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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.
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?"
And that is how our Claus became Santa Claus. It is possible for any man, by good deeds, to enshrine himself as a Saint in the hearts of the people. Christmas Eve The day that broke as Claus returned from his night ride with Glossie and Flossie brought to him a new trouble.
It did not take them long to burst open the mouth of the cave, and then each one seized as many toys as he could carry and they all flew to Claus and laid the treasure before him. The good man was rejoiced to receive, just in the nick of time, such a store of playthings with which to load his sledge, and he sent word to Glossie and Flossie to be ready for the journey at nightfall.
Glossie and Flossie had no mind to be rebuked a second time for tardiness, so they fled with a swiftness that enabled them to pass the gale on which the Frost King rode, and soon brought them to the Laughing Valley. It is true when Claus released his steeds from their harness the eastern sky was streaked with gray, but Glossie and Flossie were deep in the Forest before day fairly broke.
Then, at twilight, the ten reindeer appeared and Flossie introduced them all to Claus. They were Racer and Pacer, Reckless and Speckless, Fearless and Peerless, and Ready and Steady, who, with Glossie and Flossie, made up the ten who have traversed the world these hundreds of years with their generous master.
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. "Santa Claus!"
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.
"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.
"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.
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