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diff --git a/38279.txt b/38279.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4869c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/38279.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2231 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of How John Norton the Trapper Kept His +Christmas, by W. H. H. Murray + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: How John Norton the Trapper Kept His Christmas + +Author: W. H. H. Murray + +Release Date: December 11, 2011 [EBook #38279] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW JOHN NORTON KEPT HIS CHRISTMAS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + + +[Frontispiece: John Norton] + + + + + +HOW + +JOHN NORTON THE TRAPPER + +KEPT HIS CHRISTMAS + + + +BY + +W. H. H. MURRAY + + + + +BOSTON: + +DE WOLFE, FISKE & CO. + +364 AND 365 WASHINGTON STREET. + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1890, + +BY DE WOLFE, FISKE & CO. + + + + +HOW JOHN NORTON THE TRAPPER + KEPT HIS CHRISTMAS. + + + + +I. + +A cabin. A cabin in the woods. In the cabin a great fireplace piled +high with logs, fiercely ablaze. On either side of the broad +hearth-stone a hound sat on his haunches, looking gravely, as only a +hound in a meditative mood can, into the glowing fire. In the centre +of the cabin, whose every nook and corner was bright with the ruddy +firelight, stood a wooden table, strongly built and solid. At the +table sat John Norton, poring over a book,--a book large of size, with +wooden covers bound in leather, brown with age, and smooth as with the +handling of many generations. The whitened head of the old man was +bowed over the broad page, on which one hand rested, with the +forefinger marking the sentence. A cabin in the woods filled with +firelight, a table, a book, an old man studying the book. This was the +scene on Christmas Eve. Outside, the earth was white with snow, and in +the blue sky above the snow was the white moon. + +"It says here," said the Trapper, speaking to himself, "it says here, +'Give to him that lacketh, and from him that hath not, withhold not +thine hand.' It be a good sayin' fur sartin; and the world would be a +good deal better off, as I conceit, ef the folks follered the sayin' a +leetle more closely." And here the old man paused a moment, and, with +his hand still resting on the page, and his forefinger still pointing +at the sentence, seemed pondering what he had been reading. At last he +broke the silence again, saying,-- + +"Yis, the world would be a good deal better off, ef the folks in it +follered the sayin';" and then he added, "There's another spot in the +book I'd orter look at to-night; it's a good ways furder on, but I +guess I can find it. Henry says that the furder on you git in the +book, the better it grows, and I conceit the boy may be right; for +there be a good deal of murderin' and fightin' in the fore part of the +book, that don't make pleasant readin', and what the Lord wanted to put +it in fur is a good deal more than a man without book-larnin' can +understand. Murderin' be murderin', whether it be in the Bible or out +of the Bible; and puttin' it in the Bible, and sayin' it was done by +the Lord's commandment, don't make it any better. And a good deal of +the fightin' they did in the old time was sartinly without reason and +ag'in jedgment, specially where they killed the women-folks and the +leetle uns." And while the old man had thus been communicating with +himself, touching the character of much of the Old Testament, he had +been turning the leaves until he had reached the opening chapters of +the New, and had come to the description of the Saviour's birth, and +the angelic announcement of it on the earth. Here he paused, and began +to read. He read as an old man unaccustomed to letters must +read,--slowly and with a show of labor, but with perfect contentment as +to his progress, and a brightening face. + +"This isn't a trail a man can hurry on onless he spends a good deal of +his time on it, or is careless about notin' the signs, fur the words be +weighty, and a man must stop at each word, and look around awhile, in +order to git all the meanin' out of 'em--yis, a man orter travel this +trail a leetle slow, ef he wants to see all there is to see on it." + +Then the old man began to read:-- + +"'Then there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly +host,'--the exact number isn't sot down here," he muttered; "but I +conceit there may have been three or four hunderd,--'praisin' God and +singin', Glory to God in the highest, and on 'arth, peace to men of +good will.' That's right," said the Trapper. "Yis, peace to men of +good will. That be the sort that desarve peace; the other kind orter +stand their chances." And here the old man closed the book,--closed it +slowly, and with the care we take of a treasured thing; closed it, +fastened the clasps, and carried it to the great chest whence he had +taken it, putting it away in its place. Having done this, he returned +to his seat, and, moving the chair in front of the fire, he looked +first at one hound, and then at the other, and said, "Pups, this be +Christmas Eve, and I sartinly trust ye be grateful fur the comforts ye +have." + +He said this deliberately, as if addressing human companions. The two +hounds turned their heads toward their master, looked placidly into his +face, and wagged their tails. + +[Illustration: The two hounds turned their heads toward their master.] + +"Yis, yis, I understand ye," said the Trapper, "Ye both be comfortable, +and, I dare say, that arter yer way ye both be grateful, fur, next to +eatin', a dog loves the heat, and ye be nigh enough to the logs to be +toastin'. Yis, this be Christmas Eve," continued the old man, "and in +the settlements the folks be gittin' ready their gifts. The young +people be tyin' up the evergreens, and the leetle uns be onable to +sleep because of their dreamin'. It's a pleasant pictur', and I +sartinly wish I could see the merrymakin's, as Henry has told me of +them, some time, but I trust it may be in his own house, and with his +own children." With this pleasant remark, in respect to the one he +loved so well, the old man lapsed into silence. But the peaceful +contentment of his face, as the firelight revealed it, showed plainly +that, though his lips moved not, his mind was still active with +pleasant thoughts of the one whose name he had mentioned, and whom he +so fondly loved. At last a more sober look came to his countenance,--a +look of regret, of self-reproach, the look of a man who remembers +something he should not have forgotten,--and he said,-- + +"I ax the Lord to pardin me, that in the midst of my plenty I have +forgot them that may be in want. The shanty sartinly looked open +enough the last time I fetched the trail past the clearin', and though +with the help of the moss and the clay in the bank she might make it +comfortable, yit, ef the vagabond that be her husband has forgot his +own, and desarted them, as Wild Bill said he had, I doubt ef there be +victuals enough in the shanty to keep them from starvin'. Yis, pups," +said the old man, rising, "it'll be a good tramp through the snow, but +we'll go in the mornin', and see ef the woman be in want. The boy +himself said, when he stopped at the shanty last summer, afore he went +out, that he didn't see how they was to git through the winter, and I +reckon he left the woman some money, by the way she follered him toward +the boat; and he told me to bear them in mind when the snow came, and +see to it they didn't suffer. I might as well git the pack-basket out, +and begin to put the things in't, fur it be a goodly distance, and an +early start will make the day pleasant to the woman and the leetle uns, +ef vict'als be scant in the cupboard. Yis, I'll git the pack-basket +out, and look round a leetle, and see what I can find to take 'em. I +don't conceit it'll make much of a show, fur what might be good fur a +man, won't be of sarvice to a woman; and as fur the leetle uns, I don't +know ef I've got a single thing but vict'als that'll fit 'em. Lord! ef +I was near the settlements, I might swap a dozen skins fur jest what I +wanted to give 'em; but I'll git the basket out, and look round and see +what I've got." + +In a moment the great pack-basket had been placed in the middle of the +floor, and the Trapper was busy overhauling his stores to see what he +could find that would make a fitting Christmas gift for those he was to +visit on the morrow. A canister of tea was first deposited on the +table, and, after he had smelled of it, and placed a few grains of it +on his tongue, like a connoisseur, he proceeded to pour more than half +of its contents into a little bark box, and, having carefully tied the +cover, he placed it in the basket. + +"The yarb be of the best," said the old man, putting his nose to the +mouth of the canister, and taking a long sniff before he inserted the +stopple--"the yarb be of the best, fur the smell of it goes into the +nose strong as mustard. That be good fur the woman fur sartin, and +will cheer her sperits when she be downhearted; fur a woman takes as +naterally to tea as an otter to his slide, and I warrant it'll be an +amazin' comfort to her, arter the day's work be over, more specially ef +the work had been heavy, and gone sorter crosswise. Yis, the yarb be +good fur a woman when things go crosswise, and the box'll be a great +help to her many and many a night beyend doubt. The Lord sartinly had +women in mind when he made the yarb, and a kindly feelin' fur their +infarmities, and, I dare say, they be grateful accordin' to their +knowledge." + +A large cake of maple-sugar followed the tea into the basket, and a +small chest of honey accompanied it. + +"That's honest sweetenin'," remarked the Trapper with decided emphasis; +"and that is more'n ye can say of the sugar of the settlements, +leastwise ef a man can jedge by the stuff they peddle at the clearin'. +The bees be no cheats; and a man who taps his own trees, and biles the +runnin' into sugar under his own eye, knows what kind of sweetenin' +he's gittin'. The woman won't find any sand in her teeth when she +takes a bite from that loaf, or stirs a leetle of the honey in the cup +she's steepin'." + +Some salt and pepper were next added to the packages already in the +basket. A sack of flour and another of Indian-meal followed. A +generous round of pork, and a bag of jerked venison, that would balance +a twenty-pound weight, at least, went into the pack. On these, several +large-sized salmon-trout, that had been smoked by the Trapper's best +skill, were laid. These offerings evidently exhausted the old man's +resources, for, after looking round a while, and searching the cupboard +from bottom to top, he returned to the basket, and contemplated it with +satisfaction, indeed, yet with a face slightly shaded with +disappointment. + +"The vict'als be all right," he said, "fur there be enough to last 'em +a month, and they needn't scrimp themselves either. But eatin' isn't +all, and the leetle uns was nigh on to naked the last time I seed 'em; +and the woman's dress, in spite of the patchin', looked as ef it would +desart her, ef she didn't keep a close eye on't. Lord! Lord! what +shall I do? fur there's room enough in the basket, and the woman and +the leetle uns need garments; that is, it's more'n likely they do, and +I haven't a garment in the cabin to take 'em." + +"Hillo! Hillo! John Norton! John Norton! Hillo!" The voice came +sharp and clear, cutting keenly through the frosty air and the cabin +walls. "John Norton!" + +"Wild Bill!" exclaimed the Trapper. "I sartinly hope the vagabond +hasn't been a-drinkin'. His voice sounds as ef he was sober; but the +chances be ag'in the signs, fur, ef he isn't drunk, the marcy of the +Lord or the scarcity of liquor has kept him from it. I'll go to the +door, and see what he wants. It's sartinly too cold to let a man stand +in the holler long, whether he be sober or drunk;" with which remark +the Trapper stepped to the door, and flung it open. + +"What is it, Wild Bill? what is it?" he called. "Be ye drunk, or be ye +sober, that ye stand there shoutin' in the cold with a log cabin within +a dozen rods of ye?" + +"Sober, John Norton, sober. Sober as a Moravian preacher at a funeral." + +"Yer trappin' must have been mighty poor, then, Wild Bill, for the last +month, or the Dutchman at the clearin' has watered his liquor by a +wrong measure for once. But ef ye be sober, why do ye stand there +whoopin' like an Indian, when the ambushment is onkivered and the +bushes be alive with the knaves? Why don't ye come into