rip to Earth, and I
shall need many toys to take with me. I want a big bagful to load into
my sleigh. My reindeer are waiting. All I need is toys--more toys--all
the toys you can make!"

"You shall have them, Santa Claus! You shall have them!" cried the merry
little men, and they began to work as fast as they could.

At one of the benches Santa Claus observed a little man looking about as
though in search of something. The little man moved his tools to one
side, he shifted toys here and there, and then he looked under his
bench.

"What are you looking for?" asked Santa Claus, as he passed up and down
the aisles.

"Why, yesterday, I finished a fine Plush Bear," answered the workman. "I
set it over here, but now it is gone. You did not take it to Earth, did
you?"

"Oh, no," answered Santa Claus. "I have not been to Earth for some time.
But I am going soon again. Ha! I know what may have happened," he said
suddenly. "The windows were open yesterday. The Plush Bear may have
fallen out of the window!"

It did not take the workman more than an instant to raise the sash and
poke out his head. He looked down into the bank of snow under the
window.

"Here he is!" he cried. "Just as you thought, Santa Claus, the Plush
Bear fell out of the window! He isn't hurt a bit! I'll get him back
again. Ho! Ho! My Plush Bear fell out of the window!"

Of course this didn't happen at all, but it was the only way Santa Claus
and his men could think of the accident having happened. But we know
about the little Eskimo boy, and how his father left the Plush Bear in
the snow bank.

"There you are!" said the toy workman as he came in with the Plush Bear
and set him on the bench again. "I'm glad to get you back. Only for your
warm coat you might have frozen. I must see if you work all right."

But the cold had chilled the wheels and springs inside the Plush Bear,
and it was not until after some warm oil had been poured on them that
they worked properly again. Then, when the Plush Bear was wound up, he
could growl, wag his head, and wave his paws as well as ever.

"Once more you are ready to go down to Earth, as soon as Santa Claus is
ready to take you," said the workman, as he started to make a toy fire
engine that, some day, would gladden the heart of a lucky boy.

As for the other toys in Santa Claus' shop, they had been very much
surprised to see the Plush Bear brought back into their midst again. But
while Saint Nicholas and his h