Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, December 17, 1909, Page 13

PART TWO VOLUME 7. NUMBER 206. THE BEMIDJI DAILY PIONEE BEMIDJI, MINNESQTA, FRIDAY EVENING; DECEMBER 17, 1909. - " SQCIETY. TEN CENTS PER WEEK. A Christmas £ &L Goose By CHARLES BARON. {Copyright, 199, by American Press Asso- clation.] HRISTMAS is just as much Christmas at the Boon island lighthouse as it is anywhere else in the world. And why not? To be sure, the nearest land is ten miles away, and when the winter storms come the waves dash quite over the two acres of rocks out of ‘which the sturdy lighthouse rises. ‘There are no blazing rows of streets iined with toyshops there, no gather- ing of families, no Christmas trees loaded down with pres- ents, nothing to be seen from the lighthouse but the changing wa- ter and unchang- ing rocks—water on three sides and on thefourth side a bluff bar- rier of rocks, with the world hiding behind it ten miles away. There are six children there, though, and a mother and fa- ther, and if they cannot make a Christmas then nobody ean. Why, Baby Deb alone is material enough of which to make a <Christmas, and a very rollicking, jolly sort of Christmas, too, but when to her you add Tom and Sue and Ann and Ike and Sam—well, the grim old dighthouse fairly overflows with Christ- mas every 25th of December. If it is a lonely, old, one eyed light- house, has it not a chimney? And do mnot children there have stockings— Bood, long stockings? Indeed, they have. And does not Christmas eve see them all temptingly hung, so in- vitingly limp and empty, under the ‘mantelshelf? And does not Christmas orning—very early, mind you—see six graduated, white robed ghosts per- forming mysterious ceremonies around #ix bulging stockings? " Ah, then, if you suppose that that <cunning old gentleman Santa Claus does not know how to find a chimney, <ven when the cold waves are pelting 4t with frozen spray drops ten miles from land, you little know what a re- markable gift he has that way. And the Christmas dinners they have there—the goose, the brown, ecrisp. Juicy, melting roast goose! What ‘would that dinner be without that goose? What, indeed! But once—they turn pale at that lighthouse now when they think of it— they came very near having no goose for dinner on Christmas day! It came about in this way. Papa—ah, 4f you could only hear Baby Deb tell about it, it would be worth the jour ney, but you cannot. of course, so never mind—Papa Stoughton, the light- house keeper. you know. had lost all his momey in a savings bank that had failed early In that December. A goose is really not a very expen- sive fowl. but If one has not the money of course one cannot buy even | cheap thing. Papa Stoughton could mot afford a goose. He sald so—said 80 before all the family. Tke says that the silence that fell wpon that family then was painful tc thear. They Jooked at one another with <eyes so wide that it's a mercy they <ould ever shut them again. “No goose!" at last cried Tom, who ~was the oldest. “No goose!” cried the others in <horus, all except Baby Deb, who was busy at the time gently admonishing Scalpin, her most troublesome child, for ‘being so dirty. Baby Deb said “Ne doose!” after all the others were quiet. ‘That made them all laugh. No doubs they thought that, after all, so long as Baby Deb was there it would be Christmas anyhow, goose or no goose. So they were happy for a moment until the thought came that roast goose was good on «Christmas even with Baby Deb, and them they looked dismayed again. However, when Papa Stoughton es- “I DEs I's NOT DOT NUFFIN.” Pplained how it was they saw it as plainly as he did, and so they made no more complaint. Only Tom fell a-thinking, and when the others saw what he was doing they did the same, the difference being that Tom was irying to think what he could do to &et the goose anyhow and they were trying to think what he was thinking about so that they could think the same—all except Baby Deb, of course, who, being only four years old, gave herself wery little concern about the thoughts of ethers. Her own theughts took all her time. Tom finally said “AhP" under his breath and mysteriously vanished into fngels Sang "Peace on Earehebood Will Coward Wen which they did almost before they had fairly said *“Ah!” Baby Deb was there, too, some- what awestruck at the mystery about her, but ready to lend the help of her wis- dom if necessary. “We must have a goose,” said Tom. “Oh!” gasped his audience, moved by mingled amazement and admiration. Tom