toymaker at the North Pole.brbrHe'd spent twelve years in Santa's Train and Fire Truck workshop, thirteen in the Dolls and Toy Soldiers Department, fourteen in Stuffing Various Animals and Gluing On Eyes, and a year and a half in Advanced Contraptions. He knew just about everything there was to know about making toys.brbrHe was also a prankster and a crank. He was quicker and older than the other elves, and he was impatient for amusement. "I am bored!" he often shouted. Sometimes, when the other elves were having to concentrate on their work, he would tie their stocking caps together. Then he would step back and laugh and laugh. Or he would give one of them a fig bar and say it was a brownie in a tan coat--just to fool them. Or he would hide in the beams of the workshop and drop
ice balls or gumdrops or sometimes an entire box of straight pins right into their projects. He would wring his hands and a puckish magic would flow out of his fingers. He caused apple pies to appear briefly on everybody's head.brbrIn short, Aben was no help at all.brbrLately Aben had even been putting on airs, dressing up in his Sunday best, lighting up Havana cigars as thick as thumbs. He refused to say good morning to some of the elves, whose brains he felt were slipshod and full of strawberry jam. He rarely wore the standard elf outfit of flannel coveralls, stocking cap, and jingle bells. Mostly he dressed in wool gabardines, a herringbone vest, a blouse with a
silk cravat, and a swallowtail
coat made of velveteen. When another elf approached him for assistance with a toy train or for advice on a particularly advanced contraption, Aben would lean back agains?Ð
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