Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-12-21
MIR CL.AWS.'

The wind than hurried across the
>now-covrr,sl prairie had an ICY Keen
urSS that p"ri"ndrh 4 cold Christmas
IN the morrow. 1t cr"pt through me
caps in the UNDERMINING and up
through the cracks i'll III" sycamore
floor of Widow Shores little Imprinted
house. causing The inmates I" hnddlr
closer about the small stove.
wal" announced little Sam. I'm Il
gon' to hang up my >l"kin. anyhow.
1T wun'l du 10 good spoke Maggie,
the oldest Of the youthful shores and
the elder Of little sam by TWO years.
You won't git nlhin'. Sandy Claws
has plumb forgot us
"M"hby he has. uuo;h sam: hut LII
,orto jog his lnrm'ry.'
NO use complained Maggie. Hos
plumb forgot us. Haunt he. nav:
''L.onkS Il heap thai away. answered
Widow Shore.
Her drawing voice had Il m"Irnful
cadence.
WAL. You .jr>, see il don't make
him think of us Dragged little sam.
Yes. I'll See. cnmpl;inrh Maggie
''Wt'rr lucky if We -it two bites
apiece for 1u-mniruW'> Chris mus din
ucr'
You jest wait. that's al" WAS Saml'>
rriondrr SANDY Claws will com"
round all right"
In spite of his brave words little Sam
was by no means us hopeful as he pre-
tended to be. MH"-ic'S complaint that
Santa Claus had wholly forgotten them
had II depressing effect upon his spirits.
But he proceeded to put into execution
his plan for jogging the memory of
-, eat, ,
mas tide.
Widow Shore. absorbed by her own
dismal thoughts. paid little heed to his
proceedings. Flu, Maggie. though
piqucl a, his lack OF sympathy with
her gloomy prugn">tirationS. watched
him curiouSly. and the twins and the
baby specialized upon til" personal ap-
pcarAncc Of Santa Claus. and asked al
mnnnrr of questions.
For some ilor little Sam worked
steadily. Il. ii'".: with the hot poker Il
huge sign ca ! snail board. Then
when The ::;-.. ,..'> completed to Sans
entire satisfaction. a question from
'lr baby caused an alteration in The
work.
is he Mister Sandy Claws" whrcz,.l
the baby.
Til" li,,l. fellow. still called tho
baby. although he was nearly four
vars old. WAS HE victim Of 4 cold that
made his liltl" voice hut Il combination
IT croak and WhrrZe.
Maybe it would be- more proper 10 al
dress SANTA Claus Us Mister" little
SnlI thought. The favor he desired
would be- Il lAj'-" one. and. therefore,
called for all the courtesy h" could com
nianh.
A difficulty arus" His Sprawling let
terS occupied nearly MI Of the board.
and Their" WIS II" room to add tn" title.
Sam quickly dismissed the thought of
putting il on The back of the board Ii
was not probabEr that Santa Claus
would think to look III the back of the
sign. and l!IuS III" effect Of the title
would u" lost
Finally Sam lahnrious" whitfield
away the Sandy" with which he had
begun III" legend. substituting for it
"MiStur s. written III !: highly rccrn-
trio manner with the hot poker
When finished. the name OF the
Christmas saint WAS masIurrading I'M
Der tho partial .uiSc Of Mister S.
CLAW
While little Sam viewed Bis llandi-
Work With supreme satisfaction. the
BABY ana the twins We're loud in thcl.
admiration. and even critical Maggie
WAS forced to confess that # Saint
Nicholas memory was not logged by
that sign it was hopelnSsly beyond the
reach Of all jogging
Widow Shore remarked to the effect
that il WAS not only Il scholarly but al
artistic piece Of work.
Bundling himself up as well as posi-
bic with the scanty wraps at hand
little sam passed Out into the cold
with the precious sign under his long
coata relic Of his dead father.
A few flakes We're Whirling down
ward. and soon the air was white
with falling SNOW. The wind increased
and sent the flakes hurrying past lit
tie Sans face as he trudged brayely
on.
The keen wind pierced his worn gar.
ments. but his young blood seemed to
lefty the chilling blast and, busy with
his hopeful thoughts, he almost forgot
the cold.
He looked approvingly at the whirl-
ing snow.
I'm mighty glad it come" he NUT
tered WAS afraid it wouldn't be deep
enough for Sandy Claws sleigh. But
it'll be all right now"
You don't reckon" he went on, pres
emily addressing an imaginary auditor,
that the snow'll be fallin' 80 fast that
he can't see the sign|'
NO; he'll see 1t fast enough" he
went on chaerily. His eyes air ust to
,eein in snow storms"