In Quest Of St. Nick - No one was sitting on the red and white chair when I stepped into the toyland of a Middletown department store last week. “Where is he?” I whispered. The salesgirl looked carefully at me. I am not of the age that usually asks for him. “He’ll be in tomorrow," she said. The path to Santa Claus, I had found out, was not a straight and narrow one. It winds and twists among the stores of Middletown. In order to find the fellow, one must know his office hours as well as his office. He is in different places at different times. With my hands in my pockets, I surveyed the city's stores. Shielded hands allay all salesgirls’ suspicions that you are a shoplifter. One manager was very apologetic for Santa’s absence. “We have the best one in town,” he assured me. I found Santa Claus on the second floor of a dime store...