482 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
IfcEC. 22, 1000. 
pi 
for €Dri$tiiid$ Reading* 
pi 
St.»<K«5 
How Elijah Was Fed at Christmas* 
Christmas Under the Palms* 
A Voice from a Farm* 
The Bison's Paradise. 
That Christmas Twrkey. 
J- 
The Christmas Dinner Father Josef 
Cooked. 
Old Hogarth. 
My Grandmother's Kitch^tt. 
How We Got Our Gun-Rack. 
Out of Gdmmission. 
Mil 
How Eliiah Was at Christmas. 
"^'■Was you a-cal'latin' for to go a-huntm'- to-morrer, 
'Liger?" Aunt Charity asked, looking under the rim of 
her spectacles at her husband, who Was carefully mspect- 
ing his rifle by the light of the same candle whose feeble 
rays illumined the counting of her stitches. 
"Wal, no, I wan't," he answered, but after a brief 
pause, continued in a tons so decided he hoped it might 
forestall opposition : . , 
"I'm a-goin' to the turkey shoot an' git us a turkey, 
I be." 
"Good land!" Aunt Charity exclaimed, dropping hands 
and kniLting into her lap and staring at the bald head now 
bent more intently over the gun. "Where be you goin' to 
git the money for to pay your shots?" 
"Oh, I got a half-dollar I be'n a-savin' up," he answered 
quickly. "But I s'pect I'm goin' to plunk a turkey the 
secont shot anyway; th' ol' iron throws a ball as true's 
it did the day it came aout o' Hill's shop." _ 
His wife drew a needle from the finished row of 
stitches and scratched meditatively beiieath her sheep's 
head cap before venturing a doubt. "It's forty year 
older'n it was then, an' so be you, 'Liger. I don't s'pose 
your hand's quite so stiddy .nor your eye quite so clear. 
Land knows mine hain't." She sighed gently as she 
opened and shut a knotted and stiffened hand before her 
dini spectacled eyes. 
"Sho, Cherry, you're spryer'n half the gals, an' I can 
read fine print wi' my naked eyes, an' my hand's as 
stiddy as a rock." He drew a bead on the center of the 
clock face and held the long barrel on it a moment with- 
out a perceptible tremor, and then beamed a triumphant 
smile on his wife. 
"Mebby, but I'm afrear.ed you're jest a-goin' for to 
heave away your money. You 're 'Liger, I know, but I'm 
'feared the' hain't no ravens a-comin' to feed ye." 
■"N6, but a turkey, sure as guns. An' I'll tell ye what 
we're a-goin' to du, then. Cherry," he continued in a 
confidential tone. "When I git him dressed an' you git 
him stufl^ed an' int' the oven, I'm a-goin' to take the wheel- 
barrer, or if it comes sleddin', which the' hain't no 
prospect' on, the hand sled, an' I'm a-goin' to the poor- 
haouse an' borry or steal poor little Lyd Cole an' fetch her 
up here, to eat a Christmas dinner." 
He shut the brass lid of the patch box with a decisive 
snap and bestowed a close-shut but benignant smile upon 
his wife, who returned it in softer kind and said with a 
tremor in her voice, "Why, 'Liger Wait ! Is that what you 
be'n a-plannin' for? Wal, then ^ I shouldn't wonder ef you 
did git. a turkey, an' I hope to goodness you will. Poor 
ol' Lyddy, I don't s'pose she's ever hed a mou'ful o' 
Christmas turkey in her life. Deary me! I'm 'fraid I 
\ya'n't as good as I'd ort to be'n to the poor humpbacked 
little critter when we useter go to school. But you was, 
'Liger. You al'ays stood up for her." 
"Not none too good, I wa'n't, an' I sh'ld lufter make up 
for't a leetle speck by a-givin' on her one toFable decent 
Christmas." 
"An' I du b'lieve we'll be favored too," said Aunt 
Charity. "An' we've got onions to go wi' the turkey, an' 
thern high bush cramb'ries 'at you got Up to the swamp'U 
jest come in complete." 
"Why, Cherry," her husband laughed, "next you'll be 
for gom' to the shootin' match yourself, which in the 
begmnin' you Avan't a-goin' to let me. Naow I'll run me 
a han'ful o' balls, an' then it'll be time to go to bed." 
He gave the long, brown barrel and the curled maple 
stock another caress with the oiled rag before he hung the 
rifle on its hooks, while Aunt Charity mended the fire 
and raked out a glowing bed of coals ready for the ladle. 
