Cowboy Night Before Christmas

Santa Claus was doing all right Christmas Eve until he hit the Southwestern Panhandle country. As soon as he did, a blue norther sweeping across the prairies sent his reindeer fleeing for the comparative warmth of the North Pole. Santa—Stetsoned, booted, and bundled to his nose—stomped through the blizzard until he came to a small sod shanty and corral. A dim flicker of firelight came through the whistling cracks in the door