ned that he was
tumbling around a feather bed and that a Blue Dog was chasing him with a
yellow feather duster.

"Don't tickle me with that feather duster!" he thought he cried.

"I won't if you'll sing a song through your ears," said the Blue Dog.

"I can't sing through my ears," wailed the Nodding Donkey, and then of a
sudden he seemed to roll over and the dog and the feather bed came down
on top of him. Then he seemed to give a sneeze and that blew the dog
away and sent the feathers of the bed out into one big snowstorm!

It was dark when the Nodding Donkey awoke. He did not hear the jingle of
the bells, nor could he feel the sleigh being drawn along by the
reindeer. He could see nothing, either, for it was very black and dark.
But he heard some voices talking, and one he knew was that of Santa
Claus.

"Now I have brought you a whole sleighful of toys," said St. Nicholas.

"Yes, and I am glad to get them," another voice answered. "The stores
are almost empty and it is near Christmas time. I shall send a lot of
the toys to the stores the first thing in the morning."

Santa Claus had arrived, in the night, at a large warehouse, where
boxes, bales and bags of toys were kept until they could be sent around
to the different stores. The Nodding Donkey, the Jumping Jack and the
others felt themselves being lifted out of the bag and placed on the
floor or on shelves. But they could see nothing, for Santa Claus always
comes to Earth in the darkness, so no one sees him. And it was the
Earth that the toys had now reached.

"Dear me, this isn't much fun!" complained the Nodding Donkey, as he
stood on a shelf in the darkness. Faint and far off he could hear the
bells of Santa Claus' reindeer jingling as jolly St. Nicholas drove back
to North Pole Land. "I thought the Earth was such a wonderful place,"
went on the Nodding Donkey. "But I don't like it here at all."

"Hush!" begged the Jumping Jack. "It is night. You have seen nothing
yet. Wait until morning."

And, after a while, streaks of light began to come in through the
windows of the warehouse where the toys had been left. The sun was
rising. From a window near him the Nodding Donkey caught a glimpse of
snow outside, but the land was very different from the North Pole where
he had been made.

The Nodding Donkey was turning his head to speak to the Jumping Jack,
and he was going to take a look and see what other toys were near him,
when, all of a sudden, three or