 Part 8, Section 2 of a Christmas Micellani, 2019, by various authors, this LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Part 8, Holiday Tales, Christmas in the Adirondacks, how John Norton the Trapper kept his Christmas, by William Henry Harrison Murray, Section 2. 3. 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 hawk 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 your pups, exclaimed the trapper in a hoarse whisper, down in the snow with your say, Rover, if you left your muzzle again, I'll warm you back with the ramrod. By the law, Bill, the buck is coming this way. You can see his horns lift above the little balsams as he breaks through the thicket yonder. If he strikes the runway he'll certainly 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 obstruction 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 lawling 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 muzzle. 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 bade long and deep. Wild Bill swung his hat and yelled, and for a moment the woods rang with the wild cries of dogs and men. "'Lud, a messy bill, what a mouth you have when you open it,' exclaimed the trapper, as he leisurely poured the powder into the still-smoking barrel, a dwing and a pups it's enough to drive a man crazy, I should certainly think I'd never seen a deer shot for, by the way of the actin. I've seen a good many, as you know, John Norton, but I never saw one tumble over by a single bullet when at the very top of his jump, as that one was. I certainly thought you had waited too long, and I wouldn't have given a scent 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. "'Ah, it wasn't bad,' returned the trapper. Now, it certainly wasn't bad, for it was a-going, as if the old Harry would order him. I wouldn't wonder if he had felt the tetulet down there in the holler, and the smart of his hurt kept him flying. Let's go and look him over, and see if we can't find the markings of the bullet in 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 bullet drove through his thigh here, but it didn't touch the bone, and was a sheer waste of lead, where it only sought him to go on like an arrow. "'Well, I certainly doubt,' continued the old man, as he measured the noble animal with his eye. "'I certainly doubt if I ever see the bigger deer. There are seven prongs on his horns, and I bet a horn, a powder, again a chargeful, that he'd weigh three hundred pounds, as he lies. "'Look what a Christmas gift he'll be for the woman. The skin will make a blanket fit for a queen to sleep under, and the mead judiciously cured for, well asked her all winter. We must manage to get it to the edge of the clarin, anyhow, or the wolves might make free with our menacing bill. Your sled is a strong gun, and it'll bear the load, if you go careful.' 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, while, Bill,' said the trapper. "'It'll be a woman's tracks in the snow, and the door'll be left a little ajar. But there's no smoke in the chimney, and they certainly ain't very noisy inside. I'll just give a knock or two and see if they'll be stirring.' And, suiting the action to the word, he knocked long and loud on the large door. Not to his noisy summons there came no response, and without a moment of farther hesitation he shoved open the door and entered. "'God, a mercy, while, Bill,' exclaimed the trapper, "'look in here!' A huge room dimly littered, 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 a fright from the nest where they had slept at some fearful intrusion. That is what the trapper saw. Whatever wild Bill was about to say, his astonishment, and we may add his pity, were too profound for him to complete his ejaculation. "'Now, you may have feared these ones,' said the trapper, as he advanced into the center of the room, to survey more fully the wretched place. Let's be Christmas more, now, me and Wild Bill and the pups that come over the mountain, to wish you all a merry Christmas. But where be your 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 earned. "'Yes, yes, I'll see it all.' She went out in the hope of getting the little ones here something to eat. And that was her rifle we heared, and her bullet made that hole in the ham of the buck. What a disappointment to the poor creature! When she see it, she hadn't hit him. Her heart in a must broke. I dare say, but the Lord was in it. At least ways. He didn't go again the proper shape and the things out her words. Wild Bill, let's stir around lively and get the shanty in shape a little, and the victual's on the table before she comes. "'Yes, get out, you ax, and slash into that dead beach at the corner of the cabin, while I sort her or clean up inside. A fa is the first thing on such a morning as this. So scurry round, Bill, and bring in the wood, as if it was a good deal in earnest, and do your cut to the measure of the fireplace, and don't waste your time and shorten it for the longer the fireplace, the longer the wood. That is, if you 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 jam, and with the help of some large sheets of birch bark, kindled them to a flame. "'Gayer little wands,' said the trapper, as he turned his good-natured face toward the children, "'Come here and put your little feet on the hearth's tongue, for it is warm in, and I can see your toes be about freezing.' 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, eagle folks,' said the trapper, "'just get yourselves well warmed, and then get on what clothes you've got, and we'll have some breakfast. Yes, we'll have some breakfast ready by the time your mother gets back, for I know where she'd be gone, and she'll be hungry and cold when she gets in. I don't concede 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 furthest corner, and shove out the table in front of the fire, and put on the dishes that she'd have, and be smart about it, too, for your mother will start and they'll be coming soon, and we must be ahead of her with a cookin.' What a change the next half hour made in the appearance of the cabin. The huge fire sent its heat to the furthest 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 hearth stone, 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. Shhh! whispered the trapper, whose quick ear had caught the sound of a dragging step in the snow. She's coming! 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 hug 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 their men, or were the angels? Was what she saw real, or was it only a fever division 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. Ah, merry Christmas to you, my good woman, said the trapper, ah, merry Christmas to ye and yorn. 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 Newton the trapper, or are you an eh? Yeah, I needn't sigh it again. Interrupted the old man, yes, I'm old John Norton himself, nothing better and nothing worse. And the man in the chair here by my side is Wild Bill, and you couldn't make an angel out of him if you tried from now till next Christmas. Yes, my good woman, I'm John Norton, and this is Wild Bill, and we've come over the mountain to wish you a merry Christmas, ye and your little ones, and help you keep the day. And you see, we've been stirring a little in your absence and breakfast to be waiting. Wild Bill and me will just go out and cut a little more wood while ye warm and wash yourself, and when you'll be ready to eat, you may call us and we'll see which can get into the house first. 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. I, an empty-handed two, 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 according to custom, and a pleasant honor to be for Sarton, we've brought you some presents. Many of them come from him who called on ye, as he and me passed through the late-class fall. I dare say you remember him, and he certainly has remembered ye. For last evening, when I was making up a little pack to bring me and myself, for I conceded I had to better come over and spend the day with you, while Bill came to my door with the box on his sled that the boy had sent him from his home in the city, and in the box he had put a great many presents for him and me, and in the lower half of the box he had put a good many presents for ye and your little ones, and we brought them all over with us. Some of the things be for eaten, and some of them be for wearing, and that there may be no misunderstanding, I would say that all the things that be in the backbats get there, and all the things that be on the sled, too, belong to you. And as I see the woodpile, isn't a very big one, for this time of the year, Bill and me be going out to settle our breakfast a little with the axes, and while we be gone, I can see ye better rummage of things over, and them that be good for eaten, ye better put in the cupboard, and them that be good for wearing, ye better put on yourself and your little ones, and then we'll all be ready to make a fair start. For this be Christmas day, and we be going to keep it as an order be kept. If we've had sorrows, we'll forget them, and we'll laugh, and eat, and be merry. For this be Christmas, my good woman, children, this be Christmas, while Bill, my boy, this be Christmas, and Pops, 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. While 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 bade and 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 shoveled 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 tasseled 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 a marvelous 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 makeshifts 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 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 guest, there was nothing in Congress 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 since anyone 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 Pius 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 center