cold air strike him, but he
did not mind, as he had on a warm coat of varnish.

Up and down, and from side to side the toys in the bag felt themselves
being jostled, until they were set down in the big sleigh.

"All aboard!" called Santa Claus, as he took his seat and gathered up
the reins. "Come, Dasher! On, Prancer! Hi, Donner and Blitzen! Down to
Earth you go with the Christmas toys!"

There was another jolly jingle of bells, and the toys felt themselves
being whisked away over the snow. There was a little hole in the bag
near the Nodding Donkey, and also a hole in the paper in which he was
wrapped. He could look out, and on every side he saw big piles of snow.
Snow was also falling from the clouds.

On and on rushed the sleigh of Santa Claus, drawn by the eight reindeer.
Over the clouds and drifts of snow, and through the white flakes they
rushed, the sleigh-bells playing a merry tune.

"Oh, this is a wonderful voyage!" thought the Nodding Donkey. "I wonder
when I shall reach the Earth?"

Suddenly there was a hard shock. The sleigh stopped as Santa Claus
shouted, and then, all at once, the Nodding Donkey felt himself shooting
out of the hole in the bag. Into a deep snowdrift he fell, and there he
stuck, head down and feet up in the air!

CHAPTER III

THE JOLLY STORE

"Dear me," thought the Nodding Donkey to himself, as he felt the cold,
chilly snow all about him, "this is most dreadful! I hope Santa Claus
has not become angry with me and sent me back to the North Pole. I did
so much want to go down to Earth and be in a big store for Christmas. I
hope I'm not back at the North Pole."

The Nodding Donkey said this aloud, and, as he spoke, he wobbled his
head from side to side and tried to turn over so he could stand on his
feet.

"Here! Don't do that!" suddenly whispered a voice in one of the Donkey's
large ears. "Don't you know it isn't allowed for you to move when any
one is looking at you?"

"I didn't know any one was looking at me," the Nodding Donkey answered.
"I thought Santa Claus had tossed me back to the North Pole."

"Hush! No! Nothing like that has happened," the voice went on, and, by
turning his loose head to one side, the Nodding Donkey saw that a large
Jumping Jack was whispering to him.

"There has been an accident," went on the Jumping Jack. "The sleigh of
Santa Claus banged into a hard, frozen snow cloud, and we were thrown
out into a snowdrift. I am not hurt, and I hope yo