Page:Poet Lore, volume 28, 1917.djvu/80

66 ''the Latin Santa Claus, with a wireless receiver at his ear. He also has white hair and wears a costume suggestive of a cavalier of the 16th or 17th century, with a plume in his hat''.)
 * Noel.—Yes, this is Noel. How are you, Santa Claus?


 * Santa Claus.—I'm very well, thank you, but I'm in a peck of trouble.


 * Noel.—Why, has anything happened?


 * Santa Claus.—How can you ask that? You ought to know better than anybody else what has happened and what is happening all the time over there. I refer to this awful war.


 * Noel.—I'm very sorry, but it can't be helped now or at least I don't see how I can stop it. And anyway, as long as your country is at peace I don't see why you should object to our fighting it out over here.


 * Santa Claus.—Our country at peace? Well, I suppose we are at peace. But we're suffering from this war of yours just the same. You see nowadays no country can fight another country without making all the other countries suffer for it.


 * Noel.—Not if you stay neutral


 * Santa Claus.—But we are neutral. We can't keep out of the fight any other way, and we have kept out so far, haven't we?


 * Noel.—Yes.


 * Santa Claus.—But the cost of living has gone up so high that this Christmas a great many children in America will have empty stockings.


 * Noel.—A great many children over here won't have any stockings—or shoes either.


 * Santa Claus.—If your war would stop we would all have plenty of shoes and stockings and lots of nice toys and candies and nuts and fruits and everything else to fill them. I don't know what we're to do this Christmas if the prices go up any higher and they seem to be soaring. And besides, although I still have money to buy, everything seems to be getting so scarce that I'm afraid there won't be half enough dolls and sleds and toys and games and gimcracks to go round.


 * Noel.—What a dreadful state of affairs! Of course I expected our own children to suffer, but it's really too bad that you, an innocent bystander, should have to suffer too. I wish there were something I could do about it.


 * Santa Claus.—Can't you think of something? You used to be so quick and bright.