| Show ats FOR YOU its my turkey aint it father yes my boy all mine every feather of it to do what I 1 want to with it of course in my own way way hurrah 1 ned Wallace amazed his father by dashing through the snow toward the barn ending a colloquy so abruptly that his mother who had been a curious listener to the rapid coa stared after him with a sharp well I 1 never aaa such a boyl oh hos all right P smiled mr wauscel last haying tima him one of the little gobblers for work ha did the gobbler is a full grown fowl now and ned claims it ho has some idea of selling it and buying himself a pair of spates or a sled I 1 suppose it was two hours later when ned surprised his father still more however by revealing no such selfish in the turkey he appeared with the son of tho nearest farmer a boy of his own age paul dobbins the turkey with feet tied hung from a branch carried be tween them father macj go ona little jaunt aad be home before dark asked ned not to town ned oh no I 1 I 1 going to beell the turkey i going to make a christmas present of it indeed yes mr wallace looked curious who to nod silas miso what I 1 exclaimed his father the whipped you for breaking his windows yes father replied ned flushing slightly but with a heroic glow in his eyes doat look so sheepish paul we aint doig anything to be ashamed at see here father we broke marahs marshs windows last fall and he licked us for it and we deserved it too hes a uncivil old miser they say bat paul and I 1 got thinking jt oYer we never paid for and marsh Tre ckon has very liitle turkey usually indis going toast square and pay forthe windows andio and do the right thing by giving him my gobbler there was deep pride at the manly confession in mr wallaces heart but he did not express if in words teare dimmed his eyes edw rashe eve watched the bomey honest lais go down the road leading to the distant house of silas miser S and woodcutter you want to hurry he after them the snows deep in the woods and were going to havo another fall right away mr wallace was no false pi ophee and his warning recurred to two anxious wayfarers wayfare rs in the forest three hours later somehow in seeking a short cut from the main road to silas marahs marshs cabin ned and paul had become lost at nightfall the storm had come down furiously every step they took they sank knee deep in tho snow at last alarmed and heartened disheartened dis they placed some branches against tree so as to shelter them down to real we must be abar marahs marshs cabin murmured ned apprehensively yes but the dark and the storm what will the folks think see the turkey flutter draw him in from the snow ned hey that A wild fowl I 1 declare rang out a gruff familiar vaiee dont shoot mr marsh its me ned ned wallace and a turkey and iva for you and oh dear can yon give us shelter till we get dry and warm silas marsh gun in hand stared sullenly at the two boys but he led them to his cabin just across a thicket his hard face softened as once in the cabin ned a little shyly told his story A christmas present for me murmured marsh an hour later hitching up his horse in the shed to a sled to take the boys home ah me in ainest too and I 1 sort of jois judged em many a year since I 1 got a present mercy me I 1 alieve pm a anyway he gave his strange guests a royal feast on nuts and apples and drove them home through the storm ak both farmhouses farm houses the dobbins as welLa wallace homestead conference with the parents of the boys ere ho bade thorn good A singular thing happened the morning when ned wallace went to put on his shoes something rattled in them likewise in those of paul dobbins ned removed the obstruction a ten dollar gold piece likewise did paul silas marahs marshs christmas gift and later onno friend took more interest in guiding them in their woodland expeditions than silas marsh their honest christmas gift devotion and warmed the heart of the miser woodcutters cheerless frozen life |
