'em, specially on that un that's furderest in toward the butt of the
beech log there; fur ef there's any vartue in signs, that jug be
gittin' oneasy. Yis," continued the old man, after a minute's pause,
during which his eye hadn't left the jug, "yis, that jug will want more
room afore many minutes, ef I'm any jedge, and I conceit I had better
give it the biggest part of the fireplace;" and the Trapper hastily
moved the soap and his half-dozen plates of cooked meats to the other
end of the hearthstone, whither he retired himself, like one who,
feeling that he is called upon to contend with unknown forces, wisely
beats a retreat. He even put himself behind a stack of wood that lay
piled up in his corner, like one who does not despise, in a sudden
emergency, an artificial protection.
"Bill," called the Trapper, "edge round a leetle,--edge round, and git
in closer to the jamb. It's sheer foolishness standin' where ye be,
fur the water will be wallopin' in a minit, and ef the corks be swelled
in the nozzle, there'll be an explosion. Git in toward the jamb, and
watch the ambushment under kiver."
"Old man," answered Bill, as he turned his back carelessly toward the
fireplace, "I've got the bearin's of this trail, and know what I'm
about. The jugs are as strong as iron kittles, and I ain't afraid of
their bust"--
Bill never finished the sentence, for the explosion predicted by the
Trapper occurred. It was a tremendous one, and the huge fireplace was
filled with flying brands, ashes, and clouds of steam. The Trapper
ducked his head, the woman screamed, and the hounds rushed howling to
the farthest end of the room; while Bill, with half a somersault,
disappeared under the table.
"Hurrah!" shouted the Trapper, lifting his head from behind the wood,
and critically surveying the scene. "Hurrah, Bill!" he shouted, as he
swung the ladle over his head. "Come out from under the table, and man
yer battery agin. Yer old mortars was loaded to the muzzle, and ef ye
had depressed the pieces a leetle, ye'd 'a' blowed the cabin to
splinters; as it was, the chimney got the biggest part of the chargin',
and ye'll find yer rammers on the other side of the mountain."
It was, in truth, a scene of uproarious hilarity; for once the
explosion was over, and the woman and children saw there was no danger,
and apprehended the character of the performance, they joined
unrestrainedly in the Trapper's laughter, in which they were assisted
by Wild Bill, as if he were not the victim of his own over-confidence.
"I say, old Trapper," he called from under the table, "did both guns go
off? I was gitting under cover when the battery opened, and didn't
notice whether the firing was in sections or along the whole line. If
there's a piece left, I think I will stay where I am; for I am in a
good position to observe the range, and watch the effect of the shot.
I say, hadn't you better get behind the wood-pile again?"
"No, no," interrupted the Trapper; "the whole battery went at the word,
Bill, and there isn't a gun or a gun-carriage left in the casement.
Ye've wasted a gill of the yarb, and a quarter of a pound of the berry;
and ye must hurry up with another outfit of bottles, or we'll have
nothin' but water to drink at the dinner."
The dinner! That great event of the day, the crown and diadem to its
royalty, and which became it so well, was ready promptly to the hour.
The table, enlarged as it was to nearly double its original dimensions,
could scarcely accommodate the abundance of the feast. Ah, if some
sweet power would only enlarge our hearts when, on festive days, we
enlarge our tables, how many of the world's poor, that now go hungry
while we feast, would then be fed!
At one end of the table sat the Trapper, Wild Bill at the other. The
woman's chair was at the centre of one of the sides, so that she sat
facing the fire, whose generous flames might well symbolize the
abundance which amid cold and hunger had so suddenly come to her. On
her right hand the two girls sat; on her left, the boy. A goodly
table, a goodly fire, and a goodly company,--what more could the Angel
of Christmas ask to see?
Thus were they seated, ready to begin the repast; but the plates
remained untouched, and the happy noises which had to that moment
filled the cabin ceased; for the Angel of Silence, with noiseless step,
had suddenly entered the room. There's a silence of grief, there's a
silence of hatred, there's a silence of dread; of these, men may speak,
and these they can describe. But the silence of our happiness, who can
describe that? When the heart is full, when the long longing is
suddenly met, when love gives to love abundantly, when the soul lacketh
nothing and is content,--then language is useless, and the Angel of
Silence becomes our only adequate interpreter. A humble table, surely,
and humble folk around it; but not in the houses of the rich or the
palaces of kings does gratitude find her only home, but in more lowly
abodes and with lowly folk--ay, and often at the scant table, too--she
sitteth a perpetual guest. Was it memory? Did the Trapper at that
brief moment visit his absent friend? Did Wild Bill recall his wayward
past? Were the thoughts of the woman busy with sweet scenes of earlier
days? And did memory, by thus reminding them of the absent and the
past, of the sweet things that had been and were, stir within their
hearts thoughts of Him from whom all gifts descend, and of His blessed
Son, in whose honor the day was named?
