CHAPTER X.
CHRISTMAS AND "LITTLE CHRISTMAS" OR KING'S DAY.
Christmas Eve had come and the children were at last asleep, dreaming ofthe pleasures in store for them on the morrow. Mrs. Allen and her sistersat by the fire completing a handsome smoking robe for Mr. Allen.
The clock struck twelve, in soft, silvery chimes as the robe was foldedand tied on the tree.
Miss Lucy drew aside the curtain to look out upon the night. The snowhad ceased falling, and now lay in feathery drifts on the silent villagelike a pure white veil, tracing graceful patterns among the dark treeson the hill-side, While the stars above had the brilliancy of extremecold.
"Hark! What was that?" said Mrs. Allen. "Surely not our bell atmidnight? Let us call Dick; I'm afraid to open the door."
Mr. Dick and Hetty came running down and turned on the electric light.To the astonishment of all, on the porch stood a young woman with aninfant in her arms. Mrs. Allen brought her in, asking no questions, forthe poor creature was speechless with cold. Lucy took the baby, itopened its eyes and smiled, seeming very comfortable. Hetty gave thewoman a hot drink, and Mrs. Allen took off her wet shoes and clothing,and gave her a warm foot-bath, then she was wrapped in a blanket andmade to lie down on the sofa before the fire. The poor soul was soexhausted she fell into a profound sleep.
The good people then began to realize what they were doing, to askthemselves how the woman could have selected their house for a shelter."Oh, let us thank our Lord," said Mrs. Allen. "He has given us theprivilege of harboring the harborless." "Mrs. Allen," remarked Hetty,"dis is just like dat verse you done teached Miss Amy: 'To shelter deHoly wanderers on dat blessed Christmas night.' Don't you know, at fust,I thought it was the Holy Virgin and little Jesus. Well, I say it's forluck dat baby's come to dis house."
"Lucy," said Mrs. Allen, "you had better go to bed; that you may be ableto get up in the morning to take the children to Mass. It is absolutelynecessary one of us should remain home to care for our unexpectedguests."
At five o'clock in the morning, Pat came into the kitchen to say thesleigh was ready if the folks were going to early Mass. "Turn your backand shut you' eyes," called out Hetty. Pat, supposing she had aChristmas gift for him, did as he was bid.
"Is you' eyes tight shut, Pat?" "Faith and they couldn't be tighter, buthurry up, the folks'll be wantin' the sleigh in a minute." Hetty tookthe sleeping babe and laid it in the old man's arms, then told him tolook. Pat stared in utter surprise, his eyes and mouth wide open. Hettystood laughing at his discomfiture, when he could speak, he exclaimed:"Holy saints! where did this come from?"
"De Christ-child sent it twelve o'clock last night." "May the Lordbless us," said Pat, "but it's a quare thing entirely yees are tellingme. Here, take the darlint; I must be gettin' off or we'll be late forMass."
Mrs. Allen called the children before five o'clock, bidding them hurrydownstairs, as she had a surprise for them. Hetty carried the babe intothe library and laid it on the table under the electric light, its eyeswere open, but it lay perfectly still.
As the children caught sight of the little figure they were transfixedwith astonishment. Amy made the sign of the cross; for the moment shethought only of the Infant Jesus, then examining closer, she saw it wasa real live baby. "Of course," said she, "I might have known the InfantJesus would not come to us, we are not holy enough." Bolax kissed thelittle thing, saying "Isn't it a dear! Mamma, are you going to keep it?"
"Come, now," called Aunt Lucy, "we must not be late for Mass; when weget home we will hear all about the wonderful baby." On the way tochurch, Aunty explained how it came that the poor mother was in thehouse, and no doubt would be able to tell why she sought shelter undertheir roof.
"Well," exclaimed Pat, "may God bless yees all for the most warm-heartedfamily I ever met. None of yees will ever be in want of a roof to coveryou, for surely the dear Infant Jesus will not forget your many greatacts of Charity."
