Three times on three consecutive St. Nicholas Eves the same old lady came in to Baas’ bakery, each time demanding a dozen St. Nicholas cookies and each time Baas told her to go to the “duyvel.” Each year his luck grew worse until he was nearly destitute.
Finally Baas was panicked. St. Nicholas Eve was approaching, and, if his St. Nicholas cookies failed him again this year, he would be out of business. He no longer thought his luck would change on its own; he felt he needed help. He went to the Dutch Church in the middle of Handelaers and Yonkers Streets and there he prayed to the Dutch St. Nicholas.
Suddenly St. Nicholas appeared before him. When he explained his plight, the kindly saint told him that he needed to be more generous and if he gave more, he would receive more good fortune. St. Nicholas told him to start with the old woman. St. Nicholas suggested giving her an extra cookie whenever she ordered a dozen.
Baas was thinking in his head that “St. Nicholas is a plockhead …” when suddenly St. Nicholas vanished and the old woman stood before him. She demanded a dozen St. Nicholas cookies.
Baas, remembering what St. Nicholas had told him, gave her 13 cookies while only charging her the normal price for a dozen of 12. She took the cookies and turned to him and said “The spell is broken!” Baas felt as if a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He knew that good times had returned and he would again be prosperous.
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