[Illustration: "The Doctor's old-fashioned house loomed gray-whitethrough the snow-fringed branches of the trees. "]

When the Yule Log BurnsA Christmas Story

By Leona DalrympleAuthor of "Uncle Noah's Christmas Party, " etc. 

New York Robert M. McBride & Company 1916

Copyright, 1916, by Robert M. McBride & Co. 

Published November, 1916

CONTENTS

PART I

IN WHICH WE LIGHT A YULE-LOG

CHAPTER

 I Kindlings

 II Wishing Sparks

III By the Fire

 IV Embers

PART II

IN WHICH WE LIGHT THE NEW LOG WITH THE EMBERS OF THE OLD

 I The Fire Again

 II It Blazes Higher

III The Log at Dawn

 IV The Log at Twilight

Part One

In Which We Light a Yule Log

When the Yule Log Burns

I

Kindlings

Polly, the Doctor's old white mare, plodded slowly along the snowycountry road by the picket fence, and turned in at the snow-cappedposts. Ahead, roofed with the ragged ermine of a newly-fallen snow, theDoctor's old-fashioned house loomed gray-white through the snow-fringedbranches of the trees, a quaint iron lantern, which was picturesque byday and luminous and cheerful by night, hanging within the square, white-pillared portico at the side. That the many-paned, old-fashionedwindow on the right framed the snow-white head of Aunt Ellen Leslie, theDoctor's wife, the old Doctor himself was comfortably aware--for hiskindly eyes missed nothing. 

He could have told you with a reflective stroke of his grizzled beardthat the snow had stopped but an hour since, and that now through thewhite and heavy lacery of branches to the west glowed the flame-gold ofa winter sunset, glinting ruddily over the box-bordered brick walk, theorchard and the comfortable barn which snugly housed his huddled cattle;that the grasslands to the south were thickly blanketed in white; thatbeyond in the evergreen forest the stately pines and cedars weremarvelously draped and coiffed in snow. For the old Doctor loved thesethings of Nature as he loved the peace and quiet of his home. 

So, as he turned in at the driveway and briskly resigned the care ofPolly to old Asher, his seamed and wrinkled helper, the Doctor's eyeswere roving now to a corner, snug beneath a tattered rug of snow, whereby summer Aunt Ellen's petunias and phlox and larkspur grew--and now tothe rose-bushes ridged in down, and at last to his favorite winter nook, a thicket of black alders freighted with a wealth of berries. Howcrimson they were amid the white quiet of the garden! And the brightlycolored fruit of the barberry flamed forth from a snowy bush like thecheerful elf-lamps of a wood-gnome. 

There was equal cheer and color in the old-fashioned sitting-room towhich the Doctor presently made his way, for a wood fire roared with awinter gleam and crackle in the fireplace and Aunt Ellen Leslie rockedslowly back and forth by the window with a letter in her hand. 

"Another letter!" exclaimed the Doctor, warming his hands before theblazing log. "God bless my soul, Ellen, we're becoming a nuisance toUncle Sam!" But for all the brisk cheeriness of his voice he wasfurtively aware that Aunt Ellen's brown eyes were a little tearful, andpresently crossing the room to her side, he gently drew the crumpledletter from her hand and read it. 

"So John's not coming home for Christmas either, eh?" he said at last. "Well, now, that _is_ too bad! Now, now, _now_, mother, " as Aunt Ellensurreptitiously wiped her glasses, "we should feel proud to have suchbusy children. There's Ellen and Margaret and Anne with a horde ofyoungsters to make a Christmas for, and John--bless your heart, Ellen, _there's_ a busy man! A broker now is one of the very busiest of men!And what with John's kiddies and his beautiful society wife and thatgrand Christmas eve ball he mentions--why--" the Doctor cleared histhroat, --"why, dear me, it's not to be wondered at, say I! And Philipand Howard--busy as--as--as architects and lawyers usually are atChristmas, " he finished lamely. "As for Ralph--" the Doctor lookedaway--"well, Ralph hasn't spent a Christmas home since college days. "

"It will be the first Christmas we ever spent without some of themhome, " ventured Aunt Ellen, biting her lip courageously, whereupon theold Doctor patted her shoulder gently with a cheery word of advice. 

Now, there was something in the touch of the old Doctor's broad andgentle hand that always soothed, wherefore Aunt Ellen presently wipedher troublesome glasses again and bravely tried to smile, and the Doctormaking a vast and altogether cheerful to-do about turning the blazinglog, began a brisk description of his day. It had ended, professionally, at a lonely little house in the heart of the forest, which JarvisHildreth, dying but a scant year since, had bequeathed to his orphanedchildren, Madge and Roger. 

"And, Ellen, " finished the Doctor, soberly, "there he sits by thewindow, day by day, poor lame little lad!--staring away so wistfully atthe forest, and Madge, bless her brave young heart!--she bastes andstitches and sews away, all the while weaving him wonderful yarns aboutthe pines and cedars to amuse him--all out of her pretty head, mind you!A lame brother and a passion for books--" said the Doctor, shaking hishead, "a poor inheritance for the lass. They worry me a lot, Ellen, forMadge looks thin and tired, and to-day--" the Doctor cleared his throat, "I think she had been crying. "

"Crying!" exclaimed Aunt Ellen, her kindly brown eyes warm withsympathy. "Dear, dear!--And Christmas only three days off! Why, John, dear, we must have them over here for Christmas. To be sure! And we'llhave a tree for little Roger and a Christmas masquerade and such awonderful Christmas altogether as he's never known before!" And AuntEllen, with the all-embracing motherhood of her gentle heart aroused, fell to planning a Christmas for Madge and Roger Hildreth that wouldhave gladdened the heart of the Christmas saint himself. 

Face aglow, the old Doctor bent and patted his wife's wrinkled hand. 

"Why, Ellen, " he confessed, warmly, "it's the thing I most desired! Dearme, it's a very strange thing indeed, my dear, how often we seem toagree. I'll hitch old Billy to the sleigh and go straight after them nowwhile Annie's getting supper!" And at that instant one glance at AuntEllen Leslie's fine old face, framed in the winter firelight which grewbrighter as the checkerboard window beside her slowly purpled, wouldhave revealed to the veriest tyro why the Doctor's patients liked bestto call her "Aunt" Ellen. 

So, with a violent jingle of sleigh-bells, the Doctor presently shotforth again into the white and quiet world, and as he went, glidingswiftly past the ghostly spruces by the roadside, oddly enough, despitehis cheerful justification to Aunt Ellen, he was fiercely rebelling atthe defection of his children. John and his lovely wife might well haveforegone their fashionable ball. And Howard and Philip--theirholiday-keeping Metropolitan clubs were shallow artificialities surelycompared with a home-keeping reunion about the Yule log. As for thechildren of Anne and Ellen and Margaret--well, the Doctor could justtell those daughters of his that their precious youngsters liked acountry Christmas best--he _knew_ they did!--not the complex, steam-heated hot-house off-shoot of that rugged flower of simpler timeswhen homes were further apart, but a country Christmas of keen, crispcold and merry sleigh-bells, of rosy cheeks and snow-balls, of skatingon the Deacon's pond and a jubilant hour after around the blazingwood-fire: a Christmas, in short, such as the old Doctor himself knewand loved, of simplicity and sympathy and home-keeping heartiness!

