Show 44 W nil e t amas dmn ar 4 V t Y xa PH V 4 92 hed baile HOSE kawwas daw was the deml sioux greeting of tile the plump little scotch Can canadian adiar mother as the sunny laired haired young laddle laddie came running into tile the kitchen where already the porridge was cooked and the tea brewing for breakfast on this its his second christmas christinas she caught him la in tor her arms and tossed him high above her head whose very good boy was what she had said partly in the lang language ilage she had bad learned from lier her husband his nurse had been one of those squaws squads of the picturesque type still to be seen in manitoba in summer they come selling will wild red raspberries rasp berries or choke cherries in winter trudging on snowshoes enow shoes into the village to lilt their customers hugging the little lad to her breast the rosy mother half sobbed sob bedas as she tried to say it cheerfully whose daw even as she repeated the greeting the door swung open and a sudden gust of wind swept the fine dry snow enow like biting dust into her face before her stood one of these old indian women apparently ly exhausted from a long journey bourney through the storm 0 k s li it e d a daw T she gasped then continued in her native tongue yenna you speak the language of my people you tou speak the cry of my heart last night I 1 read it in the rainbow libed it u e d streamers of light from the north the night wind song sang it the wrinkled old face twisted into a pained smile as she bank in a heap by the litchen kitchen fire A bit of paper fluttered flattered to the floor from her hand tile the great spirit calls it Is the end of tile the trail she eho whispered as the little mother bent over her anxiously chafing her hands she saw tile the faded old eyes suddenly brighten then close suddenly it was the end of the trail see ree pee said the little lad holding up tile the scrap crop of paper which had fallen from the squaws squads hand opening it reverently the canadian woman exclaimed my lly berte its an ail ill wind that blows nobody guld sure enough her ok sheda slie she rushed into the living room where her ok sheda lieda we chasta married boy was lighting the candles on the scantily decorated christmas tree look robert on christmas day ay it has come the mystery and all see it Is the Christ christmas mast she exclaimed as she gave him the crumpled paper to read robert had been found when a baby by a band of indians only the old squaw who inho had come to the end ot of the trail this christmas morning knew the paper existed all night long in the blinding snow storm she had traveled on her snowshoes snow shoes traveled that she might find some one to whom she could tell the story all these years slie she had guarded the paper which she oie could not read feeling that in some way it would bring good fortune to the ok sheda who had seemed her very own little white baby she had loved him h I 1 rn so she was afraid to show the paper to her people the paper she had found hidden bidden in ills clothing she was afraid she mij might lt lose him if they knew then one ona day lie he wandered out of 0 her sight and the AM P had found him by the lake alone no white man was found to claim him the indians were afraid to their white brothers would ask them to explain and often their white brothers did not believe ills foster mother loved him but she too was afraid so she hugged the bit of paper to her heart and kept silent vigil tile the SI 11 P took the lad home and hired an indian nurse from the settlement to care for him every summer the old squaw came with her pall of red raspberries rasp berries only to grunt her thanks and loot furtively about her he r to assure herself that all was well with the boy then alien chuckle to herself as she patted her breast where th the e precious paper lay in winter ile would sometimes look through the open spaces in the frost covered dows to see the candles on th the e christmas christinas tree and see her dancing danciu with joy then came the and for three years she had not known where to find the lieda we chasta the paper all ah aes es it told who robert was ills his father had been a second son from devonshire who had sought ills his fortune in the great northwest it told how the young wife could not stand the hardships how the father too had surrendered to the storm kings fury one christmas eve liow how he had cached ills his rich find bad under the rock ehst resembled the ova near t the e source of the r river ver how he had wrapped its his greatcoat about wee robert and prayed the groat great spirit to saie sae him A great christmas for us all robert but it la Is the oli sheda im thinking of most with the war come and the business gone there to be much christmas but now see laddie the storm Is breaking the sun is beginning to shine sly berte my berte there there lassie here cornea comes the little shaver mind you dont let him lu in here till I 1 go to the store again there are toys and things to be put 0 on 11 the tree the way its come to us on christmas I 1 know well had find the gold when the snows melted they made the journey together this year as usual the with the golden curls and the we chasta with the black mustache are trimming ahe gorgeous tree that stands in the bay window of the beautiful fo farmhouse rm house near the rivers source the sleigh bells jingle merrily as th the e c utter cutter stops outside with a load of little indian boys from the settlement who are brought each year to share tile the festival of the christmas and down by the brink of the river Is the rock that resembles tin an owl 0 1327 1927 western newspaper union |