the cabin, +like a sensible man, ef ye be sober? The signs be ag'in ye, Wild Bill; +yis, the signs be ag'in ye." + +"Come into the cabin!" retorted Bill. "An' so I would mighty lively, +ef I could; but the load is heavy, and your path is as slippery as the +plank over the creek at the Dutchman's, when I've two horns aboard." + +"Load! What load have ye been draggin' through the woods?" exclaimed +the Trapper. "Ye talk as ef my cabin was the Dutchman's, and ye was +balancin' on the plank at this minit." + +"Come and see for yourself," answered Wild Bill, "and give me a lift. +Once in your cabin, and in front of your fire, I'll answer all the +questions you may ask. But I'll answer no more until I'm inside the +door." + +"Ye be sartinly sober to-night," answered the Trapper, laughing, as he +started down the hill, "fur ye talk sense, and that's more'n a man can +do when he talks through the nozzle of a bottle. + +"Lord-a-massy!" exclaimed the old man as he stood over the sled, and +saw the huge box that was on it. "Lord-a-massy, Bill! what a tug ye +must have had! and how ye come to be sober with sech a load behind ye +is beyend the reckinin' of a man who has knowed ye nigh on to twenty +year. I never knowed ye disappoint one arter this fashion afore." + +"It is strange, I confess," answered Wild Bill, appreciating the humor +that lurked in the honesty of the old man's utterance. "It is strange, +that's a fact, for it's Christmas Eve, and I ought to be roaring drunk +at the Dutchman's this very minit, according to custom; but I pledged +him to get the box through jest as he wanted it done, and that I +wouldn't touch a drop of liquor until I had done it. And here it is +according to promise, for here I am sober, and here is his box." + +"H'ist along, Bill, h'ist along!" exclaimed the Trapper, who suddenly +became alive with interest, for he surmised whence the box had come. +"H'ist along, Bill, I say, and have done with yer talkin', and let's +see what ye have got on yer sled. It's strange that a man of your +sense will stand jibberin' here in the snow with a roarin' fire within +a dozen rods of ye." + +Whatever retort Wild Bill may have contemplated, it was effectually +prevented by the energy with which the Trapper pushed the sled after +him. Indeed, it was all he could do to keep it off his heels, so +earnestly did the old man propel it from behind; and so, with many a +slip and scramble on the part of Wild Bill, and a continued muttering +on the part of the Trapper about the "nonsense of a man's jibberin' in +the snow arter a twenty-mile drag, with a good fire within a dozen rods +of him," the sled was shot through the doorway into the cabin, and +stood fully revealed in the bright blaze of the firelight. + +"Take off yer coat and yer moccasins, Wild Bill," exclaimed the +Trapper, as he closed the door, "and git in front of the fire; pull out +the coals, and set the tea-pot a-steepin'. The yarb will take the +chill out of ye better than the pizen of the Dutchman. Ye'll find a +haunch of venison in the cupboard that I roasted to-day, and some +johnny-cake; I doubt ef either be cold. Help yerself, help yerself, +Bill, while I take a peep at the box." + +No one can appreciate the intensity of the old man's feelings in +reference to the mysterious box, unless he calls to mind the strictness +with which he was wont to interpret and fulfil the duties of +hospitality. To him the coming of a guest was a welcome event, and the +service which the latter might require of the host both a sacred and +pleasant obligation. To serve a guest with his own hand, which he did +with a natural courtesy peculiar to himself, was his delight. Nor did +it matter with him what the quality of the guest might be. The +wandering trapper or the vagabond Indian was served with as sincere +attention as the richest visitor from the city. But now his feelings +were so stirred by the sight of the box thus strangely brought to him, +and by his surmise touching who the sender might be, that Wild Bill was +left to help himself without the old man's attendance. + +It was evident that Bill was equal to the occasion, and was not aware +of the slightest neglect. At least, his actions were not, by the +neglect of the Trapper, rendered less decided, or the quality of his +appetite affected, for the examination he made of the old man's +cupboard, and the familiarity with which he handled the contents, made +it evident that he was not in the least abashed, or uncertain how to +proceed; for he attacked the provisions with the energy of a man who +had fasted long, and who has at last not only come suddenly to an ample +supply of food, but also feels that for a few moments, at least, he +will be unobserved. The Trapper turned toward the box, and approached +it for a deliberate examination. + +"The boards be sawed," he said, "and they come from the mills of the +settlement, for the smoothin'-plane has been over 'em." Then he +inspected the jointing, and noted how truly the edges were drawn. + +"The box has come a goodly distance," he said to himself, "fur there +isn't a workman this side of the Horicon that could j'int it in that +fashion. There sartinly orter be some letterin', or a leetle bit of +writin', somewhere about the chest, tellin' who the box belonged to, +and to whom it was sent." Saying this, the old man unlashed the box +from the sled, and rolled it over, so that the side might come +uppermost. As no direction appeared on the smoothly planed surface, he +rolled it half over again. A little white card neatly tacked to the +board was now revealed. The Trapper stooped, and on the card read,-- + + JOHN NORTON, + TO THE CARE OF WILD BILL. + + +"Yis, the 'J' be his'n," muttered the old man, as he spelled out the +word J-o-h-n, "and the big 'N' be as plain as an otter-trail in the +snow. The boy don't make his letters over-plain, as I conceit, but the +'J' and the 'N' be his'n." And then he paused for a full minute, his +head bowed over the box. "The boy don't forgit," he murmured, and he +wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "The boy don't forgit." And +then he added, "No, he isn't one of the forgittin' kind. Wild Bill," +said the Trapper, as he turned toward that personage, whose attack on +the venison haunch was as determined as ever, "Wild Bill, this box be +from Henry!" + +"I shouldn't wonder," answered that individual, speaking from a mass of +edibles that filled his mouth. + +"And it be a Christmas gift!" continued the old man. + +"It looks so," returned Bill, as laconically as before. + +"And it be a mighty heavy box!" said the Trapper. + +"You'd 'a' thought so, if you had dragged it over the mile-and-a-half +carry. It was good sleddin' on the river, but the carry took the stuff +out of me." + +"Very like, very like," responded the Trapper; "fur the gullies be deep +on the carry, and it must have been slippery haulin'. Didn't ye git a +leetle 'arnest in yer feelin's, Bill, afore ye got to the top of the +last ridge?" + +"Old man," answered Bill as he wheeled his chair toward the Trapper, +with a pint cup of tea in the one hand, and wiping his mustache with +the coat-sleeve of the other, "I got it to the top three times, or +within a dozen feet from the top, and each time it got away from me and +went to the bottom agin; for the roots was slippery, and I couldn't git +a grip on the toe of my moccasins; but I held on the rope, and I got to +the bottom neck and neck with the sled every time." + +"Ye did well, ye did well," responded the Trapper, laughing; "fur a +loaded sled goes down-hill mighty fast when the slide is a steep un, +and a man who gits to the bottom as quick as the sled must have a good +grip, and be considerably in 'arnest. But ye got her up finally by the +same path, didn't ye?" + +"Yes, I got her up," returned Bill. "The fourth time I went for that +ridge, I fetched her to the top, for I was madder than a hornet." + +"And what did ye do, Bill?" continued the Trapper. "What did ye do +when ye got to the top?" + +"I jest tied that sled to a sapling so it wouldn't git away agin, and I +got on to the top of that box, and I talked to that gulch a minit or +two in a way that satisfied my feelings." + +"I shouldn't wonder," answered the Trapper, laughing, "fur ye must have +been a good deal riled. But ye did well to git the box through, and ye +got here in time, and ye've 'arnt yer wages; and now, ef ye'll tell me +how much I am to pay ye, ye shall have yer money, and ye needn't scrimp +yourself on the price, Wild Bill, for the drag has been a hard un; so +tell me yer price, and I'll count ye out the money." + +"Old man," answered Bill, "I didn't bring that box through for money, +and I won't take a"-- + +Perhaps Wild Bill was about to emphasize his refusal by some verbal +addition to the simple statement, but, if it was his intention, he +checked himself, and said, "a cent." + +"It's well said," answered the Trapper; "yis, it's well said, and does +jestice to yer feelin's, I don't doubt; but an extra pair of breeches +one of these days wouldn't hurt ye, and the money won't come amiss." + +"I tell ye, old man," returned Wild Bill earnestly, "I won't take a +cent. I'll allow there's several colors in my trousers, for I've +patched in a dozen different pieces off and on, and I doubt, as ye +hint, if the patching holds together much longer; but I've eaten at +your table and slept in your cabin more than once, John Norton, and +whether I've come to it sober or drunk, your door was never shut in my +face, and I don't forget either that the man who sent you that box +fished me from the creek one day, when I had walked into it with two +bottles of the Dutchman's whiskey in my pocket, and not one cent of +your money or his will I take for bringing the box in to you." + +"Have it yer own way, ef ye will," said the Trapper; "but I won't +forgit the deed ye have did, and the boy won't forgit it neither. +Come, let's clear away the vict'als, and we'll open the box. It's +sartinly a big un, and I would like to see what he has put inside of +it." + +The opening of the box was a spectacle such as gladdens the heart to +see. At such moments the countenance of the Trapper was as facile in +the changefulness of its expression as that of a child. The passing +feelings of his soul found an adequate mirror in his face, as the white +clouds of a summer day find full reflection in the depth of a tranquil +lake. He was not too old or too learned to be wise, for the wisdom of +hearty happiness was his,--the wisdom of being glad, and gladly showing +it. + +As for Wild Bill, the best of his nature was in the ascendant, and with +the curiosity and pleasure of a child, and a happiness as sincere as if +the box was his own, he assisted at the opening. + +"The man who made this box did the work in a workmanlike fashion," said +the Trapper, as he strove to insert the edge of his hatchet into the +jointing of the cover, "fur he shet these boards together like the +teeth of a bear-trap when the bars be well 'iled. It's a pity the boy +didn't send him along with the box, Wild Bill, fur it sartinly looks as +ef we should have to kindle a fire on it, and burn a hole in through +the cover." + +At last, by dint of great exertion, and with the assistance of Wild +Bill and the poker, the cover of the box was wrenched off, and the +contents were partially revealed. + +"Glory to God, Wild Bill!" exclaimed the Trapper. "Here be yer +breeches!" and he held up a pair of pantaloons made of the stoutest +Scotch stuff. "Yis, here be yer breeches, fur here on the waistband be +pinned a bit of paper, and on it be written, 'Fur Wild Bill.' And here +be a vest to match; and here be a jacket; and here be two pairs of +socks in the pockets of the jacket; and here be two woollen shirts, one +packed away in each sleeve. And here!" shouted the old man, as he +turned up the lapel of the coat, "Wild Bill, look here! Here be a +five-dollar note!" and the old man swung one of the socks over his +head, and shouted, "Hurrah for Wild Bill!" And the two hounds, +catching the enthusiasm of their master, lifted their muzzles into the +air, and bayed deep and long, till the cabin fairly shook with the +joyful uproar of man and dogs. + +It is doubtful if any gift ever took the recipient more by surprise +than this bestowed upon Wild Bill. It is true that, judged by the law +of strict deserts, the poor fellow had not deserved much of the world, +and certainly the world had not forgotten to be strictly just in his +case, for it had not given him much. It is a question if he had ever +received a gift before in all his life, certainly not one of any +considerable value. His reception of this