looked at them with great firmness and dig- nity. “BEver since I was born,” he went on, “we have had a roast goose for Christ- mas.” Ever since he was born! It might have been a hundred years before, from Tom’s tone and manner, and the audience was tremendously impressed. “And,” continued the orator, “we must have one now. We will have one now!” They almost stopped breathing. i “‘0OH, PLEASE, DOOD LORD, SEND US 4 DoosE!” We will be glad to weigh your Christ- mas packages for mailing boxes. $4.50. - Plain and servicable. ---the kind that $ me them, we have it ms hat will 2. to $2. enother room after beckoning his| brothers and aisters to fellew him, | | | ‘Stationery High grade station- ery in fancy Christmas Prices 75¢ to Fountain Pens fountain pens---all very The known Williamson pen solutely guaranteed. Prices $2.25 to $6. Remembrances If you desire to give small “item to s ow your friends that you have not forgotten dars, book marks and an endless variety suitable gifts, at 15¢, 40, 50c and up POSTOFFICE CORNER “I have a plan’” They shuddered and drew nearer. “We all must com- bine!” “Oh!” in chorus. ; “Do you want goose, Sue2” “Yes, indeed!” “You, Sam?” “Yes.” “Tke?” “Do 1? Well” “Yes, sir!” “Me, too,” sald Baby Deb, with great earnestmess, for it was clear to her that it was a question. of eating. | and she did not wish to be left out. “Qf course you, t0o, you Geary dum- pling,” said Tom. “Now, then,” he continued when order was restored. “what shall we contribute? I'll give my new sailboat. That ought to bring 50 cents.” i His new sailboat! Why, he had only just made it and had not even tried it yet. Oh, evidently this was a time of sacrifice! Who could hesitate now? “I'll give my shells,” said Sue hero- lcally. “My sea mosses,” sighed Ann. . “You may take my shark’s teeth,” said Ike. “And my whale’s tooth,” said Sam. The sacrifice was general. The light- house would yield up its treasures. “All right” said Tom. “Now let's tell father.” And father was told, and for some reason he pretended to look out of tb~ window very -suddenly, but he did | hot. He wiped his eyes, and Mamma i Stouphton wiped her spectacles and ; winked very hard and said: “Bless their hearts!” For, you see, these parents were very simple hearted folk, and it seem- ed to them- very affecting that the children ,should make such- sacrifices to procure the goose for Christmas, “And what does Baby Deb contrib- ute?” asked Papa Stoughton by way of a joke. “I des I's not dot nuffin,” was Baby Deb’s reply when the matter was ex- plained to her, “’cept ‘oo tate Stulpin.” Oh, what a laugh there was then, for if ever there was a maimed and demoralized doll it was Stulpin. But Baby Deb was hugged and kissed as if she had contributed a lump of gold instead of a little bundle of rags. Papa Stoughton and Tom were to go out to the mainland the first clear day to buy the goose; but, alas, a storm came on, and they were forced to wait for it to go down. It did not go down, | It grew worse and worse. The wind shrieked and moaned and wrestled with the lonely tower, and the waves hurled themseives at it and washed over and over the island, and no boat could have lived at all in such weather. If a goose be only a goose, no matter, but if it be a Christmas dinner—ah, then! Yes, they had good reason to feel dismal "at the lighthouse. It was no wonder if five noses were fifty times a day flattened despairingly against the lighthouse windows. Yes; six noses, for even Baby Deb was finally affected. and, though she did not know the least thing about the weather, she, too, would press her little nose against the glass in a most alarming way, as if she thought that pressure was the only effective thing. It took some time for Baby Deb to realize the importance of having a goose for Christmas, but when she had grasped the idea she became an enthu- siast on the subject. She explained the matter to her dolls and was par- ticularly explicit with Stulpin, with whom, indeed, she held very elaborate and almost painful conversations. One thing became very certain. There was very little prospect of clean weather within a week, and it lacked only three days of Christmas. The others gloomily gave up hope, but not 80 did Baby Deb. The truth was she had a plan, and you know when one has a plan one has hope too. to $9. $1 to $6. Shaving Sets from $1 to $4. fancy ciated by well iS ab- mous $4.00. We have a assortment of bill books, | perfum calen- - purses---and ladies’ | $I per of | hand bags---in black, | powder make | orroco and alligator. | ounce Prices range from $1 to | domest $15. Manicure Sets from Candies A gift that is appre- We carry only the fa- Johnston Weber lines, 75¢ to Leather Goods Our line 1s complete. Christmas Suggestions Toilet Sets Toilet Sets from $I dresser gift. $10. everyone. | brands and In f very. large 50¢ to Cormontan & Hanson DRUGGISTS Mani Both travelling and suitable and servicable Prices from $I to All the well known Boxes of 25 10c cigars, $2, 5c cigars $1. of 50 10c cigars, $4, Sc cigars $2. Perfumes from 50¢ to $3. Bulk BEMIDJI, MINNNSOTA Our line of Christ- mas Seals. and Cards is very com- “plete cure Goods sets.. A very Cigars at these prices: Boxes ancy packages es, 80¢, 75¢ and ounce. Sachet in bulk and packages, both ic and imported, $1 per ounce. Mamma Stoughton had only recently been having a series of talks with Baby Deb on the important question of prayer, and it had occurred to Baby Deb that the goose was a good sub- Ject for prayer. It was & very clear case to her. . The goose Was neces- sary. Why not ask for it, then? The great diffi- culty was to find a secret place for her devotions, for the family very well filled the lighthouse, and Baby Deb under- stood that pray- " ers ought to be quietly and se- cretly made. The place was found, however. Just in front of the lighthouse was a broad ledge of rocks, generally washed by the waves, but STEP BY STEP, PAT- TER, PATTER. at low tide, even in this bad weather, out of water. The other children had been forbidden to go there because it ‘was dangerous, but no one had thought of cautioning Baby Deb. So there she went and in her imperfect way begged bard for the goose. Christmas eve came, and still there was no goose. Baby Deb was puzzled; the others were gloomy. Still Baby Deb would not give up. It would be low tide about 7 o'clock. She knew that, for she had asked. She would make her last trial. She had hope yet, but as the others knew nothing of her plans they had absolutely no hope. To them it was certain that there could be no Christmas goose at their house that year. Seven o'clock came, and Baby Deb crept softly from the room and dowu- -stairs. She opened the great door just a little bit and slipped out into the darkness—really did slip, for it was very icy on the rocks, and she sat down very hard. However, she was very chobby and did not mind it. She ‘crawled cautiously around to the big rock, thé keen wind nipping her round cheeks and pelting her with the frozen drops of spray. She knelt down. . “Oh, please, dood Lord, send us a doose! We wants a doose awful ‘Won't you, please, dood Lord?” . -.Thud fell something right alongside of her. “Oh, what's dat?’ she exclaimed, putting her hand out. “Why, itls a doose!” she cried, with a scream of de- light, as her hand came in contact with a soft, warm, feathery body. She forgot to give a “thank you” for the goose, but she was thankful, though not so very much surprised. She really had expected it. It was a heavy load for Baby Deb, but she was excited and did not no- tice it. She made her way into the lighthouse, and, step by step, patter, patter, she went upstairs and burst, all breathless, into the sitting room, ery- ing exultantly “It's tummed, it's tum- med!" as the great goose fell from her arms upon the floor. Well, if you think they were not sur- prised you know very little about the Stoughton folks. What they said no- body knows. They all talked at once, but by and by Papa Stoughton had a chance to be heard. “Where did you get it, Baby Deb?’ he asked. “Why, I p'ayed Dod for it,” answer- ed Deb in the most matter of fact way. “Paid Dod!” Stoughton. “Paid Dod!" chorused the family. “'Es.” respond- ed Baby Deb convincingly. “Dod—ze dood Lord. 1 p’ayed to him. He send- ed it to me dess now.” More gques- tions and more of Baby Deb's explanations re- vealed the whole story. Funny folks, those Stoughtons, but they spent the next ten minutes wiping their eyes and hugging and kissing and making up new pet names for Baby Deb. Papa Stoughton did say to Mamma Stoughton that night as they were go- ing to bed: “A wild goose. It was blinded by the bright light and broke its neck by flying against the glass. And, after all, who shall say the good Lord did not send it?” At all events, not a word of explana- tion was said to Baby Deb, and no one contradicted her when she said at dinner next day: “Dod's doose is dood.” “DOD’S DOOSE I8 DOOD,” " Not by levity of fleating, but by stub-, bera farce of swimming, shalt theu take thy way—Casiyle.