She drew her chair beside the stove and plied her 
neexlles while she watched him at his work. 
"My land!" she cried as the shining bullets were 
wrapped from the mould, "if them was only the silver they 
look we could buy us a turkey." 
"they'll fetch us one jest the same," he said con- 
fidently. 
"It'll be rotigh wheelin' for Lyddy." Elijah said to him- 
self, looking up at the cloudless sky as he trudged along 
the frozen road the next day after dinner with his rifle on 
his shoulder, and the solitary half-dollar clinldng against 
the 'jackknife in his trousers pocket. "I'll stop an' tell 
her to be all ready ag'in I come arter her." 
He turned in at the forlorn, treeless yard of the poor- 
house. _ He entered without knocking and went straight 
to Lydia, where she sat, an uncouth heap of deformity at 
her accustomed window, watching "the Pass" and sewing 
braided rags. Her face,' worn by heaw pain of body and 
spirit, brightened a little at sight of her old friend • and 
more at the sound of his cheery voice. ' 
.v"^i^°'^/"°^"'"'' Lyddy. A-drivin' your needle to beat 
the Dutch, this momin', hain't ye? My stars '" as she 
§;7}00thed the completed center of the rug over h 
er 
knees, "iiafn't t-hal a-goin' to be a neat one! Red an' 
yaller an'.M\ie an' I d'know what all. Say," lowering his 
voice, "'"'I'm a-comin' to-morrer mornift' to take you 
lip to aour haouse to Christmas." Lyddy looked incredu- 
lous. "Yes, sure as shootin.'. Clicrry's alottin' on it, an' 
I'm a-comin' for .ye \V"ith a one-wheeled kerridge an' 
there's goin' to be a turkey. I'm goin' arter him naow." 
For a moment the stolid hardness of her face softened 
almost to an expression of happiness, and then grew hard 
as she glowered furtively over her shoulder. 
"I do' know if they'll let me." 
"They can't help it. I'm a-goin' to take j'C. Say, 
Pratt," addressing the lessee of the town farm, who was 
passing through the room, "I'm a-goin' to hev Lyddy 
up to aour haouse for Christmas." 
"All right," the man ans-wered, with a harsh laugh. 
"You can have her for keeps for all me. Goin' to the 
shootin' match, be you, 'Liger?" 
"Yes, I be. Wal, you be ready by 9 o'clock, Lyddy." 
So he left her, happier in the anticipation of a break in 
the dreariness of her life than she had been for many 
a day. 
As he took the highway again the pop of a rifle and 
the quick echoes bounding from adjacent walls told that 
the shooting match had begun, and hastened his steps. 
Then came another report, and its succession of echoes, 
and now he saw the thin wisp of smoke drifting against 
the blue sky above the roofs and dissolve in the coW, 
still air. 
"Plague on't! They'll hev the' heft on *em shot afor*. 
I g't there," Elijah ejaculated, and verified the adage Of 
-^^or? haste, less speed," for he caught his foot in a nit 
and fell headlong, the shouldered fiflfe measuring its 
length with a' bang on the ffozen ground. After look- 
'"^ ^ound to learn if thei^ were any spectators of his 
fall his next thought was for his gun, which he rejoiced 
to find had suffered no apparent harni. 
He reached the shooting groimd in the rear of the 
tavern barn without further interruption, and found all 
the marksmen of the township gathered thefe, himself 
the most renowned and consequently least welcome of the 
company. 
"Wal Uncle 'Liger, I was a-wishin' you an' that 
■ reachm ol iron wouldn't be here to-d*v," said Tait, the 
tavern keeper and owner of the turkevs. "But I'll tell 
ye aforehand, if ye kill more'n three a hand runniri', I 
won t let ye shoot no more." 
"So ye needn't. So ye needn't, Ab'am," Elijah cheer- 
fully conceded. "I don't want on'y one 0' your turkeys 
Here s your mnepunce, but I'm a-goin' to wait till there's 
a good un sot up." 