At seven o'clock Hetty took some breakfast up to the woman, and broughther baby to be nursed. She seemed greatly refreshed and said she wasable to get up. "Don't you stir, honey," said Hetty, "unless you isreal able, if you is, Mrs. Allen wants to see you in de library." Havingdressed herself and attended to her baby's wants, Hetty took herdownstairs.
Mrs. Allen asked the woman's name and questioned as to the reason forselecting this house in which to take refuge.
"Indeed, ma'am, I'll tell you how it was, but first let me thank you;sure it's no wonder the station-man spoke so highly of your charity.""Say nothing about that; I only wish I had it in my power to do more.""Well," continued the woman, "my name is Mary Ryan. My husband waskilled a month ago; he fell off a scaffolding while painting a house. Istayed with his people after his death, but they soon let me see Iwasn't welcome, so I went to an intelligence office to look for a place.The man made me pay him a dollar, then he gave me the address of a Mrs.Clarkson out here near the station. He said they especially wanted awoman with a child because such are willing to stay in the country.
"I paid my fare out and got here at three o'clock, it was daylight then,and I hunted high and low for Mrs. Clarkson, but no one had ever heardof such a person. I didn't know where to go, so I remained in thestation as it was snowing hard. The watchman was so kind. He gave me asandwich and asked me if I had nowhere to stop for the night. I told himjust how it was with me. He said: 'A friend of mine just happens to beoutside with his sleigh and I'll tell him to take you where you'll bewell treated.'
"I didn't know but what it was a lodging house he was taking me to;when he came to your gate he just put me on the boardwalk and told me togo up to the door."
"Well, Mary, you are welcome, poor child; we will do what we can foryou. Have you a valise?" "Yes, ma'am; the man at the station has care ofit." "I will send our man for it as soon as the sleigh comes back." "Oh,God bless you ma'am!" "Don't say any more, dear; your name is Mary; youand your child were in need of shelter, like the divine Mother Mary. Iconsider it a privilege to be allowed to share the comforts our Lord hasgiven me with any one in need."
"Go to Hetty now, she will take care of you. I know of just a place thatwill suit you, and in a few days when the roads are somewhat better, Iwill take you there."
In the excitement about the baby, the children forgot to look at theirpresents early in the day, but after Mass all were eager to see what oldSanta had brought them. Amy received several gifts she had been longingfor. Bolax got what he prized more than anything, viz:--a whole set ofFather Finn's books.
The Christmas dinner was indeed a mirthful one. All the love gifts, asMrs. Allen called those that were made expressly for each member of thefamily, had been placed on the tree behind the ornaments. Mr. Allenentered into the spirit of the evening, saying he would act the wizard'spart, and by means of long wand detached the various treasures from thetree and gave them to their owners, whose names they bore.
Great was the delight of the children, when after a hard tussle todetach a large bundle, down it came on Mr. Allen's head. It proved to bea beautiful smoking robe, which had been made and embroidered by Mrs.Allen, Lucy and little Amy.
The good man was so charmed that he declared he would not use his wandagain until he had full five minutes to admire it. Amy received a lovelypair of bed-room slippers, the work of Aunt Lucy; Mrs. Allen, a sofacushion made by her sister in New York; Aunt Lucy, a blue silk waist,embroidered in white roses. Uncle Dick, a smoking cap, made by Mrs.Allen; Bolax, a pair of silk and woolen mitts, knit by Aunt Lucy. Bogave Hetty a work box, which he made with his tools, and Amy, aneedlebook, on which she had embroidered, "Hetty, dear." Pat too,received a little "love gift," but both faithful domestics had had asubstantial present from the "Master."
Mr. Allen put on his robe and cap to please the children, strutting upand down the library floor, saying he was sure he resembled a ChineseMandarin in his gorgeous robe. Now let us end the day with some of yourspirited Yule-tide airs: "Strike the Harp" and "With Glory Lit theMidnight Air." Eve
ry one sang with hearty good will to the accompanimentof piano and violin.
That night when the family sought their pillows, all felt that they hadpassed a very happy and holy Christmas.
JANUARY SIXTH.
