Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1884-12-20

dropped out Of the sleigh on the road.
n Then Liph set to work to- introduce
his cousins to Biiah, and Bush came
and stood by his new friend in gray, to
see that it was properly done.
"Where'd you come fromP". said Joe
Simpson.
catch youp".
"Catch what?" said Joe, but Liph
managed to choke off the .chuckle he
was going out, and to shout out:
"Why, joe we found him in the road
to-day. He thinks grandfather 8 old
Santa Claus, and this house is Christ
mas"
$50 I am-so it is" said Grandfather
Vrooman.a "We'n make him hang, up
his stocking with, all the restto-nipht,'
Bijah could not feel scared at all with
80 many children around him, and he
was used to being among a crowd of
them. Still, it was hard to feel at home
after supper, and he might have had / a
blue time of it if it hadn't been for
Liph and Bush. It had somehow got
into Bush's mind that the dot in gray
was under his protection, and he fol-
lowed Bijah. from one corner to another.
All the doors lin. the dark, ROOM
were open, and it was the highest
room in the house, with its big fire on
the hearth and all the lamps that were
taken in after supper; but there. was
not n thing hanging on the Christ
mas tree until Grandfather Vrooman
exclaimed:
"Now for stockings! It's getting late,
children. I must have you all in bed
before long,.
'Stockingse"
They all Knew what that meant, and
SO did Bijah, but it was wonderful how
many that tree had to carry. Bob
Hopkins insisted on hanging two pairs
for himself, and Thad Simpson was
begging his mother for q second pair.
when Liph, Hardy. came in from the
kitchen with a great, long, empty grain
bag.
"Wha in the world is that forp'
asked grandmother, perfectly astonish-
ed. why. child, what do YOU NEAR
by bringing that thing in herep"
Zone big stocking for grandfather.
Let's hang it up, boys. Maybe Santa
OAouo i COuuo duu ull IL.
There vas no. end of. fun, over Grand
father Vrooman's grain bag stocking,
that wa all leg and no foot, but Uncle
Hiram Simpson took it and fastened il
strongly to a branch in the middle Of
the tree 1t vas close ,tothe trunk, and
was almost hidden; but Liph saw I'm
Gle Hiram wink at Aunt Ellen, and he
knew there was fun of some kind that
he had not thought OF.
l.. Grandmother Vrooman had been &C
busy with all those children from the
moment they came into the house that
she had almost lost her anxiety; but II
came back to her now all of o sudden.
"Sakes alive! jane" she, said to
Mrs. Hardy, "every Last one of ems
got to be in bed before we can do 8
thing with the stockings"
Bijah heard her, for he was lust be.
yond the dining-room door, with O
cruller in each hand. and it made him
SILVER all over.
II wish l WINS in the 'sylum. No. !
don't either, but I kind o. wish I was
Bijah was a very small. boy. and he
had not seen much of the world, but
his ideas were almost as clear as those
of the other children, and Grandmoth-
er Vrooman for the next fifteen min
utes. The way the Simpson and Hop.
kins families got mixed up, with Liph
and Sue Hardy to help them, was some.
thing wonderful. Old Bush wandered
from room to room after them, wag.
ging his tail and whining.
Mother" exclaimed Mrs. Hardy a,
last. "the bed you made on the floor in
the store-room!"
Just the thing for him. All the res,
60 in pairs IN put that poor little
dear right in there"
So she did, and not one of her own
grandchildren wa tucked in warmer
than was Bijah. He did not kick the
bedclothes off next minute, either, and
he a. the only child in the house Of
whom that could be said. Grandfather
Vrooman paid a visi; of inspection all
around from room to room, and Bush
vent with him. 1t took him a good
while. When he came to the Store
room and looked in. Bijah's tired eyes
were already closed as tight as were the
fingers of the little hand on the cover
let, which was still grasping q crul-
Ter.
He was fast asleep, but Grandfather
Vrooman was not; and yet, when Bush
looked up at him, the old mans ewes
we're shut too. and there was q stir in
his thick white beard as if his lips were
moving.
Things got pretty still after q while,
and then there began q steady process
sion in and out Of the dark room"
which was not dark
Boxes went in, and bundles, and
these we're opened and united, and their
contents spread out and looked at and
distributed. 1t was no wonder Grand
father Vrooman's big sleigh had been
so full, apd the one Pat had driven,
when they brought the Hopkins and
Simpson families from the north and
south railway stations.
Grandfather himself went awav out
to the barn once for something he said
he had hidden there, and while he was
gone Aunt Ellen Simpson and Uncle
Hiram slipped a package into the grain
bag. and grandmother handed Uncle
Hiram another to slip in on top of it,
and Uncle John Hardy and Uncle Mar
tin Hopkins each handed him another,
and the bag was almost half full, but
you could not see it from outside; and
then they all winked at each other when
grandfather came in with a back-load
Of sleds- Grandmother may have
thought she knew what they were
winking about, but she didn't, for Un-
Gle Hiram whispered to Aunt Ellen:
I'm glad it's a big stocking. One
IL do for both of EN-"
1t was late when they all went to
bed, and there was so much fire in the
fireplace they were half afraid to leave