STEEN. (_Abashed_) I?--Nothing! (_Puts his porridge bowl and_ BERTEL"S _on the shelf then goes restlessly to the door_)
HOLGER. (_Breaking in with eagerness_) Oh, I have, see, Uncle?
(_Feels in his pocket and brings out two pennies_) See!--Last week I was gathering sticks in the forest and a fine gentleman rode past and asked the way of me. I showed him the path and he gave me these!
(_Holds up the pennies_)
BERTEL. (_Rising and going to_ HOLGER _who is in the middle of the room_) Faith, real money in the family. (_Stoops and looks at the pennies as though they were a rare sight_)
STEEN. Oh, I thought we were going to buy cakes with those, Holger.
HOLGER. But it"s better to give it to the Christ Child. You see He is a little child, smaller than even you,--and I think He would like a little gift,--a little bright gift that would buy cakes for Him. (HOLGER _goes toward the window and stands looking dreamily out at the lights of the church_)
BERTEL. Aye, to-night we must think of Him,--there in His Holy Church.
HOLGER. It _is_ a holy place, the church!--I feel it every time I go,--it"s like G.o.d"s forest,--the pillars like old oaks and the great windows all colors like sunsets through the trees.
BERTEL. _"Tis_ like the forest.
HOLGER. And when the organ plays that"s like a storm gathering in the mountains.
BERTEL. A storm?--Aye!--"The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of His feet!"--Why should He not do a wonder as of old? Perhaps the great miracle will come again!
HOLGER. Oh, which, Uncle?--There are so many in the Bible!
STEEN. Yes, which?--Would there be a whale now to swallow a priest?
BERTEL. Thou goosey! This was no Bible miracle,--it happened there, _there_, where we see the lights,--hundreds of years ago. (BERTEL _has followed_ HOLGER _to the window and_ STEEN _joins them.
As he speaks_ BERTEL _slips his arms affectionately round both children and the three stand looking out. At this moment something stirs in the dim shadows that shroud the corner up above the fire-place.
Suddenly out of the dark the_ OLD WOMAN _emerges. A tall figure, if she were not so bent, wrapped in a black cloak. There is nothing grotesque or sinister in her appearance, she might have stood for a statue of old age, impressive in its pathos. As she sits on the stool near the fire she throws back the cloak disclosing the plain straight dress of gray beneath. The light of the fire reveals her crouched, swaying back and forth praying silently, her face still shaded by the heavy hood of her cloak. The others gazing intently out at the church do not see her._ BERTEL _continues speaking_) Surely thou hast heard of the Miracle of the Chimes?
HOLGER. I"ve heard folks speak of it,--but I never knew just what happened.
STEEN. Oh, tell us, Uncle Bertel.
BERTEL. Aye, listen then!--You see the great tower there?--(_Both children nod emphatically_) It goes so high into the clouds that no one can see it"s top!--No one even knows how high it is for the men who built it have been dead for hundreds of years.
STEEN. But what has that to do with the chimes?
HOLGER. Hush, Steen, let uncle speak!
BERTEL. The chimes are up at the top of the tower--and they are holy bells,--miraculous bells, placed there by sainted hands,--and when they rang "twas said that angels" voices echoed through them.
STEEN. Why doesn"t someone ring them _now_?
BERTEL. Ah, that is not so easy!--They are said to ring on Christmas Eve when the gifts are laid on the altar for the Christ-child,--but not every offering will ring them, it must be a perfect gift. And for all these years not one thing has been laid upon the altar good enough to make the chimes ring out.
HOLGER. Oh, that"s what the priest was talking about to mother, then. He said it mustn"t be just a fine gift for show but something full of love for the Christ-child.
STEEN. Oh, I want to hear them!
BERTEL. _We shall!_--The very air is full of holy mystery! The Spirit of Christ will be there in the church to-night! (_To_ HOLGER) Thy cap, boy!
(HOLGER _stands wrapt in thought gazing out at the cathedral._)
STEEN. (_Taking the cap and cloak from the peg near the door and bringing them down and piling them into_ HOLGER"S _arms_) Here they are, old dreamer!--(_He turns back up toward the door in such a way that he does not see the silent figure in the corner_) _And hurry!_
(BERTEL _too turns toward his left hand and does not see the woman._)
HOLGER. (_In a tone of bright happiness, roused from his dreaming_) I"m coming!--Nothing can happen to stop us now, can it? (_As he says this he wheels to his right in a way that brings the chimney corner in his line of vision. He starts, bends forward staring as the others open the door, then he speaks in a tone that is little more than a gasp_) _Steen!_
(_The others stop and stare at him, then in the direction of his look._)
STEEN. Oh!--The Old Woman!
BERTEL. (_Looking to_ STEEN) When did she come in?
STEEN. I didn"t see her!
(HOLGER _crosses timidly towards her. As he approaches the_ OLD WOMAN _turns her eyes on him and holds out her hands in pitiful appeal._)
HOLGER. What dost thou want, dame?
OLD WOMAN. (_In a voice that is harsh and broken_) Refuge--from the storm of the world!
HOLGER. Surely thou shalt rest here.
OLD WOMAN. (_Half rises stiffly as_ HOLGER _draws nearer_) Oh, son, I am so weary and so heavy laden. (_She sways and_ HOLGER _runs forward, catching her in his arms and supporting her on the stool.
The others stand watching. She sits huddled forward in a position that suggests collapse_)
HOLGER. She"s faint! (_He touches her hands_) She"s so cold! Quick, Steen, build up the fire! (STEEN _goes to the fire and puts on another log, the flames blase up_. HOLGER _busies himself chafing the woman"s hands and covering her with the old cloak that has dropped back from her shoulders_) She must have lost her way in the forest.
BERTEL. (_Stands watching the woman rather suspiciously, now comes to_ HOLGER _taps him on the arm and draws him a little apart, speaking in an undertone_) We have scant time to lose with that old beggar.
HOLGER. What"ll I do with her?
BERTEL. Leave her and come on.
STEEN. And _come_--before it is to-morrow! (_He is back by the door, his hand on the latch_)
HOLGER. (_Turns and looks at the old woman and then back to_ BERTEL) Oh, I--ought we to go and leave her?
STEEN. Not go?
BERTEL. Go, of course we"ll go, she"ll warm herself and march along.
HOLGER. But she is ill. (_Turns to_ STEEN _with new decision in his manner_) Thou shalt go with Uncle but I--must stay with her.
BERTEL. Nonsense, Holger!
HOLGER. No, it isn"t!--If we should all go now, the fire would go out and the light,--and she would wake up in the cold darkness and not know where to turn for help.