with a brave show of artistic skill were the words Merry Christmas, pritially worked with the small brown combs 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 Del Monaco 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 a 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'd tell you Bill said the trapper to his companion as he stirred the soup with a long ladle as part actually run it over with taters but you can see a bit occasionally if you look sharp and keep the ladle going 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 about fifteen in the bag and the woman took twelve of them for a kettle and you can't make three taters look actually crowded at two gallons of soup, can you 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 trappers 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. Another piece of tater gone all the pieces. Well if I make another circle with a ladle I won't be a whole slice left and you'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 cords so few and of the lighter ones so many. Some muffled ones there are, some slow and solemn sounds swell sadly for that intervals but to 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 today 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 a 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 but Bill was not lacking in wit if he was in pots and he saw the conundrum how to make tea without a teapot in a manner that extorted the woman's laughter and commanded the old grappers 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 odours with which we are free to say Bill was more or less familiar 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 while bill said the trapper who wished to give his companion the needed warning in as delicate and easy a manner as possible while bill you've certainly got the right idea touching to make him a tea and coffee for the yard but should be steeped and the berry too least wise order it's piled up once or twice therefore to be only reasonable that the nozzle should be closed moderately tight but a man wants considerable experience in the business or he's likely to overdo it just a little and if you don't cut some slots and then wooden corks you're driving them into nozzles bill there'll be a good deal at tea and coffee floating around in your corner of the fireplace for many minutes and i can see there'll be a man about your size looking for a couple of corks and pieces of jugs out there in the clarin too do you think so answered bill and gradually see don't you be scared old man but keep on stirring your soup and turn in the meat and i'll keep my eye on the bottles that's right bill return the trapper you keep your eye right on him especially on that and that's furthest in toward the bottom of the beach log there or if there's any about two and signs that jug be getting on easy yes continued the old man after a minutes pause during which is i hadn't left the jug yes that jug will want more room for many minutes if i'm any judge and i can see it i better give it the biggest part of the fireplace and the trapper hastily moved the soup and his half dozen plates of cooked meats to the other end of the hearthstone wither 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 the stack of wood that lay piled up in this corner like one who does not despise in a sudden emergency and artificial protection bill call the trapper edge around a little edge around and get in closer to the jam is sheer foolishness stand and where you be for the water will be walloping in a minute and if the corks be swelled in the nozzle there'll be an explosion that in toward the jam and watch the ambush man under giver old man answered the bill as he turned his back carelessly toward the fireplace i've got the bearings of this trail and i 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 a raw shout of the trapper lifting his head from behind the wood and critically surveying the scene her raw bill he shouted as he swung the ladle over his head come out from under the table and man your battery again old mortars was loaded to the muzzle and if you had to press the pieces a little you'd have blown the cabin to splinters as it was the chimney got the biggest part of the charging and you'll find your 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 overconfidence I say old trapper he called from under the table did both guns go off I was getting undercover when the battery opened and didn't notice whether the fireman 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 good position to observe the range and watch the effect of the shot I say hadn't you better get behind the woodpile again no no interrupted the trapper all battery went at the word bill and a gun or a gun carriage left in the casement you have wasted a gill of the yard and a quarter of a pound of the berry and you must hurry up with another outfit of bottles or we'll have nothing 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 I if some sweet power could 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 center 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 asked 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 abode and with lowly folk I 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 in 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 oh memory thou tuneful bell that ringeth on forever friend at our feasts and a friend too let us call thee at our burial what music can equal thine for in thy mystic globe all tombs abide the birthday note for kings the marriage peel 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 aloud and clear above my grave that peel 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 for his goodness said the trapper whose thoughts unconsciously broken to speech the lord be praised for his goodness and make us grateful for his past marcies and plenty that be here and looking down upon the bayans spread before him he added the lord be good to the boy and make him as happy in his city home as they who bewareen and eaten his gifts in the woods amen said the woman softly and a grateful tear fell on her plate ahem 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 the more honest grace was said or more honestly 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 exclamation the laughter the story the joke the verbal thrust and parry of such an occasion these as springing from the center of the circumstance and flashed into being at the instant cannot be preserved for after rehearsal like the ever-fessons of champagne they jet and are gone their force passes away with a noise that accompanied its outcoming is it not enough to record that the dinner was a success that the trappers meets 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 the wonder and pride of the table was the pudding a creation of indian meal flour, suet, and raisins reinforced and assisted by innumerable spicy elements supposed to be too mysterious to be grasped by the masculine mind in the production of this wonderful centerpiece 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 cooking he said addressing himself to wild bill and i certainly doubt if there'd be anything in the several months today that can equal it there'd be just enough of the suet and there'd be a plum for every mouthful and it's solid enough to stay in the mouth until you've had time to chew it and get a taste of the corn and i wouldn't give a scent for a pudding if it gets away from your teeth fast yes it'd be a wonderful bit of cooking and turning to the woman he added it'd be well proud of it what higher praise could be bestowed and as it was re-echoed by all present and played after played was passed for a second filling the dinner came to an end with the greatest good feeling and hilarity four now for the sled exclaimed the trapper as he rose from the table it'd be a good many years since i've straddled one but nothing settles at dinner quicker as soon as the little folks better i can seat the crust be thick enough to bear us up and if it is we can fetch a course from the upper edge of the clearing fifty rods into the lake come chillin get on your mittens and your tippets and hiss the long to the big pine and you still have some fun you won't forget until your heads be wider 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 while bill said the trapper as they stood on the crest of the slope down which they were to glide the cross be smooth as glass and they'll be a step on i certainly doubt a mortal man ever wrote faster than this that'll be going by the time it gets to where the bank pitches into the lake and if you should get a needle careless in your steering bill and hit a thump i can see that nothing but the help of the lord or the rottenness of the stump could save you from eternity 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 extray 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 would be to keep in the path or in the first place there isn't any path and the sums be pretty thick and a doubt if you 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 going as fast as we'll be going has got to be taken judiciously or something will happen i say bill what part will you steer for wild bill thus addressed proceeded to give his opinion touching the proper direction of the flight they were to make indeed he had to been closely examining the ground while the trapper was speaking and therefore gave his opinion promptly and with confidence yeah chosen the course with judgment said the old man approvingly after he had studied the line his companion pointed out critically for a moment yes bill you have a natural life of the business and i certainly have more confidence in you than i had a minute ago when you was talking about a steeper hill than this but this hill dropped some muddy sudden in the pitches and the crust be smooth as ice and a slow go like a streak when i get started but the course you pointed out to be a good enough