It is a night of mystery. When everybody is in bed, except the policeman, down the chimney comes an old gentleman in a red cloak, bordered with white wool, carrying over his back an immense sack stuffed with toys and bonbons, which he empties into the stocking so good little boys and girls asleep in their cots.

The policeman does not see the old housebreaker; the black soot does not smirch his beautiful red and white cloak; the smallest chimney on the humblest roof in all the world is wide enough for his descent, sack and all. The fact is, Santa Clause, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Bonhomme Noel, Knecht Clobes or whatever else children may call the old gentleman with the sack -- the fact is, he is a spirit.

He is the spirit of that good St. Nicholas who went about doing generous acts in secret; who slipped money, silver and gold, through the keyholes or under the doors of poor people, and made homes happy without letting anyone know how it happened. Nicholas was a kind man and now he is a kind spirit.