There they were right in their own beds at home. Mother opened the
door.
"Are you awake, children?" she said.
"Oh, Mother, we haven't been asleep. We've been to Santa Claus Land,
and we nearly saw Santa Claus!"
Then they told her all about it, and Mother just smiled.
* * * * *
THE GREEDY BROWNIE
There was once a little Brownie who lived in a hollow tree stump. He
had been busy all the day playing pranks. His pranks had taken him
far away from home to the house of a very important laird. Into the
laird's cup of wine he had dropped some sour berries which he had
picked on his way. He also put thistles into his boots, so that when
the laird had drawn them on he had screamed out with pain.
The Brownie had been away all the day, so that when at last he turned
to go back to his home he felt really very tired. On his way back to
the wood he passed by a cozy-looking farmhouse. The door of the dairy
was open. The Brownie thought this would be a very nice cool place
in which to rest for a few moments. So he slipped into the dairy, and
curled himself up underneath the bench to have a nice little doze.
He was so weary that once he had fallen asleep he never woke up again
until it was quite dark, when he was disturbed by two lassies who had
come into the dairy.
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