for that only one bad turn in it and good steering or to put a sled around that i say continued the old man at turning toward his companion and pointing out the crook in the course at the bottom of the second dip yeah swing around that big stump there without upsetting when you come to it swing around of course i can't retorted bill positively there's plenty of room to the left i have a bloody room as you say it fit up 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 i bit your way i dare say you'd be good at steering and i certainly know i'm good at riding and i can ride as fast as you can steer if you hit every stump in the clearing now children continued the old man turning to the little group we'll be going to try the course and if the crust holds up and while bill keeps clear of the stumps and nothing unusual happens you shall have all the slide and you want before you go in god they'll get your sled pointed right and i'll be getting on and we'll see if you can steer an old man round his stump as handling as you say you can the directions of the trapper were promptly obeyed and in an instant the sled was in the right position and the trapper proceeded to see 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 old he said to himself at the load and goes to the judgment 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 void 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 all on bill explained the trapper whose eye this novel method of steering had not escaped all on out up a minute heavens and art you don't mean to steer this led with one toe do you and that too the length of a rifle barrel a star and well around and spread your legs out as you order and steer this led in an honest fashion or they'll be trouble aboard before you get to the bottom sit around retorted bill how could I see to steer if I was sitting right back of you for your naya foot taller than I be and your shoulders are as broad as the sled yeah pines be well taken for certain replied the trapper or be no more than reasonable that the man that steer should see where he'd be going and I am as anxious as you be that you should yeah I certainly want you to see where we be going on this trip anyhow for the crew be a freshener and the channel be a little crooked but be your thought and bill that you can stretch round that stump there as it ought to be with nothing but your toe out behind it may be the best way as you say but I don't look like honest steering to a man in 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 get 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 yes he is 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 you say he continued but the rudder be too far behind to suit me and if anything happens on this cruise just remember wild bill that my judgment 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 of 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 a 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 trappers cap have been blown from his head and as the old man sat bolt upright on his sled his feet bravely planted on the ground 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 more 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 if you're stern up wild bill up with your star not say yell the trapper or i won't be a stump lapped in the clarin 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 writing 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 bills 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 might almost fancy that no accident to happen 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 tackled from the hilltop and the woman swung her bonnet over her head and laughed from her position in the doorway bill called the trapper when by dent of much effort they had managed to check their motion somewhat bill if the crews be over I concede we did better anchor here about but I shipped for the voyage and you be captain and as you finally got the right way to steer I feel pretty safe touch in the future 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 voted a good many times on these waters and under circumstances that call for honest motion but I certainly never went across this bay as fast as I've did it today I do you feel bill how do you feel well good deal shaken up was the answer a good deal shaken up I concede as much answered the trapper I concede as much for you left the sled with my little deliberation and when I saw your legs coming through the air I certainly doubted if the ice would hold you but you steered with judgment yes you're steered with judgment bill and I'd have said it if we had 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 and ours appies lighting 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 for me to be gone I've had a happy day with you in the little ones and the trail over the mountain will seem shorter as the pups and me go home thinking on it while bill will stay a few days and put things a little more to rights and get up a wood bile that will keep you from chopping for a good while it's his own thought and you can thank him accordingly then having kissed each of the children and spoken a few words to while bill he took the woman's hand and said the sorrows of life be many but the Lord never forgets I've lived until my head be whitening and I've noted that though he moves slowly he fetches most things round about the time we need him and the things that be laid in common I concede we shall get somewhere further on yet didn't kill the big buck this morning but the meat you needed hangs in your 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 while bill noted that 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 I I poor woman that we joined 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 all and one over the crust it's no 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 fires 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 a friend dear friend when life's glad day with you and me is past when the sweet Christmas chimes are rung for other ears than ours when the 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 part eight section two part nine of a christmas macelle on a 2019 by various authors this liberal box recording is in the public domain part nine holiday tales christmas in the adirondacks john norton's vagabond by william henry harrison murray section one one a cabin a cabin in the woods of it i have written before and of it i write again the same great fireplace piled high with logs fiercely ablaze again on either side of the fireplace or the hounds gazing meditatively into the fire the same big table and on it the same great book leather bound and worn by the hands of many generations and at the strong table bending over the sacred book with one huge finger marking a sentence the same whitened head the same man large of limb and large of feature john norton the trapper yes pups said the trapper speaking to his dogs as one speaks to companions and council yes pups uh must go in for here it be read in the book rover you needn't have that determined look in your eye for here it be read in the book i say do and others as you would that others should do under you i know old dog that you had seen to me line the sights on the vagabonds when ye and me have catched him pilfer in the traps or tampering with the line and i have trusted your nose as often as my own eyes in dragon the knaves when they've got the start of us and i will admit it rover that the lord gave you a great gift in your nose so that you'd be able to destarn at the difference between the scent of an honest trappers moccasin and that of a vagabond but that isn't to the point roger the point is a christmas be a common and ye and me and sport yonder have sought it down that we're to have a dinner and the question in council tonight is who shall we invite to our dinner here we have been arguing the matter three knots between us pups and we didn't get a foot ahead and the reason that we didn't get a foot ahead was because ye and me rover naturally felt alike for we have never consorted with vagabonds and we couldn't bear the idea of inviting them to this cabin and eating with them so ye and me agreed tonight we'd go to the book and go by the book hit or miss and the reason we should go to the book and by the book is because if it wasn't for the book there wouldn't be any christmas nor any christmas dinner to invite anyone to and so we went to the book and the book says i will read you the words rover and sport though he'd be a younger dog and naturally of less judgment yet you have your gifts and i have seen you straighten out a trail that rover me couldn't untangle so do you listen both of you like honest dogs while i read the words give to him that lacketh and from him that hath not with old knot thine hand there it be rover we are to give to the man that lacks vagabond or no vagabond if he lacks victals we are to give him victals and if he lacks garments we are to give him garments if he likes a christmas dinner rover we are to give him a christmas dinner but how are we to give him a christmas dinner unless we give him an invite to it for you know yourself rover that no vagabond would ever come to a cabin where he and me be unless we ask them to but there's another sentence here somewhere in the book that bears on the point we be considering when thou make us to dinner that be exactly our case rover or a supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren and neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made thee but when thou make us to feast call the poor the maimed the lame the blind and thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompense thee for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just furthermore rover there's another passage that the lad when he was on the earth used to say each night before he went to sleep whether in the cabin or on the bows sport you must remember it for he was his own