Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1917-01-04

lhSS. VIC lIululS ueI,uTlcu 1ull VI
gratitude aud hoped the good Manitou
would give their benefactors plenty
meat and clothes"
That was the last the Van Schoonho-
vens ever saw or heard directly Of the
Mohicun. Several years passed, and
family's s%ojourn with the man who
had paid for it with his pelts had be-
come one Of the many half forgotten
episodes of frontier life. The next an
niversary Of Christmas came round
and brought a great change in the af-
fairs of Van Schoonhoven. He had
been i'll for two seasons and unable to
so out trapping. During the autumn,
when he had been used to getting in
his winter supply Of venison and other
wild meats, he had been confined to his
bed, and the larder was untitled. The
savages were very hostile at that time.
and the hunters were all loath to go far
from the settlement, so that there was
very little provision on hand. This
prevented the others from helping out
the Van Schoonhovens.
And so it was that when Christmas
came round there was nothing for
gifts in the Van Schoonhoven cabin
and. worse than that, nothing to eat.
The principal meat was venison, but
there We're many birds in the forests,
such as grouse, plover and wild geese
and turkeys. 1t was very hard for the
Van Schoonhovens to hear the distant
calls of these s%ucculent birds while
Christmas was approaching and yet
not dare to go into the woods to shoot
them. Yet this made no difference to
the Van Schoonhovens, for the father
was confined to his bed, and none of
the boys were old enough for hunts
men.
Christmas eve was Il sad one to the
trapper's family. For some time they
had been living from hand TO mouth,
AND there was nothing to eat i'll the
cabin but some salted meat that had
been sent up from Fort ~Orunge-Al-
bany-to relieve the distress at Sche-
nectady. Mrs. Van Schoonhoven had
picked the currant bushes during the
autumn and made currant jelly, but
what use was it with no venisnn on
hand and no maize with which to make
bread to eat with the jelly?
Christmas eve the Van Schoonho-
vens went to bed hungry and with the
prospect of remaining hungry the next
day. The mother tried to persuade her
little ones not to hang up their stock
inUS yrn11 l-nny-iDr thor th0rn WOO pnth-
ing to put in them. But. having an
abiding faith in st. Nicholas, they in
sisted on doing so, and there was a
long line Of hosiery dangling from the
chimney piece. The poor woman cried
herself to sleep thinking of her chill
dren's disappointment on the morrow.
During the night she was awakened
cabin. Thinking that some wild animal
was proving about which might pro
vide a dinner for the next day, she
thought Of getting up to have Il shot
at it. But the children were sound
asleep, and she did not wish to awaken
them. Besides. she fancicl. when she
heard a soft tread on the roof. that it
] was " llIl-Hbol - 'al. hNo SilN NtilG w
sleep without thinking any more about
it. In the morning she was awakened
by her little son. Peter. crying:
"Oh, mamma, sec what st. Nicholas
has brought u.s.
CHANGING at tho chimney piece, she
saw the stockings were rounded out.
But this was only a small part of st.
Nicholas bounty. The immense fire
place was piled With pclts. and on the
pelts rested an enormous quantity Of
game. There were v%cnison in album
dance, wild turkeys md many other
kinds of beasts and birds.
The children were most interested
III their Stockings and. taking them
down, began to pull out many trinkcts.
ornaments and apparel. such as head
and foot covering. Every child re-
ceived a pal" Of beautiful beaded moe
casins.
But the father was more interested
in the bottom pile on the hearth. The
sight gave him strength, and springing
out of bed he began to pick yer the
pelts. They proved to be the most
valuable kind.
II know who st. Nicholas is this
year." exclaimed Katrina. elappine
her hands joyfully.
"Who|" asked her mother.
The Mohican.'
81 am sure you are right" said the
mother. Last night I heard what
thought to be a cat on the roof. Now
I think Of it. it vas more like the
tread Of a moccasin."
When they went outside they saw
how easy it would be for the Indian
st. Nicholas to get on to the chimney
top even with his heavy load Of gifts
But they most admired his stealth III
letting himself down the chimney anG
filling the stockings without awaken
ing them.
Van SchOOnhoven was a well maj
from that moment. His wife supplied
several neighbors from her larder, an(
not only the Van Schoonhoven family
had a good Christmas dinner that day
1I