And then--there was Ralph--but here the Doctor's face grew very stern. Wild tales came to him at times of this youngest and most gifted of hischildren--tales of intemperate living interlarded with occasional talesof brilliant surgical achievement on the staff of St. Michael's. For theold Doctor had guided the steps of his youngest son to the paths ofmedicine with a great hope, long abandoned. 

Ah--well! The Doctor sighed, abruptly turning his thoughts to Madge andRoger. They at least should know the heart-glow of a real Christmas! Amasquerade party of his neighbors Christmas eve, perhaps, such as AuntEllen had suggested, and a Yule-log--but now it was, in the midst of hisChristmas plans, that a daring notion flashed temptingly through theDoctor's head, was banished with a shrug and flashed again, whereuponwith his splendid capacity for prompt decision, the Doctor suddenlywheeled old Billy about and went sleighing in considerable excitementinto the village whence a host of night-telegrams went singing over thebusy wires to startle eventually a slumbering conscience or so. Andpresently when the Doctor drew up with a flourish before the lonelylittle house among the forest pines, his earlier depression hadvanished. 

So with a prodigious stamping of snow from his feet and a cheerful waveof his mittened hand to the boy by the window, the Doctor bustledcheerily indoors and with kindly eyes averted from the single tell-talesauce-pan upon the fire, over which Madge Hildreth had bent with suddencolor, fell to bustling about with a queer lump in his throat andtalking ambiguously of Aunt Ellen's Christmas orders, painfullyconscious that the girl's dark face had grown pitifully white and tenseand that Roger's wan little face was glowing. And when the fire wasdamped by the Doctor himself, and his Christmas guests hustled intodazed, protesting readiness, the Doctor deftly muffled the thin littlefellow in blankets and gently carried him out to the waiting sleigh witharms that were splendid and sturdy and wonderfully reassuring. 

"There, there, little man!" he said cheerfully, "we've not hurt the poorlame leg once, I reckon. And now we'll just help Sister Madge blow outthe lamp and lock the door and be off to Aunt Ellen!"

But, strangely enough, the Doctor halted abruptly in the doorway andturned his kindly eyes away to the shadowy pines. And Sister Madge, onher knees by Roger's bed, sobbing and praying in an agony of relief, presently blew out the lamp herself and wiped her eyes. For nights amongthe whispering pines are sleepless and long when work is scarce andChristmas hovers with cold, forbidding eyes over the restless couch of adear and crippled brother. 

II

Wishing Sparks

Round the Doctor's house frolicked the brisk, cold wind of a Christmaseve, boisterously rattling the luminous checkerboard windows and theChristmas wreaths, tormenting the cheerful flame in the old iron lanternand whisking away the snow from the shivering elms, whistling eerilydown the Doctor's chimney to startle a strange little cripple by theDoctor's fire, who, queerly enough, would not be startled. 

For to Roger there had never been a wind so Christmasy, or a fire sobright and warm, and his solemn black eyes glowed! Never a wealth ofholly and barberry and alder-berries so crimson as that which rimmed thesnug old house in Christmas flame! Never such evergreen wreaths, for, tucked up here in this very chair by Aunt Ellen, he had made them allhimself of boughs from the evergreen forest! And never surely suchenticing odors as had floated out for the last two days from old Annie'spots and pans as she baked and roasted and boiled and stewed in endlesspreparation for Christmas day and the Christmas eve party, scolding awaybetimes in indignant whispers at old Asher, who, by reason of achuckling air of mystery, was in perpetual disgrace. 

Wonderful days indeed for Roger, with Sister Madge's smooth, pale cheekscatching the flaring scarlet of the holly, and Sister Madge's slim andwilling fingers so busy hanging boughs that she had forgotten to sigh;with motherly Aunt Ellen so warmly intent upon Roger's comfort and plansfor the masquerade that many a mysterious and significant occurrenceslipped safely by her kindly eyes; and with the excited Doctor's busysleigh jingling so hysterically about on secret errands and his kindlyface so full of boyish mystery that Roger, with the key to all thisChristmas intrigue locked safely in his heart, had whispered a shylittle warning in the culprit's attentive ear. 

And presently--Roger caught his breath and furtively eyed thegrandfather's clock, ticking boastfully through a welter ofholly--presently it would be time for the Doctor's masquerade, andlater, when the clock struck twelve and the guests unmasked, that greatsurprise which the doctor had planned so carefully by telegram!

But now from the kitchen came the sound of the Doctor singing:

 "Come bring with a noise, My merry, merry boys, The Christmas log to the firing!"

Roger clapped his thin little hands with a cry of delight, for old Asherand the Doctor were bringing in the Yule-log to light it presently withthe charred remains of the Christmas log of a year ago. To-morrowanother Yule-log would crackle and blaze and shower on the hearth, forthe old Doctor molded a custom to suit his fancy. And here was Anniesplendidly aproned in white, following them in, and Aunt Ellen in awonderful old brown-gold brocade disinterred for the doctor's party froma lavender-sweet cedar chest in the garret. And _Sister Madge_!--Rogerstared--radiant in old-fashioned crimson satin and holly, colorful foilsindeed for her night-black hair and eyes! As for the doctor himself, Roger now began to realize that with his powdered wig, his satinbreeches and gaily-flowered waistcoat--to say nothing of silken hose andsilver buckles--he was by far the most gorgeous figure of them all!

"I, " said the doctor presently, striking the burning Yule-log until thegolden sparks flew out, "I charge thee, log, to burn out old wrongs andheart-burnings!" and then, in accordance with a cherished custom of hisfather's he followed the words with a wish for the good of hishousehold. 

"And I, " said old Asher as he struck the log, "I wish for the good ofthe horses and cows and all the other live things and, " with a terrificchuckle of mystery, "I wish for things aplenty _this_ night. "

"And I, " said old Annie, with a terrible look at her imprudent spouse asshe took the poker, "I wish for the harvest--and wit for them that lackit!"

But Roger had the poker now, his black eyes starry. 

"I--I wish for more kind hearts like Aunt Ellen's and the Doctor's, " heburst forth with a strangled sob as the sparks showered gold, "formore--more sisters like Sister Madge--" his voice quivered andbroke--"and for--for all boys who cannot walk and run--" but SisterMadge's arm was already around his shoulders and the old Doctor waspatting his arm--wherefore he smiled bravely up at them throughglistening tears. 

"Now, now, now, little lad!" reminded the Doctor, "it's Christmas eve!"Whereupon he drew a chair to the fire and began a wonderful Christmastale about St. Boniface and Thunder Oak and the first Christmas tree. Awonderful old Doctor this--reflected Roger wonderingly. He knew so manydifferent things--how to scare away tears and all about mistletoe andDruids, and still another story about a fir tree which Roger opinedrespectfully was nothing like so good as Sister Madge's story of theCedar King who stood outside his window. 

"Very likely not!" admitted the Doctor gravely. 

"I've nothing like the respect for Mr. Hans Andersen myself that I havefor Sister Madge. "

"I thought, " ventured Roger shyly, slipping his hand suddenly into theDoctor's, "that Doctors only knew how to cure folks!"