dog i am not certain where it be rid in the book but that doesn't matter for we all know the words it be from the great prayer for i'll give us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and the great prayer as i concede is the only blaze and a man can trail by if he hopes to fetch through to the great clearing in peace now these vagabonds rover i needn't name them to you have trespassed against us ye and me know it for we've catched him in the devilment and what is more to the pond the lord knows it too for he's had his eye on him and there's one up in the north country that wouldn't get an invite to this dinner bible or no bible but barren this nave who is beyond the range of our trails there is not a single vagabond that has trespassed against us that we mustn't forgive for this be christmas time pups and christmas be a time for forgiven and forgotten all the evil that's been done against us and here the old man paused and looked at the dogs and then gazed long and earnestly into the fire to his face as he gazed came the look of satisfaction and the most placid peace it was evident that if there had been a struggle between his natural feelings and his determination to celebrate the great christmas festival in the true christmas spirit the latter had won and that the christmas mood had at last entered into and possessed his soul and after an interval he rose and carefully closing the great volume said now pups as we've settled in between us and we all stand agreed in the matter i'll get the bark and the coal and we'll see how the decision of the council looks when it be put in right and in a moment the trapper was again seated at the table with a large piece of birch bark in front of him and a hound on either side i can see pups that the letter n said the old man as he proceeded to sharpen the piece of charcoal he held in his hands should be a goodly size for it may help some and readen and i certainly know it will help me and rotten with this honest confession of his lack of practice and penmanship he proceeded to write any man or animal that be and what a victuals or garments is invited to come on christmas day which be next week thursday without further action to john norton's cabin on long lake to eat christmas dinner bag of bonds included in this invite i can't say said the trapper as he backed off a few pieces and looked at the writing critically i can't say that the word and be exactly as the missioners would put it and as for the spell and i haven't got any more confidence in it than a rifle that loads at the breach bed the letter n certainly stands out well for the coal is a good in and i put as much weight on it as i thought it would bear but there is certainly a good deal of difference between the ups and downs of the markings and the line slope off toward the northwest as if they had started out to blaze a trail through the saint reaches that third line looks as if it would finally come together if you had to get it time enough to get around the circle but the bark had a color in it there and the coal followed the grain of the bark and i'm not to blame for that roba i'm more of a half conceit by the look in your eye that you see the difference in the sauce and then letters yourself but if you do you'll be a wise dog to keep your face steady for if you showed your feelings old as you be i'd educate you with the help of a moccasin and he looked at the old dog whose face as if he realized the peril of his position for an expression of supernatural gravity with interrogative earnestness have a mind the shape and size of the letters or the curve of the lines he added the charcoal mark and stands out strong and any hungry man with a leaky cabin for his home can certainly study out the words and that's the chief buy it as i understand it with his comforting reflection the trapper made his preparations to retire for the night he placed the skins for the dogs in the accustomed spot lifted another huge log into the monstrous fireplace swept the great hearthstone bolted the heavy door and then stretched himself upon his bed but before he slept he gazed long and earnestly at the writing on the bark and murmured bag of bonds included in this invite yes the book be right christmas be a day for forgiven and forgetting and even a bag of bond if and he needs victims or garments or a rat spirit shall be welcome to my cabin and then he slept in the vast and cheerless woods that night there were some who were hungry and cold and wicked but were christmas and its cheer to them what were gifts and a giving or who would spread for them a full table at which as a guest of honor they might eat and be merry and above the woods was a star leading men toward a manger and a multitude of angels and an eye that seeeth forever the hungry and the cold and the wicked on his bed slept at the trapper with the look of the christ on his face and as he slept he murmured yes the book be right let him who hath gifted him the hath not and above the woods above the wicked and the cold above the sleeping trapper and above the blessed words on the bark on his wall above the spot where the christ had thus received a forest incarnation a great multitude of the heavenly host broke forth and sang glory to god in the highest and on earth peace goodwill towards men two it was on the day before christmas and the sun was at its meridian it was a day of brilliance and prophecy and the prophecy which the trapper read in the intense sky and vivid brightness of the sun's light told him of coming storm yes muttered the old man as he stood just outside the doorway of his cabin and carefully studied the signs of forest and sky yes this is a weather breeder for certain smell it in the air the light is unnaturally bright and the woods unnaturally still snow be a fly enough for another sunrise and the woods will roar like the great lakes in the gale i'm sorry that it's coming for some will be kept from the dinner it's certainly strange that the order of the lord is as it is for a little more hurry and a little more stand on his part of the things that happen on the earth would make mortals a good deal happier as i concede i i john norton a little more hurrying and a little more staying of things that happen on the earth would make mortals much happier the great ship that is today a wreck would be sailing the sea and the faces that stare ghastly wide from its depths would be rosy with life's happy health the flowers on her tomb would be twined in the brides glossy air and the tower that now stands half building would go on to its finishing the dry fountain would still be in play and the leafless tree would stand green in its beauty and bloom who shall read us the riddle of the ordering in this world who shall read the riddle oh man of white and head oh woman whose life is but a memory who shall read us the trappers riddle i say there comes wild bale exclaimed the trapper joyfully on one plate will have its eater for sartan and the old man laughed at the recollection of his companion's appetite lord i must see that box on his sled is as big as the awk i wonder if he's not a drove of animals in it had the trapper known the closeness of his guests as to the contents of the huge box he would have marveled at his guessing for there certainly were animals in the box and of a sort that usually are noisy enough and sure at the least provocation to proclaim their name and nature but every animal whether wild or domesticated has its habits and many of the noisiest of mouths when the mood is on them can be as dumb as a sphinx and as wild bill came shuffling up on his snow shoes with a box of goodly sighs lashed to his sled not a sound proceeded therefrom it is needless to record that the greeting between the two men was most hearty how delightful is the meeting of men of the woods manly are they in life and manly in their greeting what have you gotten the box bill clearing the trapper good naturely it's big enough to hold a churchbell and a good part of the steeple beside it's a christmas present for you john norton replied to bill gleefully you don't think i will come to your cabin today and not bring a present to you gift and now gift your welcome would be the same answered the trapper for your heart and your shooting be both right and you will fund the door of my cabin open at your coming whether you come full-handed or empty it's over or drunk while bill i haven't touched a drop for 12 months responded the other the pledge i gave you above the christmas box in your cabin here last christmas eve i have kept and shall keep to the end john norton i expected it of you yes i certainly expected it of you bill for you came a good stock your grantor fit in the revolution and a man's word gets its value a good deal from his breeden as i can see replied to the trapper but i have you in the box bud beaster fish bill the trail runs this way answered bill i chopped a whole winter four year ago for a man who never paid me a cent for my work at the end of it last week i concluded to go and collect the bill myself but not a thing could i get out of the nave but what's in the box so i told him i'd take them and call the account settled for i had read the writing on the bark you had nailed up on indian carry and i said buddy will help out at the dinner and bill proceeded to start one of the boards with his hatchet the trapper whose curiosity was now thoroughly excited applied his eye to the opening and as he did so they're suddenly issued from the box the most unearthly noises accompanied by such scratchings and clawings as could only have proceeded from animals of their nature under such extraordinary treatment as they had experienced heavens at earth explained the trapper yeah pigs in that box bill that's what i put in that replied to bill as he gave it another whack and that's what will come out of it if i start the clenches of these nails and he bent himself with energy to do his work hold up hold up