by Glen Jackson

"You know what, Henry?" said J. P. Moran, a multi‑millionaire, to his butler.

"No, what sir?"

"Never mind, Henry, it would spoil the joke. Here's your bonus, go out and have a good time."

"Thank you very much sir, and Merry Christmas," said Henry, and then he left the room.

J. P. walked over to a wall lined with books, which he never read, pressed a button, and went through a secret passage. He went down some stairs and into a chamber that was directly below the library.

His house was built on a hill with the secret chamber at the bottom of it. The chamber had an entrance which could be opened or closed automatically.

J. P. turned on a light in the chamber and looked at 20 million dollars sitting in the form of a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. The sleigh could fly through the sky using an anti‑gravity unit which he himself had secretly developed.

J. P. walked over to a corner where he put on make‑up and a red suit. He then climbed up into the sled and pressed a button which opened the chamber door and which operated the sleigh.

"Steve, go get the Colonel, will you?" said a slightly bewildered radar operator of a near-by airport.

"Colonel, would you please tell me what to do about this."

The Colonel looked at the screen and gulped, then he said, "Get him on the radio and tell him to identify himself."

J. P. was about to take off for another city when he got the call on his radio. He picked up his mike and said, "Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas!" Then he shut off the mike and practically laughed himself out of the sleigh. When J. P. Moran regained his composure, he turned the sleigh and started for another city to raise havoc.

"George, is there really a Santa Claus?" said George's wife.

"Really dear, didn't your mother explain that to you when you were younger?" But then he saw why his wife had asked such a question. They quickly woke their son, and he opened his eyes to a most wonderful sight.

It was almost dawn when J.P. Moran, alias Santa Claus, headed home. He was about half a mile away when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look.

"Oh, my gosh!" he exclaimed.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good‑night," said Santa Claus as his eight tiny reindeer pulled him over the roof‑tops to his home at the North Pole.