from the North Pole to Earth, and then away they darted. Santa Claus
drove them carefully, steering away from snow clouds, and soon the
motion was so swift and smooth that the Nodding Donkey went to sleep,
and so did most of the other toys in the big sack.

And what a funny dream the Nodding Donkey had! He imagined that he was
tumbling around a feather bed and that a Blue Dog was chasing him with a
yellow feather duster.

"Don't tickle me with that feather duster!" he thought he cried.

"I won't if you'll sing a song through your ears," said the Blue Dog.

"I can't sing through my ears," wailed the Nodding Donkey, and then of a
sudden he seemed to roll over and the dog and the feather bed came down
on top of him. Then he seemed to give a sneeze and that blew the dog
away and sent the feathers of the bed out into one big snowstorm!

It was dark when the Nodding Donkey awoke. He did not hear the jingle of
the bells, nor could he feel the sleigh being drawn along by the
reindeer. He could see nothing, either, for it was very black and dark.
But he heard some voices talking, and one he knew was that of Santa
Claus.

"Now I have brought you a whole sleighful of toys," said St. Nicholas.

"Yes, and I am glad to get them," another voice answered. "The stores
are almost empty and it is near Christmas time. I shall send a lot of
the toys to the stores the first thing in the morning."