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

The hill was not high.one, and the
road led right over il, and there on the
summit stood; Bijah. -, %"2
I'm so tired and hungry hes said
to himself, land there comes old Sants
Claus, sleigh and all"
He was getting. colder, too, now he
was standing still, and when Grand.
father Vrooman came along the road,
walking in front, of the sleigh, while
Liph perched among the evergreens
and drove, there seemed to be some
thing warn about him.
. It was not so much his high fur hat,
or his tremendous ove"coat, or his lone
Write beard, or the way he smiled. bn1i
something in the nnd of his voice
almost drove the frost out of Biiah's
nose.
well, my little man, don't you want
to come to my house and get some piee"
''Yes, SIR"
Bijah could not think of one other
word he wanted to say, and he mus.
tered all the courage he had not to CIV
when Grandfather Vrooman picked
him up, as if he had been a kitten, and
perched him by the side of Liph among
the evergreens.
On he went, and Bijaha did not an
swer q single one of Liph's questions
for five long minutes. Then he turned
his black eyes full on his driver and
asked, "Do you live with Santa Claus
in his own houseP"
Eyes. sir-ee," responded Liph,s with
a great chuckle of fun; but all he had
to do tho rest of the way home was to
spin yarns for Bijah about the waythey
lived at the house where all the Christ
mas came from.
When they got there, Liph's father
and the hired man and Grandfather
vrooman were ready to lift of. that
Christmas tree and carry it through the
front door and hall, and set it up in the
Ozark room at the end of the hall.
That ought to have been the incest
room in the house, for it was right in
the middle, but there were no windows
IN it. There were doors in every direc-
ton. however, and in the center of the
ceiling vas a ''scuttle hole" more than
two feet square, with a wooden lid Oh
it,
John" said Grandfather Vrooman
to Mr.. Hardy, well hoist the top of
the tree through the hole. You go up
and open the scuttle. Hitch the top
good and strong. There'u be lots Of
things to hang on them branches"
Liph's father hurried upstairs to open
the ~scuttle, and that gave Grandfather
Vrooman q chance to think of Bijah.
"Where is he, Liphp"
"Oh, he's all right. Grandmother's
got him. She and mother caught him
before he got into the house. He tried
to run away, too"
Bijah's short legs had been too tired
to carry him very fast, and Grand
mother Vrooman and Mrs. Hardy had
caught him before he got back to the
gate.
The way they laughed about it gave
him a great deal of courage, and he
never cried when they took him by his
red little hands, one on each side, and
walked him into the house.
Jane" said grandmother, what
will we do with himp The house'll be
choke, jam, packed full; and there isn't
an extra bed"
Father found him in the snow some
where. Just like him.. But what a
rosy little dot he lisp"
Are you Santa Claus wivesP" asked
Bijah, with a culver of his lip in spite
of himself.
How they did chuckle when they
tried to answer that question: All they
made clear to Bijah was that the place
for him was in a hig chair before the
sitting-room fireplace, with a plate OF
mince-pie in his lap, and Bush, the big
house-dog, sitting beside him.
Its Santa Claus dog" said Bijah
to himself; ''but his house isn't as big
as the 'sylum." Q