"I'm all right now," said Weekum.

"Yes," replied Claus, happily. "Now I will put you in my warm bed, and
you must sleep until morning, when I will carry you back to your mother."

"May the cat sleep with me?" asked the boy.

"Yes, if you wish it to," answered Claus.

"It's a nice cat!" Weekum said, smiling, as Claus tucked the blankets
around him; and presently the little one fell asleep with the wooden
toy in his arms.

When morning came the sun claimed the Laughing Valley and flooded it
with his rays; so Claus prepared to take the lost child back to its mother.

"May I keep the cat, Claus?" asked Weekum. "It's nicer than real
cats. It doesn't run away, or scratch or bite. May I keep it?"

"Yes, indeed," answered Claus, pleased that the toy he had made could
give pleasure to the child. So he wrapped the boy and the wooden cat
in a warm cloak, perching the bundle upon his own broad shoulders, and
then he tramped through the snow and the drifts of the Valley and
across the plain beyond to the poor cottage where Weekum's mother lived.

"See, mama!" cried the boy, as soon as they entered, "I've got a cat!"

The good woman wept tears of joy over the rescue of her darling and
thanked Claus many times for his kind act. So he carried a warm and