“Shut the door, Hugh, and bring your stool to the fire-side, and I will
tell you a tale. What sort of a one must it be?” said Mrs. Stone.
“Thank you, dear mamma; a tale of the north, if you please; that cold
place, where there is so much snow and ice. I like to hear of that, when
I am snug and warm by the fire; and I feel so glad I do not live there.”
“And perhaps those whose home is in that cold land, would not change
their lot with yours. They love their close, round huts, their rough
benches, their furs and sledges, as much as we do our nice house and
fire-side, our chairs and rugs.”
“Do tell me more of them!” said Hugh.
“They are a small race of men, not more than four or five feet high,
with dark faces, deep-sunk eyes, and straight black hair. In the warm
days they live on the fruits of the chace, in the winter on the dried
flesh of the rein-deer, salt-fish, and cheese. You know I once told you
what a long, dark winter theirs is, when the sun is not seen for many
days.”
“Yes, mamma,” said Hugh, “and it must be very dull for them, poor
things. But will you tell me about the rein-deer?”
“Ah, I do not know what they would do if they had not such a friend as
the rein-deer proves to them: from it they get both milk, food, and warm
clothes. It feeds on a moss, of which there is a great deal there; and
though the snow may lie very thick upon the ground, the rein-deer can
tell where his food grows, and with his fore-feet and broad horns he
digs through the snow to get a meal.”
“Oh, mamma, how can he find it out?” said Hugh.
“The quick sense of smell with which the rein-deer is gifted, leads him
to the right spot, and he is never known to search in vain. The men yoke
them to their sledges, which glide over the smooth, hard snow at a great
rate.”
“What sort of a thing is a sledge, mamma?” said Hugh.
“It is made of birch-wood, something in the shape of a boat, about six
feet long, with a high back; and here, wrapt up in his thick furs, the
man sits as snug as can be. They drive with a cord tied to the horns of
the rein-deer, which flies over the ground at great speed, with his
light load. If you will bring me that large book from the shelf I can
show you the print of one.”
“Oh, I see it,” said Hugh, as his mamma turned over the leaves; “that is
a nice thing to ride in. But look at that man, he is so wrapt up in
furs, I can only see his eyes. What a droll cap he wears! and see,
mamma, the rein-deer has such a gay thing round his neck, with a bell
hung in front; pray is that for use or show?”
“I have read,” said Mrs. Stone, “that the rein-deer likes the sound of a
bell; and also, when four or five sledges travel at once, in the dark,
or in a snow-storm, it helps to keep them all in one track.”
“It is of no use to make roads there, for the snow would quite hide
them, would it not, mamma?” said Hugh.
“Yes, my dear, the sun and the stars guide them in the way they wish to
go; but I cannot talk to you more now, for I must write a note to your
aunt, before post-time. You may try to draw the sledge and rein-deer in
your new book, if you please; but you must take great pains.”
“Oh, yes, that I will, for I should like to draw that much, to show papa
when he comes home,” said Hugh, as he took his stool to his mamma’s
side, that she might look at his work now and then.