O memory! thou tuneful bell that ringeth on forever, friend at our
feasts, and friend, too, let us call thee, at our burial, what music
can equal thine? For in thy mystic globe all tunes abide,--the
birthday note for kings, the marriage peal, the funeral knell, the
gleeful jingle of merry mirth, and those sweet chimes that float our
thoughts, like fragrant ships upon a fragrant sea, toward heaven,--all
are thine! Ring on, thou tuneful bell; ring on, while these glad ears
may drink thy melody; and when thy chimes are heard by me no more, ring
loud and clear above my grave that peal which echoes to the heavens,
and tells the world of immortality, that they who come to mourn may
check their tears, and say, "_Why do we weep? He liveth still!_"
"The Lord be praised fur his goodness!" said the Trapper, whose
thoughts unconsciously broke into speech. "The Lord be praised fur his
goodness, and make us grateful fur his past marcies, and the plenty
that be here!" And looking down upon the viands spread before him, he
added, "The Lord be good to the boy, and make him as happy in his city
home as be they who be wearin' and eatin' his gifts in the woods!"
"Amen!" said the woman softly, and a grateful tear fell on her plate.
"A--hem!" said Wild Bill; and then looking down upon his warm suit, he
lifted his voice, and bringing it out in a clear, strong tone, said,
"_Amen! hit or miss!_"
At many a table that day more formal grace was said, by priest and
layman alike, and at many a table, by lips of old and young, response
was given to the benediction; but we doubt if over all the earth a more
honest grace was said or assented to than the Lord heard from the cabin
in the woods.
The feast and the merry-making now began. The old Trapper was in his
best mood, and fairly bubbled over with humor. The wit of Wild Bill
was naturally keen, and it flashed at its best as he ate. The children
stuffed and laughed as only children on such an elastic occasion can.
And as for the poor woman, it was impossible for her, in the midst of
such a scene, to be otherwise than happy, and she joined modestly in
the conversation, and laughed heartily at the witty sallies.
But why should we strive to put on paper the wise, the funny, and the
pleasant things that were said, the exclamations, the laughter, the
story, the joke, the verbal thrust and parry of such an occasion?
These, springing from the centre of the circumstance, and flashed into
being at the instant, cannot be preserved for after-rehearsal. Like
the effervescence of champagne, they jet and are gone; their force
passes away with the noise that accompanied its out-coming.
Is it not enough to record that the dinner was a success, that the
Trapper's meats were put upon the table in a manner worthy of his
reputation, that the woman's efforts at pastry-making were generously
applauded, and that Wild Bill's tea and coffee were pronounced by the
hostess the best she had ever tasted? Perhaps no meal was ever more
enjoyed, as certainly none was ever more heartily eaten.
[Illustration: Perhaps no meal was ever more enjoyed]
The wonder and pride of the table was the pudding,--a creation of
Indian-meal, flour, suet, and raisins, re-enforced and assisted by
innumerable spicy elements supposed to be too mysterious to be grasped
by the masculine mind. In the production of this wonderful
centre-piece,--for it had been unanimously voted the place of
honor,--the poor woman had summoned all the latent resources of her
skill, and in reference to it her pride and fear contended, while the
anxiety with which she rose to serve it was only too plainly depicted
on her countenance. What if it should prove a failure? What if she
had made a miscalculation as to the amount of suet required,--a point
upon which she had been somewhat confused? What if the raisins were
not sufficiently distributed? What if it wasn't done through, and
should turn out pasty? Great heavens! The last thought was of so
overwhelming a character that no feminine courage could encounter it.
Who may describe the look with which she watched the Trapper as he
tasted it, or the expression of relief which brightened her anxious
face when he pronounced warmly in its favor?