generous and thoughtful +provision for his wants was characteristic both of his training and his +nature. + +The old Trapper, as he had ended his cheering, flung the pantaloons, +the vest, the jacket, the socks, the shirts, and the money into his lap. + +For a moment the poor fellow sat looking at the warm and costly +garments that he held in his hands, silent in an astonishment too +profound for speech, and then, recovering the use of his organs, he +gasped forth,-- + +"I swear!" and then broke down, and sobbed like a child. + +The Trapper, kneeling beside the box, looked at the poor fellow with a +face radiant with happiness, while his mouth was stretched with +laughter, utterly unconscious that tears were brimming his own eyes. + +"Old Trapper," said Wild Bill, rising to his feet, and holding the +garments forth in his hands, "this is the first present I ever received +in my life. I have been kicked and cussed, sneered at and taunted, and +I deserved it all. But no man ever gave me a lift, or showed he cared +a cent whether I starved or froze, lived or died. You know, John +Norton, what a fool I've been, and what has ruined me, and that when +sober I'm more of a man than many who hoot me. And here I swear, old +man, that while a button is on this jacket, or two threads of these +breeches hold together, I'll never touch a drop of liquor, sick or +well, living or dying, so help me God! and there's my hand on it." + +"Amen!" exclaimed the Trapper, as he sprang to his feet, and clasped in +his own strong palm the hand that the other had stretched out to him. +"The Lord in his marcy be nigh ye when tempted, Bill, and keep ye true +to yer pledge!" + +[Illustration: Clasped in his own strong palm] + +Of all the pleasant sights that the angels of God, looking from their +high homes, saw on earth that Christmas Eve, perhaps not one was dearer +in their eyes than the spectacle here described,--the two sturdy men +standing with their hands clasped in solemn pledge of the reformation +of the one, and the helping sympathy of the other, above that +Christmas-box in the cabin in the woods. + +It is not necessary to follow in detail the Trapper's further +examination of the box. The reader's imagination, assisted by many a +happy reminiscence, will enable him to realize the scene. There was a +small keg of powder, a large plug of lead, a little chest of tea, a bag +of sugar, and also one of coffee. There were nails, matches, thread, +buttons, a woollen under-jacket, a pair of mittens, and a cap of +choicest fur, made of an otter's skin that Henry himself had trapped a +year before. All these and other packages were taken out one by one, +carefully examined, and characteristically commented on by the Trapper, +and passed to Wild Bill, who in turn inspected and commented on them, +and then laid them carefully on the table. Beneath these packages was +a thin board, constituting a sort of division between its upper and +lower half. + +"There seems to be a sort of cellar to this box," said the Trapper, as +he sat looking at the division. "I shouldn't be surprised ef the boy +himself was in here somewhere, so be ready, Bill, fur anything, fur the +Lord only knows what's underneath this board." Saying which, the old +man thrust his hand under one end of the division, and pulled out a +bundle loosely tied with a string, which became unfastened as the +Trapper lifted the roll from its place in the box, and, as he shook it +open, and held its contents at arm's length up to the light, the +startled eyes of Wild Bill, and the earnest gaze of the Trapper, beheld +a woman's dress! + +"Heavens and 'arth, Bill!" exclaimed the Trapper, "what's this?" And +then a flash of light crossed his face, in the illumination of which +the look of wonder vanished, and, dropping upon his knees, he flung the +dividing board out of the box, and his companion and himself saw at a +glance what was underneath. + +Children's shoes, and dresses of warmest stuffs; tippets and mittens; a +full suit for a little boy, boots and all; a jack-knife and whistle; +two dolls dressed in brave finery, with flaxen hair and blue eyes; a +little hatchet; a huge ball of yarn, and a hundred and one things +needed in the household; and underneath all a Bible; and under that a +silver star on a blue field, and pinned to the silk a scrap of paper, +on which was written,-- + +"Hang this over the picture of the lad." + +"Ay, ay," said the Trapper in a tremulous voice, as he looked at the +silver star, "it shall be done as ye say, boy; but the lad has got +beyend the clouds, and is walkin' a trail that is lighted from eend to +eend by a light clearer and brighter than ever come from the shinin' of +any star. I hope we may be found worthy to walk it with him, boy, when +we, too, have come to the edge of the Great Clearin'." + +To the Trapper it was perfectly evident for whom the contents of the +box were intended; but the sender had left nothing in doubt, for, when +the old man had lifted from the floor the board that he had flung out, +he discovered some writing traced with heavy pencilling on the wood, +and which without much effort he spelled out to Wild Bill,-- + +"Give these on Christmas Day to the woman at the dismal hut, and a +merry Christmas to you all." + +"Ay, ay," said the Trapper, "it shall be did, barrin' accident, as ye +say; and a merry Christmas it'll make fur us all. Lord-a-massy! what +will the poor woman say when she and her leetle uns git these warm +garments on? There be no trouble about fillin' the basket now; no, I +sartinly can't git half of the stuff in. Wild Bill, I guess ye'll have +to do some more sleddin' to-morrow, fur these presents must go over the +mountain in the mornin', ef we have to harness up the pups." And then +he told his companion of the poor woman and the children, and his +intended visit to them on the morrow. + +"I fear," he said, "that they be havin' a hard time of it, 'specially +ef her husband has desarted her." + +"Little good would he do her, if he was with her," answered Wild Bill, +"for he's a lazy knave when he's sober, and a thief as well, as you and +I know, John Norton; for he's fingered our traps more than once, and +swapped the skins for liquor at the Dutchman's; but he's thieved once +too many times, for the folks in the settlement has ketched him in the +act, and they put him in the jail for six months, as I heard day before +yesterday." + +"I'm glad on't; yis, I'm glad on't," answered the Trapper; "and I hope +they'll keep him there till they've larnt him how to work. I've had my +eye on the knave fur a good while, and the last time I seed him I told +him ef he fingered any more of my traps, I'd larn him the commandments +in a way he wouldn't forgit; and, as I had him in hand, and felt a +leetle like talkin' that mornin', I gin him a piece of my mind, techin' +his treatment of his wife and leetle uns, that he didn't relish, I +fancy, fur he winced and squirmed like a fox in a trap. Yis, I'm glad +they've got the knave, and I hope they'll keep him till he's answered +fur his misdoin'; but I'm sartinly afeered the poor woman be havin' a +hard time of it." + +"I fear so, too," answered Wild Bill; "and if I can do anything to help +you in your plans, jest say the word, and I'm your man to back or haul, +jest as you want me." + +And so it was arranged that they should go over the mountain together +on the morrow, and take the provisions and the gifts that were in the +box to the poor woman; and, after talking awhile of the happiness their +visit would give, the two men, happy in their thoughts, and with their +hearts full of that peace which passeth the understanding of the +selfish, laid themselves down to sleep; and over the two,--the one +drawing to the close of an honorable and well-spent life, the other +standing at the middle of a hitherto useless existence, but facing the +future with a noble resolution,--over the two, as they slept, the +angels of Christmas kept their watch. + + + + +II. + +On the other side of the mountain stood the dismal hut; and the stars +of that blessed eve had shone down upon the lonely clearing in which it +stood, and the smooth white surface of the frozen and snow-covered lake +which lay in front of it, as brightly as they had shone on the cabin of +the Trapper; but no friendly step had made its trail in the surrounding +snow, and no blessed gift had been brought to its solitary door. + +As the evening wore on, the great clearing round about it remained +drearily void of sound or motion, and filled only with the white +stillness of the frosty, snow-lighted night. Once, indeed, a wolf +stole from underneath the dark balsams into the white silence, and, +running up a huge log that lay aslant a ledge of rocks, looked across +and round the great opening in the woods, stood a moment, then gave a +shivering sort of a yelp, and scuttled back under the shadows of the +forest, as if its darkness was warmer than the frozen stillness of the +open space. An owl, perched somewhere amid the pine-tops, snug and +warm within the cover of its arctic plumage, engaged from time to time +in solemn gossip with some neighbor that lived on the opposite shore of +the lake. And once a raven, roosting on the dry bough of a +lightning-blasted pine, dreamed that the white moonlight was the light +of dawn, and began to stir his sable wings, and croak a harsh welcome; +but awakened by his blunder, and ashamed of his mistake, he broke off +in the very midst of his discordant call, and again settled gloomily +down amid his black plumes to his interrupted repose, making by his +sudden silence the surrounding silence more silent than before. It +seemed as if the very angels, who, we are taught, fly abroad over all +the earth that blessed night, carrying gifts to every household, had +forgotten the cabin in the woods, and had left it to the cold +hospitality of unsympathetic nature. + +[Illustration: Running up a huge log that lay aslant a ledge of rocks] + +Within the lonely hut, which thus seemed forgotten of Heaven itself, +sat a woman huddling her young--two girls and a boy. The fireplace was +of monstrous proportions, and the chimney yawned upward so widely that +one looking up the sooty passage might see the stars shining overhead. +A little fire burned feebly in the huge stone recess: scant warmth +might such a fire yield, kindled in such a fireplace, to those around +it. Indeed, the little flame seemed conscious of its own inability, +and burned with a wavering and mistrustful flicker, as if it was +discouraged in view of the task set before it, and had more than half +concluded to go out altogether. + +The cabin was of large size, and undivided into apartments. The little +fire was only able to illuminate the central section, and more than +half of the room was hidden in utter darkness. The woman's face, which +the faint flame over which she was crouched revealed with painful +clearness, showed pale and haggard. The induration of exposure and the +tightening lines of hunger sharpened and marred a countenance which, a +happier fortune would have kept even comely. It had that old look +about it which comes from wretchedness rather than age, and the +weariness of its expression was pitiful to see. Was it work or vain +waiting for happier fortunes that made her look so tired? Alas! the +weariness of waiting for what we long for, and long for purely, but +which never comes! Is it the work or the longing--the long +longing--that has put the silver in your head, friend, and scarred the +smooth bloom of your cheeks, my lady, with those ugly lines? + +"Mother, I'm hungry," said the little boy, looking up into the woman's +face. "Can't I have just a little more to eat?" + +"Be still," answered the woman sharply, speaking in the tones of vexed +inability. "I've given you almost the last morsel in the house." + +The boy said nothing more, but nestled up more closely to his mother's +knee, and stuck one little stockingless foot out until the cold toes +were half hidden in the ashes. O warmth! blessed warmth! how pleasant +art thou to old and young alike! Thou art the emblem of life, as thy +absence is the evidence and sign of life's cold opposite. Would that +all the cold toes in the world could get to my grate to-night, and all +the shivering ones be gathered to this fireside! Ay, and that the +children of poverty, that lack for bread, might get their hungry hands +into that well-filled cupboard there, too! + +In a moment the woman said, "You children had better go to bed. You'll +be warmer in the rags than in this miserable fireplace." + +The words were harshly spoken, as if the very presence of the children, +cold and hungry as