Santa Claus by L.

Frank Baum eight The First Journey with the Reindeer those were happy days for Claus, when he carried his accumulation of toys to the children who had awaited them so long during his imprisonment in the valley.

He had been so industrious that all his shelves were filled with playthings, and after quickly supplying the little ones living nearby, he saw he must now extend his travels to wider fields, remembering the time when he had journeyed with act throughout the world.

He knew children were everywhere, and he longed to make as many as possible happy with his gifts.

So he loaded a great sack with all kinds of toys, slung it upon his back that he might carry it more easily, and started off on a longer trip than he had yet undertaken.

Wherever he showed his merry face in hamlet or in farmhouse, he received a cordial welcome, for his fame had spread into far lands.

At each village, the children swarmed about him, following his footsteps wherever he went, and the women thanked him gratefully for the joy he brought their little ones, and the men looked upon him curiously that he should devote his time to such a queer occupation as toy making.

But everyone smiled on him and gave him kindly words, and Claus felt amply repaid for his long journey.

When the sack was empty, he went back again to the laughing valley and once more filled it to the brim.

This time he followed another road into a different part of the country and carried happiness to many children who never before had owned a toy or guessed that such a delightful plaything existed.

After a third journey so far away that Claus was many days walking the distance, the store of toys became exhausted, and without delay he set about making a fresh supply.

From seeing so many children and studying their tastes, he had acquired several new ideas about toys.

The dollies were, he had found, the most delightful of all playthings for babies and little girls, and often those who could not say dolly would call for a doll in their sweet baby talk.

So Claus resolved to make many dolls of all sizes and to dress them in bright colored clothing.

The older boys and even some of the girls loved the images of animals, so he still made cats and elephants and horses.

And many of the little fellows had musical natures and longed for drums and symbols and whistles and horns.

So he made a number of toy drums with tiny sticks to beat them with, and he made whistles from the willow trees and horns from the bog reeds and symbols from bits of beaten metal.

All this kept him busily at work, and before he realized it, the winter season came with deeper snows than usual, and he knew he could not leave the valley with his heavy pack.

Moreover, the next trip would take him further from home than ever before, and Jack Frost was mischievous enough to nip his nose and ears if he undertook the long journey while the Frost King reigned.

The Frost King was Jack's father and never reproved him for his pranks, so Claus remained at his workbench, but he whistled and sang as merrily as ever, for he would allow no disappointment to sour his temper or make him unhappy.

One bright morning he looked from his window and saw two of the deer he had known in the forest walking toward his house.

Claus was surprised not that the friendly deer should visit him, but that they walked on the surface of the snow as easily as if it were solid ground, notwithstanding the fact that throughout the valley the snow lay many feet deep.

He had walked out of his house a day or two before and had sunk to his armpits in adrift.

So when the deer came near, he opened the door and called to them good morning, Flossy.

Tell me how you're able to walk on the snow so easily.

It is frozen hard, answered Flossy.

The frost King has breathed on.

It said glossy.

Coming up, and the service is now as solid as ice.

Perhaps, remarked Claus thoughtfully, I might now carry my pack of toys to the children.

Is it a long journey?

Asked Flossy.

Yes, it will take me many days, for the pack is heavy, answered Claus.

Then the snow would melt before you.

Could get back, said the deer.

You must wait until spring.

Claws, claus sighed.

Had I your fleet feet, said he, I could make the journey in a day.

But you have not, returned Glossy, looking at his own slender legs with pride.

Perhaps I could ride upon your back.

Claus ventured to remark after a pause.

Oh, no, our backs are not strong.

Enough to bury your weight, said Flossy decidedly.

But if you had a sledge and could harness us to it, we might draw you easily, and your pack as well.

I'll make a sledge.

Exclaimed Claus.

Will you agree to draw me if I do?

Well, replied Flossy, we must first go and ask the nooks who are our guardians for permission.

But if they consent and you can make a sledge and harness, we will gladly assist you.

Then go at once.

Cried claus eagerly.

I am sure the friendly nooks will give their consent, and by the time you are back, I shall be ready to harness you to my sledge.

Flossy and Glossy, being dear of much intelligence, had long wished to see the great world, so they gladly ran over the frozen snow to ask the nooks if they might carry claws on his journey.

Meantime, the toy maker hurriedly began the construction of a sledge.

Using material from his wood pile, he made two long runners that turned upward at the front ends and across these nailed short boards to make a platform.

It was soon completed, but was as rude an appearance as is possible for a sledge to be.

The harness was more difficult to prepare, but Claus twisted strong cords together and nodded them so they would fit around the necks of the deer in the shape of a collar.

From these ran other cords to fasten the deer to the front of the sledge.

Before the work was completed, glossy and Flossy were back from the forest, having been granted permission by will Nook to make the journey with claws, provided they would be to Bursey by daybreak the next morning.

That is not a very long time, said Flossy, but we are swift and strong, and if we get started by this evening, we can travel many miles during the night.

Kloss decided to make the attempt, so we hurried on his preparations as fast as possible.

After a time, he fastened the collars around the necks of his steeds and harnessed them to his rude sledge, and he placed a stool on the little platform to serve as a seat and filled a sack with his prettiest toys.

How do you intend to guide us?

Asked Glossy.

We have never been out of the forest before except to visit your house, so we shall not know the way.

Claus thought about that for a moment.

Then he brought more cords and fastened two of them to the spreading antlers of each deer, one on the right and the other on the left.

Those will be my reins, said Claus, and when I put them to the right or to the left, you must go in that direction.

