New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-01-01
/. LOST AND FOUND.
Christmas Story.
CHAPTER ]
THE WANDERING WOMAN.

the big. feathery fakes. Driven here and
there in wild swirls and eddies, by the wind,
thick as the notes that people the SUM-
beams" the snow came down, Obscuring the
air, obliteratlng the ways. blurring the sharp
outline of the trees, and mufling 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
z then, without the frost breaking up, the snow
had begun to fall on Sunday night; it had
showed all 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.
1t was but eleven O'Clock, and the train
was not due at Thornley, till three. It 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
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 we were, only we'll night in despair, and
exhausted. She could not speak one word
of English, and we found our little stock of
French, SO neglected as it was, very made
quate for conversing with her in her own
tongue. 1t was enough for her, however, that
at last she had actually found some one who
had heard of France, and who knew there
was such a 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 plating, but
not old enough to walk all day with her in
this terrible weather. Her money had been
just enough to pay their fare from Birming-
ham to Dunstable, and she had sent them off
by rail that morning. At DuLstable they
would find 2 good Frenchwoman who would
take care Of them. But she herself had not
money enough to ride, SO had set out to walk
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 no
one to put her right the snow was preventing
her from walking at half the pace she had
get to her work at 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 di-
frectly or indirectly. She was evidently care
ul to avoid it. She warmed herself by the
fire, but when pressed also to sit down and eat
she said no. With many thanks and begrc3 us
to direct her on her way as well as we could;
which we5did. a&
Before she went she took out he. little well
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 q
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
it-not without reluctance. Only once her
courage seemed to fail her. When my sisters
little boy, rosy little fellow, eighteen months
= old horo <~>rsr -
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. e - d
"A 1s1II.a "a CHAPTER II. @
B POOR BERTHE saS % Ssh,
III II Kitty had not been the very best little
mare that ever drew q wagon behind her, she
yneyerswould' have got to Thornley, station It
hQd given up showing and the sun was shin
ins; little So, as We thought Their would
be room enough, coming back, was tempted
to brave the weather and 90 down with Sam
to meet, the train.
For thirty years there had been no such
snow-storm known in this part of the country.
As we drove along-if should nor rather call
It. piowingIthe corn Hicks showed like go
manv tumuli. Even the highest hcdger0ws
could only be traced as long, sharp ridges,
for 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
line had with great difficulty been kept open
The trains were running, and the train for
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 chatting the sta
on-master advising him to "Go to- ericho, /" to
ssjunlp up" and to do other things which Ger
tainly form no part of a station masters ordi-
nary duties.
! Driving home was hardly any easier task
than 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
ION such a.day as this. The boys, however,
Ideclared it splendid, and the more likelihood
4here was of our sticking fast. the more splen-
did they declared it, the more glad they
were to jump out behind, and, under pretence
q of pushing the wagon, roll each other in the
snow. and put snewballs down each others
I backs. On our way home we met two or
three other vehicles, and at all ss-roads
could see that heavy as had been the snow. it
had not been heavy enough to keep people in-
] doors who had the excuses Of hospitality for
going out.
Home at last, just as the shades of night
were falling rapidly, and just as the freight
began to redden the window panes. Then
ing, and finger warming. Then the first gen
eral inquiries about school, and lessons, and
prizes, about skating and sliding, about home
. dhome friends. All these things were, over,