He hears her deliver the message, and also the word her mother sendsback: "Tell him to hold his horses. It 'll be ready in a minute."

"It will, eh? Well, I can't wait a minute, an' I'm goin' to take ahog-bite right out of Y0U!" and he snarls and bites her right inthe middle of her stomach, and if there is anything moreticklesome than that, it hasn't been heard of yet.

After supper, little Eddie Allgire teases his brother D. to tell himabout Santa Claus. D. is cracking walnuts on a flat-iron heldbetween his knees.

"Is they any Santy Claus, D.?"