The San Francisco call., 1909-06-05
THE WOODEN SHOES OF THE LITTLE WOLFF

Sleah ana new. and near him on the
ground one could see tied in a cloth a
square, hatchet, a chisel and the other
tools Of an apprentice carpenter. In the
light Of the shining stars his face. with
closed eyes, had a sweet. divine express
sion. and his long. curling hair. of a
reddish blond. seemed like an aureOl6
around his forehead, but his childish
feet, made blue by the cold of that cruel
night Of December, were a pitiful sight.
The schoolboys. so well dressed and
Wei booted for the winter. passed indif-
Ierentiy near the unknown child. Some
eYen-sons OF the most noted people OF
the toWn-threw on that vagabond a
look in which could be seen the disdain
OF riches for the poor. or the fat for
the thin. But the little Wolff coming
out OF the church last. stopped. filed
with emotion in front Of the sleeping
child. Alas" said 10 himself the or
phan, 1T is pitifuI that this little one
should in such hard weather go with
out shoes: but. what is yet worse, he
has not even this evening a shoe or a
clog 10 lay in front Of him during his
sleep so that the little Noel can put in
IL something to allay his misery"
And moved by his good heart, the
little Woln took the clog off his right
foot and put it in front Of the sleeping
child. and then. sometimes hopping.
iAies 4inlplHB ana WetunS MS
SOCK IN the snow, he. as best he could,
found his way back to his aunt
Look at the good for nOthingi" ex-
claimed the old lady full of fury at
the return Of the little boy without
has shoe. What did you do with your
clog, you miserable wreteh2
The little Wolff did not know how to
lie, and although trembling with
fright at seeing bristle the gray hairs
upon the nose of the vixen, he tried
stammering1y to relate his adventure.
but the old miser interrupted him with
a frightful laugh.
All, monsieur takes off his shoes for
the mendicantsi All, monsieur un-
matches his pair of clogs for a ragged
rascal There is news for example
then, as 1t is so, am going to leave in
the chimney the clog left to you and
the little Noel will put in il tonight /
assure you, that with which to whip
you when you awake. And you Will
pass the day Of tomorrow with water
and dry bread, and we shall see if the
next time you will give your shoes to
the first vagabond you encounter
And the wicked woman, after slapping
the poor little one twice in the face,
made him go aloft, where was his gar
ret. Desperate, the child laid down in
the dark and soon went TO sleep on his
pillow wetted with tears
The next morning, when the old
woman, awakened by the frost and
her catarrh, went down in the base
ment. oh, marvel she saw the great
chimney full of shining toys. sacks of
splendid candies and riches of all
kinds, and then. in front of that treas
ure lay the right clog that her nephew
had given to the little vagrant the
night before, close 10 the Left clog
which she herself had. placed and in
which she was now rsady to plant
handful Of rods and the little Wolff.
who had come quickly at hearing the
cries of his aunt. was standing in ec-
stacies before those splendid presents
of Noel.
Then it was that loud laughs were
heard ringing from the outside, and
the woman and child, going out to
learn the meaning of them, saw all the
gossips gathered around the public
fountain. What then had happened2
Oh, a thing very ludicrous and very
extraordinary. The children of all the
wealthy people of the town, those
whose parents had planned to surprise
them by the richest presents. had found
only whips in their shoes. The orphan
and the old woman. thinking of the
riches which were in their chimney,
became filed with fright. when sud-
denly the curate arrived in great agi-
tation and told the people that over
the bench near the church door, at the
place where the day before child
dressed in a white robe and barefooted
in the great cold had rested his sleep
ing head. the priest had seen lust now
a circle of gold encrusted in the old
stones.