Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa Claus' Reading List

by A. A. Milne

  "How did it happen?" asked Jake. He came down out of the loft, or place where he stored the bags of oats. The oats were hauled to the lower floor of the barn. There a rope was put about each bag and it was lifted to the upper floor where it was stored in a bin. The lifting rope went around a big wheel, acting like a dumbwaiter in some houses.

  Jake had turned the wheel by pulling on a second rope upstairs in the barn, and as the wheel turned it wound up the longer rope. It was the end of this rope that had looped itself about the Elephant.

  "How did it happen?" asked Jake again.

  "I don't know," Archie replied. "I left my Elephant here when I went to slide down the hay. When I came back he was on the rope."

  "Some of you children must have left the Elephant too near the end of the rope," said Jake. "When I wound it up the Elephant became tangled in a loop, and of course he was lifted up."

  "Nope! We didn't any of us leave the Elephant near the rope; did we?" asked Archie of his little friends.

  "Nope!" they all answered.

  "Well, that's queer," said Jake. "That Elephant never got on the rope by himself, I'm sure."

  But that is just what the Elephant did, as we know.

  "Anyhow I'm glad he's all right now," said Archie, as he looked carefully at his new toy. "None of the stuffing came out."

  But it might have, if the Elephant had been left hanging much longer on the rope.

  Finding that everything was all right and that none of the children was in danger, Jake went back to the oat bin. There was a long chute, or slide, from the upper bin to a box on the first floor of the barn. And the oats came rushing down this slide when a door in the top bin was opened. This door could be opened by pulling a rope near the horse stalls, and sometimes Archie was allowed to pull the rope, open the door of the large grain bin, and let the oats slide down the chute to the smaller bin on the lower floor.

  But this day Jake was putting a new supply of oats in the upper bin, and Archie was not allowed to play near it. The little boy and his friends soon began having more fun with their Christmas toys, giving the Clown and smaller dolls rides on the back of the Stuffed Elephant.

  Thus Christmas passed, New Year's came, and the Elephant lived and was happy in Archie's home. The Elephant did not often think of Mr. Mugg and his daughters Geraldine and Angelina. He liked it much better, did the Elephant, in Archie's house than in the store. Of course the toy store was a jolly place, but no boys or girls were permitted to play with the toys. They were there for sale, and could only be played with after being bought and taken home.

  So the Elephant was glad he belonged to Archie, who was a boy that took very good care of his playthings. Nearly every day Joe, Dick or Arnold would come over to see Archie, bringing their playthings, and in this way the Elephant met many friends whose adventures are related in the other books of this series.

  And at night, when Archie and Elsie were in bed, of course the Elephant, and the other toys in the Dunn house, had their usual fun. They would make believe come to life and talk and play about in the nursery or in the closet—wherever they happened to be left at the close of the day.

  It was still winter, though Archie and Elsie wished spring would come so they might play oftener out of doors. And one rainy day, when it was too cold and stormy to be out, Archie and Elsie went to the big, warm barn to have fun. Archie carried his Elephant and Elsie had her Doll.

  "Let's go upstairs to the grain bins," suggested Elsie, when they had played about in the hay for a time.

  "Maybe Jake will let us open the bin door from up there, and we can watch the oats slide down the chute," said Archie. "I like to watch the oats slide."

  "So do I," Elsie admitted. The grain bin was so built that the door of the chute could be opened from above or below.

  Up to the upper floor of the barn went the two children, with the Elephant and the Doll.

  "Are you here, Jake?" called Archie, but there was no answer.

  "I don't guess he's around," said Elsie.

  "I don't guess so, either," replied Archie. "But I don't guess he'd care if I let down some oats. I looked in the lower bin and there's hardly any there. I'm going to let some down the chute."

  "I'll watch you," offered Elsie, as she set her Doll on top of a big oat box.

  The cover to the box was open. Archie liked this because he could see the smooth oats go down the wooden chute, or slide, like so much water.

  "I'll let a lot of oats down," the little boy said to his sister. He placed his Elephant on the edge of the bin, near the Doll. Then Archie pulled on the handle that opened the door. It was hard work, for the oats pressed against the door. Elsie came to help him, and at last the children managed to get it open.

