The day before Christmas was bitterly cold, with a few lonely snowflakes flying in the air, and a hard white crust on the ground. Sure enough Pedro and Little Brother were able to slip quietly away early in the afternoon; and although the walking was hard in the frosty air, before nightfall they had trudged so far, hand in hand, that they saw the lights of the big city just ahead of them. Indeed they were about to enter one of the great gates in the wall that surrounded it, when they saw something dark on the snow near their path, and stepped aside to look at it.
It was a poor woman, who had fallen just outside the city, too sick and tired to get in where she might have found shelter. The soft snow made of a drift a sort of pillow for her, and she would soon be so sound asleep, in the wintry air, that no one could ever waken her again. All this Pedro saw in a moment and he knelt down beside her and tried to rouse her, even tugging at her arm a little, as though he would have tried to carry her away. He turned her face toward him, so that he could rub some of the snow on it, and when he had looked at her silently a moment he stood up again, and said:
"It"s no use, Little Brother. You will have to go on alone."
"Alone?" cried Little Brother. "And you not see the Christmas festival?"
"No," said Pedro, and he could not keep back a bit of a choking sound in his throat. "See this poor woman. Her face looks like the Madonna in the chapel window, and she will freeze to death if n.o.body cares for her.
Every one has gone to the church now, but when you come back you can bring some one to help her. I will rub her to keep her from freezing, and perhaps get her to eat the bun that is left in my pocket."
"But I cannot bear to leave you, and go on alone," said Little Brother.
"Both of us need not miss the service," said Pedro, "and it had better be I than you. You can easily find your way to church; and you must see and hear everything twice, Little Brother--once for you and once for me.
I am sure the Christ-Child must know how I should love to come with you and worship Him; and oh! if you get a chance, Little Brother, to slip up to the altar without getting in any one"s way, take this little silver piece of mine, and lay it down for my offering, when no one is looking.
Do not forget where you have left me, and forgive me for not going with you."
In this way he hurried Little Brother off to the city and winked hard to keep back the tears, as he heard the crunching footsteps sounding farther and farther away in the twilight. It was pretty hard to lose the music and splendour of the Christmas celebration that he had been planning for so long, and spend the time instead in that lonely place in the snow.
The great church was a wonderful place that night. Every one said that it had never looked so bright and beautiful before. When the organ played and the thousands of people sang, the walls shook with the sound, and little Pedro, away outside the city wall, felt the earth tremble around him.
At the close of the service came the procession with the offerings to be laid on the altar. Rich men and great men marched proudly up to lay down their gifts to the Christ-Child. Some brought wonderful jewels, some baskets of gold so heavy that they could scarcely carry them down the aisle. A great writer laid down a book that he had been making for years and years. And last of all walked the king of the country, hoping with all the rest to win for himself the chime of the Christmas bells. There went a great murmur through the church as the people saw the king take from his head the royal crown, all set with precious stones, and lay it gleaming on the altar, as his offering to the Holy Child. "Surely,"
every one said, "we shall hear the bells now, for nothing like this has ever happened before."
But still only the cold old wind was heard in the tower and the people shook their heads; and some of them said, as they had before, that they never really believed the story of the chimes, and doubted if they ever rang at all.
The procession was over, and the choir began the closing hymn. Suddenly the organist stopped playing, and every one looked at the old minister, who was standing by the altar, holding up his hand for silence. Not a sound could be heard from any one in the church, but as all the people strained their ears to listen, there came softly, but distinctly, swinging through the air, the the sound of the chimes in the tower. So far away, and yet so clear the music seemed--so much sweeter were the notes than anything that had been heard before, rising and falling away up there in the sky, that the people in the church sat for a moment as still as though something held each of them by the shoulders. Then they all stood up together and stared straight at the altar, to see what great gift had awakened the long silent bells.
But all that the nearest of them saw was the childish figure of Little Brother, who had crept softly down the aisle when no one was looking, and had laid Pedro"s little piece of silver on the altar.
FOOTNOTE:
[H] Copyright, 1906. Used by special permission of the publishers, the Bobbs-Merrill Company.
XIII
THE BIRDS" CHRISTMAS[I]
F. E. MANN
_Founded on fact._
"CHICKADEE-DEE-DEE-DEE! Chickadee-dee-dee-dee! Chicka----" "Cheerup, cheerup, chee-chee! Cheerup, cheerup, chee-chee!" "Ter-ra-lee, ter-ra-lee, ter-ra-lee!"
"Rap-atap-atap-atap!" went the woodp.e.c.k.e.r; "Mrs. Chickadee may speak first."
"Friends," began Mrs. Chickadee, "why do you suppose I called you together?"
"Because it"s the day before Christmas," twittered Snow Bunting. "And you"re going to give a Christmas party," chirped the Robin. "And you want us all to come!" said Downy Woodp.e.c.k.e.r. "Hurrah! Three cheers for Mrs. Chickadee!"
"Hush!" said Mrs. Chickadee, "and I"ll tell you all about it. To-morrow is Christmas Day, but I don"t want to give a party."