"Bless your heart, laddie, " exclaimed the Doctor, considerablystaggered; "they know too little of that, I fear. My conscience!" as thegrandfather's clock came into the conversation with a throaty boom, "it's half-past seven!" and from then on Roger noticed the Doctor wasuneasy, presently opining, with a prodigious "Hum!" that Aunt Ellenlooked mighty pale and tired and that he for one calculated a littlesleigh ride would brace her up for the party. This Aunt Ellenimmediately flouted and the Doctor was eventually forced to pathetic andfrequent reference to his own great need of air. 

"Very well, my dear, " said Aunt Ellen mildly, striving politely toconceal her opinion of his mental health, "I'll go, since you feel sostrongly about it, but a sleigh ride in such a wind and such clotheswhen one is expecting party guests--" but the relieved Doctor wasalready bundling the brown-gold brocade into a fur-lined coat andfurtively winking at Roger! Thus it was that even as the Doctor's sleighflew merrily by the Deacon's pond, far across the snowy fields to thenorth gleamed the lights of the 7:52 rushing noisily into the village. 

III

By the Fire

How it was that the old Doctor somehow lost his way on roads he hadtraveled since boyhood was a matter of exceeding mystery and annoyanceto Aunt Ellen, but lose it he did. By the time he found it and joggedfrantically back home, the old house was already aswarm with masked, mysterious guests and old Asher with a lantern was peering excitedly upthe road. Holly-trimmed sleighs full of merry neighbors in disguise weredashing gaily up--and in the midst of all the excitement the Doctormiraculously discovered his own mask and Aunt Ellen's in the pocket ofhis great-coat. So hospitable Aunt Ellen, considerably perturbed that somany of her guests had arrived in her absence--an absence carefullyplanned by the Doctor--betook herself to the masquerade, and theChristmas party began with bandits and minstrels and jesters and allsorts of queer folk flitting gaily about the house. They paid gallantcourt to Roger in his great chair by the fire and presently began topresent for his approval an impromptu Mummer's play. 

And now the lights were all out and a masked and courtly old gentlemanin satin breeches was standing in the bright firelight pouring brandyinto a giant bowl of raisins; and now he was gallantly bowing to Rogerhimself who was plainly expected to assist with a lighted match. He didthis with trembling fingers and eyes so big and black and eloquent thatthe Doctor cleared his throat; and as the leaping flames from thesnapdragon bowl flashed weirdly over the bizarre company in the shadows. Roger, eagerly watching them snatch the raisins from the fire, fell totrembling in an ecstasy of delight. Presently a slender arm in a crimsonsleeve, whose wearer was never very far from Roger's chair, slippedquietly about his shoulders and held him very tight. So, an endlessround of merry Christmas games until, deep and mellow came at last themajestic boom of the grandfather's clock striking twelve and with it ahearty babel of Christmas greetings as the Doctor, smiling significantlydown into Roger's excited eyes, gave the signal to unmask. 

By the fire a mysterious little knot of guests had been silentlygathering, and now as Aunt Ellen Leslie removed her mask, hand and maskhalted in mid-air as if fixed by the stare of Medusa, and the face abovethe brown-gold brocade flamed crimson. For here in Puritan garb was JohnLeslie, Jr. , and his radiant wife--and Philip and Howard, smilingQuakers, and Anne and Margaret and Ellen with a trio of husbands, andbeyond a laughing jester in cap and bells, whose dark, handsome face wasa little too reckless and tired about the eyes, Roger thought, for areally happy Christmas guest--young Doctor Ralph. 

As Aunt Ellen's startled eyes swept slowly from the smiling faces of herchildren to the proud and chuckling Doctor who had spent Heaven knowshow many dollars in telegraphed commands--she laughed a little and crieda little and then mingled the two so queerly that she needs must wipeher eyes and catch at Roger's chair for support, whereupon a kindlylittle hand slipped suddenly into hers and Roger looked up and smiledserenely. 

"Don't cry, Aunt Ellen!" he begged shyly. "I knew all about it too andthe Doctor--_he_ did it all!"

"And merry fits he gave us all by telegram, too, mother!" exclaimedPhilip with a grin. 

"Moreover, " broke in John, patting his mother's shoulder, "there areeleven kids packed away upstairs like sardines--we hid 'em away whiledad and you were lost, and--" but here with a deafening racket thestairs door burst wide open and with a swoop and a scream elevenpajama-ed young bandits with starry eyes bore down upon Aunt Ellen andthe Doctor. 

"Great Scott!" exclaimed John, thoroughly scandalized, "you disgracefulkids! Which one of you stirred this up?" But the guilty face at the tailof the romping procession was the face of old Asher. 

Radiantly triumphant the old Doctor swung little John Leslie 3rd to hisshoulder and faced his laughing family and as old Annie appeared with asteaming tray--he seized a mug of cider and held it high aloft. 

"To the ruddy warmth of the Christmas log and the Christmas homespirit--" he cried--"to the home-keeping hearts of the country-side!Gentlemen--I give you--A Country home and a Country Christmas! May moregood folk come to know them!" And little John Leslie cried hoarsely--

"Hooray, grandpop, hooray for a Country Christmas!"

Carelessly alive to the merry spirit of the night, the jester presentlyadjusted a flute which hung from his shoulder by a scarlet cord andlazily piping a Christmas air, wandered to another room--to comesuddenly upon a forgotten playmate of his boyhood days. 

"It--it can't be!" he reflected in startled interest. "It surely can'tbe Madge Hildreth!"

But Madge Hildreth it surely was, spreading the satin folds of hisgrandmother's crimson gown in mocking courtesy. Moreover it was not theawkward, ragged elfish little gipsy who had tormented his debonairboyhood with her shy ardent worship of himself and his daring exploits, but instead a winsome vision of Christmas color and Christmas cheer, holly-red of cheek, with flashes of scarlet holly in her night blackhair and eyes whose unfathomable dusk reflected no single hint of thatold, wild worship slumbering still in the girl's rebellious heart. 

"And the symbolism of this stunning make-up?" queried Ralph after awhile, lazily admiring. 

The girl's eyes flashed. 

"To-night, if you please, " she said, "I am the spirit of theold-fashioned Christmas who dwells in the holly heart of the evergreenwood. A _country_ Christmas, ruddy-cheeked and cheerful and rugged likethe winter holly--simple and old-fashioned and hallowed with memorieslike this bright soft crimson gown!"

Well, she had been a queer, fanciful youngster too, Doctor Ralphremembered, always passionately aquiver with a wild sylvan poetry andover-fond of book-lore like her father. Mischievously glancing at aspray of mistletoe above the girl's dark head, he stepped forward withthe careless gallantry that had won him many a kindly glance from prettyeyes and was strangely to fail him now. For at the look in Madge's calmeyes, he drew back, stammering. 

"I--I beg your pardon!" said Doctor Ralph. 

Later as he stood thoughtfully by his bedroom window, staring queerly atthe wind-beaten elms, he found himself repeating Madge Hildreth's words. "Ruddy-cheeked and rugged and cheerful!"--indeed--this unforgettableChristmas eve. Yes--she was right. Had he not often heard his father saythat the Christmas season epitomized all the rugged sympathy andheartiness and health of the country year! To-night the blazingYule-log, his mother's face--how white her hair was growing, thoughtDoctor Ralph with a sudden tightening of his throat--all of thesememories had strummed forgotten and finer chords. And darkly foiling thehomely brightness came the picture of rushing, overstrung, bundle-ladencity crowds, of shop-girls white and weary, of store-heaps of cedar andholly sapped by electric glare. Rush and strain and worry--yes--and aspirit of grudging! How unlike the Christmas peace of this white, wind-world outside his window! So Doctor Ralph went to bed with a sighand a shrug--to listen while the sleety boughs tapping at his windowsroused ghostly phantoms of his boyhood. Falling asleep, he dreamt thatpretty Madge Hildreth had lightly waved a Christmas wand of crimsonabove his head and dispelled his weariness and discontent. 