The landlord gave him the change from a growing 
pocket of small coin and the veteran strolled from group 
to group of the onlookers, ihere chatting with some old 
acquaintance, there curiously scanning the newfangled 
weapon of a younger contestant. One of these, a dapper 
young farmer, too foppishly dressed for the occasion 
swaggered forward and lay down on the slanted plank 
resting the heavy barrel of his telescope-sighted rifle 
across the raised end and taking aim with much fussy 
preparation. Then his confidence deserted him, he dwelt 
ong on his aim and the muzzle gyrated dubiously, till at 
last he desperately pulled the trigger, and to his own 
great surprise happened to hit the turkey, whereas he 
bragged tremendously, but too soon, for in a dozen more 
shots he did not make a hit. One bashful, ungainly youn<^ 
fellow with a new rifle, outwardly as unfinished as him- 
^^'■^^ ^^^°ts, and was then 
barred out by Taft, wlro protested, "By gum, I won't 
hev my stock o' turkeys used up for twelve an' a half 
cents apiece. 
After several small victims had succumbed to swift or 
tardy fate, a big gobbler was set upon the box and Uncle 
Liger stepped forth to make his first shot. Scorning 
what he called the "booby rest," he knelt on one knee rest 
ing his elbow on the other, and slowly raised the long 
nfle to Its unerrmg aim. Forty rods away on the level 
hTflTnu' ^'''^ ^''^ "° ^^''^^^ t^^" a chickadee, 
but the old nian saw the polished silver sight shining fairW 
against the black side at the proper instant. Every one 
was watching intently, expecting to see a responsive flut- 
ter or fall of the doomed fowl, but it remained erect and 
motionless, while beyond and a little to the left a puff of 
""Xn'^rfnl'^'i^ ^^^^ ^'■on^ the frozen ground 
Wall, I'll be darned if Uncle 'Liger hain't mfssed him 
clean!' exclaimed some one in a disappointed tone -ahd- 
steMot"^^^ openl/ derided th^ 
''One miss hain't nothin','' Uncle 'Liger remarked quiet 
y. and began loading with great care after handing^Taft 
the price of another shot. ''That 'ere's the turkeyT^ant ' 
Abm, an' here's your ninepunce " - . ^ . 
tv,f "fl' ^'as ! his s'econd shot went as wide of the mark a& 
f' r '^""^ *°^^^th were as unfortunate 
and, Mas! l^is nioney was all gone, and wth it thi Lst 
chance 6f providing for to-morroW's ^iSroinised feist— a 
disappointment harder to be^r th^n the rtiortifieatioh o\ 
defsfet. 
"Wal, 'Liteb," said ah old comrade, "kfte ari' ^o\i has 
got to '^ive U{) an' be, 'has beetts.' " 
/'The ol' Scratch has got iiitb me or the gun or both 
bt us. I trie-d her ft fflatk yest'day at arm's leilgth An' 
ipluilked thie fceiiler ev'ry time." 
^ "Polks an' guns will weiar aout," said the other, sin'liiig 
incredulously, 
"I noticed you field her stiddy as an anvil," said the 
blacksmith, Who was the repairer of all the guns of t*h« 
towhship, "an' I'd ruther have the ol' gun to-ddy lhah 
half a dozen o' these new fcishioh ohes wi* their gim- 
cracks an' their patent loadi'tV ititizzles an' peek sights an' 
the dev.il knows Wh-it all. Le' me jest look at her a 
Taking the gun he examined il: criticMty, dhd j^r^sfehtly 
his sharp eye detected the faul,t that he had suspected. 
"Heire's wherte ye got tSi C5ld shet, Uncle 'Liger," lie 
said, layihg.a stedfed forefinger on the back sight. "YVr 
croteh sight's got knocked a leetle hair aout 0' lihei" ' 
"Thunder an' -guns!" the old man ejacula.tedv '"Cfeit 
come o' my tublin'— droppin' of her a-cotiiih', over here, 
an' I never took a noJce., What a tarnal ol' gnmp i be, 
I'm glad it wa'n't the giin's fault— not r'a'ly." ' 
"Ner i^oill- holdin' nuther," said the blacksmith. "Taft 
oft giy' ye another chance for nothin'. Say, Abe, Uncle 
'Liger's sight got discuinboberlated was what ailed his 
shootin'. You'll let him hev another shot, free. Won't 
ye, now I've got it straight ag'in ?" 
"No, sirree. not by a jugful; the' don't nob'dy git no' 
free shots here," the landlord answered, gruffly. 
"Most seems 's 'ough you'd ortu, considerin'," the 
blacksmith urged, Coaxingly. 
"I tell ye, I won't. It hain*t my business to sight folks' 
rifles for 'em." 
"He's a mean skunk, anyhaow," said the blacksmith, 
turnmg his back upon the churlish fellow in disgust. "1 
was a-goin' tew take a few moFe shots myself, but I 
swear I won't, naow. He don't git no more o' my money. 
