| Chapter1: Santa and the Pigwidgen |
| Chapter2: The Curse |
| Chapter3: Claus Begins A Trip |
| Chapter4: Patrick Tweedleknees |
| Chapter5: The Sopchoppy Ferry |
| Chapter6: Four Gifts |
| Chapter7: The Giant |
| Chapter8: The Donkey |
| Chapter9: The Snake Nest |
| Chapter10: The Dagger |
| Chapter11: The Door In The Wall |
| Chapter12: The Pygmies |
| Chapter13: The Pigwidgen |
| Chapter14: The Eating Contest |
| Chapter15: The Drinking Contest |
| Chapter16: The Race |
| Chapter17: Merry Christmas To All |
| Christmas Stories Index |
| Main Site Index |
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Claus stared at the small brass key that clattered from the old black purse. "Don't touch it!" begged Mrs. Claus. "You may be cursed!" "Perhaps," said Claus. "On the other hand, it may be the key to the curse that was laid on the children." He picked up the key and examined it. On its side was printed the single word: "Pigwidgen". "Pigwidgen?" exclaimed Mrs. Claus. "What could it mean?" "I don't know," said Claus softly, "but I'm going to find out if I have to travel to the end of the earth!" He went to his workshop and packed up all the toys he had made. He loaded another bag with the cookies and cakes and sweetmeats Mrs. Claus had made. He said goodbye to Mrs. Claus and set out. He stopped at the nearest house where a sleeping child lay. He told the parents he was going away and he wanted to leave gifts for all the children. "They'll never see them. They'll never wake," sobbed the mother. "They were cursed by the wind from the black purse!" groaned the father. "I will find a way to break the curse," swore Claus. "When the children wake they will find a gift and a cake. If I don't come back, perhaps they will remember Claus." He went to the child's bed and, not finding anything else to put the gifts in, stuffed them in the child's own stocking and hung it on the bed. He went to every house in the village until his sacks were empty and no child had been forgotten. Then he took the narrow winding road that led across the mountain rainge to a distant town. The people there were known to be smart and traveled. He was sure they would know the meaning of the Pigwidgen key. When he came to the town there were few people in the streets. All were sorrowful. Claus went up to a man and said, "Why is the town so quiet and the people so sad?" "Our children have been stricken with a strange malady," replied the man. "They sleep and will not wake." Then Claus was indeed heavy-hearted. He knew the vapor that had escaped from the black purse had spread across the mountain range and would go on and on until all children everywhere fell asleep. Claus drew the key from his pocket and asked the man if he had ever heard of Pigwidgen. The man shook his head. Claus searched out another man to ask him the same question and got the same reply. He asked everyone he saw. He knocked on doors. He went in the shops. He went to the school-teachers and the librarians and the doctors and the police. No one had ever heard of Pigwidgen or had any idea what it meant. Claus was in despair. Wearily he sank down on a curbstone. An old, old woman sat down beside him. "I have heard of the Pigwidgen," she crooned. "Tell me!" cried Claus eagerly. "What do you know?" I know what a crooked-legged elf told me a hundred years ago," wheezed the ancient crone. "What was that?" begged Claus. "Only this I'll say," hissed the old woman. "Forget the Pigwidgen and return to your home." |