they were, was a vexation to her; and they moved off +in obedience to her command. + +O cursed poverty! I know thee to be of Satan, for I myself have eaten +at thy scant table, and slept in thy cold bed. And never yet have I +seen thee bring one smile to human lips, or dry one tear as it fell +from a human eye. But I have seen thee sharpen the tongue for biting +speech, and harden the tender heart. Ay, I've seen thee make even the +presence of love a burden, and cause the mother to wish that the puny +babe nursing her scant breast had never been born. And so the children +went to their unsightly bed, and silence reigned in the hut. + +"Mother," said one of the girls, speaking out of the +darkness,--"mother, isn't this Christmas Eve?" + +"Yes," answered the woman sharply. "Go to sleep." And again there was +silence. + +Happy is childhood, that amid whatever deprivation and misery it can so +weary itself in the day that when night comes on it can lose in the +forgetfulness of slumber its sorrows and wants! + +Thus, while the children lost the sense of their unhappy surroundings, +including the keen pangs of hunger, for a time, and under the tattered +blankets that covered them saw, perhaps, visions of enchanting lands, +and in their dreams feasted at those wonderful tables which hungry +children see only in sleep, to the poor woman sitting at the failing +fire there came no surcease of sorrow, and no vision threw even an +evanescent brightness over the hard, cold facts of her surroundings. +And the reality of her condition was dire enough, God knows. Alone in +the wilderness, miles from any human habitation, the trails covered +deep with snow, her provisions exhausted, actual suffering already upon +them, and starvation staring them squarely in the face. No wonder that +her soul sank within her; no wonder that her thoughts turned toward +bitterness. + +"Yes, it's Christmas Eve," she muttered, "and the rich will keep it +gayly. God sends them presents enough; but you see if he remembers me! +Oh, they may talk about the angels of Christmas Eve flying abroad +to-night, loaded with gifts, but they'll fly mighty high above this +shanty, I reckon; no, they won't even drop a piece of meat as they soar +past," And so she sat muttering and moaning over her woes, and they +were heavy enough,--too heavy for her poor soul, unassisted, to +lift,--while the flame on the hearth grew thinner and thinner, until it +had no more warmth in it than the shadow of a ghost, and, like its +resemblance, was about to flit and fade away. At last she said, in a +softened tone, as if the remembrance of the Christmas legend had +softened her surly thoughts and sweetened the bitter mood,-- + +"Perhaps I'm wrong to take on so. Perhaps it isn't God's fault that I +and my children are deserted and starving. But why should the innocent +be punished for the guilty, and why should the wicked have enough and +to spare, while those who do no evil go half naked and starved?" + +Alas, poor woman! that puzzle has puzzled many besides thee, and many +lips besides thine have asked that question, querulously or +entreatingly, many a time; but whether they asked it in vexation and +rebellion of spirit, or humbly besought Heaven to answer, to neither +murmur nor prayer did Heaven vouchsafe a response. Is it because we +are so small, or, being small, are so inquisitive, that the Great +Oracle of the blue remains so dumb when we cry? + +At this point the poor little flame, as if unable to abide the cold +much longer, flared fitfully, and uneasily shifted itself from brand to +brand, threatening with many a flicker to go out; but the woman, with +her elbows on her knees, and her face settled firmly between her hands, +still sat with eyes that saw not the feeble flame at which they so +steadily gazed. + +"I will do it, _I will do it!_" she suddenly exclaimed. "I will make +one more effort. They shall not starve while I have strength to try. +Perhaps God will aid me. They say he always does at the last pinch, +and he certainly sees that I am there now. I wonder if he's been +waiting for me to get just where I am before he helped me? There is +one more chance left, and I'll make the trial. I'll go down to the +shore where I saw the big tracks in the snow. It's a long way, but I +shall get there somehow. If God is going to be good to me, he won't +let me freeze or faint on the way. Yes, I'll creep into bed now, and +try and get a little sleep, for I must be strong in the morning." And +with these words the poor woman crept off to her bed, and burrowed +down, more like an animal than a human being, beside her little ones, +as they lay huddled close together and asleep, down in the rags. + +What angel was it that followed her to her miserable couch, and stirred +kindly feelings in her bosom? Some sweet one, surely; for she shortly +lifted herself to a sitting posture, and, gently drawing down the old +blanket with which the children, for warmth's sake, had wrapped their +heads, looked as only a mother might at the three little faces lying +side by side, and, bending tenderly over them, she placed a gentle kiss +upon the forehead of each; then she nestled down again in her own +place, and said, "Perhaps God will help me." And with this sentence, +half a prayer and half a doubt, born on the one hand from that sweet +faith which never quite deserts a woman's bosom, and on the other from +that bitter experience which had made her seem in her own eyes deserted +of God, she fell asleep. + +She, too, dreamed; but her dreaming was only the prolongation of her +waking thoughts; for long after her eyes closed she moved uneasily on +her hard couch, and muttered, "Perhaps God will. Perhaps"-- + +Sad is it for us who are old enough to have tasted the bitterness of +that cup which life sooner or later presents to all lips, and have +borne the burden of its toil and fretting, that our vexations and +disappointments pursue us even in our slumber, disturbing our sleep +with reproachful visions and the sound of voices whose upbraiding robs +us of our otherwise peaceful repose. Perhaps somewhere in the years to +come, after much wandering and weariness, guided of God, we may come to +that fountain of which the ancients dreamed, and for which the noblest +among them sought so long, and died seeking; plunging into which, we +shall find our lost youth in its cool depths, and, rising refreshed and +strengthened, shall go on our eternal journey re-clothed with the +beauty, the innocence, and the happiness of our youth. + +The poor woman slept uneasily, and with much muttering to herself; but +the rapid hours slid noiselessly down the icy grooves of night, and +soon the cold morning put its white face against the frozen windows of +the east, and peered shiveringly forth. Who says the earth cannot look +as cold and forbidding as the human countenance? The sky hung over the +frozen world like a dome of gray steel, whose invisibly matched plates +were riveted here and there by a few white, gleaming stars. The +surface of the snow sparkled with crystals that flashed colorlessly +cold. The air seemed armed, and full of sharp, eager points that +pricked the skin painfully. The great tree-trunks cracked their sharp +protests against the frosty entrances being made beneath their bark. +The lake, from under the smothering ice, roared in dismay and pain, and +sent the thunders of its wrath at its imprisonment around the +resounding shores. A bitter morn, a bitter morn,--ah me! a bitter morn +for the poor! + +The woman, wakened by the gray light, moved in the depths of the +tattered blankets, sat upright, rubbed her eyes with her hands, looked +about her as if to recall her scattered senses, and then, as thought +returned, crept stealthily out of the hole in which she had lain, that +she might not wake the children, who, coiled together, slumbered on, +still closely clasped in the arms of blessed unconsciousness. + +"They had better sleep," she said to herself. "If I fail to bring them +meat, I hope they will never wake!" + +Ah! if the poor woman could only have foreseen the bitter +disappointment, or that other something which the future was to bring +her, would she have made that prayer? Is it best for us, as some say, +that we cannot see what is coming, but must weep on till the last tear +is shed, uncheered by the sweet fortune so nigh, or laugh unchecked +until the happy tones are mingled with, and smothered by, the rising +moan? Is it best, I wonder? + +She noiselessly gathered together what additions she could make to her +garments, and then, taking down the rifle from its hangings, opened the +door, and stepped forth into the outer cold. There was a look of brave +determination in her eyes as she faced the chilly greeting the world +gave her, and with more of hopefulness than had before appeared upon +her countenance, she struck bravely off along the lake shore, which at +this point receded toward the mountain. + +For an hour she kept steadily on, with her eyes constantly on the alert +for the least sign of the wished and prayed-for game. Suddenly she +stopped, and crouched down in the snow, peering straight ahead. Well +might she seek concealment, for there, standing on a point of land that +jutted sharply out into the lake, not forty rods away, unscreened and +plain to view, stood a buck of such goodly proportions as one even in +years of hunting might not see. + +The woman's eyes fairly gleamed as she saw the noble animal standing +thus in full sight; but who may tell the agony of fear and hope that +filled her bosom! The buck stood lordly erect, facing the east, as if +he would do homage to, or receive homage from, the rising sun, whose +yellow beams fell full upon his uplifted front. The thought of her +mind, the fear of her heart, were plain. The buck would soon move; +when he moved, which way would he move? Would he go from or come +toward her? Would she get him, or would she lose him? Oh, the agony +of that thought! + +"God of the starving," burst from her quivering lips, "let not my +children die!" + +Many prayers more ornate rose that day to Him whose ears are open to +all cries. But of all that prayed on that Christmas morn, whether with +few words or many, surely, no heart rose with the seeking words more +earnestly than the poor woman kneeling as she prayed, rifle in hand, +amid the snow. + +"God of the starving, let not my children die!" + +That was her prayer; and, as if in answer to her agonizing petition, +the buck turned and began to advance directly toward her, browsing as +he came. Once he stopped, looked around, and snuffed the air +suspiciously. Had he scented her presence, and would he bound away? +Should she fire now? No; her judgment told her she could not trust the +gun or her aim at such a range. He must come nigher,--come even to the +big maple, and stand there, not ten rods away; then she felt sure she +should get him. So she waited. Oh, how the cold ate into her! How +her teeth chattered as the chills ran their torturing courses through +her thin, shivering frame! But still she clutched the cold barrel, and +still she watched and waited, and still she prayed,-- + +"God of the starving, let not my children die!" + +Alas, poor woman! My own body shivers as I think of thine, and my pen +falters to write what misery befell thee on that wretched morn. + +Did the buck turn? Did he, having come so tantalizingly near, retrace +his steps? No. He continued to advance. Had Heaven heard her prayer? +Her soul answered it had; and with such feelings in it toward Him to +whom she had appealed as she had not felt in all her life before, she +steadied herself for the shot. For even as she prayed, the deer came +on,--came to the big maple, and lifted his muzzle to its highest reach +to seize with his tongue a thin streamer of moss that lay against the +smooth bark. There he stood, his blue-brown side full toward her, +unconscious of her presence. Noiselessly she cocked the piece. +Noiselessly she raised it to her face, and with every nerve drawn to +its tightest tension, sighted the noble game, and--_fired_. + +[Illustration: The deer came to the big maple] + +Had the frosty air watered her eye? was it a tear of joy and gratitude +that dimmed the clearness of its sight? or were the half-frozen fingers +unable to steady the cold barrel at the instant of its explosion? We +know not. We only know that in spite of prayer, in spite of noblest +effort, she missed the game. For, as the rifle cracked, the buck gave +a snort of fear, and with swift bounds flew up the mountain; while the +poor woman, dropping the gun with a groan, fell fainting on the snow. + + + + +III. + +At the same moment the