Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1878-12-26
LOST AND FOUND.
A Christmas Story.
CHAPTER !.


Would 1t never cease? we asked, as We sat,
looking out from the window, and watched
the big, feathery fakes. Driven here and
there in wild swirls and eddies, by the wind,
"thlck as the notes that people the san
BEAMS" the SNOW came down, obscuring the
air, obliteratlng the ways, blurring the sharp
outline Of the trees, and muftling all the
sounds of outdoor life. For nearly week
there had been sharp frost. The ice had rung
with the healthy music Of the skates. And
then, without the frost breaking up, the snow
had begun to fall on Sunday night; it had
showed oil day on Monday, all Monday night,
and now, after breakfast on Tuesday morn
ing, it was showing as hard as ever. "Would
never cease? we asked.
It was but eleven o'clock, and the train
was aot due at Thornley, till three. 1t was
calculated that If the road was passable at
all an hour would surely be enough for the
three miles drive. SO till two o'clock there
was no event to fill up the time save lunch;
at least there was no event that we knew of.
By and by, old Margaret came in and said
there was poor woman in the kitchen whom
she thought the dog Fury" had frightened
out of her wits, because she could not speak
a word that she-Margaret-could under
stand. Some two or three Of us went to see
our strange visitor.
We soon found that she was no more mad
than wo were, only well night in despair, and
exhausted. She could not speak one word
Of English, and we found our little stock of
French, 80 neglected as it was, very made
quate for convers:ng with her in her own
tongue. 1t was enough for her, however, that
ut last she had actually found some one who
had heard of France, and who knew there
was such language as the French.
The poor woman's tale was this: Her nus
band was dead. Her two little girls were just
not old enough to walk all day with her in
this terrible weather. Her money had been
lust enough to pay their fare from Birming-
ham to Dunstable, and she had sent them of
by rail that morning. At DuLstable they
would find good Frenchwoman who would
money enough to ride, 80 had set out to walk
from Birmingham to Dunstable, distance Of
some hundred miles, for which walk she had
allowed herself three days. And now this
morning, to begin with, she found she had got
four miles out of her way. She could find nc
one to put her right, the snow was preventing
her from walking at half tho pace she had
hoped to walk, and she could not in any way
get to her work ut the time she had promised
! to be there. She was strong, -featur:
! ed woman; evidently very poor, and not at all
sentimental But she did not beg, either d.
lrectly or indirectly. She was evidently care
ul to avoid it. She warmed herself by the
| fire, but when pressed also to sit down and cal
she said no. with many thanks, and begged us
| to direct her on her way as we'll as we could
| which we did.
Before she went she took out her little we'll
worn purse and counted her small capital
| She asked us what we thought might be the
we told her as near as we could guess. Then
she shut her purse and shook her head in g
way that said she must walk it all. But being
| pressed to take some little help to make uI
the fare for this part of the journey, she took
it-uot without reluctance. Only once he,
courage seemed to fail her. When my sisters
little boy, a rosy little fellow, eighteen months
took him into her arms, kissed him, and cried
over him, thinking, no doubt of her own lit
tie ones and their loneliness at this happy
Christmas time.
CHAPTER II.
! POOR BERTHE.
Ii Kitty had not been the very best littlt
mare that ever drew wagon behind her, she
never would have got to Thornley, station.
had given up showing and the sun was shin
ing little. SO, as we thought Their woulc
be room enough, coming back, was tempted
to brave the weather and go down with San
to meet the train.
For thirty years there had been no sucf
snow-storm kno Hn in this part of the country
As We drove along-if should not rather cal
lit plowing-the corn ticks showed like e
many tumuli. Even the highest hedgerows
! chAJ VIC GAdCCu 10 1OuRS 5AaI AluSce
for the snow had drifted against them till al
was buried save here and there q tree. Their,
was mile OF common land, newly enclosed
which We had to cross, and here where al
was level, and the fences we're low, it wa,
simply one great stretch of white, where t.
keep the road was no easy matter.
Thanks mainly to the necessity OF running
extra trains at Christmas time, our braucl
line had with great difficulty been kept open
The trains wore running, and the train TO
which we had to wait was not more than
quarter of an hour late. z>er~ .-
Long before we saw them we could hea
our young folks. They were chatting the sta
tion-master. advising him to go tod ericho," t.
s.juup up" and to do other things which Ger
tainly form no part of station. masters ordi
nary duties. .. H..
Driving home was hardly any easier tasl
than driving out had been. For thougl
we certainly had our owntrack to drive bac
upon there was the added weight Of five ne,
passengers, which even to Kitty was no jok
on such day as this. The boys, howeve
declared it splendid, and the more nkelihoo
there was of our sticking fast. the mora spler
did they declared 1t, the more glad the
were to jump out behind, and, under pretenc
Of pushing the wagon, roll each other In til
! snow. and put snowballs down each other
, backs. On our way home we met two {
three other vehicles, and at all cross-roae
could see that heavy as had been the snow.
had not been heavy enough to keep people i
doors who had the excuses OF hospitality Il
going out. 49,
Home At last, just a. the shades of nigl