"Chee, chee, chee!" cried Robin Rusty-breast; "chee, chee, chee!"
"Just listen to my little plan," said Mrs. Chickadee, "for, indeed, I want you all to help. How many remember Thistle Goldfinch--the happy little fellow who floated over the meadows through the summer and fall?"
"Cheerup, chee-chee, cheerup, chee-chee, I do," sang the Robin; "how he loved to sway on thistletops!" "Yes," said Downy Woodp.e.c.k.e.r, "and didn"t he sing? All about blue skies, and sunshine and happy days, with his "Swee-e-et-sweet-sweet-sweet-a-twitter-witter-witter-witter-wee-twea!""
"Ter-ra-lee, ter-ra-lee," said Snow Bunting. "We"ve all heard of Thistle Goldfinch, but what can he have to do with your Christmas party? He"s away down South now, and wouldn"t care if you gave a dozen parties."
"Oh, but he isn"t; he"s right in these very woods!"
"Why, you don"t mean----"
"Indeed I do mean it, every single word. Yesterday I was flitting about among the trees, pecking at a dead branch here, and a bit of moss there, and before I knew it I found myself away over at the other side of the woods! "Chickadee-dee-dee, chickadee-dee-dee!" I sang, as I turned my bill toward home. Just then I heard the saddest little voice pipe out: "Dear-ie me! Dear-ie me!" and there on the sunny side of a branch perched a lonesome bit of yellowish down. I went up to see what it was, and found dear little Thistle Goldfinch! He was very glad to see me, and soon told his short story. Through the summer Papa and Mamma Goldfinch and all the brothers and sisters had a fine time, singing together, fluttering over thistletops, or floating through the balmy air. But when "little Jack Frost walked through the trees," Papa Goldfinch said: "It is high time we went South!" All were ready but Thistle; he wanted to stay through the winter, and begged so hard that Papa Goldfinch soberly said: "Try it, my son, but _do_ find a warm place to stay in at night."
Then off they flew, and Thistle was alone. For a while he was happy. The sun shone warm through the middle of the day, and there were fields and meadows full of seeds. You all remember how sweetly he sang for us then.
But by and by the cold North Wind came whistling through the trees, and chilly Thistle woke up one gray morning to find the air full of whirling snowflakes. He didn"t mind the light snows, golden-rod and some high gra.s.ses were too tall to be easily covered, and he got seeds from them.
But now that the heavy snows have come, the poor little fellow is almost starved, and if he doesn"t have a warm place to sleep in these cold nights, he"ll surely die!"
Mrs. Chickadee paused a minute. The birds were so still one could hear the pine trees whisper. Then she went on: "I comforted the poor little fellow as best I could, and showed him where to find a few seeds: then I flew home, for it was bedtime. I tucked my head under my wing to keep it warm, and thought, and thought, and thought; and here"s my plan:
"We Chickadees have a nice warm home here in the spruce trees, with their thick, heavy boughs to shut out the snow and cold. There is plenty of room, so Thistle could sleep here all winter. We would let him perch on a branch, when we Chickadees would nestle around him until he was as warm as in the lovely summer time. These cones are so full of seeds that we could spare him a good many; and I think that you Robins might let him come over to your pines some day and share your seeds. Downy Woodp.e.c.k.e.r must keep his eyes open as he hammers the trees, and if he spies a supply of seeds he will let us know at once. Snow Bunting is only a visitor, so I don"t expect him to help, but I wanted him to hear my plan with the rest of you. Now you _will_ try, won"t you, _every one_?"
"Cheerup, cheerup, ter-ra-lee! Indeed we"ll try; let"s begin right away!
Don"t wait until to-morrow; who"ll go and find Thistle?"
"I will," chirped Robin Rusty-breast, and off he flew to the place which Mrs. Chickadee had told of, at the other side of the wood. There, sure enough, he found Thistle Goldfinch sighing: "Dear-ie me! dear-ie me! The winter is so cold and I"m here all alone!" "Cheerup, chee-chee!" piped the Robin:
"Cheerup, cheerup, I"m here!
I"m here and I mean to stay.
What if the winter is drear-- Cheerup, cheerup anyway!"
"But the snow is so deep," said Thistle, and the Robin replied:
"Soon the snows"ll be over and gone, Run and rippled away; What"s the use of looking forlorn?
Cheerup, cheerup, I say!"
Then he told Thistle all their plans, and wasn"t Thistle surprised? Why, he just couldn"t believe a word of it till they reached Mrs. Chickadee"s and she said it was all true. They fed him and warmed him, then settled themselves for a good night"s rest.
Christmas morning they were chirping gaily, and Thistle was trying to remember the happy song he sang in the summer time, when there came a whirr of wings as Snow Bunting flew down.
"Ter-ra-lee, ter-ra-lee, ter-ra-lee," said he, "can you fly a little way?"
"Oh, yes," replied Thistle. "I _think_ I could fly a _long_ way."