If I do not pull the reins at all, you may go straight ahead.

Very well, answered Glossy and Flossy, and then they asked, are you ready?

Glossy seated himself upon the stool, placed the sack of toys at his feet, and then gathered up the reins.

Already he shouted, Away we go.

The deer leaned forward, lifted their slender limbs, and the next moment away flew the sledge over the frozen snow.

The swiftness of the motion surprised Claws, for in a few strides they were across the valley and gliding over the broad plain beyond.

The day had melted into evening by the time they started, for swiftly, as Claus had worked many hours had been consumed in making his preparations.

But the moon shone brightly to light their way, and Claus soon decided it was just as pleasant to travel by night as by day.

The deer liked it better, for although they wished to see something of the world, they were timid about meeting men.

And now all the dwellers in the towns and farmhouses were sound asleep and could not see them.

Away and away they sped, on and on, over the hills and through the valleys and across the plains, until they reached a village where Claws had never been before.

Here he called on them to stop, and they immediately obeyed.

But a new difficulty now presented itself, for the people had locked their doors when they went to bed, and Claude found he could not enter the houses to leave his toys.

I am afraid, my friends, we've made our journey for nothing, said he, for I shall be obliged to carry my playthings back home again without giving them to the children of this village.

What's the matter?

Asked Flossy.

The doors are locked, answered Claus, and I cannot get in.

Glossy looked around at the houses.

The snow was quite deep in that village, and just before them was a roof only a few feet above the sledge.

A broad chimney, which seemed to Glossy big enough to admit Claus, was at the peak of the roof.

Why don't you climb down that chimney?

Asked Clossy.

Claus looked at it.

That would be easy enough if I were on top of the roof, he answered.

Then hold fast and we will take.

You there, said the deer, and they gave one bound to the roof and landed beside the big chimney.

Good.

Cried Claws, well pleased, and he slung the pack of toys over his shoulder and got into the chimney.

There was plenty of soot on the bricks, but he did not mind that, and by placing his hands and knees against the sides, he crept downward until he had reached the fireplace.

Leaping lightly over the smouldering coals, he found himself in a large sitting room where a dim light was burning.

From this room two doorways led into smaller chambers.

In one a woman lay asleep with a baby beside her in a crib.

Claude laughed, but he did not laugh aloud for fear of waking the baby.

Then he slipped a big doll from his pack and laid it in the crib.

The little one smiled as if it dreamed of the pretty plaything it was to find on the morrow, and Claus crept softly from the room and entered at the other doorway.

Here were two boys, fast asleep, with their arms around each other's neck.

Claus glanced at them lovingly a moment, and then placed upon the bed a drum, two horns and a wooden elephant.

He did not linger now that his work in this house was done, but climbed the chimney again and seated himself on his sledge.

Can you find another chimney?

He asked the reindeer.

Easily enough, replied glossy and flossy.

Down to the edge of the roof they raced, and then, without pausing, leapt through the air to the top of the next building, where a huge old fashioned chimney stood.

Don't be so long this time, called Flossy, or we shall never get back to the forest by daybreak.

Claus made a trip down this chimney also, and found five children sleeping in the house, all of whom were quickly supplied with toys.

When he returned, the deer sprang to the next roof, but on descending the chimney, Klaus found no children there at all.

That was not often the case in this village, however, so he lost less time than you might suppose in visiting the dreary homes where there were no little ones.

When he had climbed down the chimneys of all the houses in that village, and had left a toy for every sleeping child, claus found that his great stack was not yet half emptied.

Onward, friends, he called to the deer.

We must seek another village.

So away they dashed, although it was long past midnight, and in a surprisingly short time they came to a large city, the largest closet ever visited since he began to make toys, but nothing daunted by the throng of houses.

He set to work at once, and his beautiful seeds carried him rapidly from one roof to another, only the highest being beyond the leaps of the agile deer.

At last the supply of toys was exhausted, and Claus seated himself in the sledge with the empty sack at his feet, and turned the heads of Glossy and Flossy toward home.

Presently Flossy asked, what is that gray streak in the sky?

It is the coming dawn of day, answered Claus, surprised to find that it was so late.

Good gracious.

Exclaimed Glossy.

Then we shall not be home by day break, and the nooks will punish us and never let us come again.

We must race for the laughing valley.

And make our best speed, returned Glossy.

So hold fast, friend Claus.

Claus held fast, and the next moment was flying so swiftly over the snow that he could not see the trees as they rolled past uphill and down dale.

Swift as an arrow shot from a bow they dashed, and Claus shut his eyes to keep the wind out of them, and left the deer to find their own way.

It seemed to him they were plunging through space, but he was not at all afraid.

The nooks were severe masters and must be obeyed at all hazards.

And the gray streak in the sky was growing brighter every moment.

Finally, the sledge came to a sudden stop and Claus, who was taken unawares, tumbled from his seat into a snow drift.

As he picked himself up, he heard.

The deer crying quick, friend, quick, cut away our harness.

He drew his knife and rapidly severed the cords.

And then he wiped the moisture from his eyes and looked around him.

The sledge had come to a stop in the laughing valley.

Only a few feet he found from his own door in the east.

The day was breaking, and turning to the edge of Birzy, he saw glossy and flossy just disappearing in the forest.

Thank you for joining Bite at a Time Books today while we read a bite of one of your favorite classics.

Again, my name is Brie Carlyle and I hope you come back tomorrow for the next bite of the life and adventures of Santa Claus.

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