And all the Little 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 she had fallen asleep very quickly—­she never could tell which—­for the next thing she knew, Daddy was holding her in his arms and was saying, “What is my Little Girl doing here?  She must go to bed, for it’s Christmas Eve, and old Santa won’t come if he thinks there are any little folks about.”

But Little Girl knew better than that, and when she began to tell him all about it, and how the Christmas fairies had welcomed her, and how Santa had given her such a fine ride, Daddy laughed and laughed, and said, “You’ve been dreaming, Little Girl, you’ve been dreaming.”