The Thin Santa Claus | Page 2

away and not bringing! Purty soon he don't have
such a good name any more if he keeps up doing like this. People likes
the bringing Santy Claus. I guess they don't think much of the
taking-away business. He gets a bad name quick enough if he does this
much."
She turned to bend her head to look into the vacant chicken house and
stood still. She put out her foot and touched something her eyes had
lighted upon, and the thing moved. It was a purse of worn, black leather,
soaked by the drizzle, but still holding the bend that comes to men's
purses when worn long in a back trouser pocket. One end of the purse
was muddy and pressed deep into the soft soil where a heel had
tramped on it. Mrs. Gratz bent and picked it up.
There was nine hundred dollars in bills in the purse. Mrs. Gratz stood
still while she counted the bills, and as she counted her hands began to
tremble, and her knees shook, and she sank on the door-sill of the
chicken house and laughed until the tears rolled down her face.
Occasionally she stopped to wipe her eyes, and the flood of laughter

gradually died away into ripples of intermittent giggles that were like
sobs after sorrow. Mrs. Gratz had no great sense of humour, but she
could see the fun of finding nine hundred dollars. It was enough to
make her laugh, so she laughed.
"Goodness, such a Santy Claus!" she exclaimed with a final sigh of
pleasure. "Such a Christmas present from Santy Claus! No wonder he is
so fat yet when he eats ten chickens in one night already. But I don't
kick. I like me that Santy Claus all right. I believes in him purty good
after this, I bet!"
She went at once to tell Mrs. Flannery, and Mrs. Flannery was far more
excited about it than Mrs. Gratz had been. She said it was the Hand of
Retribution paying back the chicken thief, and the Hand of Justice
repaying Mrs. Gratz for sending toys to the little Flannerys, and Pure
Luck giving Mrs. Gratz what she always got, and a number of other
things.
"'Tis the luck of ye, Mrs. Gratz, ma'am," she said, "and often I do be
sayin' it is the Dutch for luck, meanin' no disrespect to ye, and the fatter
the luckier, as I often told me old man, rest his soul, and him so thin!
And Christmas mornin' at that, ma'am, which is nothin' at all but th'
judgment of hivin on th' dirty chicken thief, pickin' such a day for his
thievin', when there's plenty other days in th' year for him. Keep th'
money, ma'am, for 't is yours by good rights, and I knew there would
some good come till ye th' minute ye handed me th' prisints for the kids.
The good folks sure all gits ther reward in this world, only some don't,
an' I'm only sorry mine is a pig instid of chickens, but not wishin' ye
hadn't th' money yersilf, at all, but who would come to steal a pig, and
them such loud squealers? And who do you suspicion it was, Mrs.
Gratz, ma'am?"
"I think mebby I got me a present from Santy Claus, yes?" said Mrs.
Gratz.
"And hear th' woman!" said Mrs. Flannery. "Do ye hear that now? Well,
true for ye, ma'am, and stick to it, for there's no tellin' who'll be claimin'
th' money, and if ever Santy Claus brought a thing to a mortal soul 't

was him brought ye that. And 't was only yesterday ye was sayin' ye
had no belief in him!"
"Yesterday I don't have no beliefs in him," said Mrs. Gratz. "To-day I
have plenty of beliefs in him. I like him plenty. I don't care if he comes
every year."
"Sure not," said Mrs. Flannery, "and you with th' nine hundred dollars
in yer pocket. I'd be glad of the chanst. I'd believe in him, mesilf, for
four hundred and fifty."
That afternoon Mrs. Flannery, whose excitement had not abated in the
least, went over to Mrs. Gratz's to spend the afternoon talking to her
about the money. She felt that it was good to be that near it, at any rate,
and when one can make a whole afternoon's conversation out of what
Mrs. Casey said to Mrs. O'Reilly about Mrs. McNally, it is a shame to
miss a chance to talk about nine hundred dollars. Mrs. Flannery was
rocking violently and talking rapidly, and Mrs. Gratz was slowly
moving her rocker and answering in monosyllables, when some one
knocked at the door. Mrs. Gratz answered the knock.
Her visitor was a tall, thin man, and he had a