Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1885-12-18

thankfulness towards the bounteous
Glver of all perfect gifts. Well, the
day had come and many were merry
and doubtless some were sad. 1t
had come, l say, and was swiftly
drawing to its close.
In a city near the Kaatskills ev-
erything was hustle and confusion.
Families were gathered around their
firesides. Busy throngs of people |
hurried hither and thither and un-
noticed wanderers loitered on the
street corners. In a room lighted
only by the glow of the fire, right
in the heart of the city, figure sat
dreamily looking into the fire. The
loud click of the horses shoes on
the finty pavement grated harshly
upon his ear and the clang of horse
car bells sounded strangely unnat-
ural.
Let us glance inside the room a
moment. On one side the fire is a
case of books; on the other stands a
table with writing materials upon it.
Stuffed birds, autumn leaves and
! bits of rocks give evidence that the
room is occupied by one who goes
unwillingly from the haunts of ma
ture. Above the mantle the picture
of an intelligent bird dog hangs
revealed in the dim light; on the
mat before the fire the form of the
same dog is worked in brown and
white, and how | wish l could tell
you the dog himself sat there by
his master, but no, his resting place
upon the shore of q distant noun
tain lake is marked by tree famil-
lar only to him who placed it there.
But l forget myself. must return
to the form before the fire.
For a moment an expression of
merriment crept over his face as he
sat looking at an ungainly bird that
seemed peering comically down at
him from out the darkness, but as
his eyes rested on the picture of the
dog the'smile left his lips. For a time
= he gazed intently at the picture anc
then at the mat and finally his eyes
closed and an expression of deer
thoughtfulness came over his feat
ures. Now can you guess who thi:
human being is that sits thus OF
! Christmas night in the noisy city
Is it Karl Henry? Why no, Thu
cannot be he, for Karl Henry il
l among the Green Mountains, fa
away from the busy city. He il
with the friends of his youth in thu
lodge among the blrches at his ma
tive town.
! And the old lodge fairly resound
! with merriment, for "the gang" il
unbroken numbers has met there OF
this Christmas night. They have
Just arrived, fire is started, tn,
generous repast is spread upon thu
table and they have sat down, be
:. fore commencing the feast, to Sing
the old familiar song, Gathering
Up the Shells by the Seashore,
Stanley accompanying the piece
with the banjo. Phllis there carry
ing his part in his usual thorough
manner but to the apparent peril Of
his constitution. Then there i,
John who sings with an air Of
smoothness that plainly tells you he
can keep right along where he il
until daybrcak if necessary. And
there, too, is Karl Henry carrying
the bass part, and base part it is
indeed; he has learned the conclud
ing note of each verse and he comes
in on that with such power that you
at once feel convinced that he is in
every sense of the word base
singer. As the song is finished and
Stanley "hangs up de ole banjo
all attention is directed toward Phil
the punster, who is about to "shlo[
again" over Johns call for bouquets
Rising deliberately, he thus responds
to the call: eyes, here is Stanley's
maple sugar, from Clarke's, which
will go splendidly on fapjacks, and
therefore | feel highly honored III
being the representative chosen tc
present you with this flower flour
dish" OF course John does not
give way, and the hot griddle is
soon busy, but is not soon to rest
for Stanley and Karl Henry are
hungry, and even Phil condescends
to take a bite tonight. But al
length Phil cries, ''for mercy's sake
Jack, don't flap another cake on tc