rifle sounded, two men, the Trapper with his +pack, and Wild Bill with his sled heavily loaded, were descending the +western slope of the mountain, not a mile from the clearing in which +stood the lonely cabin. The sound of the piece brought them to a halt +as quickly as if the bullet had cut through the air in front of their +faces. For several minutes both stood in the attitude of listening. + +"Down into the snow with ye, pups!" exclaimed the Trapper, in a hoarse +whisper. "Down into the snow with ye, I say! Rover, ef ye lift yer +muzzle agin, I'll warm yer back with the ramrod. By the Lord, Bill, +the buck is comin' this way; ye can see his horns lift above the leetle +balsams as he breaks through the thicket yender. Ef he strikes the +runway, he'll sartinly come within range;" and the old Trapper slipped +his arms from the pack, and, lowering it to the earth, sank on his +knees beside it, where he waited as motionless as if the breath had +departed his body. + +Onward came the game. As the Trapper had suggested, the buck, with +mighty and far-reaching bounds, cleared the shrubby obstructions, and, +entering the runway, tore up the familiar path with the violence of a +tornado. Onward he came, his head flung upward, his antlers laid well +back, tongue lolling from his mouth, and his nostrils smoking with the +hot breaths that burst in streaming columns from them. Not until his +swift career had brought him exactly in front of his position did the +old man stir a muscle. But then, quick as the motion of the leaping +game, his rifle jumped to his cheek, and even as the buck was at the +central point of his leap, and suspended in the air, the piece cracked +sharp and clear, and the deer, stricken to his death, fell with a crash +to the ground. The quivering hounds rose to their feet, and bayed long +and deep; Wild Bill swung his hat and yelled; and for a moment the +woods rang with the wild cries of dogs and man. + +[Illustration: The piece cracked sharp and clear] + +"Lord-a-massy, Bill, what a mouth ye have when ye open it!" exclaimed +the Trapper, as he leisurely poured the powder into the still smoking +barrel. "Atween ye and the pups, it's enough to drive a man crazy. I +should sartinly think ye had never seed a deer shot afore, by the way +ye be actin'." + +"I've seen a good many, as you know, John Norton; but I never saw one +tumbled over by a single bullet when at the very top of his jump, as +that one was. I surely thought you had waited too long, and I wouldn't +have given a cent for your chances when you pulled. It was a wonderful +shot, John Norton, and I would take just such another tramp as I have +had, to see you do it again, old man." + +"It wasn't bad," returned the Trapper; "no, it sartinly wasn't bad, fur +he was goin' as ef the Old Harry was arter him. I shouldn't wonder ef +he had felt the tech of lead down there in the holler, and the smart of +his hurt kept him flyin'. Let's go and look him over, and see ef we +can't find the markin's of the bullit on him." + +In a moment the two stood above the dead deer. + +"It is as I thought," said the Trapper, as he pointed with his ramrod +to a stain of blood on one of the hams of the buck. "The bullit drove +through his thigh here, but it didn't tech the bone, and was a sheer +waste of lead, fur it only sot him goin' like an arrer. Bill, I +sartinly doubt," continued the old man, as he measured the noble animal +with his eye, "I sartinly doubt ef I ever seed a bigger deer. There's +seven prongs on his horns, and I'd bet a horn of powder agin a +chargerful that he'd weigh three hundred pounds as he lies. Lord, what +a Christmas gift he'll be fur the woman! The skin will make a blanket +fit fur a queen to sleep under, and the meat, jediciously cared for, +will last her all winter. We must manage to git it to the edge of the +clearin', anyhow, or the wolves might make free with our venison, Bill. +Yer sled is a strong un, and it'll bear the loadin', ef ye go keerful." + +The Trapper and his companion set themselves to their task with the +energy of men accustomed to surmount every obstacle, and in a short +half-hour the sled, with its double loading, stopped at the door of the +lonely cabin. + +"I don't understand this, Wild Bill," said the Trapper. "Here be a +woman's tracks in the snow, and the door be left a leetle ajar, but +there be no smoke in the chimney, and they sartinly ain't very noisy +inside. I'll jest give a knock or two, and see ef they be stirrin';" +and, suiting the action to the word, he knocked long and loud on the +large door. But to his noisy summons there came no response, and +without a moment of farther hesitation he shoved open the door, and +entered. "God of marcy! Wild Bill," exclaimed the Trapper, "look in +here!" + +A huge room dimly lighted, holes in the roof, here and there a heap of +snow on the floor, an immense fireplace with no fire in it, and a group +of scared, wild-looking children huddled together in the farther +corner, like young and timid animals that had fled in affright from the +nest where they had slept, at some fearful intrusion. That is what the +Trapper saw. + +"I"--Whatever Wild Bill was about to say, his astonishment, and we may +add his pity, were too profound for him to complete his ejaculation. + +"Don't ye be afeerd, leetle uns," said the Trapper, as he advanced into +the centre of the room to more fully survey the wretched place. "This +be Christmas morn, and me and Wild Bill and the pups have come over the +mountain to wish ye all a merry Christmas. But where be yer mother?" +queried the old man, as he looked kindly at the startled group. "We +don't know where she is," answered the older of the two girls; "we +thought she was in bed with us, till you woke us. We don't know where +she has gone." + +"I have it, I have it, Wild Bill!" exclaimed the Trapper, whose eyes +had been busy scanning the place while talking with the children. "The +rifle be gone from the hangings, and the tracks in the snow be hern. +Yis, yis, I see it all. She went out in hope of gittin' the leetle uns +here somethin' to eat, and that was her rifle we heerd, and her bullet +made that hole in the ham of the buck. What a disappointment to the +poor creetur when she seed she hadn't hit him! Her heart eena'most +broke, I dare say. But the Lord was in it--leastwise, he didn't go +ag'in the proper shapin' of things arterwards. Come, Bill, let's stir +round lively, and get the shanty in shape a leetle, and some vict'als +on the table afore she comes. Yis, git out yer axe, and slash into +that dead beech at the corner of the cabin, while I sorter clean up +inside. A fire is the fust thing on sech a mornin' as this; so scurry +round, Bill, and bring in the wood as ef ye was a good deal in 'arnest, +and do ye cut to the measure of the fireplace, and don't waste yer time +in shortenin' it, fur the longer the fireplace, the longer the wood; +that is, ef ye want to make it a heater." + +His companion obeyed with alacrity; and by the time the Trapper had +cleaned out the snow, and swept down the soot from the sides of the +fireplace, and put things partially to rights, Bill had stacked the dry +logs into the huge opening, nearly to the upper jamb, and, with the +help of some large sheets of birch-bark, kindled them to a flame. +"Come here, leetle uns," said the Trapper, as he turned his +good-natured face toward the children,--"come here, and put yer leetle +feet on the h'arthstun, fur it's warmin', and I conceit yer toes be +about freezin'." + +It was not in the power of children to withstand the attraction of such +an invitation, extended with such a hearty voice and such benevolence +of feature. The children came promptly forward, and stood in a row on +the great stone, and warmed their little shivering bodies by the +abundant flames. + +"Now, leetle folks," said the Trapper, "jest git yerselves well warmed, +then git on what clothes ye've got, and we'll have some +breakfast,--yis, we'll have breakfast ready by the time yer mother gits +back, fur I know where she be gone, and she'll be hungry and cold when +she gits in. I don't conceit that this little chap here can help much, +but ye girls be big enough to help a good deal. So, when ye be warm, +do ye put away the bed to the furderest corner, and shove out the table +in front of the fire, and put on the dishes, sech as ye have, and be +smart about it, too, fur yer mother will sartinly be comin' soon, and +we must be ahead of her with the cookin'." + +What a change the next half-hour made in the appearance of the cabin! +The huge fire sent its heat to the farthest corner of the great room. +The miserable bed had been removed out of sight, and the table, drawn +up in front of the fire, was set with the needed dishes. On the +hearthstone a large platter of venison steak, broiled by the Trapper's +skill, simmered in the heat. A mighty pile of cakes, brown to a turn, +flanked one side, while a stack of potatoes baked in the ashes +supported the other. The teapot sent forth its refreshing odor through +the room. The children, with their faces washed and hair partially, at +least, combed, ran about with bare feet on the warm floor, comfortable +and happy. To them it was as a beautiful dream. The breakfast was +ready, and the visitors sat waiting for the coming of her to whose +assistance the angel of Christmas Eve had sent them. + +"Sh!" whispered the Trapper, whose quick ear had caught the sound of a +dragging step in the snow. "She's comin'!" + +Too weary and faint, too sick at heart and exhausted in body to observe +the unaccustomed signs of human presence around her dwelling, the poor +woman dragged herself to the door, and opened it. The gun she still +held in her hand fell rattling to the floor, and, with eyes wildly +opened, she gazed bewildered at the spectacle. The blazing fire, the +set table, the food on the hearthstone, the smiling children, the two +men! She passed her hands across her eyes as one waking from sleep. +Was she dreaming? Was this cabin the miserable hut she had left at +daybreak? Was that the same fireplace in front of whose cold and +cheerless recess she had crouched the night before? And were those two +strangers there men, or were they angels? Was what she saw real, or +was it only a fevered vision born of her weakness? + +Her senses actually reeled to and fro, and she trembled for a moment on +the verge of unconsciousness. Indeed, the shock was so overwhelming +that in another instant she would have swooned and fallen to the floor +had not the growing faintness been checked by the sound of a human +voice. + +"A merry Christmas to ye, my good woman," said the Trapper. "A merry +Christmas to ye and yourn!" + +The woman started as the hearty tones fell on her ear, and, steadying +herself by the door, she said, speaking as one partially dazed,-- + +"Are you John Norton the Trapper, or are you an ang--" + +"Ye needn't sight agin," interrupted the old man. "Yis, I'm old John +Norton himself, nothin' better and nothin' wuss; and the man in the +chair here by my side is Wild Bill, and ye couldn't make an angel out +of him, ef ye tried from now till next Christmas. Yis, my good woman, +I'm John Norton, and this is Wild Bill, and we've come over the +mountain to wish ye a merry Christmas, ye and yer leetle uns, and help +ye keep the day; and, ye see, we've been stirrin' a leetle in yer +absence, and breakfast be waitin'. Wild Bill and me will jest go out +and cut a leetle more wood, while ye warm and wash yerself; and when ye +be ready to eat, ye may call us, and we'll see which can git into the +house fust." + +So saying, the Trapper, followed by his companion, passed out of the +door, while the poor woman, without a word, moved toward the fire, and, +casting one look at her children, at the table, at the food on the +hearthstone, dropped on her knees by a chair, and buried her face in +her hands. + +"I say," said Wild Bill to the Trapper, as he crept softly away from +the door, to which he had returned to shut it more closely, "I say, +John Norton, the woman is on her knees by a chair." + +"Very likely, very likely," returned the old man reverently; and then +he began to chop vigorously at a huge log, with his back toward his +comrade. + +Perhaps some of you who read this tale will come some time, when weary +and heart-sick, to something drearier than an empty house, some bleak, +cold day, some lonely morn, and with a starving heart and benumbed +soul,--ay, and empty-handed, too,--enter in only to find it swept and +garnished, and what you most needed and longed for waiting for you. +Then will you, too, drop upon your knees, and cover your face with your +hands, ashamed