 Well, this is Tim. Did you come back today to hear what happened to Jump Jump and me when we were captured by the ice dwarfs? The dwarfs had captured us. They were little men no taller than my shoulder. They had long beards made of icicles, and they carried swords of ice. The poet, Archie Pogli the Clown, Mary Holiday and I had all been surrounded by these little men, and they were marching us through the snow. We didn't know where. I'll tell you just about that in just a minute. Do you suppose? Maybe. He's in my pocket. You're alright, aren't you, Jump Jump? Good. You stay down in my pocket and be real quiet. We don't want the ice dwarfs to find you. I just saw a poet's chin wobbling up and down. Well, the poet is probably making up a poem. It's Sleepy Slim I'm worried about. Where do you suppose Sleepy Slim is? The dwarfs are stopping. What do you suppose they're going to do now? They're lining us up in front of this big rock wall. I think it's ice instead of rock, Tim. The leader of the dwarfs is taking out his sword. And he's touching his sword to that big snow-covered rock. The rock is moving. See, Tim? It's opening like a door. What's happening, Mary Holiday? What's happening? Shh, Jump Jump. Keep your head down. We're going into some sort of an ice tunnel. The motioning for us to go into the tunnel, Mary Holiday. All right. Come on, Archie Bodley. Come on, poet. Yes, Archie Bodley. Walk close to Mary Holiday so the ice dwarfs won't get near our pocket. You know why don't you, Archie Bodley? Yes, Tim. Here we are in a tunnel. Yes. Look how the lanterns set in the sides of the wall and make the floors shine. The walls and floors are ice. No wonder they shine. Don't slip. The floors are slippery. Ice elves don't seem to mind their slippery. No. Oh, they're closing the door behind us. Well, we walked along for several minutes. Most of the ice dwarfs are ahead of us. But about a dozen are so following us down the tunnel. They never spoke a word, but they shoved us along. And if we look back as if we are going to stop, as the poet did every now and then, they found and laid their pointed icy swords at us. It was sort of creepy and awfully cold. And then... Look, everybody. Look. There's a big room opening out of the tunnel ahead. Right in the middle, Mary Holiday. Oh, please. Jump. Jump. Keep your head down. Yes, there is a big room there. That must be as high as the building. And look at all those funny things hanging from it. More icicles, I guess. I was in a cave near the orphanage one time. And it kind of looked like this, Mary Holiday. There's a fire in the center. Good. There's a fire. Maybe we'll all fall out a little. Auntie Pogby's so cold, he can't even talk straight. Oh, is he just cold? I thought he was scared, Mary Holiday. No, Tim. I'm cold. Look. Look, Auntie Pogby. Look, Mary Holiday. Jump, jump. Quiet. I'll tell you what we've seen. I'll keep you no head down. There's a room full of ice dwarves sitting around the fire. Maybe they'll all melt, Mary Holiday. Oh, please, just be quiet. That up in front of the yells, Mary Holiday. It looks like a big chair. Yes. It's a throne chair, Tim. And someone is sitting on the throne chair with a fire. Oh, it must be the king of the ice dwarves. I'm going to ask him if he's seen Sleepy Slim. It's towards a meeting in Ohio for us to walk through, Mary Holiday. Yes. Come on, poet. And, Auntie Pogby, you stay close to Tim and me. Look! Look who's sitting on the throne. Yes. Why, it's Sleepy Slim. It's Sleepy Slim. Oh, hello. Surprise. Surprise? Oh, Sleepy Slim, we thought we'd lost it. Yes. I bet you wondered where it was, didn't you? Wondered. Oh, we've been so worried. What does all this mean? Are you a prisoner here, too? You me? Of course not. I'm the new king here. The king of the ice dwarves? You? Sleepy Slim, the king of the ice dwarves? Yeah, but please sit down and get warm. I sent a few of the dwarves up after you. Cute little fellas, I'd say, but I'd rather be a elf myself. Oh, there you are. There you are. I was wondering where you were. Jump, jump. Come up here and sit on the arm of my throne chair. Now, say hello to the ice dwarves. Jump, jump. I already did. Oh, you did, huh? They didn't say hello to me, no. Oh, they didn't, huh? I hid in merry-holy socks. And I'll bet you had a nap in Merry Holiday's pocket, too. I bet you I'd like to take a nap myself. Oh, please, Sleepy Slim, don't take a nap now. Tell us how you became king of the ice elf. How did you get off our