"You may believe me or not, sir, there was every mortal business under the sun, _but deil a bit of a lawyer_."
The baron could not long remain inactive. He was rapidly seized with a violent desire to do something to help, which manifested itself in insane attempts to a.s.sist everybody at once. At last, after having taken all the skin off his knuckles in attempting to hammer in nails in aid of the carpenter, and then nearly tumbling over a fairy housemaid, whose broom he was offering to carry, he gave it up as a bad job, and stood aside with his friend the goblin.
He was just about to inquire how it was that the poor occupants of the house were not awakened by so much din, when a fairy Sam Slick, who had been examining the cottager"s old clock with a view to a thorough repair, touched some spring within it, and it made the usual purr preparatory to striking. When, lo! and behold, at the very first stroke, cottage, goblin, fairies, and all disappeared into utter darkness, and the baron found himself in his turret-chamber, rubbing his toe, which he had just hit with considerable force against the fender. As he was only in his slippers, the concussion was unpleasant, and the baron rubbed his toe for a good while.
After he had finished with his toe he rubbed his nose, and, finally, with a countenance of deep reflection, scratched the b.u.mp of something or other at the top of his head.
The old clock on the stairs was striking three, and the fire had gone out.
The baron reflected for a short time longer, and finally decided that he had better go to bed, which he did accordingly.
III.
The morning dawned upon the very ideal, as far as weather was concerned, of a Christmas-day. A bright winter sun shone out just vividly enough to make everything look genial and pleasant, and yet not with sufficient warmth to mar the pure, unbroken surface of the crisp, white snow, which lay like a never-ending white lawn upon the ground, and glittered in myriad silver flakes upon the leaves of the st.u.r.dy evergreens.
I am afraid the baron had not had a very good night; at any rate, I know that he was wide-awake at an hour long before his usual time of rising.
He lay first on one side, and then on the other, and then, by way of variety, turned on his back, with his magenta nose pointing perpendicularly towards the ceiling; but it was all of no use. Do what he would, he couldn"t get to sleep, and at last, not long after daybreak, he tumbled out of bed and proceeded to dress.
Even after he was out of bed his fidgetiness continued. It did not strike him, until after he had got one boot on, that it would be a more natural proceeding to put his stockings on first; after which he caught himself in the act of trying to put his trousers on over his head.
In a word, the baron"s mind was evidently preoccupied; his whole air was that of a man who felt a strong impulse to do something or other, but could not quite make up his mind to it.
At last, however, the good impulse conquered, and this wicked old baron, in the stillness of the calm, bright Christmas morning, went down upon his knees and prayed.
Stiff were his knees and slow his tongue, for neither had done such work for many a long day past; but I have read in the Book of the joy of angels over a repenting sinner.
There needs not much eloquence to pray the publican"s prayer, and who shall say but there was gladness in heaven that Christmas morning?
The baron"s appearance down-stairs at such an early hour occasioned quite a commotion. Nor were the domestics rea.s.sured when the baron ordered a bullock to be killed and jointed instantly, and all the available provisions in the larder, including sausage, to be packed up in baskets, with a good store of his own peculiar wine.
One ancient retainer was heard to declare, with much pathos, that he feared master had gone insane.
However, insane or not, they knew the baron must be obeyed, and in an exceedingly short s.p.a.ce of time he sallied forth, accompanied by three servants carrying the baskets, and wondering what in the name of fortune their master would do next.
He stopped at the cottage of Wilhelm, which he had visited with the goblin on the previous night. The labors of the fairies did not seem to have produced much lasting benefit, for the appearance of everything around was as wretched as could be.
The poor family thought that the baron had come himself to turn them out of house and home; and the children huddled up timidly to their mother for protection, while the father attempted some words of entreaty for mercy.
The pale, pinched features of the group, and their looks of dread and wretchedness, were too much for the baron.
"Eh! what! what do you mean, confound you? Turn you out? Of course not: I"ve brought you some breakfast. Here! Fritz--Carl; where are the knaves? Now, then, unpack, and don"t be a week about it. Can"t you see the people are hungry, ye villains? Here, lend me the corkscrew."
This last being a tool the baron was tolerably accustomed to, he had better success than with those of the fairy carpenters; and it was not long before the poor tenants were seated before a roaring fire, and doing justice, with the appet.i.te of starvation, to a substantial breakfast.
The baron felt a queer sensation in his throat at the sight of the poor people"s enjoyment, and had pa.s.sed the back of his hand twice across his eyes when he thought no one was looking; but his emotion fairly rose to boiling when the poor father, Wilhelm, with tears in his eyes, and about a quarter of a pound of beef in his mouth, sprang up from the table and flung himself at the baron"s knees, invoking blessings on him for his goodness.
"Get up, you audacious scoundrel!" roared the baron. "What the deuce do you mean by such conduct, eh? confound you!"