that you had murmured against the hardness of your lot, +or forgotten the goodness of Him who suffered you to be tried only that +you might more fully appreciate the triumph. + +"My good woman," said the Trapper, when the breakfast was eaten, "we've +come, as we said, to spend the day with you; and accordin' to +custom--and a pleasant un it be fur sartin--we've brought ye some +presents. A good many of them come from him who called on ye as he and +me passed through the lake last fall. I dare say ye remember him, and +he sartinly has remembered ye. Fur last evening when I was makin' up a +leetle pack to bring ye myself,--fur I conceited I had better come over +and spend the day with ye,--Wild Bill came to my door with a box on his +sled that the boy had sent in from his home in the city; and in the box +he had put a great many presents fur him and me; and in the lower half +of the box he had put a good many presents fur ye and yer leetle uns, +and we've brought them all over with us. Some of the things be fur +eatin' and some of them be fur wearin'; and that there may be no +misunderstanding I would say that all the things that be in the +pack-basket there, and all the things that be on the sled, too, belong +to ye. And as I see the woodpile isn't a very big un fur this time of +the year, Bill and me be goin' out to settle our breakfast a leetle +with the axes. And while we be gone, I conceit ye had better rummage +the things over, and them that be good fur eatin' ye had better put in +the cupboard, and them that be good fur wearin' ye had better put on +yerself and yer leetle uns; and then we'll all be ready to make a fair +start. Fur this be Christmas Day, and we be goin' to keep it as it +orter be kept. Ef we've had sorrers, we'll forgit 'em; and we'll +laugh, and eat, and be merry. Fur this be Christmas, my good woman! +children, this be Christmas! Wild Bill, my boy, this be Christmas; and +pups, this be Christmas! And we'll all laugh, and eat, and be merry." + +The joyfulness of the old man was contagious. His happiness flowed +over as waters flow over the rim of a fountain. Wild Bill laughed as +he seized his axe, the woman rose from the table smiling, the girls +giggled, the little boy stamped, and the hounds, catching the spirit of +their merry master, swung their tails round, and bayed in canine +gladness; and amid the joyful uproar the old Trapper spun himself out +of the door, and chased Wild Bill through the snow like a boy. + +The dinner was to be served at two o'clock; and what a dinner it was, +and what preparations preceded! The snow had been shovelled from +around the cabin, the holes in the roof roughly but effectually +thatched. A good pile of wood was stacked in front of the doorway. +The spring that bubbled from the bank had been cleared of ice, and a +protection constructed over it. The huge buck had been dressed, and +hung high above the reach of wolves. Cedar and balsam branches had +been placed in the corners and along the sides of the room. Great +sprays of the tasselled pine and the feathery tamarack were suspended +from the ceiling. The table had been enlarged, and extra seats +extemporized. The long-unused oven had been cleaned out, and under its +vast dome the red flames flashed and rolled upward. What a change a +few hours had brought to that lonely cabin and its wretched inmates! +The woman, dressed in her new garments, her hair smoothly combed, her +face lighted with smiles, looked positively comely. The girls, happy +in their fine clothes and marvellous toys, danced round the room, wild +with delight; while the little boy strutted about the floor in his new +boots, proudly showing them to each person for the hundredth time. + +The hostess's attention was equally divided between the temperature of +the oven and the adornment of the table. A snow-white sheet, one of a +dozen she had found in the box, was drafted peremptorily into service, +and did duty as a tablecloth. Oh, the innocent and funny make-shifts +of poverty, and the goodly distance it can make a little go! Perhaps +some of us, as we stand in our rich dining-rooms, and gaze with pride +at the silver, the gold, the cut-glass, and the transparent china, can +recall a little kitchen in a homely house far away, where our good +mothers once set their tables for their guests, and what a brave show +the few extra dishes made when they brought them out on the rare +festive days! + +However it might strike you, fair reader, to the poor woman and her +guests there was nothing incongruous in a sheet serving as a +tablecloth. Was it not white and clean and properly shaped, and would +it not have been a tablecloth if it hadn't been a sheet? How very nice +and particular some people can be over the trifling matter of a name! +And this sheet had no right to be a sheet; for any one with half an eye +could see at a glance that it was predestined from the first to be a +tablecloth, for it sat as smoothly on the wooden surface as pious looks +on a deacon's face, while the easy and nonchalant way it draped itself +at the corners was perfectly jaunty. + +The edges of this square of white sheeting that had thus providentially +found its true and predestined use were ornamented with the leaves of +the wild myrtle, stitched on in the form of scallops. In the centre, +with a brave show of artistic skill, were the words, "Merry Christmas," +prettily worked with the small brown cones of the pines. This, the +joint product of Wild Bill's industry and the woman's taste, commanded +the enthusiastic admiration of all; and even the little boy, from the +height of a chair into which he had climbed, was profoundly affected by +the show it made. + +The Trapper had charge of the meat department, and it is safe to say +that no Delmonico could undertake to serve venison in greater variety +than did he. To him it was a grand occasion, and--in a culinary +sense--he rose grandly to meet it. What bosom is without its little +vanities? and shall we laugh at the dear old man because he looked upon +the opportunity before him with feeling other than pure +benevolence,--even of complacency that what he was doing was being done +as no one else could do it? + +There was venison roasted, and venison broiled, and venison fried; +there was hashed venison, and venison spitted; there was a side-dish of +venison sausage, strong with the odor of sage, and slightly dashed with +wild thyme; and a huge kettle of soup, on whose rich creamy surface +pieces of bread and here and there a slice of potato floated. + +"I tell ye, Bill," said the Trapper to his companion, as he stirred the +soup with a long ladle, "this pot isn't actilly runnin' over with +taters, but ye can see a bit occasionally ef ye look sharp and keep the +ladle goin' round pretty lively. No, the taters ain't over-plenty," +continued the old man, peering into the pot, and sinking his voice to a +whisper, "but there wasn't but fifteen in the bag, and the woman took +twelve of 'em fur her kittle, and ye can't make three taters look +actilly crowded in two gallons of soup, can ye, Bill?" And the old man +punched that personage in the ribs with the thumb of the hand that was +free from service, while he kept the ladle going with the other. + +"Lord!" exclaimed the Trapper, speaking to Bill, who, having taken a +look into the old man's kettle, was digging his knuckles into his eyes +to free them from the spray that was jetted into them from the +fountains of mirth within that were now in full play,--"Lord! ef there +isn't another piece of tater gone all to pieces! Bill, ef I make +another circle with this ladle, there won't be a whole slice left, and +ye'll swear there wasn't a tater in the soup." And the two men, with +their faces within twenty inches, laughed and laughed like boys. + +How sweet it is to think that when the Maker set up this strange +instrument we call ourselves, and strung it for service, he selected of +the heavy chords so few, and of the lighter ones so many! Some muffled +ones there are; some slow and solemn sounds swell sadly forth at +intervals, but blessed be God that we are so easily tickled, and the +world is so funny that within it, even when exiled from home and +friends, we find, as the days come and go, the causes and occasions of +hilarity! + +Wild Bill had been placed in charge of the liquids. What a satire +there is in circumstances, and how those of to-day laugh at those of +yesterday! Yes, Wild Bill had charge of the liquids,--no mean charge, +when the occasion is considered. Nor was the position without its +embarrassments, as few honorable positions are, for it brought him face +to face with the problem of the day--dishes; for, between the two cooks +of the occasion, every dish in the cabin had been brought into +requisition, and poor Bill was left in the predicament of having to +make tea and coffee with no pots to make them in. + +But Bill was not lacking in wit, if he was in pots, and he solved the +conundrum how to make tea without a teapot in a manner that extorted +the woman's laughter, and commanded the old Trapper's admiration. + +In ransacking the lofts above the apartment, he had lighted on several +large, stone jugs, which, with the courage--shall we call it the +audacity?--of genius, he had seized upon; and, having thoroughly rinsed +them, and freed them from certain odors,--which we are free to say Bill +was more or less familiar with,--he brought them forward as substitutes +for kettle and pot. Indeed, they worked admirably, for in them the +berry and the leaves might not only be properly steeped, but the flavor +could be retained beyond what it might in many of our famous and +high-sounding patented articles. + +But Bill, while ingenious and courageous to the last degree, was +lacking in education, especially in scientific directions. He had +never been made acquainted with that great promoter of modern +civilization--the expansive properties of steam. The corks he had +whittled out for his bravely extemporized tea and coffee pots were of +the closest fit; and, as they had been inserted with the energy of a +man who, having conquered a serious difficulty, is determined to reap +the full benefit of his triumph, there was at least no danger that the +flavor of the concoctions would escape through any leakage at the +muzzle. Having thus prepared them for steeping, he placed the jugs in +his corner of the fireplace, and pushed them well up through the ashes +to the live coals. + +"Wild Bill," said the Trapper, who wished to give his companion the +needed warning in as delicate and easy a manner as possible, "Wild +Bill, ye have sartinly got the right idee techin' the makin' of tea and +coffee, fur the yarb should be steeped, and the berry too,--leastwise, +arter it's biled up once or twice,--and therefore it be only reasonable +that the nozzles should be closed moderately tight; but a man wants +considerable experience in the business, or he's likely to overdo it +jest a leetle, and ef ye don't cut some slots in them wooden corks +ye've driven into them nozzles, Bill, there'll be a good deal of tea +and coffee floatin' round in your corner of the fireplace afore many +minutes, and I conceit there'll be a man about your size lookin' for a +couple of corks and pieces of jugs out there in the clearin', too." + +"Do you think so?" answered Bill incredulously. "Don't you be scared, +old man, but keep on stirring your soup and turning the meat, and I'll +keep my eye on the bottles." + +"That's right, Bill," returned the Trapper; "ye keep yer eye right on +'em, specially on that un that's furderest in toward the butt of the +beech log there; fur ef there's any vartue in signs, that jug be +gittin' oneasy. Yis," continued the old man, after a minute's pause, +during which his eye hadn't left the jug, "yis, that jug will want more +room afore many minutes, ef I'm any jedge, and I conceit I had better +give it the biggest part of the fireplace;" and the Trapper hastily +moved the soap and his half-dozen plates of cooked meats to the other +end of the hearthstone, whither he retired himself, like one who, +feeling that he is called upon to contend with unknown forces, wisely +beats a retreat. He even put himself behind a stack of wood that lay +piled up in his corner, like one who does not despise, in a sudden +emergency, an artificial protection. + +"Bill," called the Trapper, "edge round a leetle,--edge round, and git +in closer to the jamb. It's sheer foolishness standin' where ye be, +fur the water will be wallopin' in a minit, and ef the corks be swelled +in the nozzle, there'll be an explosion. Git in toward the jamb, and +watch the ambushment under kiver." + +"Old