"It's a wonderful bit of cookin'," he said, addressing himself to Wild
Bill, "and I sartinly doubt ef there be anything in the settlements
to-day that can equal it. There be jest enough of the suet, and there
be a plum fur every mouthful; and it be solid enough to stay in the
mouth ontil ye've had time to chew it, and git a taste of the
corn,--and I wouldn't give a cent for a puddin' ef it gits away from
yer teeth fast. Yis, it be a wonderful bit of cookin'," and, turning
to the woman, he added, "ye may well be proud of it."
What higher praise could be bestowed? And as it was re-echoed by all
present, and plate after plate was passed for a second filling, the
dinner came to an end with the greatest good feeling and hilarity.
IV.
"Now fur the sled!" exclaimed the Trapper, as he rose from the table.
"It be a good many years since I've straddled one, but nothin' settles
a dinner quicker, or suits the leetle folks better. I conceit the
crust be thick enough to bear us up, and, ef it is, we can fetch a
course from the upper edge of the clearin' fifty rods into the lake.
Come, childun, git on yer mittens and yer tippets, and h'ist along to
the big pine, and ye shall have some fun ye won't forgit ontil yer
heads be whiter than mine."
It is needless to record that the children hailed with delight the
proposition of the Trapper, or that they were at the appointed spot
long before the speaker and his companion reached it with the sled.
"Wild Bill," said the Trapper, as they stood on the crest of the slope
down which they were to glide, "the crust be smooth as glass, and the
hill be a steep un. I sartinly doubt ef mortal man ever rode faster
than this sled'll be goin' by the time it gits to where the bank
pitches into the lake; and ef ye should git a leetle careless in yer
steering Bill, and hit a stump, I conceit that nothin' but the help of
the Lord or the rottenness of the stump would save ye from etarnity."
Now, Wild Bill was blessed with a sanguine temperament. To him no
obstacle seemed serious if bravely faced. Indeed, his natural
confidence in himself bordered on recklessness, to which the drinking
habits of his life had, perhaps, contributed.
When the Trapper had finished speaking, Bill ran his eye carelessly
down the steep hillside, smooth and shiny as polished steel, and said,
"Oh, this isn't anything extry for a hill. I've steered a good many
steeper ones, and in nights when the moon was at the half, and the sled
overloaded at that. It don't make any difference how fast you go," he
added, "if you only keep in the path, and don't hit anything."
"That's it, that's it," replied the Trapper. "But the trouble here be
to keep in the path, fur, in the fust place, there isn't any path, and
the stumps be pretty thick, and I doubt ef ye can line a trail from
here to the bank by the lake without one or more sudden twists in it,
and a twist in the trail, goin' as fast as we'll be goin', has got to
be taken jediciously, or somethin' will happen. I say, Bill, what
p'int will ye steer fur?"
Wild Bill, thus addressed, proceeded to give his opinion touching the
proper direction of the flight they were to make. Indeed, he had been
closely examining the ground while the Trapper was speaking, and
therefore gave his opinion promptly and with confidence.
"Ye have chosen the course with jedgment," said the old man
approvingly, after he had studied the line his companion pointed out
critically for a moment. "Yis, Bill, ye have a nateral eye for the
business, and I sartinly have more confidence in ye than I had a minit
ago, when ye was talkin' about a steeper hill than this; fur this hill
drops mighty sudden in the pitches, and the crust be smooth as ice, and
the sled'll go like a streak when it gits started. But the course
ye've p'inted out be a good un, fur there be only one bad turn in it,
and good steerin' orter put a sled round that. I say," continued the
old man, turning toward his companion, and pointing out the crook in
the course at the bottom of the second dip, "can ye swing around that
big stump there without upsettin' when ye come to it?"
"Swing around? Of course I can," retorted Wild Bill positively.
"There's plenty room to the left, and"--
"Ay, ay; there be plenty of room, as ye say, ef ye don't take too much
of it," interrupted the Trapper. "But"--
"I tell you," broke in the other, "I'll turn my back to no man in
steering a sled; and I can put this sled, and you on it, around that
stump a hundred times, and never lift a runner."
"Well, well," responded the Trapper, "have it your own way. I dare say
ye be good at steerin', and I sartinly know I'm good at ridin'; and I
can ride as fast as ye can steer, ef ye hit every stump in the
clearin'. Now, childun," continued the old man, turning to the little
group, "we be goin' to try the course; and ef the crust holds up, and
Wild Bill keeps clear of the stumps, and nothin' onusual happens, ye
shall have all the slidin' ye want afore ye go in. Come, Bill, git yer
sled p'inted right, and I'll be gittin' on, and we'll see ef ye can
steer an old man round a stump as handily as ye say ye can."
