Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-12-23

=. 4 VI ass hnOcker and then
e. l. urop gently and without sound
nas ne walked away and disap
eu IN the lane that led TO the rea,
eSte"ay ot the famous Won Tromp
sardens, e which then stretched down tc
III.
Inc great rooms on either sida NJ .b,
VIDE hall of the O d stone bouee on
Pearl street were filed with tn yo,, =
and beauty of the Young metrono i
and none of the old families of tho 80
were without representative in tb.
throng. Major Won Tromp's ancastnrs
had been among the earliest sattIars -,
We" amsterdam and his English wife
ta'eu ~ ner descent to noted family in
she ni"tner country. His son, too, had
,o-Ineu an alilsnce which had thorough.
y grained the old mans pride, and in
az Ine world there was none SO dear to
MS neart as his little grandchild K ate
OF hatrlna, as he WAS wont to call her
whose golden locks we're the admira.
ton OF all Queen street.
Erect, but rotund, he bo-e his s;1tv
years well and retained the martial
look OF an old soldier. Nearly twenty
years before independence was declared
he had served as a lieutenant under
Colonel Goosen Won Schaick in the
disastrous attack by Howe and Aber.
cromble against Ticonderoga. But
when news came of the fighting at Lex
lngton he had disowned the red coats.
put on the buff and blue uniform and
taken commission under Colonel
Aarinus Willett. of the New York line.
After Monmouth's fierce battle he had
retired as Major, but his son Richard.
or D1rck, mere lad then, had stepped
INTO his fathers shoes and been presen,
at Yorktown. furious patriot. the
old Major had no liberation for those
who differed from him in opinion and
he hated W tn fierce vindictiyeness
those Americans who had borne arms
on the Kings side. To his mind, they
had committed the objectionable sin.
There was no trace of anything but
good humor on his broad, red face this
christmas eve as he joyously welcomed
his troops of guests and bade each one
wait and see what Kriss Kringle ha 1
hung up for them upon his tree. His
son, a younger copy of himself, stood
at his side, seconding his fathers greet
lngs, and littl5 Katrina, a flashing sun
beam of love and delight, danced from
room to room in wild exuberance OF
JOY.
That Mrs. Won Tromp was not by
her husbands side to take visitors by
the hand did not surprise those who
knew her we'll Pale, white-haired,
stately and yet with sad, beautiful
face, she shrank into the background
as much as possible on the plea of ill
health, and tonight she sat in the deep
recess of one of the windows that looked
out upon the garden in the starlight,
with eyes that had in them a suspicion
of tears. That she had a secret sor-
row her friends knew. But SO many
years had passed since the story went
the rounds of colonial gossip that mos,
people had forgotten what it was.
That it concerned her oldest son was be-
lieved, and some said that he was ad
others that he had sought exile In Nova
Scotia with the British refugees when
the city WAS evacuated. The mother
never spoke of her son, and when the
old Major was questioned he always
denied with an oath that he had any
son except Dirck, and 81 love
him." he added, "becsuse he wa
true to his country and fought
under Washington" True, the an.
cestral Won Tromps had borne arms
under the Dutch flag against England,
and he had himself served under the
English flag against the French in
Canada, but this made him none the
more lenient against a son who dared
have his own opinions and stand up
for them.
Stephen Won Tromp, the younger,
had been guilty of nothing but what he
deemed loyalty to his King. Perhaps
the bright eyes of n little loyalist maid
en- living on State street, had some
thing to do with it, but he had en-
listed as cornet in Colonel Oliver De
Lancey's dragons, known as "De
Lancy's Loyalists," whose destructive
doings in the neutral ground" OF
Westchester County, had made them
specially obnoxious to the Nriot side.
Cornet Stephen Won Tromp had met
his father but once. under q fog OF
truce, ana then the old man had re-
fused to recognize him 1t was on this
occasion, now some years ago, that his
mother had kissed him for the last
time. Tonight, as she thought of her
first born and recalled the Christmas
ing hung in the chimney corner wait
ing the visit of Santa Claus, a rush of
remembrance overpowered her, and
tearing herself away from the crowd of
jewellers she stole swiftly upstairs to
the great, dreary attic, and throwing
herself across the cradle in which her
first born had been rocked, the mother
wept bitterly.
But there was no time for tears and
presently the mother sat in her old
place by the window, waiting for her
face and voice TO recover their entire
composure. Yet even here there SEEM
ed no relief for her thoughts, for be-
fore minute had passed she started
up with white face as If she had seen a
ghost out under the starlight, and
quickly AMI quietly made her way ont
throu III the back porch and into the
shadow of the trees. Amid the throng
of happier faces hers was not missed at
once and no one thought of making in
quiry for her.
They kept early hours in New York
then, and when nine o'clock came
Major Won Tromp declared that the
time had come for the Christmas tree
and supper. The supper was spread
in the spacious dining-room and In the
centre, between the tabl s that were
heaped high with solid rounds of beef,
roast pigs, whole flocks of turkeys and
other fowl, to say nothing of cakes of
every sort and great tiagons of Madeira
and New England rum, rose the Christ
mas tree, blazing with lights and laden
down with gifts for the guests. 1t was
a sight to delight any heart, Dutch.
or American, and the children
who beheld it fairly screamed with Joy.
As for the old Major, his face broad
ened and beamed as he welcomed his
friends to the party, untilssome of the
little ones nudged. their mothers and
in shy whispers whether he
were not the veritable Santa Claus who
came down the chimneys.
1Ibara xpao half on bnur of faasfipp