Mischief-Maker Eyes Machine

S. Alfred Pickles looked around the workshop. His beady eyes gazed longingly at the Appendapulator, the great toymaking machine of the North Pole.

"I'm interested in why I'm here," he said at last, but I'm more interested in how I got here."

"How you got here was by accident," Mrs. Claus said, "and we will be sending you back immediately. You are not welcome here."

"Who is this guy?" asked Gizmo.

"S. Alfred Pickles is a mean, greedy man who almost ruined Christmas a few years ago," said Jiller Elf. "He tried to take over the North Pole!"

"I merely offered my services in a time of crisis," said Pickles. "As I recall, Santa was off somewhere, and things weren't going very well up here. Where is the jolly old fellow, anyhow?"

"He's...er...busy at the moment," said Jiller.

S.Alfred Pickles smiled. "Elves are very good at a great many things," he said, "but lying is not one of them." He looked back at the Appendapulator. "I remember this machine. What do you call it? The Happydoppilator? A very useful device."

"It's called the Appendapulator, and I'm it's inventor," said Gizmo Elf.

"You use it to make toys," said Pickles. "What a waste. It could be used to make so many other things--furniture, sport-utility vehicles, lima bean sandwiches..."

It's a toymaking machine, and that's all it is," said Toby Elf.

"I think it's more than that," said S. Alfred Pickles. "I think you've made changes to it. I think it's what brought me here."

"You're wrong about that," said Mrs. Claus.

"You've been around elves too long, dear," said Pickles. "You can't lie very well either. I think you've changed this machine so that it can pop people and things anywhere, and I want it!"

"No!" shouted Gizmo, Toby, and Mrs. Claus. "Yep!" said Waldo, who must have been sitting in a corner somewhere. "It's really neat! Want to see how it works?"

What is going to happen next? Why is Waldo helping this greedy man? And how will Santa Claus make it back to the North Pole? Keep reading The North Pole Times to find out!