Chapter 3

At midnight, Mr. Curry climbed up the Browns' building and went onto the roof. He looked rather ridiculous dressed as Santa, but he knew that he was doing the Browns and Paddington a favor. He grunted to himself, "If this thing fails, I'll never do another favor for that bear again." Mr. Curry carefully placed himself inside the chimney and began to crawl down, when suddenly, he felt himself losing traction to the walls. Instantly, he collapsed and fell to the hearth of the fireplace. "Ouch!" he shouted. He looked up the chimney and then at his hands. Both were covered in marmalade!

Paddington had dozed off, but woke up to "Santa's" shout in pain. He saw "Santa" in the fireplace and instantly sprang to action. He pinned the fire screen in front of the fireplace so that Santa couldn't get out. Santa began to bang on the screen. "Bear!" he shouted. "Let me out of here! What do you think you're doing!"

"Greetings, Santa," Paddington greeted. "Where's your 'ho ho ho'?"

"I'll give you a real 'ho ho ho' as soon as I get out of this trap!" snapped Santa.

"I'm sorry, Santa, but I want to keep you for myself. Without you, I will never have marmalade sandwiches on demand," said Paddington. Santa growled. He then looked up the chimney and tried to climb up, but he only ended up slipping and falling back down. He then sighed and gave in.

"Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas," he grunted with no enthusiasm.

"Much better, Santa," said Paddington. "Now, do you have any presents for me?"

"No, I don't. Now let me out of here this instant!"

"But Mr. Gruber told me that Santa Claus gives presents to children all around the world," said Paddington.

Just then, "Santa" came up with a loophole that perhaps would set him free. "Well…uh…isn't that greedy of you to keep me to yourself? How can anyone else receive presents if I'm not there? How would you like it if someone prevented me from giving you a gift?"

Paddington licked his lips in thought. He considered the matter over a marmalade sandwich, which he conveniently kept in his hat. He munched on the sandwich. Then, he said, "You're right, Santa. It would be rather greedy of me. I'll set you free now." Paddington lifted the screen, and "Santa" darted out.

"Come here, bear!" Santa shouted as he chased Paddington around the living room.

"Help! Help!" cried Paddington.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown heard the ruckus from upstairs and went down to investigate. They saw Santa chasing a rather frightened Paddington.

"Santa! What are you doing to that poor bear?" gasped Mrs. Brown.

"Poor bear!" snapped "Santa." "That 'poor bear' caked the inside of the chimney with marmalade and then trapped me inside the fireplace so that I couldn't get out!"

The Browns turned to Paddington. "Is that true, Paddington?" asked Mr. Brown.

"Yes, it is true, but I regret my decision now," said Paddington.

"Now, Santa, does that sound like a reformed bear to you?" Mrs. Brown asked.

"Santa" only responded by grunting and walking out of the living room.

That Christmas morning, Paddington was overjoyed when he found a dozen jars of marmalade especially for him under the Christmas tree. He abruptly took half of them and walked out the door.

"Paddington, where are you going?" Mrs. Bird asked.

"I'm going to Mr. Curry's house. It's been a while since anyone's seen him. I think it would be a nice gesture to give him a present," said Paddington.

"That's very kind of you, dear," Mrs. Brown said.

"Yes. I think Mr. Curry would like that very much," Mr. Brown said, winking at Mrs. Brown.

Paddington hurried out the door to give his present to Mr. Curry. However, Mr. Curry was nowhere to be seen. Unbeknownst to Paddington and the Browns, Mr. Curry had been arrested earlier in the night for supposedly breaking into the Browns' residence. As Mr. Curry sat angrily in prison, he growled silently, "…bear…"

The End