The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1913-12-26

the enterprise n SIOry 1EOM ~4u'
country, which I'll call Finland, be
cause it happens to be the right nam'
and because my story is going to b
true.
It was on the Christmas eve whel
the event which am about to relate
happened. l was then of the age o:
seven and my brother two years m!
senior. That fall the frost came il
the early part of September and de
stroyed everything except the pota
toes. But it seemed that the angel o.
destruction was not satisfied, because
the potatoes which had withstood thu
frost, were stricken with some un
known disease, and most all of then
rotted in the ground before they were
harvested. Even the fish, which usee
to seek our shores, both on the Baltic
and on the Bay of Bothnia, in great
numbers, for some reason did not ap'
pear, and the harvest Of fish was less
than one fourth of the usual annual
haul.
On that never-to-be-forgotter
Christmas eve, all we had to eat in
the house between mother and us two
boys, were about peck of potatoes
half decayed, little salt, and bread
Of Mountain ash berries, pea straw
and Iceland moss, white moss grow
ing in the mountains.
Mother had bore up bravely till
then, but on the advent of the holy
Christmas time she broke down.
we'll remember how she fell on her
knees and in despair cried to God.
! My brother and I were painfully
reminded of the fact that we were
hungry, also we knew that there was
next to nothing to eat, but we realiz-
ed only the immediate danger, while
mother looked with fear towards the
long winter to be endured.
20, God!" she cried, IF we only
had soupbone or fish ! would be
satisfied and thank thee for thy boun-
ties." l remember that it struck me
as rather peculiar to mix fish and
soupbones with the prayer to the AL
mighty, that awful spirit in the sky
which l had been taught to fear, and
I didn't know whether would get
down on my knees and support my
mother in her cry or to beg the spirit
TO forgive her for the sacrilage.
I did neither, because then my
brother, more to cheer her than with
hny faith in what he said, cried:
We'll get the fish, mother"
GLOW will you get it, John," she
asked. "You have been to the lake
every day and you haven't been able
to get one yet"
II know it," answered he, but
there are fish in the lake, and per-
maps they'll be getting hungry too;
if they are half as hungry as we are
think they'll bite, but where in the
world will we get the bait?"
"Let US go to Aunt JULIA" l sug-
gested. "Perhaps she will give US a
couple of sailed smelts which we can
use for bait"
"And do you think the fish would
bite on sailed smelts ?" queried mo-
Their.
IF they are as hungry as we are
they will" l answered confidently"
but will Aunt Julia give US the
smelts ?"
81 think she will,' said mother.
.'She is tenderhearted woman, and
though they are almost as poor as
ourselves she'll give you few to try
your luck with. Go and try it, lads,
and may God bless your efforts!"
Accordingly, we went to Aunt
Julia with our plea, and we laid our
case before her so strongly that
though she had only few left, she
could not refuse US.
"But, you silly boys" she said,
"the fish will not bite on such poor
bait as dried up sailed smelt."
20 yes, they WILL" we both cried,
and somehow, we had got it into our
heads that we'd get fish before the
evening.
II hope they WILL" said she with
tears in her eyes, for she knew our
condition, 'but be careful and don't
lose the smelts, because if you don't
catch a fish with them you can at
least have them for your Christmas
supper"
| To the lake we started with glad
dened hearts. 1t was hard work to
cut a hole in the thick ice with our
primitive tools, but, as in all cases,
where there is a will there is a way,
and after a couple hours of hard
work, we struck through and the wa
ter came flowing up.
As we stood there shivering in the
cold, looking at the hole we had cut,
our mouths watered in anticipation of
the feast we were to enjoy, for by
this time there was not a shadow of
doubt in our minds about our success.
We knew we were going to catch a
fish, and our thoughts were occupied
only with the size of it.
| ronnnrnhor a cprfain CHANCE If