Of course Santa knew about the Roslyn Estates, but he had never heard of Gissing, who was still so young that his name had not been entered on the lists. Santa gets the names and addresses of all the dogs from the Town Hall in Manhasset, where the dog licenses are registered. However, he answered very kindly.
"Yes, Gissing," he said. "How are you?"
"Why, I'm fine," said Gissing, "but I thought I'd better tell you what I want for Christmas."
It was on the tip of Santa's tongue to say, a little crossly, "But Christmas is over. You're too late." But he could guess from the trembly sound of Gissing's voice that there must be some misunderstanding.
"All right, Gissing," he said in an encouraging voice. "What is it?"
"What have you got?" asked Gissing eagerly.
Santa Claus almost laughed. Gissing, even when he was a small puppy, was always rather impudent. Santa looked at his shelves. There were only a few toys remaining, now that all that year's Christmas presents had been delivered. You can see in the picture just what was left.
"Well," said Santa patiently, "I have a toy
