American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-01-02
WHAT HAPPENED ON A CHRIST
MAS DAY.
BY EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER.

|
MAS DAY.
| BY EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER.
| ONCE upon a time-I have noticed that
| nearly everything worth hearing of happened
| once MpOn a Hme-there stood IN the CITY OF
| Chicago between the Rolling Mills and the
Kinzie Street Bridge, a very old, Imprinted
frame house, two stories and a basement,
with rickety outside stairs leading up one
end of the building to a landing on the upper
story. In fact the very house is standing
| there vet as you may see any day If you look
| ont at the car windows on the left-hand side,
| with a miserable backyard and patched-up
| she'd upon the roof Of which have seen two
goats lying contentedly, and some little girls
| playing at making calls, with sunf1owers Tor
| parasols, and old shawls tied around their
waists to trail magniticently over their tat
tiers, quite in the style of their betters.
But once upon a time, as began to tell you,
on the very day before Christmas, in the year
| eighteen hundred and something, Two chill
dren, a boy and girl, were locked up in the
| small back room at the top of the flight OF
outside stairs, in the third story OF this dlngy
| old house. 1t was a very small room, with
| two windows.
One looked down into the dirty back yard,
and the other out upon the landing, but they
were so patched up with rags and paper and
| shingles that you could not see much from
| any Of them. There was a stove in the roOm
with very rusty, long crack that showed
the red, empty CRATE, but there was no fire In
| IL,
the cold as it stood there on three legs and a
| bit of brick. There was an empty cupboard
| in the room, SO empty that old Mother HUB
bard could not have found SO much as bone
| for her POOR dog, and a lean little mouse,
| grubbing about on the shelves, nearly skinned
his nose in trying to pick up grain OF rice
| out of the corner. No chairs, no table, but on
the floor thin straw bed, with piece OF Old
carpet and one ragged quilt. Out of the
quilt peeped two heads, covered all over with
such thick, red curls you would have thought
they really ought to warm the room a very
| little, but they didn't seem to. Under the
curls two pairs of bright eyes, and as clear,
sweet dimpled faces as any mother ever cud-
died up in her arms at bedtime, though the
checks might have been rounder and the
dimples deeper if it had not been for the
empty cupboard, 1 think. However, they
were not SO very hungry; they had their din
ner, two good slices of bread and two very
little scraps of meat, in the bed between them,
I to keep it from freezing, you know Ihey
could not afford to be dainty, and one meal a
day will keep one from starving. Besides,
| when their mother came home from her day.
work there would be fire made, and some.
thing for supper, if the people did not forget
to pay her. They did forget sometimes, or
had no change handy, and then it was pretty
hard for them all to go to bed cold and hun.
CRY. Molly used to cry at such tunes, out
would remember to be just. They might
even be generous if they thought of it, and
then there would be something extra; per
fire, a real Jolly fire, all day. 1t made every
hair on the curly heads dance, just to think
of it, and the children got out OF bed and
rushed about the room for exercise, scraped
a spot of frost from the window panes, and
Redeemed their poor little noses in trying to
look out then crept back to their nest and
slept like two kittens in the hay. slept so
long that rat with one ear and the tip OF his
tail bitten off came out through the broken
plastering and snuffed hungrily around them:
When they walked it was growing dark, and
they began to feel uncOmmonly lonesome and
hungry.
the poor baby, and Ted, who was two years
older, tried like a man to comfort her. BY
and by Ted's courage failed too; he grew
cross and indignant.
he said, "we'd just 90 and see Christmas our
own selves Bob says it's bully to look at the
stores chock full of presents, and he knows
of church where they're gOin' to have two
Christmas trees, and ice-cream and cakes, ana
candy, and no end of good things. Mebby
they'd happen to have something left over for
us. Molly, if we could only get there"
Ted tried the door, and gave two angry
kicks at the panels.
"Wish't was Jackaneast, I'd go up the
chimbly, and come down the rain-spout."
All at once he thought of the window on
the landing. 1t went up with very little
coaXing.
Git yer things, Molly" he cried, in tri-
umph and thrust his curly head into very
big old wool hat with kind OF trap-door at
the top.
Of what had once been IA table-spread, and a
faded blue calico sunbonnet, so she was soon
ready, and the little midgets climbed through
the window, went cautiously down the slip.
perry stairs and away, hand in hand, toward
the long row of street-lamps that themarked
region of stores and churches.
No one took the smallest notice of them.
Mrs. Biddy Maloney, who took boarders on
has Hsnr yxyas ole ina III hpr
for Christmas, and Tows, the dog, finding it
very slippery and uncomfortable inside, stood
shivering on the steps and waited for place
to dry. His tail was too stiff to wag, but he
gave a distressed wriggle of his lanky body,
and followed the children a block or two.
go back, Tows," said Ted, and the dog
crept back to the step.
Such wonderful sights, Not a dark, cold
room anywhere, but, SO far they could see,
fire and light and abundance. Windows
filed with bread and cakes and pies; mar
kets overlooking on the very sidewalks
with meat and vegetables that these
hungry babies did not even know the names
of. Confectioners' windows heaped with
dainties in pink and white and amber, and
frosted wonders that made your mouth water
| only to look at; windows glowing with great
pyramids of golden oranges, shining red AZ :
plies, juicy pears, and grapes likei clusters OF
pale emeralds. Out of basement windows
came delicious whiffs of roasting, broiling and
| coffee making, and throuS h doors that opened
and closed quickly came sounds Of laughter,
| and now and then of music. So they went
on and on, looking, and wondering, and chat
tering, and really forgetting they were cold
and hungry, and running away.
Once, when policeman spoke roughly to
them, they went through a short, dark alley,
and saw through basement window woman
with hard, heavy hands striking sobbing
little girl.
Come away" said Ted, pulling Molly by
the hand and shaking his fist in the dark at
the cruel woman; I'D like to lick her,
would. Good mind to chuck SNOWFALL
through the window"
In the very next house, in room almost as
poor as their own, little child in pure
white robe lay upon a table, with lighted can
dies two at her head and two at her feet Hell
hands crossed upon her breast and held
a bit of green. She looked very peaceful and
happy, they thought but woman sat by
her, with her head on her arms, and cried
aloud
By and by their wanderings brought them
to a beautiful church, very tall and hand
, some, with broad stone steps and stained
windows that glowed in the light like
great precious stones. They could heal
the sound Of voices, childrens voices
4. ! singing loud and clear inside, and wbel