bill cried the trapper this ended up bitter business you can do in a hurry if you expect to get any profit out of the transaction i can see only one of the pigs but the one i can't see is not overburdened with fat it's again reason to expect that he will be long and getting out when he starts or wait for you to scratch him when he breaks cover don't you be afraid of them pigs getting away from the old man rejoined bill as he pride away at the nails i don't expect that the ones that start will be as slow as a funeral when he makes his first jump but he won't be the only pig i've caught by the leg when he has two feet above the earth go so i say go slow cried the trapper now thoroughly alarmed at the reckless precipitancy of his companion the pigs as i can see belong to a lively breed and it is sure foolishness to risk a whole winter's chopping not another word of warning that did the old trapper utter for suddenly the nails yielded the board flew upward and out of the box shot a pig it is in the interest of accurate statement and everlasting proof of wildbills alertness to affirm and record that the flying pig had taken only two jumps before his owner was atop of him and both disappeared over the bank in a whirlwind of flying snow nor had the trapper been less dexterous for no sooner had the sandy colored streak shot through the hole made by the hatchet of the man who had sledded him 40 miles that he might present him to the trapper as a contribution to the christmas dinner then the old man dropped himself onto the box and thereby effectually barring the exit of the other poor sign sprinter getcha gun getcha gun old trapper yelled bill from the whirlwind of snow getcha gun i say for this infernal pig is getting the best of me i can't do it bill cried the trapper i can't do it i am doing picket duty on the top of this box with a big hole under me and another pig under the hole at the same instant the pig and wild bill shot up the bank into full view bill had lost his grip on the leg but had made good his hold on an ear and had the trapper been a betting man it is doubtful if he would have placed money on either had he done so the odds would have been slightly in favor of the pig hold on bill cried the trapper lapping at the spectacle in front of him till the tears stood in his eyes hold on i say remember you have three months of chopping in your grip the pig under me are getting lively and the profits of the other three months beyond certain oh lord ejaculated the old man partially sobered at the prospect it comes the pops and the devil himself will now be to pay the anxiety and alarming prediction of the trapper were in the next instant fully justified for the two dogs unaccustomed to the scent and cries of the animals but thoroughly aroused at the noise and fury of the contest came tearing down the slope through the snow at full speed the pig saw them coming and headed for the southern angle of the cabin with bill streaming along at his side in an insta he reappeared at the northern corner with bill still fastened to his ear and the hounds in full cry just one jump behind him it is not an accurate statement to say that wild bill was running beside the pig for his stride was so elongated that when one of his feet left the ground it was impossible to predict when or where it would strike the earth or whether it would ever strike again the two flying objects as they came careering around the slope directly toward the trapper who was heroically holding himself above the aperture in the box with the poor sign volcano in full play under him presented the dreadful appearance of bevy's comet when a rent by some awful explosion the one half was on the point of taking its eternal farewell of the other left a mausoleum piece while bill yelled the trapper left a mother like say and allow three feet for when the genuine make me the bullseye for your pig the advice or rather let us say the expostulation of the trapper was the best which under the circumstances could be given but no directions however correct might prevent the dreadful catastrophe the old man stuck heroically to his post and the pig stuck with equal pertinacity to his course he struck the box on which the trapper sat with the force of a stone from a catapult and dogs men and pigs disappeared in the snow when the trapper had wiped the snow from his eyes the spectacle that he beheld it was to say the least extraordinary the head of one dog was in sight above the snow and neither head he could make out the hind legs and tail of another in one instant while the bill's cap came in sight and from under it a series of sounds was coming as if he were talking earnestly to himself while far down the trail leading to the river he caught the glimpse of two sandy colored objects going at a speed to which matter can only attain when it has become permanently detached from this earth and superior to the laws of gravitation for several minutes not a word was said the catastrophe had been so overwhelming and the wreck of bill's hope so complete that it made speech on his part impossible the trapper from a fine sense of feeling and regard for his companion remained silent and the dogs uncertain as to what was expected of them kept their places in the snow at last the old man struggled to his feet and silently started towards the cabin wild bill followed in equal silence and the dogs as mutely brought up the rear the depressed not to say woe by gone appearance of the singular procession certainly had in it in the fullest measure all the elements of humor in this suggestive manner the column filed into the cabin the dogs stole softly to their accustomed places wild bill dropped into a chair and the trapper addressed himself mechanically to some domestic concerns at last the silence became oppressive wild bill turned in his chair and facing the trappers said it's too devilish bad if you was a council generals or privates yet carry every boat with you on that statement bill said the trapper with deliberation do you think there's any chance old man query to bill earnestly now on the earth bill answered the trapper yes see he continued that's no one's a deep on my side of the trail and i had my eye on them pigs before you got your head above the drift and i noted the rate of their movement they was going my the fast bill my the fast you must take into account that they had the slope in their fever and certain experiences behind i've cited on a good many things that was gifted in running and flying and i never kept a bullet in the barrel when i wanted feather fur or meat because of the swiftness of the motion but if i had been standing ten rods from that trail love the meat like a settler i wouldn't have wasted powder nor lead on them pigs bill and the two men looking into each other's faces laughed like boys where do you think they'll fetch up john norton queried bill at last oh they won't fetch up replied the trapper wiping his eyes they swad not this year and he has told me that it is 24 000 miles around the earth and it looks to me as if them pigs got started out to sarkam navigated and i can see that it'll be about a month before they will come through this clarin again i may be a little amiss in my calculating but a day more or less will make any difference with you and me nor with the pigs either bill they may be a trifle leaner when they pass the cabin next time but the gate will be just the same as i can see and after a moment he asked sympathetically how far did you slide them pigs bill 40 mile answer to build dejectedly it's a good distance consider under nature of the animals replied the trapper and you must have attempted to unload the slab more in once bill i would have unloaded it responded the other i would have unloaded the cussed things more than once but i had nothing else to bring you and i thought they looked mighty fine standing up on the table with an apple in each mouth and their tails curled up as i seen them at the barbecues so they would so they would bill but you never could i kept them on the table no amount of cooking would ever have taken the speed out of them pigs if you had nailed them to the table then i'd taken the table and cabin with them it's better as it is bill so cheer up and we'll get at the cooking cooking is more than an art it is a gift genius and genius alone can prepare a feast fit for the feaster will be to the wretch who sees nothing in preparing food for the mouth of man save manual labor such an avar should be basted on his own spit an artist in eating can alone appreciate an artist in cooking when food is well prepared it delights the eye it intoxicates the nose it pleases the tongue it stimulates the appetite and prolongs the healthy craving which it finally satisfies even as the song of the mother charms the child which it gradually composes for slumber the old trapper was a man of gifts and among his gifts was that of cooking for sixty years he had been his own chef with a continent for his larder and to more than one gourmand of the great cities the tastiness and delicacy of his dishes had been a revelation more than one epicure of the clubs had gone from his cabin not only with a full but a surprised stomach it is easy to imagine the happiness that this host of the woods experienced in preparing the feast for the moral he entered upon his labors whose culmination was to be the great event of the year with the alacrity of one who had to mentally discuss and decided every point in anticipation there was no cause for haste and hence there was no confusion he could not foretell the number of his guests but this did in no way disconcert him he had already decided that no matter how many might come there should be enough in wild bill he had an able and willing assistant and all through the afternoon and well into the evening the two men pushed on the preparation for the great dinner the large table constructed a strong maple plank was sanded and scoured until it