Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-12-23


coming to-"
So he was, and he and Liph and Busf
watched them finish setting the supper
table, till suddenly Bush gave a great
bark and sprang away toward the from
door Grandfather Vrooman had hard
ly been gone from the house an hour
and here he was, back again.
Jingle, jingle, jingle. How the sleigh.
bells did dance as that great load Of
young folk came down the road, an6
what a racket they made at the gate,
and how Bush and Liph, and grand
mother, and the rest did help them!
''He's caught 'em ALL" said Bijah,
''but they amt scared a Bit
No one would have thought so if they
had seen Mrs. Prue Hopkins and her
husband and her six children follow
grandfather Vrooman into the house.
They were hardly there, and some OF
Them had their things on yet, when
there came another Jingle, and ever SO
much talking and laughter down the
other road
Hes caught some more. Some are
little and some are big. Iwonder who'll
get the baby?"
Bush was making himselfhoa and
had to be spoken to by Mr. Hardy,
while Mrs. Simpson tried to unmix her
children from the Hopkinses long
enough to be sure none of them had
dropped out Of the sleigh on the road.
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 from?' said Joe
Simpson.
"'sylum,' said Bijah. "Where'd he
catch your
"Catch whatp' said ice, 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's old
Santa Claus, and this house is Christ
mas"
$50 | am-so it is" said Grandfather
Vrooman ''We'n make him hang UP
his stocking with all the rest to-nig ht. -
Bijah could not feel scared at all with
SO 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
blue time of it if it hadn't been for
Llph 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 in the ,''dark room"
were open, and it was the lightest
room in the house, with it's big fire on
the hearth and all the lamps chat were
taken in after supper; but there was
not one thing hanging on the Christ
mas tree until Grandfather Vrooman
exclaimed:
"Now for stockings! It's getting late,
children. [ must have you all in bed
before long"
''Stocking8?"
They all knew what that meant, AMI
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 second pair.
when Liph Hardy came in from the
with a great, long, empty grain
Dag.
''What in the world is that for?''
asked grandmother, perfectly astonish-
I'd. "Why, child, what do YOU mean
~ bringing that thing in here?''
Zone big stocking for grandfather.
let's hang it up, boys. Maybe Santa
Claus IL come and fill it.
There was no end of fun over Grand
'ather Yrooman's grain bag stocking.
that was all leg and no foot, but Uncle
Hiram Simpson took it and fastened it
strongly to q branch in the middle Of
the tree. 1t was close to the 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.
Grandmother Vrooman had been so
busy with all those children from the
moment they came into the house that
she had almost lost her anxiety; but it
came back to her now all of sudden.
''Sakes alive! Jane" she said to
Mrs. Hardy, 'severy last one of 'em's
got to be in bed before we can do
thing with the stockings"
Bijah heard her, for he was just be-
yond the dining-room door, with a
cruller in each hand, and it made him
SILVER all over.
81 wish L was in the 'sylum. No. /
don't either, but l kind O. wish [ 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 tohelp them, was some
thing wonderful. Old Bush wandered
from room to room after them, wag-
ging his tail and whining.
Mother exclaimed Mrs. Hardy at
last, ''the bed yea made on the floor in
the store-room!"
''Just the thing for him. All the rest
go in pairs. I'll put that poor little
dear right in there"
So she did, and not one OF her own
grandchildren was tucked in warmer
than was Bijah. He did not kick the
bedclothes off next minute, either, and
he was the only child in the house of
whom that could be said. Grandfather
Vrooman paid visit of inspection all
around from room to room, and Bush
went with him. 1t took him a good
while. When he came to the store
room and looked in. Biah's tired eyes
were already closed as tiOht aS were fhe