Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1902-12-19
The Original Santa Claus

| sci to BRING ner husband, not broad
lands. but good. hard gold, or else
remain unwed.
Il said not wed my Lord Of Luz
can; I said alliance Canst thou not
understand" And his Majesty
frowned.
The Lord of Lucan knew too well.
but he knew not what to say. and
stood in deep. painful thought May
hap he breathed a prayer to Heaven.
The King broke roughly in upon his
cOgitations.
Il am accustomed to be obeyed. as
thou well knowest, my Lord of Lucan.
wherefore be advised. Within a
month. the fair Margarita. thy Pearl.
shall find dowried mate. or yield TO
such alliance as / may select Within
another month. thy Dawn Of Day. the
lovely Roxana, shall likewise mate in
lawful wedlock or submit to my alter
native. So also. in still another
month thy Claudia. the lame one, must
find her dowry. or, mark you, my
noble lord, her alliance shall be
sought below stairs among the soul
lions of my kitchen. 'Tis thus l shall
stop the clamors OF my court, and
ease my conscience by granting thee
time for reflection Go. and remem-
ber.''
The unfortunate father left the
presence of his King with the bitter
ness OF despair in his heart His
soul revolted, but his arm was power
less against the mighty monarch. He
was impotent to obey the royal COM
mand, and the alternative meant
death to him, and worse than death
to his innocent flock But home he
went, and clasping his beloved daugh-
tiers to his breast, ne impaired the
orders of their King
Father. we can die" said the cour-
ageous Margarita-
But the Dawn of Day loved life. and
said: NO, let us wait and see. per
haps we can melt the heart of the
King and turn him from his fell pur-
pose"
But Claudia, the lame girl, clasping
her hands and looking up to Heaven.
said: Let US kneel and ask guidance
from the Lord on High. On him
alone can we rely for help and wis
dom"
for succor. In their prayer they be-
moaned their fate and besought the
aid of Heaven TO save them from it
in some way. though an angel from
Heaven should be sent to ward OF
this awful degradation
1t so happened that Nicholas. the
beloved priest, the one whose name
may be found in every church calen-
dar as the Bishop, the Saint Of Lycia
it so happened, l say, that Nicholas
was passing by, and he heard their
applications and prayerful lamenta-
tons, so he resolved to be the in
strument OF their salvation
a few nights afterward. the father
vas aroused by heavy object falling
upon the floor Of his chamber, cast
through an open window He arose
and found a packet upon which was
Inscribed: For Margarita, the
Pearl; to him whom her heart shall
select in lawful wedlock-" Opening
it he found, in gold. the dowry re-
CURED by the law and custom
Truly they were happy None but
an angel could have done this thing,
and deep in the hearts Of Roxana and
Claudia there was trustful faith
that they, also, would be saved in like
manner. And so 1t happened, for
after Margarita was lawfully and
happily espoused. and the second
month had almost halved. the father
was again awakened at night by the
falling of some heavy object upon his
chamber floor. This time the packet
bore the words: Let the lovely Rox-
ana find in her lawful spouse a new
Dawn of Day" II was mysterious TO
tie Lord of Lucan. though he suspect
ed human Intervention; perhaps the
ning had relented; but to the daugh-
tiers it was an angelic interposition-
Then began the third month, the