From W.Y. Traveller - Sleigh bells.

'But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"'

Holmes sighed as the last Irregular clattered down the stairs and slammed the front door after him. "Really, Watson... you ought to know better than to encourage the boys in such superstitious nonsense."

"Oh, come now, Holmes!" Watson looked up from the pamphlet he was idly rereading with a benign smile. "Don't tell me you never believed in Father Christmas at that age."

Holmes gave a scornful sniff, but Watson was persistent. "Never listened for sleigh bells on Christmas Eve? Reindeer hooves on the roof?"

The detective snorted, but Watson thought he saw a sheepish gleam in his friend's eye. "Holmes?"

"Well... I may once have left the back door unlocked..." Holmes blushed scarlet at Watson's shout of laughter. "I didn't believe in flying reindeer, all right?! If I recall correctly, my reasoning was that if Saint Nicholas were, against all odds, to arrive, he would seek an easier way in than a soot-covered chimney! And you can stop that snickering this instant!"