IV

Embers

And in the morning--there was the royal glitter of a Christmas ice-stormto bring boyhood memories crowding again, boughs sheathed in crystalarmor and the old barn roof aglaze with ice. Yes--Ralph thrilled--andthere were the Christmas bunches of oats on the fences and trees and theroof of the barn--how well he remembered! For the old Doctor loved thisChristmas custom too and never forgot the Christmas birds. Andto-day--why of course--there would be double allowances of food for thecattle and horses, for old Toby the cat and Rover the dog. Hadn't Ralphonce performed this cherished Christmas task himself!

But now, clamoring madly at his door was a romping swarm of youngsterseager to show Uncle Ralph the Christmas tree which, though he had helpedto trim it the night before, he inspected in great surprise. And here inhis chair by another Yule-log he found Roger, staring wide-eyed at theglittering tree with his thin little arms full of Christmas gifts. Nearhim was Sister Madge whose black eyes, Ralph saw with approval, werevery soft and gentle, and beyond in the coffee-fragrant dining-room AuntEllen and old Annie conspired together over a mammoth breakfast tabledecked with holly. 

"Oh, John, dear, " Ralph heard his mother say as the Doctor came in, "I've always said that Christmas is a mother's day. Wasn't the firstChristmas a mother's Christmas and the very first tree--a mother'stree?" and then the Doctor's scandalized retort--"Now--now, now, seehere, Mother Ellen, it's a father's day, too, don't you forget that!"

And so on to the Christmas twilight through a day of romping youngstersand blazing Yule-logs, of Christmas gifts and Christmas greetings--of ahaunting shame for Doctor Ralph at the memory of the wild Christmas hehad planned to spend with Griffin and Edwards. 

With the coming of the broad shadows which lay among the stiff, ice-fringed spruces like iris velvet, Doctor Ralph's nieces and nephewswent flying out to help old Asher feed the stock. By the quiet fire theDoctor beckoned Ralph. 

"Suppose, my boy, " he said, "suppose you take a look at the little lad'sleg here. I've sometimes wondered what you would think of it. "

Coloring a little at his father's deferential tone Ralph turned thestocking back from the pitiful shrunken limb and bent over it, his darkface keen and grave. And now with the surgeon uppermost, Roger fanciedDoctor Ralph's handsome eyes were nothing like so tired. Save for thecrackle of the fire and the tick of the great clock, there was silencein the firelit room and presently Roger caught something in DoctorRalph's thoughtful face that made his heart leap wildly. 

"An operation, " said the young Doctor suddenly--and halted, meeting hisfather's eyes significantly. 

"You are sure!" insisted the old Doctor slowly. "In my day, it wasimpossible--quite impossible. "

"Times change, " said the younger man. "I have performed such anoperation successfully myself. I feel confident, sir--" but Roger hadcaught his hand now with a sob that echoed wildly through the quietroom. 

"Oh, Doctor Ralph, " he blurted with blazing, agonized eyes, "youdon't--you can't mean, sir, that I'll walk and run like otherboys--and--and climb the Cedar King--" his voice broke in a passionatefit of weeping. 

"Yes, " said Doctor Ralph, huskily, "I mean just that. Dad and I, littleman, we're going to do what we can. "

By the window Sister Madge buried her face in her hands. 

"Come, come, now Sister Madge, " came the Doctor's kindly voice a littlelater, "you've cried enough, lass. Roger is fretting about you andDoctor Ralph here, he says he's going to take you for a littlesleigh-ride if you'll honor him by going. "

Outside a Christmas moon rode high above a sparkling ice-bright worldand as the sleigh shot away into its quiet glory, Ralph, meeting thedark, tear-bright eyes of Sister Madge, tucked the robes closer abouther with a hand that shook a little. 

"'Gipsy' Hildreth!" he said suddenly, smiling, but the hated nicknameto-night was almost a caress. "Tell me, " Ralph's voice was verygrave--"You've been sewing? Mother spoke of it. "

"There was nothing else, " said Sister Madge. "I could not leave Roger. "

"And now Mother wants you to stay on with her. You--you'll do that?"

"She is very lonely, " said Madge uncertainly and Ralph bit his lip. 

"Mother lonely!" he said. "She didn't tell me that. "

"Roger is wild to stay, " went on Madge, looking away--"but I--oh--I fearit is only their wonderful kindness. Still there's the Doctor'srheumatism--and he does need some one to keep his books. "

"Rheumatism!" said Ralph sharply. 

"Yes, " nodded Madge in surprise--"didn't you know. It's been pretty badthis winter. He's been thinking some of breaking in young Doctor Priceto take part of his practise now and perhaps all of it later. "

"Price!" broke out Ralph indignantly. "Oh--that's absurd! Price couldn'tpossibly swing Dad's work. He's not clever enough. "

"He's the only one there is, " said Madge and Ralph fell silent. 

All about them lay a glittering moonlit country of peaceful, firelithomes and snowy hills--of long quiet roads and shadowy trees andpresently Ralph spoke again. 

"You like all this, " he said abruptly, "the quiet--the country--and allof it?"

Sister Madge's black eyes glowed. 

"After all, " she said, "is it not the only way to live? This scent ofthe pine, the long white road, the wild-fire of the winter sunset andthe wind and the hills--are they not God-made messages of mystery toman? Life among man-made things--like your cities--seems somehow toexaggerate the importance of man the maker. Life among the God-madehills dwarfs that artificial sense of egotism. It teaches you to marvelat the mystery of Creation. Yesterday when the Doctor and I weregathering the Christmas boughs, the holly glade in the forest seemedlike some ancient mystic Christmas temple of the Druids where one mighttell his rosary in crimson holly beads and forget the world!"

Well--perhaps there was something fine and sweet and holy in the countrysomething--a tranquil simplicity--a hearty ruggedness--that citydwellers forfeited in their head-long rush for man-made pleasure. Afterall, perhaps the most enduring happiness lay in the heart of these quiethills. 

"My chief is very keen on country life, " said Ralph suddenly. "Hepreaches a lot. Development of home-spirit and old-fashioned householdgods--that sort of thing! He's a queerish sort of chap--my chief--anda bit too--er--candid at times. He was dad's old classmate, you know. "And Ralph fell silent again, frowning. 

So Price was to take his father's practise! How it must gall the oldDoctor! And mother was lonely, eh?--and Dad's rheumatism getting thebest of him--Why Great Guns! mother and dad were growing _old_! And someof those snow-white hairs of theirs had come from worrying overhim--John had said so. Ralph's dark face burned in the chill night wind. Well, for all old John's cutting sarcasm, his father still had faith inhim and the trust in young Roger's eloquent eyes had fairly hurt him. God! they did not know! And then this queer Christmas heart-glow. HowGriffin and Edwards and the rest of his gay friends would mock him forit? _Friends!_ After all--had he any friends in the finer sense of thatfinest of words? Such warm-hearted loyal friends for instance as theseneighbors of his father's who had been dropping in all day with a heartysmile and a Christmas hand-shake. And black-eyed Sister Madge--thisbrave, little fighting gipsy-poet here--where--But here Ralph frownedagain and looked away and even when the cheerful lights of homeglimmered through the trees he was still thinking--after an impetuousburst of confidence to Sister Madge. 

