"Sky-High no joke with the mistress. Sky-High no make a lie!" said the
patient Chinaman; "Sky-High, his heart is hurt."




XII.

A CHINESE SANTA CLAUS.


The day before Christmas Lucy came to her mother with a request. "Just
one thing, mother! And it isn't more presents--the Good Will tree hangs
full!"

"Well, then, what is it, Lucy?" asked Mrs. Van Buren.

Little Lucy laughed. "A Chinese Santa Claus, mother! Think what a Santa
Claus Sky-High would make in his flowing robes of black, yellow, and
white all sprinkled over with silver and gold! Nearly all the gifts are
Chinese, you know--all but ours for him. Just remember how he looked
last summer on Sunday afternoons when the birds flew down to admire
him!"

Yes, the birds seemed to have felt a curiosity about the little Chinaman
when he went out into the garden with the children after Sunday luncheon;
for sometimes, on that day, he used to put on garments so splendid that
he did not like to show himself above stairs or on the street, and the
birds came out of the trees to take a peep at him. One of these garments
was a frock of silk covered with golden dragons, lotus-flowers, and