8. The First Journey with the Reindeer

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

by L. Frank Baum

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 near by he saw he must now extend his travels to
wider fields.

Remembering the time when he had journeyed with Ak through all
the world, he know 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 every one 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 cymbals 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 cymbals 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 farther from home than every 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 work-bench; 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 a drift.

So when the deer came near he opened the door and called to
them:

"Good morning, Flossie! Tell me how you are able to walk on the
snow so easily."

"It is frozen hard," answered Flossie.

"The Frost King has breathed on it," said Glossie, coming up,
"and the surface 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 Flossie.

"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, Claus."

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

"But you have not," returned Glossie, 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 bear your weight,"
said Flossie, 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 Flossie, "we must first go and ask the Knooks,
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 Knooks will give their consent, and by the time you are back
I shall be ready to harness you to my sledge."

Flossie and Glossie, being deer of much intelligence, had long
wished to see the great world, so they gladly ran over the frozen
snow to ask the Knooks if they might carry Claus 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
in appearance as it is possible for a sledge to be.

The harness was more difficult to prepare, but Claus twisted
strong cords together and knotted 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 Glossie and Flossie were back from
the Forest, having been granted permission by Will Knook to make the
journey with Claus provided they would to Burzee by daybreak the next
morning.

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

Claus decided to make the attempt, so he 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. Then 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 Glossie. "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 pull 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 Glossie and Flossie; and then they asked:
"Are you ready?"

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

"All ready!" 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 Claus, 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
Claus 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 Claus found he could not enter
the houses to leave his toys.

"I am afraid, my friends, we have 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 Flossie.

"The doors are locked," answered Claus, "and I can not get
in."

Glossie 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 Glossie big enough to
admit Claus, was at the peak of the roof.

"Why don't you climb down that chimney?" asked Glossie.

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 Claus, 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 smoldering 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.

Claus 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 gazed 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 Glossie and Flossie.

Down to the edge of the roof they raced, and then, without
pausing, leaped 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 Flossie, "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 Claus 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 sack 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
Claus had 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 steeds 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 Glossie and Flossie toward home.

Presently Flossie 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 Glossie; "then we shall not be home
by daybreak, and the Knooks will punish us and never let us come
again."

"We must race for the Laughing Valley and make our best speed,"
returned Flossie; "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 whirled past. Up
hill 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 Knooks 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 snowdrift. 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 Burzee he saw Glossie and Flossie just
disappearing in the Forest.