So, later, when Doctor Ralph entered his father's study--his chin wasvery determined. 

"I was ashamed to tell you this morning, sir, " he said steadily, "butI--I'm no longer on the staff of St. Michael's. My hand was shakingand--and the chief knew why. And, dad, " he faced the old Doctorsquarely, "I'm coming back home to keep your practise out of Price'sfool hands. You've always wanted that and my chief has preached it too, though I couldn't see it somehow until to-day. And presently, sir, when--when my hand is steadier, I'm going to make the little chap walkand run. I've--promised Sister Madge. " And the old Doctor cleared histhroat and gulped--and finally he wiped his glasses and walked away tothe window. For of all things God could give him--this surely was thebest!

"Oh, grandpop, " cried little John Leslie 3rd, bolting into the study ingreat excitement--"Come see Roger! We kids have made him the Christmasking and he's got a crown o' holly on and--and a wand and he's a-tappin'us this way with it to make us Knights. And I'm the Fir-tree Knight--andBob--he's a Cedar Knight and Ned's a spruce and Roger--he says hispretty sister tells him stories like that smarter'n any in the books. Oh--do hurry!"

The old Doctor held out his hand to his son. 

"Well, Doctor Ralph, " he said huskily, "suppose we go tell mother. "

So while the Doctor told Aunt Ellen, Ralph bent his knee to this excitedChristmas King enthroned in the heart of the fire-shadows. 

"Rise--" said Roger radiantly, tapping him with a cedar wand, "I--I dubthee first of all my knights--the good, kind Christmas Knight!"

"And here, " said Ralph, smiling, "here's Sister Madge. What grand titlenow shall we give to her?" But as Sister Madge knelt before him withfirelit shadows dancing in her sweet, dark eyes, Roger dropped the wandand buried his face on her shoulder with a little sob. 

"Nothing good enough for Sister Madge, eh?" broke in the old Doctor, looking up. "Well, sir, I think you're right. "

Now in the silence Aunt Ellen spoke and her words were like a gentleChristmas benediction. 

"'Unto us, '" said Aunt Ellen Leslie as she turned the Christmas log, "'this night a son is given!'"

But Ralph, by the window, had not heard. For wakening again in his heartas he stared at the peaceful, moonlit, "God-made" hills--was the oldforgotten boyish love for this rugged, simple life of his father'sdwarfing the lure of the city and the mockery of his fashionablefriends. And down the lane of years ahead, bright with homely happinessand service to the needs of others--was the dark and winsome face ofSister Madge, stirring him to ardent resolution. 

Part Two

In Which We Light the New Log with the Embers of the Old

I

The Fire Again

"Doctor!" said little Roger slyly, "you got your chin stuck out!"

The Doctor stroked his grizzled beard in hasty apology. 

"God bless my soul, " he admitted guiltily. "I do believe I have. You'vebeen so quiet, " he added accusingly, "curled up there by the fire that Imust certainly have gotten lonesome. And I most always stick out my chinthat way when I'm lonesome. "

Roger, by way of reparation, betook himself to the arm of the Doctor'schair. 

The Doctor's arm closed tight around him. A year ago this little adoptedson of his had been very lame. It was the first Christmas in his life, indeed, that he had walked. 

"Out there, " said the Doctor, "the winter twilight's been fighting thealder berries with purple spears. It's conquered everything in thegarden and covered it up with misty velvet save the snow and theberries. But the twilight's using heavier spears now and likely it'llwin. _I_ want the alder berries to win out, drat it! Their blaze is sobright and cheerful. "

Roger accepted the challenge to argument with enthusiasm. 

"_I_ want the twilight to win, " he said. 

The Doctor looked slightly scandalized. 

"Oh, my, my, my, my!" he said. "I can't for the life of me understandany such gloomy preference as that. Bless me, if I can. "

"Why, " crowed Roger jubilantly, "_I_ can, 'cause the more twilighty itgets, the more it's Christmas eve!"

The Doctor regarded his small friend with admiration. 

"By George, " he admitted, "I do believe you have me there--" but theDoctor's kindly eyes did not fire to the name of Christmas as Rogerthought they ought. 

"Almost, " he said, "I thought you were going to stick out your chinagain. And you're not lonesome now 'cause I'm here an' pretty noisy. "

"Hum!" said the Doctor. 

"Man to man, now!" urged Roger suddenly. 

This was the accepted key to a confessional ceremony which required muchpoliteness and ruthless honesty. 

"Well, Mr. Hildreth, " began the Doctor formally. 

Roger's face fell. 

"I'm your adopted son, " he hinted, "and you said that made my name sameas yours. "

"Mr. Leslie!" corrected the Doctor, and Roger glowed. 

"Well, Mr. Leslie, " went on the Doctor thoughtfully, "I'm chuck full ofgrievances. There's the rheumatism in my leg, for instance. That's nosort of thing to have at Christmas. "

"But that's better, " said Roger. "You said so this morning. I 'spect youbeen thinkin' too much about it like you said I did when my leg wasstiff. "

"Ahem! And I did hope somebody would come home for Christmas. I like ahouse full of romping youngsters--"

Roger pointed an accusing finger. 

"Aunt Ellen says every blessed one of your children, an' yourgrand-children too, begged and begged you to come to the city forChristmas an'--an' you wouldn't go 'cause you're old-fashioned and likea country Christmas so much better--an'--an' because you'd promised toteach me to skate on the Deacon's pond an' take me sleighin'. "

"Dear me, " said the Doctor helplessly, "for such a mite of a kiddy, youdo seem remarkably well informed. "

"Man to man, " reminded Roger inexorably and the Doctor aired his finalgrievance. 

"And then there's that youngest son of mine--"

"Doctor Ralph?"

"Doctor Ralph! What right had he, I'd like to know, to marry that prettysister of yours and go off honeymooning holiday time. Didn't he knowthat we needed him and Sister Madge here for Christmas? I miss 'em both. Young pirate!"

Roger's heart swelled with loyalty. It was Doctor Ralph's skilful handthat had helped him walk. 

"Most likely, " he said fairly, "I'm a little to blame there. After Icame home from the hospital, I did tell Sister Madge to marry him--"

"Most likely, " acknowledged the Doctor, "I said something similar toDoctor Ralph. I can't have you shouldering all the responsibility. Well, your Honor, there's the Christmas evidence. What's the verdict?"

Roger considered. This man to man game had certain phraseologicalconclusions. 

"No case!" he said suddenly, nor would he alter his decision when theDoctor protested against its severity. 

"You had so awful many peoply sort of places to go, " pointed out Roger, and the Doctor laughed. 

"And let you spend this first Christmas on your two legs in a _city_?"he demanded. "Well, I guess not! No-sir-ee-bob! There!--the alderberries have faded out and the garden's thick with twilight. "

"And it's Christmas eve!" cried Roger, his black eyes shining withdelight. 