Bolax ran into the library covered with snow, his two dogs with himmaking a pretty mess on the rugs. Mamma called out: "Look at thecondition of your boots, child." Hetty happened to be on hand with thebroom. "Dat's easy cleaned up," said she. "Bo don't think sometimes, buthis heart is in de right place after all," which "after all" was knownto refer to a spirit of fun and a tendency to mischief such as mostlively boys possess.
"Does anyone remember that tomorrow is my birthday?" exclaimed Bolax."Whew," echoed Uncle Dick, "is that a fact? What will be the number ofyour years tomorrow?" "Eleven. Hetty has made me a splendid cake, butI'm not to have a party because Papa is not well." "Oh, but you're goingto have your chums," observed Amy. "Yes, our jolly seven will be here,and Hetty says that enormous cake must be eaten at one sitting." "Youhave made a mistake, brother, that very large cake is for the crippledchildren in St. Luke's Hospital; there are eighteen of them in the wardand we are to take it there ourselves and divide it." "That's so, I hadalmost forgotten about the poor children. We had better go there earlyin the morning and have the afternoon for our company."
"Children," said Uncle Dick, "Would you like to hear the story of thefirst time a cake was cut on King's Day?" "Yes, yes, let us have itplease," exclaimed both at once.
UNCLE DICK'S STORY.
The three Wise men, Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspard, were kings, livingin countries widely separated; yet each one saw a wonderful brilliantstar, such as had never before appeared, and a heavenly messenger toldthem to follow this star, that it would lead them to a new-born king,who was to be greater than all the rulers of the earth. So the wise menor Magi set out bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, whichthey were to give to the wonderful child, whose star they had seen inthe "East."
They had traveled such a long time and were tired sitting on theircamels, so they came to a halt near a dense forest. It had been rainingfor several hours and now the sound of distant thunder and the fury ofthe wind warned them to seek shelter for the night. Their followers tookrefuge in a cave and refused to go a step further; so the kings werecompelled to continue their journey alone. After walking for a long timealmost famished with cold and wet to the skin, they came to a littlevillage and determined to ask hospitality at the first house they saw.This house, or I should say hut, was situated at the entrance of theforest, and belonged to a poor woodcutter named Japhet.
The kings knocked very loudly, Japhet and his wife opened the door,wondering who could want them at such a late hour. Our distinguishedtravelers begged a shelter from the storm and some food. The woodcutterwas startled when he saw such grand people, and hesitated about lettingthem into his cabin, big Melchior, however, settled the question bypushing back the door, then all entered.
"Now," said Gaspard, "do give us some supper and a place to rest, wewill pay well." "Alas! honored, Sirs," answered Japhet. "I have but onebed, and as for supper, we have nothing to offer but black bread andwater. But, we will do the best we can to make you comfortable for thenight."
So the tired out kings sat down and were glad enough to eat of the blackbread, and satisfy their thirst with water. Japhet then made a big fireand the kings having dried their clothes, laid themselves upon the cleanstraw bed, which the good wife had made for them.
When morning light shone through the chinks of the cabin wall, the kingsarose and prepared to continue their journey. Balthazar, who was themost generous, said: "My good people I want to give you something inreturn for your hospitality." "Oh, never mind," said Japhet. "The littlewe had, we gave with a good heart, but we did not expect anything inreturn." At the same time the poor fellow held out his hand.
"I have no money," explained Balthazar, "but I will leave you asouvenir, which will be of infinitely more value." Saying this, hesearched in his pocket, drew out a little flute, and presented it toJaphet, who received it with a look of disappointment on his face.
"You see," continued Balthazar, "if you make a wish while playing atune, it will be immediately granted. Take the flute; do not abuse itsgifts, and above all never refuse a shelter or food to the poorwayfarer."
As soon as the three kings had left the hut, Japhet said to his wife:"Well, it seems to me, such rich-looking people could have given ussomething better than a toy, nevertheless I will try its power; shouldnot wonder though, if those fine gentlemen were not mocking us when theygave such a fool's present."