At this moment the door opened, and in walked Mynheer Klootz, who had heard nothing of the baron"s change of intentions, and who, seeing Wilhelm at the baron"s feet, and hearing the latter speaking, as he thought, in an angry tone, at once jumped to the conclusion that Wilhelm was entreating for longer indulgence. He rushed at the unfortunate man and collared him. "Not if _we_ know it," exclaimed he; "you"ll have the wolves for bedfellows to-night, I reckon. Come along, my fine fellow."
As he spoke he turned his back towards the baron, with the intention of dragging his victim to the door.
The baron"s little gray eyes twinkled, and his whole frame quivered with suppressed emotion, which, after the lapse of a moment, vented itself in a kick, and such a kick! Not one of your _Varsovianna_ flourishes, but a kick that employed every muscle from hip to toe, and drove the worthy steward up against the door like a ball from a catapult.
Misfortunes never come singly, and so Mynheer Klootz found with regard to the kick, for it was followed, without loss of time, by several dozen others, as like it as possible, from the baron"s heavy boots.
Wounded lions proverbially come badly off, and Fritz and Carl, who had suffered from many an act of petty tyranny on the part of the steward, thought they could not do better than follow their master"s example, which they did to such good purpose, that when the unfortunate Klootz did escape from the cottage at last, I don"t believe he could have had any _os sacrum_ left.
After having executed this little act of poetical justice, the baron and his servants visited the other cottages, in all of which they were received with dread and dismissed with blessings.
Having completed his tour of charity, the baron returned home to breakfast, feeling more really contented than he had done for many a long year. He found Bertha, who had not risen when he started, in a considerable state of anxiety as to what he could possibly have been doing. In answer to her inquiries, he told her, with a roughness he was far from feeling, to "mind her own affairs."
The gentle eyes filled with tears at the harshness of the reply; perceiving which, the baron was beyond measure distressed, and chucked her under the chin in what was meant to be a very conciliatory manner.
"Eh! what, my pretty, tears? No, surely. Bertha must forgive her old father. I didn"t mean it, you know, my pet; and yet, on second thoughts, yes, I did, too." Bertha"s face was overcast again. "My little girl thinks she has no business anywhere, eh! Is that it? Well, then, my pet, suppose you make it your business to write a note to young Carl von Sempach, and say I"m afraid I was rather rude to him yesterday, but if he"ll overlook it, and come take a snug family dinner and a slice of the pudding with us to-day----"
"Why, pa, you don"t mean--yes, I do really believe you do----"
The baron"s eyes were winking nineteen to the dozen.
"Why, you dear, dear, dear old pa!" and at the imminent risk of upsetting the breakfast table, Bertha rushed at the baron, and flinging two soft white arms about his neck, kissed him--oh! how she _did_ kiss him! I shouldn"t have thought, myself, she could possibly have had any left for Carl; but I dare say Bertha attended to his interests in that respect somehow.
IV.
Well, Carl came to dinner, and the baron was, not very many years after, promoted to the dignity of a grandpapa, and a very jolly old grandpapa he made.
Is that all you wanted to know? About Klootz? Well, Klootz got over the kicking, but he was dismissed from the baron"s service; and on examination of his accounts it was discovered that he had been in the habit of robbing the baron of nearly a third of his yearly income, which he had to refund; and with the money he was thus compelled to disgorge, the baron built new cottages for his tenants, and new-stocked their farms. Nor was he poorer in the end, for his tenants worked with the energy of grat.i.tude, and he was soon many times richer than when the goblin visited him on that Christmas eve.
And was the goblin ever explained? Certainly not. How dare you have the impertinence to suppose such a thing?
An empty bottle, covered with cobwebs, was found the next morning in the turret-chamber, which the baron at first imagined must be the bottle from which the goblin produced his magic wine; but as it was found, on examination, to be labelled "Old Jamaica Rum," of course that could not have had anything to do with it. However it was, the baron never thoroughly enjoyed any other wine after it, and as he did not thenceforth get intoxicated, on an average, more than two nights a week, or swear more than eight oaths a day, I think King Christmas may be considered to have thoroughly reformed him.
And he always maintained, to the day of his death, that he was changed into a fairy, and became exceedingly angry if contradicted.
Who doesn"t believe in fairies after this? I only hope King Christmas may make a few more good fairies this year, to brighten the homes of the poor with the light of Christmas charity.
Truly, we need not look far for alms-men. Cold and hunger, disease and death, are around us at all times; but at no time do they press more heavily on the poor than at this jovial Christmas season.
Shall we shut out, in our mirth and jollity, the cry of the hungry poor?
or shall we not rather remember, in the midst of our happy family circles, round our well-filled tables and before our blazing fires, that our brothers are starving out in the cold, and that the Christmas song of the angels was "Good-will to men"?
_The Spaniard"s Episode._