The Red Cloud chief., 1881-06-02
TIE COOPER AND THE WOLVES.

Toilet kolstad was a cooper. and n
very Skillful cooper he was said 10 be.
He had a little son named Thor, who
WAS Us fond of his father as his father
WAS of him. Whatever Toilet did or
said, Thor was sure to initiate; if Toilet
was angry and flung a piece of wood at
the dog who used 10 come intothe shop
and bother him, Thor, thinking it was
Mt poor Hector, who ran out whimper-
ing through the door.
Thor, of course, WAS not very old be-
fore he had corner IN his fathers
shop, where, with a small set of tools
which had been especially made for
him. he used To make little pals, and
buckets and barrels, which he sold for
five and ten cents apiece to the boys
of the ncighborhood. All the money
earned in this way he put into a bank
of tin, made like Il drum. of which his
mother kept the key. When he grew
up, he thought, he would be a rich
man.
The last weeks before Christmas are,
In Norway, always the briskest season
in all trades; then the farmer wants his
horses shod, so that he may take his
VIE and children 10 church in his fine,
swan-shaped sleigh; he wants bread
and cakes made to last through the
holidays, SD that his servants may be
able 10 amuSc themselves and his guests
may be well entertained when they
cal; and. above al, he wants large
tubs and barrels, stoutly made of beech
slaves. for his beer and mead, with
which he pledges every stranger who
during the festival happens To pass his
door. You may imagine, then, that at
Christmas time coopers are much in
demand. and that it is not to be won
dercd ut if sometimes they are behind
hand with their orders. This was I'M
fortunately the case with Toilet kolstad
at the time when the strange thing
happened which I am about to tell YOU.
He had been at work since the early
dawn upon a huge tub or barrel, which
had been ordered by Grim Berglund,
the richest peasant in the parish. Grim
was 10 give a large party on the follow
ia~ day (which was Christmas eve),
and he had made Toilet promise to
bring the barrel that same night, so
that he might pour the beer into it,
and have all in readiness for the holt
DAYS, when it would be wrong to do
any work. 1t was about ten o'clock at
night when Toilet made the last stroke
with his hatchct on the large hollow
thing, upon which every blow resound-
ed as on a drum. He went to a neigh
bor and hired from him his horse and
fiat sleigh, and was about to start on his
errand, when he heard tiny voice call
ing behind him:
Father, do take me along, too"
81 can't, nv boy. There may be
wolves on the lake, tonight, and they
might Ike to eat up Little boys who stay
out Of bed SO late"
.But l am not afraid of them, father.
] have my whip and my Ratchet, and
I'll whip them and cut them"
Thor here made some threatening
f1ourishes with his weapons in the air,
indicating how he would give it TO the
wolves in case they should venture to
approach him.
said his father, laughing, and feeling
proud of his boys dauntless spirit.
..You and / are not to be triled with
when we are angered. are we. Thor?"
mo, indeed, father" said Thor, and
cl,nched his little mittened fist.
Toilet then lifted him up, wrapped
him warmly in his sheep-skin jacket.
and put him between his knees, while
he himself seized the reins and urged
the horse on.
1t was a glorious winter night The
snow spanked and shone IS II spripkled
with starry diamonds, the aurora bore
ais flashed in pale, shifting colors along
the horizon, and the moor sailed calm
ly through a vast, dark-blue sea of air.
Little Thor shouted with delight rs he
saw the broad expanse Of giittering
ice. which they were about to cross,
stretching out before them like a pol
ished shield of steel.
"Oh, father, / wish we had taken on
skates along, and pulled your barrel
across on a sled," cried the boy, ecstat-
ically.
THAT I might have done, i'll had
had a sled large enough for the barrel"
replied the father. 'But then we
should have been obliged to pull it up
the hills on the other side"
The sleigh now struck the ice and
Dhot forward, swinging from side to