"Speaking of Christmas, " said the Doctor, sniffing luxuriously, "I feelthat I ought to slip out to the kitchen for a minute or so. I do smellsomething tremendously Christmasy and spicy--"

Roger caught his breath. With a Christmas intrigue as surely in the airas the smell of spice, here was dangerous ground. 

"Aunt Ellen, " he faltered, "Aunt Ellen said she couldn't pos'bly bebothered with--with any men folks in the kitchen--not even me. "

"Pooh!" rebelled the Doctor largely, "that's merely a ruse of hers toprotect the cookies. And what I'd like to know is just this--what's AuntEllen doing in the kitchen anyway? Certainly old Annie's able to do theChristmas fussing for three people. Aunt Ellen ought to be in here withus. That was part of my lonesome grievance but I forgot to mention it. "

Roger, shivering apprehensively, visioned suspicious stores of Christmasdelicacies--holly and evergreen--and a supper table set for _ten_! Andoff somewhere among those purple spears of twilight old Asher, the hiredman, was waiting at the station with the big farm sleigh. 

He must keep his eye upon the Doctor until six o'clock, and lure himaway from the window. 

"Tell me a story, " begged Roger--"over here by the fire. " And his voicewas so very tremulous and urgent that the hungry Doctor abandoned hisnotion of a Christmas cookie, and complied. 

To Roger, in a nervous ecstasy of anticipation, the story was a blurredhodge-podge of phrases and crackling fire, distant noises of clinkingchina and hurrying feet, and wild flights of imagination.... Old Ashermust be coming past the red barn now ... And now down the hill ... Andnow past the Deacon's pond ... And now--

Sleigh-bells fairly leaped out of the quiet, and Roger jumped andgulped, aquiver with excitement. The Doctor regarded him with milddisfavor. 

"Bless my soul, " he said in surprise, "that was the quietest part of mystory. You're restless. "

"Go on!" said Roger hoarsely, and the obliging Doctor, mistaking hisagitation for interest, went on with his tale. 

But Roger had heard old Asher driving along by the picket fence andturning in at the gate-posts, and the story was no more to him than thenoisy crackle of the log. Off somewhere in the region of the kitchendoor he detected a subdued scuffle of many feet. 

The grandfather's clock struck six.... Roger's cheeks were blazing--thefire and the Doctor still duetting.... Why, oh, why didn't somebodycome and call them to supper?... There had been plenty of time now foreverything. Why--

The door swung back and Roger jumped. Old Annie, Asher's wife, stood inthe doorway, her wrinkled face inscrutable. 

"Supper, sir!" she said and vanished. Hand in hand, the Doctor and Rogerwent out to supper. 

The dining-room door was closed. That in itself was unusual. But theunsuspecting Doctor pushed through with Roger at his heels, only to haltand stare dumfounded over his spectacles while Roger screamed and dancedand clapped his hands. For to the startled eyes of Doctor John Leslie, the snug, old-fashioned room was alive with boys and holly--boys andboys and boys upon boys, he would have told you in that first instant ofdelighted consternation, in different stages of embarrassment and rags. And one had but to glance at the faces of old Asher and Annie in thekitchen doorway, at Aunt Ellen, hovering near her Christmas brood withthe look of all mothers in her kind, brown eyes, and then at Roger, scarlet with enthusiasm, to know that the Doctor had been the victim ofbenevolent conspiracy. 

"It's a s'prise!" shrieked Roger, "a Christmasy s'prise! Aunt Ellen shesays you're so awful keen on s'prisin' other folks that we'd showyou--an'--an' you'll have a bang-up Christmas with kids like you lovean' so will I, an' so will they an' the minister he went to the cityand found seven boys crazy for Christmas in the country an'--"

"Roger! Roger!" came Aunt Ellen's gentle voice--"do please take abreath, child. You're turning purple. "

The Doctor adjusted his glasses. 

"Seven boys!" he said. "Bless my soul, when I opened that door I sawseventy boys!" He counted them aloud--then for no reason at all savethat he had glanced into seven eager faces, thinner and sharper than heliked, for all they glowed with excitement and furtive interest in thelong supper table asparkle with lights and holly, he wiped his glassesand patted Roger on the back. 

"Is your leg botherin' so much now, daddy Doctor?" demanded Roger. 

"Nothing like so much, " admitted the Doctor. 

"Are you lonesome 'nuff now to stick out your chin?"

"Bless your heart, Roger, " admitted the Doctor huskily, "I'm so full ofChristmas I can hardly breathe!"

"Hooray!" said Roger. "Me, too. "

II

It Blazes Higher

It was well that the Doctor had a way with boys, for there was a problemto be solved here with infinite tact--a problem of protuberant eyes andparalyzing self-consciousness, of unnatural silences and then unexpectedattempts at speech that died in painful rasps and gurgles, of stubbingtoes and nudging elbows, of a centipedal supply of arms and legs thatinterfered with abortive and conscience-stricken attempts at courtesy, and above all an interest in the weave of the carpet that was at once amania and an epidemic--but by the time supper was well under way, things, in the language of Roger, had begun to hum, and by the time theDoctor had mastered the identities of his guests, from Jim, the shy, sullen boy who would not meet his eyes, to Mike's little brother, Muggs, who consumed prodigious quantities of everything in staring silence, andlooked something like a girl save for a tardily-cast-off suit of Mike's, somewhat oceanic in flow and fit, the hum had become celebrative anddistinctly a thing of Christmas. 

Constraint in the mellowing halo of a Christmas eve supper where hollyand a Yule-log blazed and the winter wind frostily rattled thechecker-paned windows of the sitting-room in jealous spleen, fled tojoin the Doctor's rheumatism. 

By the time the grandfather's clock struck seven through a haze ofholly, the Doctor had pokered the Yule-log into a frenzied shower ofgold; apples and nuts were steadily disappearing from a basket by theDoctor's chair and the Doctor himself was relating an original Christmastale of adventure, born of uncommon inspiration and excitement, to ahuddled group with circular eyes and contented stomachs. ButMuggs--inimitable workman--his small face partially obscured by thebiggest apple in the basket, had not yet spoken, and Jim, the shy, sullen little boy to whom Roger had taken a fancy because he was lame, had met the Doctor's eyes but once, and then with a rush of color. 

Now, whether it was the scheming excitement of a busy day or the warmthof a busy log or the rambling yarn of a busy Doctor, who may say?Certainly Roger fell asleep at a fictional crisis and remained asleepfor all that Jim furtively nudged him. 

"There!" said the Doctor as the clock struck eight, "that's all. To bathand beds, every one of you! Annie's had a lamp on the kitchen table thishalf hour ready to light you up the stairs. My! My! My!--but there's abusy day ahead. Roger! Well, of all ungrateful listeners! Roger!"

But in the end, the Doctor carried Roger up to bed, preceded by Anniewith the lamp. And while Annie was turning back quilts and smoothingpillows and fumbling at windows, with the freedom of long service shesoundly berated the Doctor for postponing the bed-time hour with hisChristmas twaddle. 

"And Mister Muggs there, " she said severely, "has had one apple toomany, I'm thinkin', and the last one as big as his head. He'll need apill before morning. The child's packed himself that hard and round yefear to touch him. " And then because Muggs was such a very little boyAnnie was minded to assist with his bath, and laid kindly hands upon anindefinite outer garment which began immediately beneath his arm-pitsand ended at his shoe-tops in singular fringe. 

