Part 2

"So!" said Mrs. Gratz. "Such is the law, yet? All right, I don't belief in chicken thiefs, no matter how much he comes again. I stick me to Santy Claus. Always will I belief in Santy Claus. Chicken thiefs gives, and wants to take away again, but Santy Claus is always giving and never taking."

"Ye 're fergettin' th' chickens that was took," suggested Mrs. Flannery.

"Took?" said Mrs. Gratz.

"Tooken," Mrs. Flannery corrected.

"Tooked?" said Mrs. Gratz. "I beliefs me not in Santy Claus that way. I beliefs he is a good old man. For givings I beliefs in Santy Claus, but for takings I beliefs in toober-chlosis bugs."

"An' th' busted padlock, then?" asked Mrs. Flannery.

"Ach!" exclaimed Mrs. Gratz. "Them reindeers is so frisky, yet. They have a right to kick up and bust it, mebby."

Mrs. Flannery sighed.

"'T is a grand thing t' have faith, ma'am," she said.

"Y-e-s," said Mrs. Gratz indolently, "that's nice. And it is nice to have nine hundred dollars more in the bank, ain't it?"

THE END

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

_That Pup_

_The Great American Pie Company_

_Pigs is Pigs_

_Mike Flannery on Duty and Off_

_Kilo_

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PIGS IS PIGS

By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER

The comic classic that made the Nation laugh. Nearly 200,000 copies have been sold.

THE GREAT AMERICAN PIE COMPANY

By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER

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A GOOD SAMARITAN

By MARY RAYMOND SHIPMAN ANDREWS

This has been called the best story that ever appeared in _McClure's Magazine_. A really humorous tale of an inebriated youth.

BREEZY

By J. GEORGE FREDERICK

A breezily humorous, great little business story. Breezy is distinctly an American product, and his success is an inspiration.

THE PETS

By HENRY WALLACE PHILLIPS

Red Saunders's curious menagerie, and the tale of a "scrap" that will make you weep for joy.

MIKE FLANNERY

By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER

Mike Flannery, the express agent of "Pigs is Pigs" fame, in some more genuinely laughable situations.

THAT PUP

By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER

The funniest dog story in years, "One prolonged howl of laughter." _Springfield Union_.

THE BIG STRIKE AT SIWASH

By GEORGE FITCH

One of the most rousingly funny football stories that have ever appeared in print, by our new humorist.

WARRIOR, THE UNTAMED

By WILL IRWIN

What happened after Warrior, the "man-eating" lion of Paradise Park, broke his bonds and made straight for the open country.

LITTLE MAUD

By CHARLES BATTELL LOOMIS

This delightful story by Mr. Loomis is known to millions of English-speaking people all over the world.

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End of Project Gutenberg's The Thin Santa Claus, by Ellis Parker Butler