"Oh, try it just once," said his wife. Japhet then played a lively tune,at the same time wishing for a venison steak and some white bread. Greatwas the astonishment and delight of the poor people when they saw ontheir table all they had asked for.
When Japhet was certain of the power of the flute he did not stop atnecessities, as you may well believe, he asked for all sorts of things;indeed he kept the flute going from morning until night.
He got new clothes for himself and his wife; had the best of food toeat, and, as all he had to do was to wish for a thing to have it, hebecame the richest man in the country. He fluted for a magnificentpalace, which took the place of his poor cabin; again he fluted and thepalace was filled with fine furniture, pictures, statuary and luxuriesof all descriptions.
When everything was complete he gave a grand dinner, inviting all therich people of the neighborhood. Every invitation was accepted, for noone remembered the poor woodcutter, who was now the mighty LordFlutandget.
In the dining hall the table was set with the finest service of gold,and cut glass reflected the light from hundreds of perfumed lamps. Aband of musicians sat behind a bower of exquisite flowers, playing soft,sweet tunes.
When all was ready, the guests sat down to a feast, the like of whichhad never been seen in the whole Kingdom. Lord Flutandget was in theheight of his glory, and looked as proud as if he owned the whole world.
His wife sat beside him, feeling very ill at ease in her stiff silk, andscarcely able to move her hands for the rings, with which her fingerswere laden.
So that the feast should not be disturbed, the lackeys had been orderedto keep all intruders off the place. Besides this, my Lord Flutandgethad two fierce dogs chained on either side of the gate to keep offbeggars.
The guests and their host gave themselves up to the full enjoyment ofthe feast. All were loud in their praises of My Lord and his Lady,complimenting them on their lavish entertainment, wishing them longcontinuance of health, prosperity, etc.
Well, this very evening the three Kings happened to be returning totheir own country, after having paid homage to the Infant Christ. Whenthey came near the village by the forest, they saw a splendid castlewhere formerly stood the woodcutter's hut.
"Ah, ha!" said Gaspard to Balthazar, "I should not be surprised if ourold friend has not made bad use of your little flute. I wonder if he haskept his promise, and is kind to the poor, now that he is so rich."
"Well, let us try him," said Balthazar. So disguising themselves asbeggars, they went to the gate of the castle, asking for a little food.The porter bade them "begone," but as they insisted on being allowed toenter, the servants made such a clamor, that Lord Flutandget put hishead out of the window to see what was the trouble. Seeing the beggars,he ordered the dogs to be set on them, so the poor Kings were obliged tofly in a very unkingly manner.
"I told you so," said Gaspard, whom one of the dogs had caught by theshins. "I'll fix him," said the giant, Melchior. "I'll make him feel thevengeance of the three Kings."
In the meantime the guests continued to feast. Dessert had just beenserved; my Lord Flutandget held in his hand a broad silver knife, withwhich he was about to cut an enormous cake, each guest was to have had aslice to take home. Just then the noise of carriage wheels was heard; myLord Flutandget looked towards the window, and seeing a grand carriagedrawn by six white horses, he supposed it was some of the high andmi
ghty guests he had invited, so he went himself to meet them.
The three Kings entered in regal attire, crowns on their heads andclothed in purple and precious stones. Flutandget recognized his guestsof the hut, but put on a bold front and begged them to take a seat athis table.
"Thank you," said Balthazar, coldly. "We cannot eat with a man whooppresses the poor and sets the dogs on them." "I compliment you on theway you keep your promise," said Melchior, the Giant King, and his voicesounded deep and severe.
"Ah, you set your dogs on beggars," said Gaspard, who still felt an achein his shins. "You often play on your flute, I see. Oh, wait a while;I'll give you a tune that you have not yet heard," and taking from hispocket a little flute, just like the one that had been given to Japhet,he blew a terrible blast which caused all the glasses on the table tosplit. Again he put the flute to his lips, all the lights went out andthe guests rushed from the castle, trampling over each other in theirhaste to get away. At the third sound of the flute, the palacedisappeared, and the woodcutter found himself alone sitting on the ruinsof his hut, he and his wife clothed in rags.
