 I'm also glad to meet you. My name is Tim and I want to tell you about a wonderful adventure I had with Jump Jump the elf. The elf was only three inches tall. Maybe you don't believe in elves, but you will when you've heard my story. It's Tim again. Have you heard about Jump Jump and Mary Holiday who live in Holiday House? At Holiday House, every day is a holiday. Something like Christmas all the time. I know because I've been to Holiday House and I've seen Mary Holiday. She's awfully pretty and I know Jump Jump the little elf who jumps up and down backwards and forwards and sideways and who talks so funny and so fast that you can't understand him all the time. We saved Christmas, Jump Jump and I. We really did and in just a minute I'll tell you all about it. To some of the other kids at the orphanage where I know where the Santa Claus will be. Remember I? A little fella, only four. Lily said maybe Santa Claus only cared about whole family, but there are mothers and fathers and lots of brothers and sisters and all. Maybe he wouldn't bother to stop in an orphanage. Lily was worried. I was kind of worried too. All of us kids were. So when I went to bed that night, I couldn't go to sleep. I kept looking out the window at the big dipper in the North Star and I kept thinking if I could just follow the North Star. I bet I'd get the North Pole before long and I'd find Santa Claus and I'd just ask him if he planned to visit everybody at Christmas. Then I could tell Billy. So I got up, dressed myself and went downstairs out the back door. It was dark, but I kept my eye on that North Star and started off into the woods. It seemed I walked for hours and hours and then I started to get sleepy. Sleepy? I just had to rest off my jacket, lay down and covered myself with it. And then, as fast as I was getting comfortable, something tapped me on the knee. I thought maybe an air-con had fallen on my knee. Just then, something tapped me on my other knee. And then I heard the funniest noise. I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and then I rubbed my eyes again because right on my knee, jumping up and down like a little jumping being, was a tiny, not over three inches tall. And he was dressed in bright red pants, a candy-striped shirt, yellow shoes, and had a pointed red cap. He never stopped jumping and he didn't stop talking either, talking that funny elf talk of his. He was so funny that I laughed. And you know what he did then? He laughed too. He jumped back and forth from one knee to the other until I was dizzy from watching him. He kept talking too. I couldn't understand a word he said, no matter how I tried. That's what I said to him. I'm sorry, elf, but I can't understand a word you're saying. And with that, he got quite red in the face till he looked like a cheery with arms and legs. And then he jumped onto my collar and started to tug at it, as if to pull me onto my feet. He stood up and then he jumped right onto my right here and gave it a pull. I started to walk to the right, which pleased him for he laughed. And he sounded so jolly that I laughed too. Well, he guided me along jumping from ear to ear. And as I walked along, he sang the gayest little song. Before long, we came to a garden gate. And there stood a house just like a picture in the storybook. It had a peek of luck, diamond pane windows, and a bright red door. The elf tugged my ears while I unlatched the garden gate, and we went up the garden path to the door. He tried to get me to open the door, but when I wouldn't, he jumped onto the door knocker and swung back and forth on it. Then we heard someone calling it to us from behind the door. Jump, jump. Oh, jump, jump, is that you? My ear so hard that instead I said, ah! The open door was a very pretty young lady with bolder hair, and she was smiling down at it. Well, there you are, jump, jump. Oh, and you've brought a new friend. Hello. Won't you both come in? I'm Mary Holiday. That little elf jumped right to Mary Holiday's shoulder, and we all went in. The inside of the house was wonderful. There were heart-shaped picture frames on all the walls, with golden arrows through them. Over the manor were tall green hats with shamrocks and clay pipes. On the sofa, there were red, white, and blue sofa pillows, shaped like 4th of July firecrackers. The table in the corner of the room was set for a birthday party, and as we walked in, an Easter