OCR Text |
Show The Sama Claris i 2-; i rJiOR years Mrs. Pendleton f had not believed in Santa ; j:yJ ij I Claus herself, but she j 1 I taught her little girl to bo- ( ffi, Y r ) "eve In him. "It's a beau- I vfi 5T lir"' I"-vtl1'" Blie ,nlJ to 7 L "'v herself, "and I .don't see I any harm In It. In fact. It's really too bad there Isn't a Simla Claus. Since I was a child I hnve never I enjoyed Christmas so much as I used to when I believed In hint." i Just at that moment Betty IVndle-! IVndle-! ton returned from Sunday school. She was it pretty little girl with blue eyes i and long blonde curls, but today the eyes were brimming with tears, nnd ! as soon as she came Into the houso she ran to her room. "What's the matter?" Mrs. Pendleton called front tho foot of the stairs. "What Is It. Betty?" j Smothered sobs were the only answer, an-swer, fio Mrs. Pendleton ran up the slnlrs and Into her j daughter's room. ' She took Betty In her arms and tried to calm Iter, but j the sobs ronl limed uneonl rolled for i some minutes long-, long-, er. Finally she wits Sable to tell her mother what tho trouble was. ller Sunday school teacher bad Just i told the class that j there was no Santa San-ta Claus, that he was only a myth, nnd that It was I wicked for parents Si m ! to tench their Utile children such a lie. j Moro sobs followed the broken ex-! ex-! planatlon which Belly had given, and i her llllle body trembled wllh coitvul-I coitvul-I slons of emotion. Mrs. Pemllelon hnd j to thlulc tpilckly and dearly. Whnt ' was to he done? The child wns beart-I beart-I broken, md was si ill so young It , seemed a plly Hint her teacher had ! disillusioned her nhoiit one of the loveliest or childhood's fancies. Her j mother could not very trulhfnlly deny ; what Hie Sut dny school lonelier had snld, I she dlil ,H"t want. In teach her child lo rpiosllon the wisdom of her teachers. II all seemed It terrible predicament for Mrs. Pendleton. But suddenly her mother Inslluct. solved Ihe problem, and pressing her daughter more closely In her arms she snld, "Your Sunday school tench-t-i- Isn't married, Belly. I guess she doesn't know all about such tilings. U's mostly fathers nnd iimiIIuts who -cnlly know about Simla Claus. Snnlii Claus Is Iho iiersonillcal Ion of Hie Christmas spirit. He does tiol live lit tho north pole, na soine people think, nr If bn docs live liiere, he Journeys cneh December throughout Hie world touching tlm hearts of peojiln o awak en in them the Christ spirit of unselfishness un-selfishness and generosity. It Is usually usual-ly mothers und fathers who know the nsrt about him, because they love their children unselfishly as Christ loved little children, but people who do not have any children themselves are uNo often permeated with this particular Christmas spirit of giving. Jesus said, 'Lot not your right hand know what your left hand doeih' and only those who understand IBs words can know the real Santa Chios. Some people exchariL-e gifts at Christinas, and for tlu-ui Christmas has merely come to be a barter of pre :-onts. :-onts. They like I pie to know w h o Is giving Fomethlnc to them. But Jcus wanted giving to bp done In secret, and Santa San-ta Clnus Is that secret Joy of giving which animates nil mothers nnd fathers fa-thers anil lovers of children itt ChrUt-timis ChrUt-timis time. T h e Santa Claus you tu-e- on the street or In the stores or ll1' ! at n Christmas tree Is not the real Santa Clans who lives at the north pole or elx. where, lie Is n representation represen-tation of 111 in. however, nnd ns such, he Is Just ns real ns anything which evlsts In this world. Your Sunday school teacher knows that Just ns well as I tlo. only she did not know exactly exact-ly how to explain It to you." Hetty had ceased crying and had listened attentively to her mother. "So there Is n real Santa." she said. And Mrs. Pendleton replied, "Yes, my dear. there Is n real Santa, nnd when you came to live with ns you brought hint back to us nfier he bad been nwny for many years." That Christmas w-.ns n lovely one for nil the Pen. Helens because at twelve o'clock on Christians eve, Santa San-ta Clnus came down their chimney nnd filled nil their stockings full. Before Be-fore he left, he drank the glass of milk nnd nle the npple which had been left for him, and then he hurried on to the houses of other pooplo who believed be-lieved In him. ((Cl, 121, Wrutern NrwnpRHr VnUn.) Tztf |