"Oh, what shall we do?" said the poor woman.
"Never mind," said Japhet, "I still have the flute." But search as hewould, the talisman could not be found; it had disappeared with thethree Kings.
Ever since this happened, it is customary to have a large cake on"King's Day," January 6. It is filled with small silver coins and aslice is given to visitors, or to any poor person who comes to ask analms.
"I like that story," said Amy, "although it is not in the Bible."
"Well, dear, you may imagine the Kings met with many adventures on theirlong journey, and the occurrences I relate might have happened as likelyas those we read of in 'Ben Hur.' Stories of this kind can do nopossible harm, and after reading them, children's curiosity is excited,they want to know more, so they become interested in Bible history."
This reminds me of a visit I paid to a lawyer in Chicago, and whathappened to him for his lack of knowledge of Bible stories.
A friend of mine, who is a very successful lawyer, in the course ofconversation one day, declared he believed the time had come whenlawyers should know a few things besides law. The Bible, for instance.
"That is a very worthy thought," said I.
"I don't claim to be any better or worse than the next person," went onthe lawyer, "but I believe a good knowledge of the Scriptures wouldbenefit a man of my calling professionally."
"And spiritually," I suggested.
"I dare say it would. I had a case in one of those downtown justiceshops. It went to a jury trial, and the bailiff hauled in half a dozenof those professional hoboes, that are always hanging around suchplaces, on the chance of making a couple of dollars by sitting on ajury."
"I put up two witnesses to prove my case, and one repeated andcorroborated the evidence of the other in every particular. The lawyerson the other side argued that this exact agreement of my witnesses atevery point made their testimony unreliable. He said no two men couldpossibly give the same account of what they had seen, not even men ofsound and undoubted rectitude. He said that even the Bible proved this,and then he told the story of Jonah and the whale."
"How did Jonah come into the case?" I asked.
"Just this way, my opponent said the Bible contained two versions of thestory, one by St. Matthew, and the other by St. Mark. St. Matthew'saccount was that Jonah made the entire voyage inside the whale, whileSt. Mark declared that Jonah came out occasionally and sat on thewhale's back to get a breath of fresh air."
"Dear me," said the presiding judge. "That version of the voyage ofJonah sounds strange to me. I suppose you can give chapter and verse forit. If you can, I wish you would."
"He can do no such thing, your Honor," said I. "There is no account inthe Bible that tells of Jonah riding on the whale's back."
My opponent glanced from one to the other of us contemptuously, and thenlooked significantly at the jury.
"Gentlemen of the jury," he said solemnly. "I am not addressing myremarks to this Honorable Court, nor to the learned gentleman on theopposite side of this case, whose lamentable ignorance regarding one ofthe most familiar Scriptural narrations, I sincerely deplore."
"In drawing a parallel between the suspiciously coinciding character ofthe evidence here given by two witnesses, who apparently have comparednotes with extreme care, and the discrepancies shown in the statementsof two great inspired writers, I am directing my remarks to intelligent,upright men, who study their Bibles, and who have the great truths ofScripture at their finger ends."
"You should have seen how that bench of hoboes nodded complacently asthat audacious lawyer insulted the Court and me. The upshot of the wholebusiness was that I lost my case, and all through not knowing what St.Matthew and St. Mark wrote about Jonah."
I could scarcely keep from laughing while my friend was telling thestory, but at this point, I broke out in a prolonged fit of merriment.
"What amuses you so much?" said my friend.
When I could control myself sufficiently to speak, I told him neitherSt. Matthew nor St. Mark ever wrote that story. It was written thousandsof years before they were born. Jonah and the whale story belongs to theOld Testament.
"You don't say! Well, I'll be switched!" exclaimed my friend. "My onlyconsolation," continued he, "is that the Judge didn't know any more thanI did."
"That's a good story, Uncle Dick, but if your lawyer had a mother likemine when he was a boy, he never would have made such a ridiculousmistake about Jonah."
"Come, children," called Aunt Lucy, "it's past bed time."
"Good-night, Uncle. Good-night Grandpa Mischief."