I've got one turkey an' w^e're abaout even. I wish't I had 
tew, I'd give ye one. Uncle 'Liger." 
"I feeL some as you dew 'baout payin' on him any 
more," the old man said, though in truth his scrltples on 
that score were not so great as his pride, which forbade 
his asking the load of ninepence. "But I du want a 
turkey tormentedly, an' I feel it in my bones I could git 
one by tryin' ag'in. Bat it*s a-gittin* kinder darkish for to 
shoot so fur." 
The shadows were cf-eeping from the gray woodlands 
far across the tawny fields, yet the shooting still continued 
in spite of the waning light. For the most part the living 
target would maintain its Upright or cowering posture 
as the harmless bullet Whistled past it, but now and then 
otie , Would proclaim a palpable hit by a prodigious flutter 
of final outstretch of lifeless head and wings. Thin a 
demand was made that the distance should be shortened 
by ten rods, to Which Taft would not accede, and so the 
shootCng ended. The landlord then announced that the 
remaining turkeys would be raffled off in the bar room in 
the evening. 
_ Some of the sMcessful shooters stayed to take paH 
m this contest, and nieanvvhile hung their ti'opHigs ih 
the back porch of the tavern, through which Uncle 'Liger 
passed to take his way homeward across the fields. As 
his eye fell Upon thfem, it struck him that it would be very 
easy to take one, and then he found himself sorely tempted 
to do so. But he went resolutely past them all. theh 
wath the memory of poor Lydia's face Hghted with antici- 
pation, appealing to him, he returned and weilt slowly 
along the line, carefully searching for the smallest tUrkey 
and promising to take no other. He foUiid it and Was 
lifting It from Its nail whett he heard approaching foot- 
steps and voices and skulked quickly behind a cortlef. 
"I got kinder oiieasy abaout my turkey, for fear some- 
body d hook it," said one. " 'Tain't no gre't of a fowl 
but Its a turkey all the same, an' the young uris is 
lottm on't 'cause I promised I'd fetch *eni one Here it 
IS, all right Wal, I guess I'll take it an' clear aout to 
make sure on't.' 
When the sound of their retreating footsteps grew 
faint and Elijah returned to the place, the selected turkey 
was gone. "Wal, there, 'Liger Wait, if you hain't come 
pooty mgh makin' a scamp o' yourself," he said, catchino- 
his breath m a gasping whisper, now hot with shame'' 
now cold) with fear of himself. "Git aout o' this, you 
cussed ol' fool, afore you disgrace your name an' lareed 
wus n missm' ev'rything you ever shoot at." 
_ He made haste to leave the scene of his temptation, but 
it was not far behind him when he began to make' ex- 
cuses for his weakness. 
"It wan't for me 'at I wanted the dumbed turkey nor 
yet for Cherry, though she'd be awful disappointed on 
Lyddy s caount. It was jest for that poor ol' critter 'at 
never hes no good times ner nothin'. Haow sh'd I know 
baout Gibson's young uns? Lord, that would ha' be'n 
tew bad, an' them settin' as much on't as Lyddy mebby 
What'll I du? Go that way an' tell her at the' won't be 
V-/?^'!^^^ ^""^ ^^'"^ I can't and won't 
1 11 kill the ol' ruster. He's bigger'n a young turkey. 
He s tougher n I be, but I'll set up an' bile him all night 
an she won't know the dif'ence when he's stuffed an' 
roasted. Cherry'll hate to hev him killed, bein' one o' the 
family so long, but she can't help it when he's dead I'll 
jest load up the ol' weepon an' git him ag'in the moon on 
his roost m the ol' apple tree." 
He dropped the peaked heel plate upon the tb'e of his 
boot, carefully measured a charge from his powder horn 
in the horn charger, as carefully poured it into the muzzle 
whereon he nicely adjusted a patch and bullet and drove 
them smoothly home, then slid the rod into its brass 
pipes and the long groove of the full stock, and throwing 
the rifle in the hollow of his arm, pushed the cap upon the 
nipple, every motion grotesquely imitated by his 
elongated shadow on the moonht turf. 
He remarked the stillness of the chillv air. One cheek 
was no colder than the other. His jet'ting breath arose 
Straight before him. The vapor rising from the lake 
glCQ'' upon it like thin columns supporting the canopv 
or .'?Mid it was slowly forming. It was so quiet that he 
r3.is> ] the lappet from his best ear and listened- intently 