shone almost snowy white on it was placed a buck roasted a la barbeque the skin and head skillfully reconnected with the body and posed muzzle lifted antlers laid well back head turned ears alert as he stood in the bush when the trapper's bullet got him down at one end of the table a bear's cub was in the act of climbing a small tree well at the other end a wild goose hung in midair suspended by a fine wire from the ceiling with neck extended wing spread legs streaming backward as he looked when he drove downward toward open water to his last feeding the great cabin was a bower of beauty and fragrance the pungent odor of gummy boughs and of bark under which still lurked the amber-colored sweat of heated days and sweltering nights pervaded it on one side of the cabin hung a huge piece of white cotton cloth on which the trapper with a vast outlay of patience had stitched small cones of the pine into the conventional phrase a merry christmas to yell it must have taken you a good many evenings to have done that job said wild bill pointing with the ladle he held in his hand toward the illuminated bit of sheeting it is bill it is replied the trapper and a solemn and a lively time out of it for I hadn't but six needles in the cabin and I broke five of them the first night for the cones was gummy and hard and it takes a good stiff needle to go through one if the man who was punching it through hasn't any thimble and the ball of his thumb is bleeding lord a messy bill rovin knew the trouble I was having as well as I did but harder I have broken the second needle and talked about it a moment the old dog got uneasy and began to edge away and by the time I had broken the fourth needle and got through washing my thumb he had back to clean across the cabin and sat jammed up in the corner out there flatter than a shingle and what did he do when the fifth needle broke query to bill as he thrust his ladle into the pot ovens earth bill why do you ask such foolish questions you know it wasn't a minute order that fifth needle broke even the vaguer half sticking under the nail of my forefinger for both of the pups was going out through the door there as if the devil was ordering him with a frying pan and a chair a little behind him by man can't stand everything if he be a christian man and working away to get a christmas sign ready can he bill it is in harmony with the facts of the case for me to record that while bill never answered the old trappers very proper interrogation but sat down on the floor and thrust his legs up in the air and yelled and after the spasm left him he got up slowly sat down in a chair and looked at the trapper with wet eyes and mouth wide open and of part nine section one part nine section two of a christmas miscellany 2019 by various authors this libra box recording is in the public domain part nine holiday tales christmas in the aterondacks john norton's vagabond by william henry harrison murray section two the old trapper evidently relish the mirthfulness of his companion for his face was lighted with the amuse expression of the humorous when he has told to an appreciative comrade an experience against himself but in an instant his countenance dropped and looking at the huge kettle that stood half buried in the coals and warm ashes in front of the glowing logs and into which bill had been so determinedly thrusting his ladle only a moment before he exclaimed well i've lost all confidence in your cooking abilities you said that you knew to natter a cornmeal and that you could fill a pudding bag judiciously and no it isn't 10 minutes since you tied the string and the meal is a half swollen yet your whole bag there is on the point of coming out of the pot at this alarming announcement wild bill jumped for the fireplace and in an instant he had placed the spade-shaped end of his ladle whose handle was full three feet long at the very center of the lid that was already lifted two inches from the rim of the kettle and was putting a good deal of pressure upon it competent in his ability to resist any further upward tendency and to escape the threatened catastrophe he coolly replied it strikes me that you are a good deal excited over a little matter old man the meal has got through swelling now i didn't know it hasn't returned the trapper after the carnals haven't felt the warm under the hot water yet and i can see that the old lid is lifted no it isn't lifting either john norton continued wild bill determinedly and it won't lift unless the shaft of this ladle snaps now ladle be a good return the trapper now fully assured that no human power could avert the coming catastrophe and keenly enjoying his companion's extremity in the humor of the situation the ladle be a gooden for a passionate from an old paddle a second growth ash o's blade i had twisted in the rapids and you can put your whole weight on it old man cried to bill now thoroughly alarmed the lid is lifting thoughtfully thoughtfully returned the trapper it's lifted for a half an inch since you placed your ladle to it and it'll keep on lifting robert knows what is coming as well as i do for an old dog as you see begins to edge away and the sport has started for the door already what shall i do john norton what shall i do the lid is lifting again as your ladle well placed bill have you got it in the center of the lid returned the trapper dead in the center old man responded bill competently dead in the center put your whole weight on it then and not waste of strength in talking you know your own strength and i know the strength indian meal when hot water gets added and if the ladle don't slip or the kettle lid split it's about nip and talk between you old man yelled bill as he put his whole weight on the ladle handle this lid has lifted again get a stick and come here and help me no no bill answered the trapper the pudding is of your own mixin and you must attend to the job yourself i stuck to your box with a hole underneath me and a pig under the hole till something happened and ye must stick to your pudding but i can't hold it down john norton yelled for bill the lid has lifted again and the whole darn thing is coming out of the pot i can't see it as much as i can see it as much answered the trapper now go the pops out of the door bill and when the dogs quit the cabin it's time for the master to follow her and the old man started for the door the catastrophe who could describe it bill strength was adequate but no human power could save the pudding even as bill put his strength onto the ladle the wooden cover of the kettle split with a sharp concussion in the middle the kettle was upset and poor bill covered with ashes and pursued by a cloud of steam shot out of the door and plunged into the snow oh laughter sweet laughter laugh on and laugh ever in the smile of the babe thou comest from heaven in the girls rosy dimples in the boys noisy glee in the humor of strong men and the wit of sweet women thou art seen as a joy and a comfort to us humans when fortune deserts and friends fall away he who keeps the keeps solace and health hope and heart in his bosom when the head groweth white and the eye getteth dim and the soul go without through the slow closing gates of the senses be thou then in us and of us thou sweet angel of heaven that the smile of the babe in his first happy sleep may come back to our faces as we lie at the gates in our last and perhaps most peaceful slumber the laughter and the labor of the day were ended the work of the preparation for the dinner on the morrow had extended well into the evening and at its conclusion the two men satisfied with the result of the pleasant task and healthily weary retired to their cots it is needless to say that the thoughts of each were happy and their feelings peaceful and to such slumber comes quickly outside the world was white and still with the stillness that precedes the coming of a winter storm through the voiceless darkness a few feathery prophecies of coming snow were settling a lazily downward the great stones in the fireplace were still white with heat and the cabin was filled with the warm afterglow of burned logs and massive brands that ever and anon broke apart and flamed anew suddenly the trapper lifted himself on his couch and looking over toward his companion said bell didn't you hear the bells rang while the bill lifted himself to his elbow and in sheer astonishment stared at the trapper for he well knew there wasn't a bell within fifty miles the old man noticed the astonishment of his companion and realizing the incredibility of the supposition said as if an explanation of the strangeness of his questioning this be the night on which the memory takes the home trail bill and the thoughts of the aged go backward and laying his head again on the pillow he murmured ah certainly conceded I hear the bells ringing and then he slept I I old trapper we of whitening heads know the truth of thy saying and thy dreaming thou disteer the bells ring for often as we sleep on Christmas Eve the ringing of bells comes to us marriage peel and funeral now chimes and tolling clash of summons and measured stroke dying noises from a dead past swelling and sinking sinking and swelling like falling and failing surf on a wrecked stroom beach ah me where be the ships the proud white sailed ships the rich laden ships whose broken timbers and splintered spars lie now dank and weed grown sand covered on that sorrowful shore on that mournfully resounding shore of our past but other bells thank god sound for us all old trapper on Christmas Eve not the bells of the past but the bells of the future and they ring loud and clear and they will ring forever for they are swung by the angels of god and they tell of a new life a new chance and a new opportunity for us all morning dawned the day verified the trapper's prophecy for it came with storm the mountain back of the cabin roared as if aerial surf was breaking against it the air was thick with snow that