"An', ma'am, " she explained to Aunt Ellen a little later, "I had to lethim go in to his bath by himself. No more had I touched hisbushel-basket of rags--an' they were hitched over his shoulders withschool straps and somebody's shirtwaist underneath--than he let out aterrific shriek (ye must have heard him) an' all the boys come runnin'and crowdin' round him and starin' so frightened at me, an' his brotheryelled at him to keep quiet or something or somebody'd get him, and hekept quiet that sudden I could fairly see the child swell. He'sunnatural still and unnatural full, ma'am, an' the Doctor better leavehis pills handy. "

Bathed and freshly night-gowned, the Doctor's guests tumbled, a littlenoisily into bed. Only Jim lay silent and wakeful. Once he nudged hisbed-fellow. 

"Luke, " he whispered, "d'ye think I'd orta tell 'em?"

"Aw, " said Luke sleepily, "dry up, Jim! Gosh, ain't the bed soft!"

Jim sighed. 

Christmas came to the old farmhouse with the distant echo of villagebells at midnight but, long before that, Christmas, in a fur cap andgreat-coat had swept up the driveway with a jingle of sleigh-bells, behind old Polly, the Doctor's mare, his sleigh packed high withbundles. By the light of a late moon, flinging festal silver on thesnow, it might be seen that Christmas resembled a somewhat guiltylooking old gentleman with a grizzled beard. 

"I'll catch old Scratch!" he admitted, suddenly overcome by the bulbousappearance of the sleigh, "but Ellen may say what she will. She_couldn't_ have thought of everything!"

No call for pills came that night from Muggs, asleep in a crib that hadseen much service. He was awake however long before daylight, tremblingwith excitement. 

"Mike, oh Mike!" he called hoarsely. "Wake up. It's Christmas mornin'. "

Mike, in a big bed with Marty Fay, sat up. 

"Don't you _dare_ open your mouth to-day!" he cried in blood-thirstyaccents, "or Mom Murphy'll git ye surer'n scat. Ain't I schemed enuff togit ye here? Huh? Wanta be sent home--huh?" Muggs ducked beneath theblankets with a shivering wail. 

III

The Log at Dawn

In the still, cold corridors of a farmhouse, with frost-jungles cloudingevery window pane and a zero-dark outside, the cry of "Merry Christmas!"is most at home. Let noses be ever so cold and blanketed bodies ever sowarm, the cry fills the dawn with electric energy. The Doctor began it. He knew by the instant response that he had started something that hecould not stop. Almost in no time, it seemed, Roger was leading a wild, bare-footed scamper down the stairs--for Roger _knew_--and the Doctor, hastily bath-robed and slippered, was on behind with a lamp. But herewas no cyclonic invasion of a dark, cold sitting-room. Old Annie andAsher knew boys! A log blazed brightly in the fireplace and the lamp waslit. If the room was over-warm, it proved simply that Annie had seenboys of another generation rushing down of a Christmas morning, scantilyclad. 

And the King of Christmas trees blazed in candle-glory from wall towall, tinselled boughs sagging with the weight of its Christmasfreight. It could not have been bigger--it could not have glitteredmore. It had as many arms as an Octopus and its shaggy evergreen head, starred gorgeously with iridescence, brushed the old-fashioned paper onthe ceiling. A great, lovable Christmas giant guarding a cargo ofChristmas gifts!

Muggs emitted one blood-curdling shriek of delight, clapped his handover his mouth and began to swell about the cheeks. Then he stepped onthe hem of his night-gown and fell sprawling at Annie's feet. 

"Dear me, " said Annie vexedly, though she righted him with kindly hands, "I can't for the life of me make out what ails that child. He acts somortal queer at times, an' he's ready to swell up over nothing at all. "

With the advent of Aunt Ellen, Christmas packages began to lose twineand paper, and what the packages lost the sitting-room speedily gainedin disorder. For here were warm suits and overcoats, shoes and stockingsand sweaters and caps, skates and horns and whistles and drums, home-made pop-corn and candy, oranges--ah! well, sensible gifts inplenty, and foolish gifts that were wiser than Solomon for they includeda boy's heart as well as his body. 

In a lull all eyes turned to Muggs. His pockets were crammed withpop-corn and candy. One arm was quite as full of toys as he could packit--the other had begun the day's conveyance of food from hand to mouth, but he was regarding a very small, warm suit of clothes and substantialboots with dangerously quivering lips. Nor could one misinterpret hisdisapproval. For a moment the startled Doctor fancied he heard Mike hissthe astonishing words "Mom Murphy!" but by the time he had wheeledabout, Muggs, with circular eyes of terror, had begun to swell. 

"That child, " said Annie, "has something on his mind. Don't tell me! Iknow it. "

The inevitable blare of racket came all too soon. Horns and whistles anddrums united in a deafening blast, and if thanks did not come easily tothe lips of boys, noise did. Nor could Muggs at any time thereafter beseparated from a shoulder drum upon which he had beaten with insane andsingle-minded concentration even after the din was past and a hungryhint of breakfast in the air. Lacking one outlet of expression he hadseized upon another. He drummed his way fiercely upstairs, to dress, andhe drummed his way down to breakfast, a ridiculous self-consciousness inhis small face whenever he glanced at his new suit of clothes. Small asit was it engulfed him utterly. 

"Jim!" said the Doctor suddenly. "You're not limping!"

Jim hung his head and glanced at his shining new shoes. 

"No, sir!" he said and gulped. 

"Bless me, " said the Doctor, adjusting his spectacles, "I thought youwere lame and if I hadn't forgotten it last night you'd have had noskates this morning. "

"I didn't have no heel on one shoe, " blurted Jim in confusion, andRoger, in relief, hoorayed himself into hoarseness. 

But Jim, like Muggs, was something of a mystery, and after a time theDoctor, with a sigh, abandoned his effort to break through the boy'ssullen shyness. Still Jim was the first at the chopping block when Anniewanted wood, and when the task took on something of the charm of TomSawyer's fence by reason of a winter wren, so tame from overfeeding thathe perched himself now and then upon the handle of the ax, Jim fell backwith resentment and resigned the ax to Marty Fay who spat upon hishands, doubled up his fists, sparred, in an excess of good spirits, withan invisible antagonist, and thereafter made the chips fly so fast thatthe little wren departed. 

Already there were great Christmas bunches of oats upon glistening treesand fences, but, while Asher was carrying double portions of food tocattle and horses, to Toby, the cat, and Rover, the dog, the Doctor wentabout, with an eager pack of boys at his heels, distributing furtherChristmas largess for his feathered friends--suet and crumbs and seed. For there were chickadees in the clump of red cedars by the barn, andjuncos and nuthatches, white-throated sparrows and winter wrens, all sofrank in their overtures to the Doctor that the boys with one accordclosed threateningly around Muggs to keep him from drumming the birdsinto flight. Jim fastened a great chunk of suet to a tree-trunk and verysoon a red-breasted nuthatch was busy with his Christmas breakfast. Altogether Roger's bang-up Christmas began with terrific bustle, withAnnie, from whose kitchen already floated odors that set the insatiableMuggs to sniffing, by far the busiest of them all. 

The grandfather's clock struck ten. It found the old farmhouse desertedsave for Annie in the kitchen and Aunt Ellen in her rocking chair by thesitting-room window. The Doctor was guiding his guests to the Deacon'spond. 

