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A LITTLE BOOK OF CHRISTMAS




[Illustration: "What are you doing?" he asked, drawing near.
FRONTISPIECE. _See page_ 69.]




    A LITTLE BOOK OF
    CHRISTMAS

    BY
    JOHN KENDRICK BANGS

    WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
    ARTHUR E. BECHER

    BOSTON
    LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
    1912




    _Copyright, 1912_,
    BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.

    _All rights reserved_

    Published, September, 1912


    THE COLONIAL PRESS
    C. H. SIMONDS & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.




CONTENTS


                                           PAGE

    THE CONVERSION OF HETHERINGTON            5

    THE CHILD WHO HAD EVERYTHING BUT--       47

    SANTA CLAUS AND LITTLE BILLEE            87

    THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN SANTAS           129




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


    "What are you doing?" he asked, drawing near      _Frontispiece_

    She stood with her eyes popping out of her head          PAGE 39

    He thought it very strange that Santa Claus'
    hand should be so red and cold and rough                      91

    One by one the prisoners of the night dropped
    in surreptitiously                                           155




A TOAST TO SANTA CLAUS


    Whene'er I find a man who don't
      Believe in Santa Claus,
    And spite of