The directions of the Trapper were promptly obeyed, and in an instant
the sled was in a right position, and the Trapper proceeded to seat
himself with the carefulness of one who feels he is embarking on a
somewhat uncertain venture, and has grave misgivings as to what will be
the upshot of the undertaking. The sled was large and strongly built;
and it added not a little to his comfort to feel that he could put
entire confidence in the structure beneath them.
"The sled'll hold," he said to himself, "ef the loadin' goes to the
jedgment."
The Trapper was no sooner seated than Wild Bill threw himself upon the
sled, with one leg under him and the other stretched at full length
behind. This was a method of steering that had come into vogue since
the Trapper's boyhood, for in his day the steersman sat astride the
sled, with his feet thrust forward, and steered by the pressure of
either heel upon the snow.
[Illustration: One leg under him and the other stretched at full length
behind]
"Hold on, Bill!" exclaimed the Trapper, whose eye this novel method of
steering had not escaped. "Hold on, and hold up a minit. Heavens and
'arth! ye don't mean to steer this sled with one toe, do ye, and that,
too, the length of a rifle-barrel astarn? Wheel round, and spread yer
legs out as ye orter, and steer this sled in an honest fashion, or
there'll be trouble aboard afore ye git to the bottom."
"Sit round!" retorted Bill. "How could I see to steer if I was sitting
right back of you? For you're nigh a foot taller than I be, and your
shoulders are as broad as the sled."
"Yer p'ints be well taken, fur sartin," replied the Trapper; "fur it be
no more than reasonable that the man that steers should see where he be
goin', and I am anxious as ye be that ye should. Yis, I sartinly want
ye to see where ye be goin' on this trip, anyhow, fur the crew be a
fresh un, and the channel be a leetle crooked. But be ye sartin, Bill,
that ye can fetch round that stump there as it orter be did, with
nothin' but yer toe out behind? It may be the best way, as ye say, but
it don't look like honest steerin' to a man of my years."
"I have used both ways," answered Bill, "and I give you my word, old
man, that this is the best one. You can git a big swing with your foot
stretched out in this fashion, and the sled feels the least pressure of
the toe. Yes, it's all right. John Norton, are you ready?"
"Yis, yis, as ready as I ever shall be," answered the Trapper, in a
voice in which doubt and resignation were equally mingled. "It may be
as ye say," he continued; "but the rudder be too fur behind to suit me,
and ef anything happens on this cruise, jest remember, Wild Bill, that
my jedgment"--
The sentence the Trapper was uttering was abruptly cut short at this
point; for Bill had started the sled with a sudden push, and leaped to
his seat behind the Trapper as it glided downward and away. In an
instant the sled was under full headway, for the dip was a sharp one,
and the crust smooth as ice. Scarce had it gone ten rods from the
point where it started before it was in full flight, and was gliding
downward with what would have been, to any but a man of the steadiest
nerve, a frightful velocity. But the Trapper was of too cool and
courageous temperament to be disturbed even by actual danger. Indeed,
the swiftness of their downward career, as the sled with a buzz and a
roar swept along over the resounding crust, stirred the old man's blood
with a tingle of excitement; while the splendid manner with which Wild
Bill was keeping it to the course settled upon filled him with
admiration, and was fast making him a convert to the new method of
steering.
Downward they flashed. The Trapper's cap had been blown from his head;
and as the old man sat bolt-upright on his sled, his feet bravely
planted on the round, his face flushed, and his white hair streaming,
he looked the very picture of hearty enjoyment. Above his head the
face of Wild Bill looked actually sharpened by the pressure of the air
on either cheek as it clove through it; but his lips were bravely set,
and his eyes were fastened without winking on the big stump ahead,
toward which they were rushing.
It was at this point that Wild Bill vindicated his ability as a
steersman, and at the same time barely escaped shipwreck. At the
proper moment he swept his foot to the left, and the sled, in obedience
to the pressure, swooped in that direction. But in his anxiety to give
the stump a wide berth, Bill overdid the pressure that was needed a
trifle; for in calculating the curve required he had failed to allow
for the sidewise motion of the sled, and, instead of hitting one stump,
it looked for an instant as if he would be precipitated among a dozen.
"Heave her starn up, Wild Bill! up with her starn, I say," yelled the
Trapper, "or there won't be a stump left in the clearin'."
