"Here," said Nicholas, handing him a large hard snowball, "try this one for size. Justin looks like a good target over there."

      "Oh no! I have to gather some firewood and get home quickly," said the small boy as he moved away pulling his empty sled.

      "Who’s the new fellow?" Nicholas enquired from the children when the boy was out of earshot.

      "That’s Frederick. He’s just moved into the village. His father had an accident at sea which paralysed him and now he has to stay in bed all day. The family is really poor so Frederick and his little brother Wilhelm don’t have any time to play because they are always helping their mother.

      Later, as Frederick was pulling his sled of firewood home, he had only one thing on his mind. He had heard so much about Nicholas and how he only left toys at the doors that had bags hanging on them. It was only a few days until Christmas and Frederick could imagine his little brother’s face if he had a new toy on Christmas morning, but how could he arrange it so that Nicholas would know that there was a little boy in the house? He looked everywhere for a bag without success.

      On Christmas Eve he tried to interest his mother in the problem.

      "Mother." he began slowly. "Mother, do you suppose we have a bag in the house?"

      "A bag! What sort of bag Frederick?" she inquired in astonishment.

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      "They’ve got long black hair," one boy cried out, "And the men wear rings in their ears," piped in another. "We couldn’t understand a word they spoke."

      "Slow down, Slow down," said Nicholas, "Who are you talking about?"

      "Strange people with dark skin and hair."

      "Did they have horses and carts with them?" asked Nicholas with a knowing look.

      "Yes, and big covered wagons." "They sound like gipsies to me," replied Nicholas, though they don’t usually come so far north. They must have lost their way, and now they’ll camp here until spring. There’s no need to be afraid of them. They are people just like you and me."

      Reassured, the children ran back into the grove to investigate these new people. They soon made friends with the gypsies and discovered that the children played the same games as them, as well as some interesting new ones. As Christmas drew near, they told the gypsy children about Nicholas, and how he drove up on Christmas Eve on a red sleigh pulled by eight shiny reindeer and filled their stockings with beautiful toys that he had made.

      "Once, when he couldn’t get into Kathy’s house because it was all boarded up, he climbed down the chimney!"

      "He can’t visit us," joked one gypsy girl, "We don’t have any

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