THE STORY OF SANTA CLAUS.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19451, 15 December 1934, Page 16 (Supplement)

THE STORY OF SANTA CLAUS.

It was a cold winter’s night. There was the gleam of snow on the rooftops with the promise of worse to come. Mid-winter had descended upon a little town hidden away in the heart of Poland. Through the gathering . dusk a wealthy young man made his way over the snow. He wore the thick furs that denoted rank, money and position, and it was apparent that he had never felt the breath of poverty. He loved these winter nights. For he was a kind, good-hearted man; one who was always helping others, and the winter gave him many opportunities for this. As he passed under the portico of a house he stopped in the gloomA child’s voice was raised and he recognised it as that of Yvonne, tho daughter of a merchant who once had been rich but who was now very poor. Amid Yvonne’s sobs he heard: “0, father, let us go into the street and beg. It is so hard to starve." And the crying broke out anew. Then came the voice of the father, kind but proud, “Not just yet, my dear. Let us wait one more night. I will pray God to save my children from such disgrace.” Nicolas, as he stood in the shadow of the portico, had heard enough. Silently he., went his way.

His home regained, he went straightway to his small but welloiled treasury. Here lay three bars of gold, a gift made to him by his father. Smilingly he took one from

ST. NICOLAS THE GOOD.

its box, placed it in his .girdle, and retraced his steps to the home of the merchant. Silently.—almost like a thief in the night—he opened the window of the portico and slipped inside the bar of gold. • Then just as quietly he crept away. The second night he performed the same act, and a second bar of gold was thrust within the window. Then came the third night. Nicolas’s kind heart was swelling with the happiness he had wrought as he made his way over the deepening snow to the merchant’s house. But as he was about to thrust the gift through the window he came face to face with the master of the house and his daughter, Yvonne. Both sank to their knees, praising him for his love and kindness. But Nicolas gently rebuked them. “I did not send you these things. They came from God,” he said. And so it became the custom for boys and girls, first in Poland and then throughout the world, to hang up their stockings on Christmas Eve, knowing that Nicolas (or St. Nicolas as he later became known because of his many good works) would leave them a present there. And even to-day the good deed that was done centuries ago by a young man is honoured. So on Christmas Eve you will be hanging up a stocking, hoping that St. Nicolas—or Santa Claus as he is now called—will pay you a visit.