streamed whirled and eddied through it dry and light as feathers of down never mind the thorn bell said the trapper cheerily as he pushed the door open in the gray dawn and looked out into the maze of whirling rushing snowflakes ah you may be hindered and one or two fetched through a little late but there'll be an earnest movement at teeth when the hour for eaten comes and the plates be well filled dinner was called prompt to the hour and again was the old man's prediction realized the table lacked not guests for nearly every chair was occupied 20 men had rested the storm that they might be at that dinner and some had traversed a 30 mile trail that they might honor the old man and share his generous cheer it was a remarkable and perhaps we may say a motley company that the trapper looked upon as he took his place knife and fork and hand at the head of the table with a hound on either side of his great chair to perform the duty of host and chief carver brand said the trapper a standing erect in his place and looking cheerfully at the row of bearded and expected faces on either hand in front of him brand I ask it to come and eat this Christmas dinner with me because I love the companionship of the woods and hated on this day a human feast and gladness to eat my food alone I also conceded that some of you felt that I did that the day will be happier if we spend it together I knew furthermore that some of you were not born in the woods but were newcomers driven here as a canoe to a beach in a gale and that the day might belong and lonesome if you had to stay in your cabins from morning till night alone by yourselves and I also conceded that here and there might be a man who had to been unfortunate in his trappings or his ventures in the settlements among actually be a need of food and garments or it may be he had acted wickedly at times and had lost confidence in his own goodness and the goodness of others and I said I will make the terms of the invite and broad enough to include each and all whoever and whatever he may be and now friends continued the old man I'd be glad to see you at my table and I hope you've brought a good appetite with you for the victuals be ready and do not want to script the size of his eating let us all eat heartily and be merry for this be Christmas if you've had bad luck in the past we'll hope for better luck in the future and take heart if we've had heavy hearted or sorrowful we will jerk up if any have wronged us we will forgive and forget for this be Christmas friends and Christmas be a day for forgiven and forgotten and now continued the old man as he flourished his knife and grasped the huge fork preparatory to plunging it into the venison haunch in front of him well good appetites and a cheerful mind let us all fall to eating three thus went the feasting hunger had brought its appetite to the plentiful table and the well-cooked by ends provoked its indulgence if the past of any of the trappers guest had been sorrowful the unhappiness of it for the moment was forgotten stories crisp as snow crust and edged with aptness happy memories and reminiscences of frolic and fun sly hits and keen retorts jokes and laughter roll it around the table and shook it with mirthful explosions the merriment was at its height when a loud summons sounded upon the door it was so imperious as well as so unexpected that every noise was instantly hushed and every face at the table was turned in surprise to wait the entrance come in cried the trapper cheerly however you be you'd be welcome if you be a little late the response of him who so emphatically sought admission to the feast was as prompt as his summons had been determined for without an instance delay or the least hesitancy of movement the great door was pushed suddenly inward and a man stepped into the room a sturdy fellow he was swore theft skin and full whiskered his hair was black and coarse and grown to his shoulders his eyes were black as night largely orbed under heavy brows not lacking a certain wicked splendor his face was strongly featured and stamped in every line and curve and prominence with the impress of unmistakable power in his right hand he carried a rifle and in its left a bundle snugly packed and protected from the storm in wrappings of oiled cloth the strong light into the circle of which he had so suddenly stepped lined at him for a moment while to those who sat staring at him it brought out with vivid distinctiveness every feature of his strong and say for a certain hardness of expression handsome face it was evident that the man whoever he was and whatever he might be was under the pressure of some impulse or conviction which had urged him on to the trappers cabin and the trappers presence for no sooner had he closed the door and shaken the snow with which he was covered from his garments than regardless of those who sat staring and startled interrogation at him he strode to the head of the table where the old trapper sat and looking him straight in the face said do you know who I am John Norton? certainly answered the trapper you have a chanted gem and you camped these three years and more at the outlet of Bog Lake do you know that I am a thief and a sneak thief at that continued the newcomer speaking with a fierce directness that was startling I've conceded you was answered the trapper calmly do you know it know it to a certainty and the words came out of his mouth like the thrust of a knife yes I know that you'll be a thief chanted gem replied the trapper know it to a certainty do you know that I have stolen skins from you old man skins and traps both continued the other I laid an ambush for you once at the foals of all river and I see you to take an order from a trap that I saw replied the trapper why didn't you shoot me when I stood skin and hand queried the self-confessed thief I can't tell answered the trapper where my eye was at the sights of my finger out in the trigger and the feeling of nature was strong within me to prop one of your ears then and there shanty gem but something may have the spirit of the Lord stayed my finger and you went with your theven in your hand to your camp untouched and unhindered do you know what brought me to this cabin and to your presence the presence of the man who skins and whose traps I have stolen and made me confess to his face and before these men here that I am a thief and a scoundrel do you know what brought me here a miserable cost that I am and have been for years John Norton and the man's speech was the speech of one who had been educated to use words rightly and was marked with intense even dramatic earnestness I can't can see unless the spirit of the Lord the spirit of the Lord had nothing to do with it interrupted the other fiercely if there is any influence at work in this world as the preachers tell of why has it not prevented me from being a thief why did it not prevent me from doing what I did and being what I was in my you me whose mother was an angel and whose father was a patriarch no it was nothing under God's heaven old man but your invitation scrawled with a coal on a bit of birch bark inviting anyone in these woods who needed victuals and clothes and a rot spirit to come to your cabin on Christmas day and had you written nothing else I would not have cared a cuss for it or for you but you did write something else and it was this vagabonds included in this invite when I read that old man my breath left me and I stood and stared at the letters on that bark as a devil might gaze at a pardon signed with the seal manual of the Almighty for in my hand was a trap that bore the stamp jn and the skin of an otter I'd taken from the trap and there I stood a thief and a scoundrel with your property in my hands and read your invitation to all the needy in the woods to come to your cabin on Christmas day and that vagabonds were included well that meant you by thunder exclaimed wild bill yes it did mean to me returned shanty jim and I knew it standing there in the snow with the stolen skin and trap in my hand I realized what I was and what John Norton was and the difference between him and myself and most of the world I went to the tree to which the bark that bore the blessed letters was nailed I took it down from the tree I placed it next to my bosom and buttoned my coat above it and thus resting upon my heart I bore it to my shanty it was as good as a Bible to you said wild bill a Bible rejoined the man with emphasis better than all Bibles better than churches and preachers better than formal texts and utterances for that bit of bark told me of a man here in the woods good enough and big enough to forgive and forget all that night I sat and gazed at that piece of bark and the writing on it and as I gazed my heart melted within me for there it was ever before my eyes vagabonds included in this invite vagabonds included in this invite and finally the words passed into the air and wherever I looked I saw vagabonds included in this invite yes them be the very words I read said the trapper grievely and I saw more than the words written on the bark John Norton resumed the man for looking at it I saw all my past life and the evil of it and what a scoundrel I had become my eye saw with a new sight and I said when the sun comes up I will rise and go to the man who wrote those words and tell him what they did for me and here I am a vagabond who has accepted your invitation to spend a Christmas with you and here in this pack are the skins and the traps I have stolen from you and I ask your forgiveness and that you will take my hand in proof of it that I may come to your table feeling that I am a man and a vagabond no longer hot and hand be yours now forever shanty gem cried trapper joyfully and rising from his chair he met the outstretched hand of the repentant vagabond with his own hearty grasp and may the Lord be with you forever more amen it was wild bill the once drunkard who said the sweet word of prayer and ascent