  "There they go!" cried Archie, as the oats began to pour down the chute.

  "Yes, and there goes your Elephant!" shouted Elsie. As she spoke, the stuffed toy fell into the oat bin, and, a moment later, the poor chap was sucked into the smooth chute, with the running grain, and the oats closed over his head. Lost to the sight of the children, the Stuffed Elephant was taking a dangerous slide.

  The Big Dog

  Archie was so surprised at what happened that, for a moment, he could do nothing but stand and look at the stream of oats gliding down the wooden chute to the bin on the floor below.

  "There goes your Elephant!" cried Elsie again. "He fell right into the oats, Archie!"

  "Yes—yes—I—I see he did!" stammered the little boy.

  "I'm glad my Doll didn't go, too!" went on Elsie. "I guess I'd better take her away 'fore she tumbles in."

  Elsie reached over to take her toy from the side of the oat bin where the Christmas Doll had been put by her mistress. But Elsie's foot slipped on some hay on the floor, she tried to save herself from falling, her arm struck her Doll, and, a moment later, the Doll was sliding down the stream of smooth oats as the Elephant had done.

  "Oh! Oh!" cried Archie. "Look at your Doll! She went down just like my Elephant!"

  "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" wailed Elsie. "Where has she gone?"

  "Down into the oat bin on the first floor," explained Archie. "The oats go from this big bin to the little bin where Jake takes them out to give to the horses. Don't cry, Elsie. We'll get your Doll back."

  Archie had almost been going to cry himself when he saw his Elephant being buried in the rushing stream of oats. But when he heard his sister's sobs he made up his mind to be brave and try to help her.

  Archie was so excited that he still held up the sliding door of the oat bin, and the grains kept on sliding down the chute, carrying with them the Elephant and Doll, though now the toys were not in sight.

  "Come on downstairs and get my Doll!" begged Elsie, tugging at her brother's hand. "Come on and get your Elephant and my Doll."

  "Yes, we'd better do that," Archie agreed.

  Then he saw that he was still holding open the little door in the oat bin, so that pecks and bushels of the grains were still sliding down the chute.

  "I'd better close that, or the Elephant and the Doll will be buried away down under so many oats they'll never get out," said the little boy.

  He let go the handle that they had pulled to raise the door, and it dropped shut, thus preventing any more oats from sliding down the chute. Then he took Elsie's hand and hurried toward the stairs that led to the lower floor of the barn.

  Meanwhile, as you have guessed, the Elephant and the Doll were not having a very good time. At first, when the Elephant felt himself fall in with the sliding oats, he did not know what had happened.

  "I wonder what sort of adventure this is!" thought the Elephant. "It's almost as bad as being pitched out into a snow drift, though I'm glad it isn't cold. These oats are very scratchy, though, and they make me want to sneeze. But where am I going?"

  The Elephant did not know. All he could tell was that he was being hurried along in the dark with a lot of oats, for it was dark inside the grain chute.

  Down, down, down went the Elephan
t, just as he had gone up, up, up on the rope.

  "Where shall I land?" thought the Elephant.

  A moment later he found out, for he was shot from the chute into the almost empty grain bin on the lower floor. Out of the chute tumbled the Elephant, and he was very glad to be in an open space once more.

  "But it is almost as dark as it was before," he said. A little light came from the top of the bin which did not close tightly, but it was only a little light.

  But the Elephant's troubles were not over. For no sooner had he been slid clear of the chute, landing on his feet, very luckily, than more oats poured out, for Archie was still holding open the door of the grain bin up above. So many oats came sliding down the chute that they rose all around the Elephant like rising water around a rock. The oats rose to his knees, to his stomach, where they tickled him a little, and then began to rise over his back.

  "Oh!" he trumpeted, raising his trunk as high as he could. "I am going to be covered from sight in the oats!"

  And then, when the oats almost covered his eyes, he had a glimpse of the Doll coming down the chute, in a shower of oats.

  "Oh, you poor child!" called the Elephant.