With a quickness and courage that would have done credit to any
steersman,--for the speed at which they were going was terrific,--Bill
swept his foot to the right, leaning his body well over at the same
instant. The Trapper instinctively seconded his endeavors, and with
hands that gripped either side of the sled he hung over that side which
was upon the point of going into the air. For several rods the sled
glided along on a single runner, and then, righting itself with a
lurch, jumped the summit of the last dip, and raced away, like a
swallow in full flight, toward the lake.
Now, at the edge of the clearing that bounded the shore was a bank of
considerable size. Shrubs and stunted bushes fringed the crest of it.
These had been buried beneath the snow, and the crust had formed
smoothly over them; and as it was upheld by no stronger support than
such as the hidden shrubbery furnished, it was incapable of sustaining
any considerable pressure.
Certainly no sled was ever moving faster than was Wild Bill's, when it
came to this point; and certainly no sled ever stopped quicker, for the
treacherous crust dropped suddenly under it, and the sled was left with
nothing but the hind part of one of the runners sticking up in sight.
But though the sled was suddenly checked in its career, the Trapper and
Wild Bill continued their flight. The former slid from the sled
without meeting any obstruction, and with the same velocity with which
he had been moving. Indeed, so little was his position changed, that
one almost might fancy that no accident had happened, and that the old
man was gliding forward to the end of the course with an adequate
structure under him. But with the latter it "was far different; for,
as the sled stopped, he was projected sharply upward into the air, and,
after turning several somersaults, he actually landed in front of the
Trapper, and glided along on the slippery surface ahead of him. And so
the two men shot onward, one after the other, while the children
cackled from the hill-top, and the woman swung her bonnet over her
head, and laughed from her position in the doorway.
"Bill," called the Trapper, when by dint of much effort they had
managed to check their motion somewhat, "Bill, ef the cruise be about
over, I conceit we'd better anchor hereabouts. But I shipped fur the
voyage, and ye be capt'in, and as ye've finally got the right way to
steer, I feel pretty safe techin' the futur."
It was not until they had come to a full stop, and looked around them,
that they realized the distance they had come; for they had in truth
slid nearly across the bay.
"I've boated a good many times on these waters, and under sarcumstances
that called fur 'arnest motion, but I sartinly never went across this
bay as fast as I've did it to-day. How do ye feel, Bill, how do ye
feel?"
"A good deal shaken up," was the answer, "a good deal shaken up."
"I conceit as much," answered the Trapper, "I conceit as much, fur ye
left the sled with mighty leetle deliberation; and when I saw yer legs
comin' through the air, I sartinly doubted ef the ice would hold ye.
But ye steered with jedgment; yis, ye steered with jedgment, Bill; and
I'd said it ef we'd gone to the bottom."
The sun was already set when they returned to the cabin; for, selecting
a safer course, they had given the children an hour's happy sliding.
The woman had prepared some fresh tea and a lunch, which they ate with
lessened appetites, but with humor that never flagged. When it was
ended, the old Trapper rose to depart, and with a dignity and
tenderness peculiarly his own, thus spoke:--
"My good woman," he said, "the moon will soon be up, and the time has
come fur me to be goin'. I've had a happy day with ye and the leetle
uns; and the trail over the mountain will seem shorter, as the pups and
me go home, thinkin' on't. Wild Bill will stay a few days, and put
things a leetle more to rights, and git up a wood-pile that will keep
ye from choppin' fur a good while. It's his own thought, and ye can
thank him accordin'ly." Then, having kissed each of the children, and
spoken a few words to Wild Bill, he took the woman's hand, and said,--
"The sorrers of life be many, but the Lord never forgits. I've lived
ontil my head be whitenin', and I've noted that though he moves slowly,
he fetches most things round about the time we need 'em; and the things
that be late in comin', I conceit we shall git somewhere furder on. Ye
didn't kill the big buck this mornin', but the meat ye needed hangs at
yer door, nevertheless." And, shaking the woman heartily by the hand,
he whistled to the hounds, and passed out of the door. The inmates of
the cabin stood and watched him, until, having climbed the slope of the
clearing, he disappeared in the shadows of the forest; and then they
closed the door. But more than once Wild Bill noted that as the woman
stood wiping her dishes, she wiped her eyes as well; and more than once
he heard her say softly to herself. "God bless the dear old man!"
Ay, ay, poor woman, we join thee in thy prayer. God bless the dear old
man! and not only him, but all who do the deeds he did. God bless them
one and all!