Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1901-12-13
even turn her face toward his in the moon.
LIGHT. They trndped on in silence

E ~ .-ETH
even turn her face toward his in the moon
light. They trudged on in silence.
The town was glad to see them. 1t gave
But its heart was not wholly in the work.
One long-gaited citizen, evidently orig.
inally from the south, explained it:
Chris mas doin's ternight at tn hall"
What? I'd forgot that it was Christmas
eve," broke in Marvin. "Let's all go over.
The passengers from the Pullman car, find
ing chat they could not continue their
journey until the following day, as well as
many Of the. others, agreed. Well bun
died up. they. took their: walk through the
chilly streets, where blew the bitter north
wind of the plain.
The hall was nothing more than the
upper room over a store. 1t was filled to
the a~isles, but the exercises had not yet
begun. The southerner, who was master of
ceremonies, tiptoed back to Marvin.
"We need two more to help in the doin's !"
he whispered. "Won't you un's Gomez"
Frank laughingly arose, and the dainty
Miss Reisen, having no other choice, fol-
lowed him.
Behind the curtain, what a sight met
their gaze! A Christmas tree it was, to
be sure. There were no evergreens nearer
than. the mountains, and to make up,for
the deficiency the plainsmen had secured
a dry cottonwood and wound its struggling
branches with green paper. The appear
ance would have been ludicrous had it not
been a little. pathetic.
"Not much like the. pines Of the beach
where we used to rest last summer" whis-
pered Frank to his companion.
"You and the .other-I presume you:
.mean," was the whitening response.
"Alice-Miss Reisen, what do you
mean" but the gaunt captain interrupted.
"You, young lady, I'd like you to be the
fairy. Our leadin' lady is sick, an you
look like her"
Entering into the spirit Of the occasion,
Miss Reisen accepted the task.
you'll have to wear some wings, and
there will be a little scene, but nothin' fer
you to do but look ~pretty--you don't need
no coachin'," he added, CALAMITY.
"Great admirer of yours" suggested
Frank, as the functionary moved away.
Alice did not reply. +
The wings were brought, and they
seemed almost large enough for the wearer
to soar with. She put on the costume and
danced a .two-step across the rude stage.
"Yeh mustn't do that, lady; this is fe1
TIL benefit Of TIL churches, an TIL folks
wouldn't like it," said the manager, with
a grin. ss
Then came up one of the women of the
town, who seemed to have a part Of the
management. She gave some instructions
as to what would happen, and Miss Reisen
! listened intently. Another listened, but
she did not know it.
The programme of the evening opened
with a number of songs and Rotations, tc
which the passengers from the train gave
the most earnest attention and hearty an
plause. Marvin seemed wonderfully al
home, Miss Reisen thought, and was call
ing men by their first names as if he knew
them. He was behind the scenes a gooe
deal; too much, she thought, also, and i
worried her, for he was the only one in al
the house that she counted on as a friend
no, was he friend? She wished she knew
if the story her chum told her were falls
Then came the time for the Christina
tree "doin's," as the manage called tn
exercises. The big curtain was dropped
and the children of the prairie farms an
ranches gave an audible "Oh!'" as the beau
tiful green-paper-wrapped cottonwood
! lighted with candles and glistening wit
tinsel, all brought from the city 400 mile
away, burst on their eyes. Many Of Their
had never seen an evergreen, and this wa
q fulfllment Of all their a~nticipations.
Before the tree stood the fairy, her wing
and robe making her almost ethereal in th
sight of the little ones. Behind was til
open mouth Of a chimney, and far off ran
the horn of Saint Nicholas as he approache
over the housetops on his sleigh. Il wa
cold enough outside for his biggest fur
and when he anne laboriously down tn
chimney and stood amid the group on th
stage he was the very picture of the SAINT
Claus Of their dreams.
Swiftly he made the rounds of the tire,
and in cultural tones told the little foil
: to help themselves. Then he did what Wa