  "Yes, isn't this terrible!" exclaimed the Doll. "Oh, how are we ever going to get out?"

  The Elephant tried to answer, but now the oats rose over his mouth and he could not speak. Only the top of his head and the tip of his trunk stuck out above the oats.

  The Doll, having come down a little later, was not so deeply covered by the grains. She tried to stand up, to keep her head as far above the oats as she could, but it was hard work. Around and around she slipped, from side to side.

  More and more oats poured down, for Archie still held open the door, and at last the poor Doll was covered from sight, as was the Elephant.

  And it was now that Archie and Elsie came racing down the stairs. Archie called:

  "Jake! Jake! Come here! Where are you? Oh, my Elephant is in the oat bin, and so is Elsie's Doll, and we've got to get 'em out!"

  "What's that? Elsie in the oat bin?" cried Jake, who had just come back to the barn.

  "No, not Elsie, but her Doll!" shouted Archie. "And so is my Stuffed Elephant."

  "Well, that isn't so bad as if one of you children were in the bin," replied Jake. "I'll help you, though. Show me which bin."

  Archie told what he had done, and when Jake opened the bin on the lower floor it was brim full and running over with oats.

  "You surely let down enough grain," said Jake.

  "How are you going to get my Doll?" Elsie asked.

  "And my Elephant?" added Archie.

  "Oh, I'll shovel them out," said Jake. "Don't be afraid. I'll get the Doll and the Elephant."

  "Well, you'd better hurry, 'cause they may smother," Elsie said.

  "I'll hurry," promised Jake.

  With a shovel he carefully took some of the oats from the bin, so that first Elsie's Doll could be seen, and then the Elephant came into view.

  "There you are!" said kind Jake, as he handed the toys back to the children.

  "My, wasn't that a terrible time?" said the Doll to the Elephant that night, when they were left by themselves in a closet.

  "I should say so!" agreed the Elephant. "I never want anything like that to happen again! I hope I have no more adventures!"

  But he was to have more.

  For a time, however, nothing very exciting happened. Archie played with his Elephant and Elsie with her Doll, and their boy and girl friends brought over their toys to have fun with. Often they amused themselves in the big, warm barn, though never again did Archie go near the grain bin.

  Sometimes Nip, the big dog, would go to the barn to play with the children, and once, though not meaning to, the Elephant gave the dog a scare. It was this way.

  Archie had set his elephant down on the barn floor, near a big box. Nip, the dog, coming suddenly around the corner of the box, did not know the Elephant was there until a draft of wind swayed the Elephant's trunk, making it wiggle to and fro.

  "Oh, my! A snake! A snake!" cried Nip, who was afraid of the crawling creatures. "It's a big snake!"

  "Nonsense! I'm not a snake," said the Elephant, who could speak, since Elsie and Archie were in another part of the barn.

  "What was it that looked like a snake?" howled Nip.

  "It was my trunk. The wind blew it," was the answer.

  "Hum!" said Nip, who, now that he took a second look, saw that there was really no snake, and nothing to frighten him. "Hum! I believe you did that on purpose, just to scare me!"

  "No, really I didn't!" said the Elephant.

  "Yes, you did, too!" barked Nip. "And, just for that, I'm going to play a trick on you!"

  "Please don't!" begged the Elephant.

  "Yes, I will!" growled Nip, who was a little angry, and not as kind as he might have been. "I'm going to carry you away off!" he barked.

  Then, before the Elephant could do anything to save himself, Nip, the big dog, caught the soft Stuffed Elephant up by his back and carried him into a dark and distant part of the barn.

  An Elephant Judge

  "Let me go! Oh, please put me down! Where are you taking me?" called the Stuffed Elephant to Nip, the big dog.

  Nip did not answer. This was not because he could not speak the toy language or the language of Stuffed Elephants. But Nip held Archie's Christmas plaything in his mouth, and you know a dog can't even bark when he has anything in his mouth. He can only growl.

  Now, Nip was not a bad dog. And though he was playing a trick on the Stuffed Elephant, still Nip was not cross enough to do any growling. So he just kept still, and trotted along the barn floor, carrying the Elephant.