and he said it softly and that murmur of amen and amen went around the great table like the murmur of prayer and of praise and then it passed out and rose up from the cabin and the air and its joy passed it on and the stars took it up and thrilled it around their vast courses of glorified light and through the high heavens it sang itself onward from order to order of angels until it reached him whom no man hath seen or may ever see in all and overall God blessed forever as nature knowledge is she conscious of the evil and the good among men and has she a heart that saddens at their sorrow and rejoices in their joy perhaps for suddenly even as the two men joined their hands the fury of the storm checked itself and a stillness the stillness of a great calm fell on the woods and through the sudden the unexpected the blessed stillness to the ears of one of the two men yay to him who had forgiven there came the melody of bells swinging slowly and softly to and fro oh bells invisible bells bells of the soul bells high in heaven swing softly swing low swing sweet and swing ever for us one and all when we at our table sit feasting swing for us living swing for us dying and may the cause of your swinging be our forgiving and forgetting john norton said the man you have called me shanty gem and that is well for in the woods here that is my name but in the city where I lived and once I fled fled to because of my misdeeds years ago I have another name a name of power and wealth and honor for more than two centuries there I have a home and in that home tonight sits my aged father and white haired mother I am going back to them clothed and in my right mind think of it old strapper going back to my home my boyhood home to my father and my mother all day as I tramped on the trail toward your cabin my mind has been filled with memories of the past and the words of a sweet old song I used to sing when too young to feel the tenderness of it have been ringing in my ears sing us the song sing us the song cried wild bill and every man at the table cried with him sing us the song I ascended the trapper sing us the song shanty gem away be men of the woods at this table and some of us had losses and sorrows and all of us have memories of happy days that be gone stand here by my side and sing us the song that has been ringing in your ears all day this is a table of feasting and feasting means more than eaten sing us the song that tells you of the past of your boyhood days and father and mother oh the secrets of the woods how many have fled to them for concealment and refuge in them piety has built its retreat learning has sought retirement broken pride a mask and misfortune a haven and in response to the trappers invitation that there had come to his cabin and were now grouped about his table more of ability more of knowledge more of struggle and failure and more of reminiscence than might be found perhaps in the same number of guests at any other table on that christmas day in the world never did singer sing sweeter or more touching song or to more receptive company backward turn backward oh time in your flight make me a child again just for tonight mother come back from the echoless shore take me again to your heart as of your kiss from my forehead the furrows of care smooth the few silver threads out of my hair over my slumbers your loving watch keep rock me to sleep mother rock me to sleep chorus class to your heart in a loving embrace with your light lashes just sweeping my face never hereafter to wake or to weep rock me to sleep mother rock me to sleep over my heart in the days that are flown no love like mother love ever has shown no other worship abides and endures faithful unselfish and patient like yours none like a mother can charm away pain from the sick soul and the world weary brain slumbers soft combs or my heavy lids creep rock me to sleep mother rock me to sleep chorus come let your brown hair just lighted with gold fall on your shoulders again as of old let it drop over my forehead tonight shading my faint eyes away from the light for with its sunny edged shadows once more happily will throng the sweet visions of your lovingly softly its bright billows sweep rock me to sleep mother rock me to sleep chorus never was the sweet and touching song sung under more suggestive circumstances and never was it received into more receptive hearts the voice of the repentant vagabond was of the finest quality a pure resonant tenor and through the splendid avenue of expression which the words and music of the song made for his emotions he poured his soul forth without restraint the effect of his effort was what would be expected when the character of the audience and the occasion is considered many an eye was wet with tears and the voices that took up the refrain here and there trembled with emotion the old trapper himself was not unmoved for as the song closed after a few moments of silence he said yes thank the song well shanty jim and many be the memories that has stirred in the breast of us all may your homecoming be as happy as was the boys we read of in the scripture although i never could concede while the mother was not there to go forth to meet him and fall on his neck with the father and if i had the rotten of it i'd had the mother get him a legal first and hers the first arms that was thrown around his neck but that would be more natural as i concede and i certainly trust as do all of us here that you will find mother and father both waiting and watching for you when the curve of the trail brings you in the side of the cabin and you certainly will take with you the good wishes of us all come take the chair here by my side and we will all talk as we eat i and sing too but this be christmas and christmas be the time for eating and singing but above all for forgiven and forgotten at the word the happy feasters went on with the feasting long and merry was the meal as the hours passed the eating ceased and the feast of reason and the flow of soul began memories of other days were recalled confessions made sorrow for misdoings felt and spoken and gradually growing as grows the light of dawn a fine atmosphere of hope charity and courage spread from heart to heart until at last it filled with its genial and illuminating presence every bosom in such a mood on the part of the host and guests alike the feast came to its close his christmas dinner had been all that the old trapper had hoped and his heart was filled with happiness he rose from his chair and standing erect in his place said yeah tell me that the time has come for you to go and i dare say you'd be right but i'll be sorry we must part for important we'd be never sure of a meeting and therefore as i can seat all the partons on the earth be more or less sad but all parted trails it may be well come together in the end but before you go i want to thank you for coming and i hope you will all come again and whenever your needs or your feelings incline you this way one thing i want to say to you and go on and i want you to take it away with you for it may help some of you to aid some unfortunate man and to feel as happy as i feel tonight it is this and here the old man paused a moment and looked with the face of an angel at his guests as they stood gazing at him and then he impressively said i've lived an eye onto eighty year and my head be whitening with the coming and going of the years i've lived and the book has long been in my cabin i've kept many a christmas alone and in company both but never before have i known the round meaning of the day and i read the lesson of it right and this be the lesson that i've learned and the one i want you all to take away with you as you go that christmas is a day of feasting and giving and laughing but above everything else it is a day for forgiven and forgetting some of you to be young and may your days be long on the earth and some of your head to be as wide as mine and your years be not many but be that as it may whether our christmas days be many or few when the right day comes round let us remember and good or ill fortune alone or with many that christmas above all else is the day for forgiven and forgetting the guests were gone and the trapper seated himself in front of the fireplace and called the two dogs to his it was a signal that they had heard many times and they responded with happy hearts each rested his muzzle on the trapper's knee and fixed his large hazel love lighted eyes wistfully on his master's face the old man placed a large and age wrinkled hands on either head and murmured by the abbey and sorrow or joy friends come and go but until death enters kendall or cavern the hunter and his hounds bode together the lad camps beyond sight and beyond hearing Henry beyond the other side of the world tonight and guests be gone rover your muzzle be as gray as my head and few be livin of the many we have met on the trail and the trapper lifted his eyes and looked around the large and empty room and then added it took me good many years as it certainly took me a good many years but if I've learned the lesson of Christmas a little late I've learned it at last but the cabin does look a little empty now that the guests be gone now the lad can never come back and Henry is on the other side of the world and there's no good in longing but I do wish I could just touch the boy's hand friends come and go but until death enters kendall or cabin the hunter and his hounds bide together ha friends dear friends as years go on and heads get gray how fast the guests do go touch hands touch hands with those that stay strong hands to weak old hands to young around the Christmas board touch hands the faults forget the foe forgive for every guest will go and every fire burn low and cabin empty stand forget forgive for who may say that Christmas day may ever come to host or guest again touch hands end of part nine section two end of a Christmas miscellany 2019 by various authors