New skates, new sweaters, and a pond as smooth as glass! What wonderthen that Roger's trembling fingers bungled his straps, and Jim, kneeling, fastened them on with nimble fingers. 

"Ain't ye never skated?"

"No--I--I been lame. Oh, hurry, Jim! See, Mike's flyin' down the pondlike wind!"

Jim's eyes softened. 

"I'll teach ye, " he said. 

As for the Doctor he had disinterred an ancient pair of skates from theattic, and presently he began to perform pedal convolutions of suchstartling design and eccentricity that the boys gathered about him andcheered until, seating himself unexpectedly in the center of aparticularly wide and airy flourish, he flatly told the boys to runabout their business. 

Now Muggs, though he carried upon his shoulder a ridiculous pair ofelfin skates, was much too small a boy, his brother thought, to embarkupon the ice, wherefore he stood like a sentinel upon the shore anddrummed and ate incessantly, until an orange catapulted from anovercrowded pocket, when he pursued it with a roar. 

The peal of the village town-clock striking twelve came all too soon, but homing was no task with a turkey at the end. Muggs, still wrapped inmysterious silence, knew the very spot where Christmas odors began topermeate the frosty air and redoubled the speed in his drumming arm, butwhen after a vigorous scrubbing his glistening eye fell upon theholly-bright table and an enormous turkey by the Doctor's plate, only afrosty menace in Mike's eye, it seemed, restrained anotherblood-curdling shriek of delight. There was paralyzing apology in hiseyes as Mike's lips formed the soundless threat--"Mom Murphy!"

"He's holdin' himself in, " said Annie, "Mister Muggs, give me the drum!Ye'll not crowd into the chair with that upon your shoulder!"

It seemed that Mister Muggs would. He began to swell. He began to drum. He carried his point and crammed himself and his drum into his chair atthe table. He did not speak. Neither, from that time on, did he permitany lapse in his industry. What Muggs did, from drum to drum-sticks, hedid well. 

Muggs ate turkey and mashed turnips. Muggs ate potatoes, cranberrysauce, boiled onions, and quite a little celery. He glinted ahead at apie on the sideboard, seemed to make hurried structural calculations, and pushed his plate again toward the turkey. Aunt Ellen looked at theDoctor and the Doctor looked at Muggs. 

"If the child eats any more, " said Annie bluntly from the kitchen door, "he must have a pill. 'Tis enough for him to drum away the peace of theChristmas day without stuffin' himself that hard and round ye fear forhis buttons. An' to my mind, if he'd talk more and eat less, he'd not bein such danger o' burstin'. "

Mike looked slightly agitated. 

"Muggs, " said the Doctor firmly, "it comes to this. More turkey--onepill. No turkey--no pill. "

Muggs exhibited a capacity for instant decision. With stubby forefingerrigid, he shoved his plate a little closer to the turkey. 

IV

The Log at Twilight

There was a straw-ride in the farm sleigh after dinner, a story or twoby the Yule log when the twilight closed in and Annie had lit theChristmas candles on the tree, and then as the boys were romping in agame of Roger's the Doctor slipped away to his study for a quiet hourwith a book. His lamp was barely lighted and the book upon his knee whenthe door opened and Jim stood before him, his face so white and strainedthat the Doctor laid aside his book, thinking instantly, of course, thathere again was too much turkey. 

Jim hung his head, one toe burrowing in the carpet. 

"Doctor John!" he burst forth hoarsely. 

"Yes?"

Jim gulped. 

"I--I been in _jail_!"

The Doctor looked once at Jim's face, quivering in an agony of shame, and hastily wiped his glasses. In the quiet came the laughter of rompingboys. 

"Why, " said the Doctor very gently, "did you tell me?"

Something in the kindly voice opened the flood-gates of a boy's soreheart. Jim's mouth quivered piteously, then he broke down and hid hisface behind his elbow, sobbing wildly. 

"I wanta be square, " he cried passionately, "I wanta be square likeyou've been to us, an'--an Luke said ye might not want a jail-bird herefor Christmas. I--stole--coal--for mom--"

It was the old tale, one boy caught, paying for the petty thievery ofthe score who ran away. The Doctor heard the mumbled tale to the end andcleared his throat. 

"And so, " he said slowly, "you wanted to be square. That's the finestthing I've heard this Christmas day. Wanted to be square. Well, well!"His hand was on Jim's shoulder now. "Jim, I wonder if you could comeback to me next Christmas and tell me you'd been absolutely straight--"

"Here!" said Jim in a choking whisper, his eyes blazing through histears, "again--for _Christmas_!"

Somewhere on a snowy page a Christmas angel wrote: "One boy saved by thespirit of a country Christmas!"

"Here, " repeated the Doctor, "again--for Christmas. " He opened thedoor. "Run along, now, Jim, " he said kindly, "or the boys will missyou. "

Jim's final words were very queer. 

"Doctor John, " he blurted, "I--I'm a goin' to send poor little Muggs. "

The Doctor was devoutly hoping that Muggs had never been in jail forstealing food or drums, when Muggs himself appeared clinging desperatelyto the hand of Mike. He seemed on the verge of a lachrymose explosion. 

Mike's face was very red but it was also very hopeful. 

"Jim said to tell ye, " he mumbled. "She ain't never had no Christmas an'the minister he said the order was all boys an'--an' she cried, so Momsaid bring her anyway in my ol' suit--you'd never know, an'--an'--an'--Oh, my gosh!" finished Mike tragically, "Muggs is a girl. Her--her name's C-c-c-c-clara!"

The Doctor jumped. So did Muggs. The lachrymose explosion came and thedrum slipped down from the shoulder of Muggs with a clatter. 

"Don't wanta go home!" came the heartbroken wail, "don't wanta go home. Mom Murphy'll git me. "

"I--I tol' her, " explained Mike uncomfortably, "that she mustn't openher mouth once--jus' act deaf an' dumb or you'd guess maybe an' sendher home an' Mom Murphy'd git her. An'--an'--she must take a drum like aboy--"

Literal Muggs! Heaven alone knew by what other blood-thirsty threatsthan Mom Murphy Mike had encompassed the stony silence and frenzieddrumming of the little sister who had never had a Christmas. 

"But why, " burst forth the despairing Doctor. "In heaven'sname--why--Muggs?"

"She makes such awful faces, " said Mike apologetically. "Mom don't knowwhat makes her that way. " And then as Muggs was at the climax of one ofthe spasms that had won her her name, the Doctor suddenly lifted her ingentle arms and tossed her to the ceiling. 

"Poor, poor little kiddy!" he said huskily. "What a price she's paid forher Christmas. "

But Muggs had forgotten the price. Though it had been a hard day theDoctor's eyes were kind and twinkly. Muggs buried her flushed andtearful little face on his shoulder with a sigh of content. He saw nowthat one knot of ribbon on the tousled, sunny curls would have told thestory, then he glanced at the bagging suit and opened the door. Muggswent forth upon the Doctor's shoulder. 

"Asher, " cried the Doctor, "hitch old Polly to the sleigh and telephoneSam Remsen that he can oblige me for once and open his store. "

"Ye--ye ain't goin' to send her home, are ye?" faltered Mike. 

"I'm going, " cried the Doctor, "to buy Clara Muggs a dress and a doll. It's her night. "

The boys cheered.