man," answered Bill, as he turned his back carelessly toward the +fireplace, "I've got the bearin's of this trail, and know what I'm +about. The jugs are as strong as iron kittles, and I ain't afraid of +their bust"-- + +Bill never finished the sentence, for the explosion predicted by the +Trapper occurred. It was a tremendous one, and the huge fireplace was +filled with flying brands, ashes, and clouds of steam. The Trapper +ducked his head, the woman screamed, and the hounds rushed howling to +the farthest end of the room; while Bill, with half a somersault, +disappeared under the table. + +"Hurrah!" shouted the Trapper, lifting his head from behind the wood, +and critically surveying the scene. "Hurrah, Bill!" he shouted, as he +swung the ladle over his head. "Come out from under the table, and man +yer battery agin. Yer old mortars was loaded to the muzzle, and ef ye +had depressed the pieces a leetle, ye'd 'a' blowed the cabin to +splinters; as it was, the chimney got the biggest part of the chargin', +and ye'll find yer rammers on the other side of the mountain." + +It was, in truth, a scene of uproarious hilarity; for once the +explosion was over, and the woman and children saw there was no danger, +and apprehended the character of the performance, they joined +unrestrainedly in the Trapper's laughter, in which they were assisted +by Wild Bill, as if he were not the victim of his own over-confidence. + +"I say, old Trapper," he called from under the table, "did both guns go +off? I was gitting under cover when the battery opened, and didn't +notice whether the firing was in sections or along the whole line. If +there's a piece left, I think I will stay where I am; for I am in a +good position to observe the range, and watch the effect of the shot. +I say, hadn't you better get behind the wood-pile again?" + +"No, no," interrupted the Trapper; "the whole battery went at the word, +Bill, and there isn't a gun or a gun-carriage left in the casement. +Ye've wasted a gill of the yarb, and a quarter of a pound of the berry; +and ye must hurry up with another outfit of bottles, or we'll have +nothin' but water to drink at the dinner." + +The dinner! That great event of the day, the crown and diadem to its +royalty, and which became it so well, was ready promptly to the hour. +The table, enlarged as it was to nearly double its original dimensions, +could scarcely accommodate the abundance of the feast. Ah, if some +sweet power would only enlarge our hearts when, on festive days, we +enlarge our tables, how many of the world's poor, that now go hungry +while we feast, would then be fed! + +At one end of the table sat the Trapper, Wild Bill at the other. The +woman's chair was at the centre of one of the sides, so that she sat +facing the fire, whose generous flames might well symbolize the +abundance which amid cold and hunger had so suddenly come to her. On +her right hand the two girls sat; on her left, the boy. A goodly +table, a goodly fire, and a goodly company,--what more could the Angel +of Christmas ask to see? + +Thus were they seated, ready to begin the repast; but the plates +remained untouched, and the happy noises which had to that moment +filled the cabin ceased; for the Angel of Silence, with noiseless step, +had suddenly entered the room. There's a silence of grief, there's a +silence of hatred, there's a silence of dread; of these, men may speak, +and these they can describe. But the silence of our happiness, who can +describe that? When the heart is full, when the long longing is +suddenly met, when love gives to love abundantly, when the soul lacketh +nothing and is content,--then language is useless, and the Angel of +Silence becomes our only adequate interpreter. A humble table, surely, +and humble folk around it; but not in the houses of the rich or the +palaces of kings does gratitude find her only home, but in more lowly +abodes and with lowly folk--ay, and often at the scant table, too--she +sitteth a perpetual guest. Was it memory? Did the Trapper at that +brief moment visit his absent friend? Did Wild Bill recall his wayward +past? Were the thoughts of the woman busy with sweet scenes of earlier +days? And did memory, by thus reminding them of the absent and the +past, of the sweet things that had been and were, stir within their +hearts thoughts of Him from whom all gifts descend, and of His blessed +Son, in whose honor the day was named? + +O memory! thou tuneful bell that ringeth on forever, friend at our +feasts, and friend, too, let us call thee, at our burial, what music +can equal thine? For in thy mystic globe all tunes abide,--the +birthday note for kings, the marriage peal, the funeral knell, the +gleeful jingle of merry mirth, and those sweet chimes that float our +thoughts, like fragrant ships upon a fragrant sea, toward heaven,--all +are thine! Ring on, thou tuneful bell; ring on, while these glad ears +may drink thy melody; and when thy chimes are heard by me no more, ring +loud and clear above my grave that peal which echoes to the heavens, +and tells the world of immortality, that they who come to mourn may +check their tears, and say, "_Why do we weep? He liveth still!_" + +"The Lord be praised fur his goodness!" said the Trapper, whose +thoughts unconsciously broke into speech. "The Lord be praised fur his +goodness, and make us grateful fur his past marcies, and the plenty +that be here!" And looking down upon the viands spread before him, he +added, "The Lord be good to the boy, and make him as happy in his city +home as be they who be wearin' and eatin' his gifts in the woods!" + +"Amen!" said the woman softly, and a grateful tear fell on her plate. + +"A--hem!" said Wild Bill; and then looking down upon his warm suit, he +lifted his voice, and bringing it out in a clear, strong tone, said, +"_Amen! hit or miss!_" + +At many a table that day more formal grace was said, by priest and +layman alike, and at many a table, by lips of old and young, response +was given to the benediction; but we doubt if over all the earth a more +honest grace was said or assented to than the Lord heard from the cabin +in the woods. + +The feast and the merry-making now began. The old Trapper was in his +best mood, and fairly bubbled over with humor. The wit of Wild Bill +was naturally keen, and it flashed at its best as he ate. The children +stuffed and laughed as only children on such an elastic occasion can. +And as for the poor woman, it was impossible for her, in the midst of +such a scene, to be otherwise than happy, and she joined modestly in +the conversation, and laughed heartily at the witty sallies. + +But why should we strive to put on paper the wise, the funny, and the +pleasant things that were said, the exclamations, the laughter, the +story, the joke, the verbal thrust and parry of such an occasion? +These, springing from the centre of the circumstance, and flashed into +being at the instant, cannot be preserved for after-rehearsal. Like +the effervescence of champagne, they jet and are gone; their force +passes away with the noise that accompanied its out-coming. + +Is it not enough to record that the dinner was a success, that the +Trapper's meats were put upon the table in a manner worthy of his +reputation, that the woman's efforts at pastry-making were generously +applauded, and that Wild Bill's tea and coffee were pronounced by the +hostess the best she had ever tasted? Perhaps no meal was ever more +enjoyed, as certainly none was ever more heartily eaten. + +[Illustration: Perhaps no meal was ever more enjoyed] + +The wonder and pride of the table was the pudding,--a creation of +Indian-meal, flour, suet, and raisins, re-enforced and assisted by +innumerable spicy elements supposed to be too mysterious to be grasped +by the masculine mind. In the production of this wonderful +centre-piece,--for it had been unanimously voted the place of +honor,--the poor woman had summoned all the latent resources of her +skill, and in reference to it her pride and fear contended, while the +anxiety with which she rose to serve it was only too plainly depicted +on her countenance. What if it should prove a failure? What if she +had made a miscalculation as to the amount of suet required,--a point +upon which she had been somewhat confused? What if the raisins were +not sufficiently distributed? What if it wasn't done through, and +should turn out pasty? Great heavens! The last thought was of so +overwhelming a character that no feminine courage could encounter it. +Who may describe the look with which she watched the Trapper as he +tasted it, or the expression of relief which brightened her anxious +face when he pronounced warmly in its favor? + +"It's a wonderful bit of cookin'," he said, addressing himself to Wild +Bill, "and I sartinly doubt ef there be anything in the settlements +to-day that can equal it. There be jest enough of the suet, and there +be a plum fur every mouthful; and it be solid enough to stay in the +mouth ontil ye've had time to chew it, and git a taste of the +corn,--and I wouldn't give a cent for a puddin' ef it gits away from +yer teeth fast. Yis, it be a wonderful bit of cookin'," and, turning +to the woman, he added, "ye may well be proud of it." + +What higher praise could be bestowed? And as it was re-echoed by all +present, and plate after plate was passed for a second filling, the +dinner came to an end with the greatest good feeling and hilarity. + + + + +IV. + +"Now fur the sled!" exclaimed the Trapper, as he rose from the table. +"It be a good many years since I've straddled one, but nothin' settles +a dinner quicker, or suits the leetle folks better. I conceit the +crust be thick enough to bear us up, and, ef it is, we can fetch a +course from the upper edge of the clearin' fifty rods into the lake. +Come, childun, git on yer mittens and yer tippets, and h'ist along to +the big pine, and ye shall have some fun ye won't forgit ontil yer +heads be whiter than mine." + +It is needless to record that the children hailed with delight the +proposition of the Trapper, or that they were at the appointed spot +long before the speaker and his companion reached it with the sled. + +"Wild Bill," said the Trapper, as they stood on the crest of the slope +down which they were to glide, "the crust be smooth as glass, and the +hill be a steep un. I sartinly doubt ef mortal man ever rode faster +than this sled'll be goin' by the time it gits to where the bank +pitches into the lake; and ef ye should git a leetle careless in yer +steering Bill, and hit a stump, I conceit that nothin' but the help of +the Lord or the rottenness of the stump would save ye from etarnity." + +Now, Wild Bill was blessed with a sanguine temperament. To him no +obstacle seemed serious if bravely faced. Indeed, his natural +confidence in himself bordered on recklessness, to which the drinking +habits of his life had, perhaps, contributed. + +When the Trapper had finished speaking, Bill ran his eye carelessly +down the steep hillside, smooth and shiny as polished steel, and said, +"Oh, this isn't anything extry for a hill. I've steered a good many +steeper ones, and in nights when the moon was at the half, and the sled +overloaded at that. It don't make any difference how fast you go," he +added, "if you only keep in the path, and don't hit anything." + +"That's it, that's it," replied the Trapper. "But the trouble here be +to keep in the path, fur, in the fust place, there isn't any path, and +the stumps be pretty thick, and I doubt ef ye can line a trail from +here to the bank by the lake without one or more sudden twists in it, +and a twist in the trail, goin' as fast as we'll be goin', has got to +be taken jediciously, or somethin' will happen. I say, Bill, what +p'int will ye steer fur?" + +Wild Bill, thus addressed, proceeded to give his opinion touching the +proper direction of the flight they were to make. Indeed, he had been +closely examining the ground while the Trapper was speaking, and +therefore gave his opinion promptly and with confidence. + +"Ye have chosen the course with jedgment," said the old man +approvingly, after he had studied the line his companion pointed out +critically for a moment. "Yis, Bill, ye have a nateral eye for the +business, and I sartinly have more confidence in ye than I had a minit +ago, when ye was talkin' about a steeper hill than this; fur this hill +drops mighty sudden in the pitches, and the crust be smooth as ice, and +the sled'll go like a streak when it gits started. But the course +ye've p'inted out be a good un, fur there be only one bad turn in it, +and good steerin' orter put a sled round that. I say," continued the +old man, turning toward