“When they started building those great big apartment houses,” Daddy said, “Santa Claus was paying close attention.
“‘Now,’ he said to himself, ‘I must think out a way to reach the children who’ll be living in those buildings.’
“The people went on building — floor after floor rising up, one on top of the other — and they were so busy watching it all come together that they didn’t give much thought to Santa Claus and his yearly visit, which, when you think about it, is worth rather more than most things that happen in a year.
“Then the builders started putting in fire escapes. All the new tall buildings, they decided, needed a way out in case of fire. So they ran fire escapes top to bottom on every side, so that no family would be without one.
“‘Well,’ said Santa Claus, as he drove his reindeer across the city rooftops one night to check on things, ‘now I know exactly what to do.’
“And so, when Santa visits city homes that have no chimney, he leaves his reindeer on the roof and goes down the fire escape — floor by floor, home by home — in with his pack. Because did you ever know any place so tightly locked that Santa Claus couldn’t find a way in?
“He visits cities and villages and farms. He just goes about things a little differently depending on the house. But it makes no difference what people build — Santa Claus is Santa Claus, and he will always find his way to the children on Christmas.”