bunny scampered out of the kitchen door with a basket of colored eggs. And as it seemed like, I was sitting in front of the fire, and jump-jump was lying on his stomach in the palm of Mary Holiday's hand, talking to her tinned of a dozen. But to my surprise, she seemed to understand every word he'd said. But tell me, jump-jump, who is this you've brought to Holiday House? My name is Tim. How do you do, Tim? I hope you'll pardon jump-jump for not introducing us. Sometimes he quite forgets his manners. Yes, ma'am. But he's so small and so busy jumping up and down. And besides, he talks much too fast to make proper introductions. Mary Holiday is him, Mary Holiday. I know. Talk so I can understand him. Well, of course, he can talk slowly if he tries. But he forgets, and he talks fast when he's excited. It would be much better if he talks slowly all the time. Tim, jump-jump and I are very happy to welcome you to Holiday House. Thank you, Mary Holiday. Here's my friend, Tim, some pie. Mary Holiday, here's him some pie. Jump-jump thinks you might like a piece of pie. Would you, Tim, with a glass of milk? Thank you. It would be very nice. Oh, you want some pie, too. You're welcome. Jump-jump sat on the table and had his pie on a penny. I had to laugh, for he jumped about so much that I had my pie eaten long before he'd finished his tiny little piece. Mary Holiday didn't eat any pie at all. She kept looking out the window and glancing at the telephone. That's if she were waiting for someone. Every time she looked at me, she smiled. But still, I thought maybe I should thank her for my pie and milk and go on my way. But just as I started to, what do you think? I looked over a jump-jump who had just finished off the last crown and he was sound asleep. Mary Holiday picked him up just so carefully and said, oh, but it's tired, little elf. Well, while I put him in his bed, you must tell me all about yourself, Tim. I live in an orphanage, Mary Holiday. You do? Yes. And Billy, a friend of mine, was only four years old. He's worried. Worry? Yes, ma'am. He thinks maybe Santa Claus won't come to see us at all. Oh. Oh, I see. So I thought, Mary Holiday, if I followed the North Star, maybe I'd find Santa Claus, and then I'd ask him, and then I could tell Billy not to worry anymore. Oh. Oh, yes. You know, Tim, I'm worried, too. Are you afraid Santa Claus won't come to see you at Holiday House? Yes. Because, well, maybe, maybe, jump-jump. Oh, that's the door knocker, Tim. Maybe that's a message from Santa Claus now. Greetings, Mary Holiday. Oh, it's you, Archie Pogli the Clown. Come in, Archie Pogli, come in. I came to wish you, Mary Holiday, a Mary Holiday. Oh, it is a holiday, isn't it? Yes, of course. It's a holiday. You didn't happen to bring a message from the North Pole? At this hour? Or what hour is it? It is an hour, isn't it? Oh, yes, yes, of course. It's a late hour. But you haven't heard from Santa Claus at this late hour? No. No, I haven't. And I'm so worried, Archie Pogli. This has never happened before. Oh, excuse me, Tim. This is Archie Pogli the Circus Clown. I'm a jolly old clown, and I never do frown. And I make little children laugh with glee. I never do wine, because I haven't got time. I'm a jolly old clown, as you can see. And what a funny clown he was, dressed in green pants, a yellow shirt, and a red hat with a feather in it. And his hair, his hair was bright pink. I'm afraid I sturdied his pink hair, for he said... I'm afraid the famous man once said, please to meet you. You like my pink hair? Well, I do. Well, as you can see, I'm feeling in the pink today. Oh, Archie Pogli, you are silly. Well, I'm a jolly old clown. I never do frown. I make little... Oh, but you're frowning, merry holiday. Oh, oh, I'm sorry, Archie Pogli. Well, it's just that I... I'm so concerned about Santa Claus. And then, merry holiday told Archie Pogli about me and the other children at the orphanage being worried about Christmas, too. I wanted to stay awake, and you, what Archie Pogli might suggest, brought our going to the North Pole. But I was getting sleepier and sleepier again. I tried to stay awake, but... The day I was asleep, right in my chair. However, the next day I was to find out why merry holiday was so worried. And it had to do with my trip to the North Pole, too. Tomorrow, if you'll meet me here at this same time, I'll tell you what happened next morning when I woke up.