his companion, and pointing out the crook in +the course at the bottom of the second dip, "can ye swing around that +big stump there without upsettin' when ye come to it?" + +"Swing around? Of course I can," retorted Wild Bill positively. +"There's plenty room to the left, and"-- + +"Ay, ay; there be plenty of room, as ye say, ef ye don't take too much +of it," interrupted the Trapper. "But"-- + +"I tell you," broke in the other, "I'll turn my back to no man in +steering a sled; and I can put this sled, and you on it, around that +stump a hundred times, and never lift a runner." + +"Well, well," responded the Trapper, "have it your own way. I dare say +ye be good at steerin', and I sartinly know I'm good at ridin'; and I +can ride as fast as ye can steer, ef ye hit every stump in the +clearin'. Now, childun," continued the old man, turning to the little +group, "we be goin' to try the course; and ef the crust holds up, and +Wild Bill keeps clear of the stumps, and nothin' onusual happens, ye +shall have all the slidin' ye want afore ye go in. Come, Bill, git yer +sled p'inted right, and I'll be gittin' on, and we'll see ef ye can +steer an old man round a stump as handily as ye say ye can." + +The directions of the Trapper were promptly obeyed, and in an instant +the sled was in a right position, and the Trapper proceeded to seat +himself with the carefulness of one who feels he is embarking on a +somewhat uncertain venture, and has grave misgivings as to what will be +the upshot of the undertaking. The sled was large and strongly built; +and it added not a little to his comfort to feel that he could put +entire confidence in the structure beneath them. + +"The sled'll hold," he said to himself, "ef the loadin' goes to the +jedgment." + +The Trapper was no sooner seated than Wild Bill threw himself upon the +sled, with one leg under him and the other stretched at full length +behind. This was a method of steering that had come into vogue since +the Trapper's boyhood, for in his day the steersman sat astride the +sled, with his feet thrust forward, and steered by the pressure of +either heel upon the snow. + +[Illustration: One leg under him and the other stretched at full length +behind] + +"Hold on, Bill!" exclaimed the Trapper, whose eye this novel method of +steering had not escaped. "Hold on, and hold up a minit. Heavens and +'arth! ye don't mean to steer this sled with one toe, do ye, and that, +too, the length of a rifle-barrel astarn? Wheel round, and spread yer +legs out as ye orter, and steer this sled in an honest fashion, or +there'll be trouble aboard afore ye git to the bottom." + +"Sit round!" retorted Bill. "How could I see to steer if I was sitting +right back of you? For you're nigh a foot taller than I be, and your +shoulders are as broad as the sled." + +"Yer p'ints be well taken, fur sartin," replied the Trapper; "fur it be +no more than reasonable that the man that steers should see where he be +goin', and I am anxious as ye be that ye should. Yis, I sartinly want +ye to see where ye be goin' on this trip, anyhow, fur the crew be a +fresh un, and the channel be a leetle crooked. But be ye sartin, Bill, +that ye can fetch round that stump there as it orter be did, with +nothin' but yer toe out behind? It may be the best way, as ye say, but +it don't look like honest steerin' to a man of my years." + +"I have used both ways," answered Bill, "and I give you my word, old +man, that this is the best one. You can git a big swing with your foot +stretched out in this fashion, and the sled feels the least pressure of +the toe. Yes, it's all right. John Norton, are you ready?" + +"Yis, yis, as ready as I ever shall be," answered the Trapper, in a +voice in which doubt and resignation were equally mingled. "It may be +as ye say," he continued; "but the rudder be too fur behind to suit me, +and ef anything happens on this cruise, jest remember, Wild Bill, that +my jedgment"-- + +The sentence the Trapper was uttering was abruptly cut short at this +point; for Bill had started the sled with a sudden push, and leaped to +his seat behind the Trapper as it glided downward and away. In an +instant the sled was under full headway, for the dip was a sharp one, +and the crust smooth as ice. Scarce had it gone ten rods from the +point where it started before it was in full flight, and was gliding +downward with what would have been, to any but a man of the steadiest +nerve, a frightful velocity. But the Trapper was of too cool and +courageous temperament to be disturbed even by actual danger. Indeed, +the swiftness of their downward career, as the sled with a buzz and a +roar swept along over the resounding crust, stirred the old man's blood +with a tingle of excitement; while the splendid manner with which Wild +Bill was keeping it to the course settled upon filled him with +admiration, and was fast making him a convert to the new method of +steering. + +Downward they flashed. The Trapper's cap had been blown from his head; +and as the old man sat bolt-upright on his sled, his feet bravely +planted on the round, his face flushed, and his white hair streaming, +he looked the very picture of hearty enjoyment. Above his head the +face of Wild Bill looked actually sharpened by the pressure of the air +on either cheek as it clove through it; but his lips were bravely set, +and his eyes were fastened without winking on the big stump ahead, +toward which they were rushing. + +It was at this point that Wild Bill vindicated his ability as a +steersman, and at the same time barely escaped shipwreck. At the +proper moment he swept his foot to the left, and the sled, in obedience +to the pressure, swooped in that direction. But in his anxiety to give +the stump a wide berth, Bill overdid the pressure that was needed a +trifle; for in calculating the curve required he had failed to allow +for the sidewise motion of the sled, and, instead of hitting one stump, +it looked for an instant as if he would be precipitated among a dozen. + +"Heave her starn up, Wild Bill! up with her starn, I say," yelled the +Trapper, "or there won't be a stump left in the clearin'." + +With a quickness and courage that would have done credit to any +steersman,--for the speed at which they were going was terrific,--Bill +swept his foot to the right, leaning his body well over at the same +instant. The Trapper instinctively seconded his endeavors, and with +hands that gripped either side of the sled he hung over that side which +was upon the point of going into the air. For several rods the sled +glided along on a single runner, and then, righting itself with a +lurch, jumped the summit of the last dip, and raced away, like a +swallow in full flight, toward the lake. + +Now, at the edge of the clearing that bounded the shore was a bank of +considerable size. Shrubs and stunted bushes fringed the crest of it. +These had been buried beneath the snow, and the crust had formed +smoothly over them; and as it was upheld by no stronger support than +such as the hidden shrubbery furnished, it was incapable of sustaining +any considerable pressure. + +Certainly no sled was ever moving faster than was Wild Bill's, when it +came to this point; and certainly no sled ever stopped quicker, for the +treacherous crust dropped suddenly under it, and the sled was left with +nothing but the hind part of one of the runners sticking up in sight. +But though the sled was suddenly checked in its career, the Trapper and +Wild Bill continued their flight. The former slid from the sled +without meeting any obstruction, and with the same velocity with which +he had been moving. Indeed, so little was his position changed, that +one almost might fancy that no accident had happened, and that the old +man was gliding forward to the end of the course with an adequate +structure under him. But with the latter it "was far different; for, +as the sled stopped, he was projected sharply upward into the air, and, +after turning several somersaults, he actually landed in front of the +Trapper, and glided along on the slippery surface ahead of him. And so +the two men shot onward, one after the other, while the children +cackled from the hill-top, and the woman swung her bonnet over her +head, and laughed from her position in the doorway. + +"Bill," called the Trapper, when by dint of much effort they had +managed to check their motion somewhat, "Bill, ef the cruise be about +over, I conceit we'd better anchor hereabouts. But I shipped fur the +voyage, and ye be capt'in, and as ye've finally got the right way to +steer, I feel pretty safe techin' the futur." + +It was not until they had come to a full stop, and looked around them, +that they realized the distance they had come; for they had in truth +slid nearly across the bay. + +"I've boated a good many times on these waters, and under sarcumstances +that called fur 'arnest motion, but I sartinly never went across this +bay as fast as I've did it to-day. How do ye feel, Bill, how do ye +feel?" + +"A good deal shaken up," was the answer, "a good deal shaken up." + +"I conceit as much," answered the Trapper, "I conceit as much, fur ye +left the sled with mighty leetle deliberation; and when I saw yer legs +comin' through the air, I sartinly doubted ef the ice would hold ye. +But ye steered with jedgment; yis, ye steered with jedgment, Bill; and +I'd said it ef we'd gone to the bottom." + +The sun was already set when they returned to the cabin; for, selecting +a safer course, they had given the children an hour's happy sliding. +The woman had prepared some fresh tea and a lunch, which they ate with +lessened appetites, but with humor that never flagged. When it was +ended, the old Trapper rose to depart, and with a dignity and +tenderness peculiarly his own, thus spoke:-- + +"My good woman," he said, "the moon will soon be up, and the time has +come fur me to be goin'. I've had a happy day with ye and the leetle +uns; and the trail over the mountain will seem shorter, as the pups and +me go home, thinkin' on't. Wild Bill will stay a few days, and put +things a leetle more to rights, and git up a wood-pile that will keep +ye from choppin' fur a good while. It's his own thought, and ye can +thank him accordin'ly." Then, having kissed each of the children, and +spoken a few words to Wild Bill, he took the woman's hand, and said,-- + +"The sorrers of life be many, but the Lord never forgits. I've lived +ontil my head be whitenin', and I've noted that though he moves slowly, +he fetches most things round about the time we need 'em; and the things +that be late in comin', I conceit we shall git somewhere furder on. Ye +didn't kill the big buck this mornin', but the meat ye needed hangs at +yer door, nevertheless." And, shaking the woman heartily by the hand, +he whistled to the hounds, and passed out of the door. The inmates of +the cabin stood and watched him, until, having climbed the slope of the +clearing, he disappeared in the shadows of the forest; and then they +closed the door. But more than once Wild Bill noted that as the woman +stood wiping her dishes, she wiped her eyes as well; and more than once +he heard her say softly to herself. "God bless the dear old man!" + +Ay, ay, poor woman, we join thee in thy prayer. God bless the dear old +man! and not only him, but all who do the deeds he did. God bless them +one and all! + +Over the crusted snow the Trapper held his course, until he came, with +a happy heart, to his cabin. Soon a fire was burning on his own +hearthstone, and the hounds were in their accustomed place. He drew +the table in front, where the fire's fine light fell on his work, and, +taking some green vines and branches from the basket, began to twine a +wreath. One he twined, and then he began another; and often, as he +twined the fadeless branches in, he paused, and long and lovingly +looked at the two pictures hanging on the wall; and when the wreaths +were twined, he hung them on the frames, and, standing in front of the +dumb reminders of his absent ones, he said, "I miss them so!" + +[Illustration: Long and lovingly looked at the two pictures hanging on +the wall] + +Ah! friend, dear friend, when life's glad day with you and me is +passed, when the sweet Christmas chimes are rung for other ears than +ours, when other hands set the green branches up, and other feet glide +down the polished floor, may there be those still left behind to twine +us wreaths, and say, "_We miss them so!_" + +And this is the way John Norton the Trapper kept his Christmas. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of How John Norton the Trapper Kept His +Christmas, by W. H. H. 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