Ho--ho! Brrrr! spluttered the big man, coloring like a schoolboy and throwing back his head with a hearty laugh. "Ho--ho! Just as if--" He broke off with a quick lifting of his hand. The next moment he was escorting a plainly very much frightened little old lady from curb to curb. If his step were a bit more pompous, and his chest a bit more full, it must have been only an unconscious tribute to the watching eyes of the little girl back at the starting-point. A moment later, with a haughtily permissive wave of his hand toward the chafing drivers and chauffeurs, he strolled back to Pollyanna.

• Children's LitClassic