  Nip, being a big dog, had no trouble in carrying the Stuffed Elephant, though the toy was rather large. Stuffed with cotton, as the Elephant was, he was not very heavy, you see.

  "Stop! Oh, please let me go! Where are you taking me?" asked the Elephant again.

  But Nip answered never a word. All the dog had said at first was:

  "I am going to carry you away off!"

  And he seemed to be doing this.

  Through the barn he trotted with the Stuffed Elephant in his mouth. The Elephant had never been in this part of the barn before. Archie and Elsie never came here to play. It was too dark, and rather dusty and dirty, with cobwebs hanging down from the walls and ceiling.

  Down the stairs trotted Nip, still carrying the Elephant. The dog trotted over to a dim and dusty corner, dropped the Christmas toy upside down on the floor and then barked:

  "There you are! Now let's see you find your way back! I'll teach you to scare me by making believe your trunk is a snake!"

  "Oh, but I didn't do that! Really I didn't!" exclaimed the Elephant, as he scrambled to his feet. He could move about and talk now, because no human eyes were there to watch him. "It was all an accident," he went on. "The wind blew my trunk! I didn't wave it at you to scare you by making you think it was a snake. Really I didn't!"

  "Yes, you did!" said Nip, and away he ran, soon being lost to sight in the darkness of this part of the barn.

  For a little while the Stuffed Elephant stood there, swaying slowly to and fro, as real elephants do. He reached out with his trunk and gently touched the wooden walls. He could dimly see things all about him, but he did not know what they were.

  "Oh, dear!" sighed the poor Stuffed Elephant. "I don't like this at all! I wonder what I had better do?"

  He was trying to think, and wondering if he could walk up the stairs and find his way back to the place where Archie had left him before Nip carried him away, when, suddenly, the Stuffed Elephant heard voices talking.

  "Maybe he could settle it," said one voice.

  "Well, I'm willing to leave it to him if you are," said a second.

  "Who is he, anyhow?" asked a third voice.

  "Oh, he's some sort of animal," went on the first voice. "He isn't an angleworm, I know that much, but just what sort he is I don't know. But he looks sm
art, and maybe he can settle this dispute for us."

  "I am a Stuffed Elephant, that's who I am," said Archie's pet, speaking for himself. "And who are you, if you please? I can't see any one, but I hear you talking. Who are you?"

  "I am the Garden Shovel," answered the first voice; "and I claim to be the most useful tool in all the world. Without me there never would be any garden, and things would not grow."

  "Nonsense!" exclaimed the second voice. "I am the Garden Rake, and I claim to be the most useful tool the gardener ever uses. Without me the ground would never be raked nice and smooth, so the seeds could be put in. I should get the prize for being the most useful."

  "How foolishly you talk!" put in the third voice. "Every one knows that I am entitled to the prize. Talk about shoveling the ground, and raking the ground! What can you two do by yourselves, or together, for that matter, if the ground is hard? Answer me that. You must send for me, you know you must!"

  "And who are you?" asked the Stuffed Elephant, for this tool had not yet named himself.

  "I am the Pick," was the answer. "And with my sharp points the hardest ground can be made soft, so the Rake and the Shovel can work. I am the most useful tool of all."

  "No, I am!" cried the Rake.

  "Indeed you are not! I am!" exclaimed the Shovel.

  "Well, there we are! Just where we started!" complained the Pick. "Why not leave it to this gentleman animal here. What did you say your name was?" he asked politely, and then Archie's toy saw the Pick, the Rake and the Shovel step out from a dark corner and stand in a row before him.

  "I am the Stuffed Elephant," was the answer. "This is my first visit to this part of the barn. What is it you want me to do?"

  "If this is your first visit you have never seen any of us before, have you?" asked the Shovel.

  "Never before did I see any of you," the Elephant replied.

  "Just the proper one for a Judge!" declared the Rake. "He will be honest and fair."

  "I'm willing to have him if you two are," said the Pick.

  "What's it all about?" asked the Elephant. "I don't understand. What is a Judge?"