sled? Oh, that. Well, I was sleeping. Naturally, you're always sleeping, Sleepy Slim. I fell off. You fell off the sled? Yeah, I fell off and rolled into the snow. Well, I was lying there thinking. Why didn't you get up and run and catch us? I thought I would, and then I thought again and again. You thought what, Sleepy Slim? King of Sleepy Slim? Yes, I thought I'd run up and catch you after I rested a while. Oh, dear. But then while I was napping, a bunch of these little dwarves with their icicle beards came over and started watching me sleep. They thought that I was wonderful. Of course I am wonderful. Of course, Sleepy Slim, but... Oh, it's nice to be appreciated even when you're sleeping. Well, how did you get down here? Well, these little dwarf fellows, they asked me to be their king, you see. Ask you to be king, but why should be them? You're too sleepy. Oh, Sleepy Slim, you're impossible. No, it isn't impossible for me to sleep. It's impossible for them to sleep. That's why I'm the king here. The ice dwarves haven't slept for a thousand years. They got me to do their sleeping for them. The ice dwarves haven't slept for a thousand years? Why? It's too cold, I guess. Some people just can't sleep when they're too cold, I guess. I can. You can't, huh? Jump, jump. I can. Now you take me. Sleepy Slim, you aren't going to stay here with these dwarves, are you? We need you to go with us to help rescue Sam as reindeer from the ice queen. You need me, huh? Oh, yes, we are you. Because I'm so smart, I guess. Yeah, you're everything, Sam. Yeah, well, I guess I'll just abdicate the throne and come with you after all. I kind of hate to miss Christmas. Out of the way, ice dwarves, out of my way and let my friends through here. Come on, Archie Bogley, come on for it, come on, Tim, come on down my shoulders. Stars, I'm going to let us through, Sleepy Slim. They don't want you to go. They don't, I guess, well, then I'll just stay. Oh, no, no, Sleepy Slim. We must go on and get the reindeer. Ask them again to let us through. It's getting close to Christmas. Stand aside, stand aside, stand aside. But they didn't stand aside. They closed in around us and waved their icy swords in our faces. We didn't quite know what to do. And then, Mary Holiday said, I have an idea. You said the dwarves haven't slept for a thousand years. Yeah, yeah, I try. Then they must be awfully sleepy. So don't you see if we could only think of some way of putting them to sleep. How can we put them to sleep, Mary Holiday? What can we do? I can jump. What good would your jumping do, Jump Jump? I can jump. And sure enough, Jump Jump jumped into the seat of the throne chair and started jumping up and down. He jumped backwards and forwards and sideways. And he jumped so fast and so long that all the ice dwarves, watching him closely, that pretty soon they began to nod and the first thing to do, one by one those little ice dwarves fell over on the floor and they caverned asleep. They made me sleepy too. Watching Jump Jump jump up and down. And Mary Holiday prodded me and said, Come on, Tim, oh sleepy slim, wake up, wake up. Come on, poet, come on, Archie Parkley. All the ice dwarves have been hypnotized by Jump Jump jumping up and down. Come on, hurry, step over the sleeping dwarves. Careful now, careful, don't wake them up. Step over and we'll run away before they wake up. Come on, Jump Jump, dear brave little Jump Jump, jump into my pocket. We ran up that ice tunnel as fast as we could go and they opened this squeaky door and they were free outside once more. Oh, he made it. Oh, nice to be out in the open air again. Oh, and look, the wind has completely stopped blowing. Is everybody all right? Yes, we're all right, Mary Holiday. I'm all right, Mary Holiday. Oh, good. Now to hurry on along the silver path that the Christmas fairy showed us before the ice dwarves wake up is gone. Mary Holiday, Mary Holiday, look. What, Tim, look where? Up there, look up there, everybody, across the silver path. What is it, what is it? Don't you see it's a crack in the ground that's getting bigger and bigger. Look, it's just cracking open right across the silver path. Oh, we can't get back to our dog team and we can't follow the silver path either. Oh, it goes down and down and down. Jump Jump, don't you get close to the edge? I know. The ice queen has opened up this gap in the ice to keep us from passing through. Oh, what shall we do now to get to the ice queen's palace to rescue Santa's reindeer in time for Christmas?