The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-12-25
cost AND FOUND,
A Christmas Story.
CHAPTER 7.
T'aE WANDERING WOMAN.

| looking out from the window, and watebe
| the big, feathcry fakes. Driven here an
| there in wild swirls and eddies, by the win,
| thick as the NOTES that people the sur,
beams" the SHOW came down, obscuring til
air, Obliteratlng the ways, blurring the shar
outline of the trees, and muffling all til
sounds OF outdoor life. For nearly wee
there had been sharp frost. The ice had run
| with the healthy music of the skates An
then, without the frost breaking up, the sno,
had begun to fall on Sunday night; it ha
showed all day on Monday, ali Monday nigh
and now, after breakfast on Tuesday morn
! ing, it was showing as hard as ever. "Woul
| never cease?" we asked
1t was but eleven O'clock, and the trai
was not due at Thornley, till three. It wa
| calculated that if the road was passable a
all, an hour would surely be enough for tn
three miles drive. SO till two O'Clock ther
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 sal,
there was poor woman in the kitchen whom
she thought the dog Fury" had frightened
out OF her wits, because she could not speal
a word that she-Margaret-co under
stand. Some two or three of us went to sc,
our strange visitor.
We soon found that she was no more mao
than we were, only well night in despair, anc
exhausted. She could not speak one wore
OF English, and we found our little stock O
French, SO neglected as it was, very made
quate for convers'ng with her in her owr
tongue. 1t was enough for her, however, thai
at 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 hus
band was dead. Her two little girls were Just
old enough to work at the straW-plaitins. bu1
not old enough to walk all day with her in
this terrible weather. Her money had been
just enough to pay their fare from Brming-
ham to Dunstable, and she had sent them of
by rail that morning. At DuLstable they
would find good Frenchwoman who would
take care of them. But she herself had not
money enough to ride, so 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 cot
four miles out of her way. She could find no
one to put her right, the snow was preventing
her from walking at half the 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, coarse-featur-
ed woman; evidently very poor, and not at all
sentimental. But she did not beg, either d.
Hectly or Indirectly. She was evidently care
I'll TO avoid it. She warmed herself by the
lire, but when pressed also to sit down and eat
she said no, with many thanks, and begged us
10 direct her on her way as well as we could
which we did.
Before she went she took out he. little we'll
worn purse and counted her small capital.
She asked US what we thought might be the
railway fare from Banbury to Leighton, and
we told her as near as we could guess. Then
she shut her purse and shook her head in
way that said she must walk it all. But being
pressed to take some little help to make up
the fare for this part of the journey, she took
lt-not without reluctance. Only once her
coura &c seemed to fail her. When my sisters
little boy, a rosy little fellow, eighteen months
old, suddenly began crying to go to her, she
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
POOR BERTHE.
1t Kitty had not been the very best little
mare That ever drew a wagon behind her, she
never would have got to Thornley, station. It
had given up showing and the sun was shin
ing little. So, as we thought Their, would
be room enough, coming back, was tempted
TO brave the weather and go down with Sam
to meet the train.
For thirty years there had been no such
snow storm kno Hn in this part of the country
As we drove along-if should no. rather call
it plowing-the corn ticks showed like so
many tumuli. Even the highest hedgerows
could only be traced as long, sharp ridges,
or the snow had drifted against them till ali
was buried save here and there tree. There
was mile of common land, newly enclosed,
which we had to cross, and here where all
was level, and the fences were low, it was
simply one great stretch of white, where to
keep the road was no easy matter.
Thanks mainly to the necessity Of running
Extra trains at Christmas time, our branch
inc had with great difficulty been kept open.
he trains wal
which we had to wait was not more than a
quarter OF an hour late.
Long before we saw them we could hear
our young folks. They were chaffing the sta
Joni master, advising him to go Jericho" to
jump up" and to do other things which GER
AMY form no part of station masters ordi-
larry duties.
Driving home was hardly any easier task
han driving out had been. For though
We certainly had our own track to drive back
Upon there was the added weight of five new
passengers, which even to Kitty was no joke
m such a day as this. The boys, however,
declared it splendid, and the more likelihood
lid they declared it, the more glad they
we're to jump out behind, and, under pretence |
# pushing the wagon, roll each other in the |
now. and put snowballs down each others |
Jacks On our way home we met two or
hree other vehicles, and at all cross roads !
Oulu sec InaC neaVy as n0Q been the snow. it |
lad not been heavy enough to keep people in
[oors who had the excuses of hospitality for
,oing out
Home at last, just as the shades of night
we're falling rapidly, and just as the freight |
,egant to redden the window panes. Then
he hustle OF Misunderstanding, kissing, uncoat-
ng, and finger warming. Then the first gen
raj inquiries about school, and lessons, and |
,rizes, about skating and sliding, about home |
nd home friends. All these things were, over,
nd the lads were sitting or standing round |
he fire, while Helen and were busy with |
'ur decorations, twisting wreaths OF holly
ound the pictures and mirrors, and pricking
Ilr fingers till they bled in doing So Sud |
!enly frank called out to Helen: "But, aunt, |
there's Bertie-1 have not seen him?"
."Oh, he's asleep" said Helen; you'll see
llm and hear him too by-and-by.' Then as |
reminded by this, she left her holly-wreaths |
md ran upstairs to see if all the recent noise !
lad not walked him. In a minute she was
Town again, and said: "He's not in his cot;
ome OF them have got him in the kitchen;
un, Frank, and fetch him"
soon Frank was back again, and back
the baby. Then the mother began
ornn about the house searching, and to grow
ineasy, One Of the maids, however, had been
ent some-halt hour ago to a neighbours, and
vas expected back directly. It was presumed,
hough no one had seen her take him, that
he had the baby with her. In few minutes
he came in and knew nothing Of baby Berthe.
Baby Berthe was eighteen months old, and