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Uncle Noah's Christmas Inspiration by Leona Dalrymple, Chapter one, Christmas Cheer. The

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twilight of a Christmas Eve, gray
with the portent of coming snow, crept

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slowly over the old plantation of briarwood, softening the outlines of a decrepit house

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still rearing its roof in massive dignity, and a tumble down barn flanked by

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barren fields. A quiet melancholy hovered
about the old house, as if it

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brooded over a host of by gone
Yule tides, alive with the shouts of

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merry negroes and the jingle of visiting
sleighs. Yule tides. When the snowy

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dusk had been ushered in to the
lowing of cattle and the neighing of horses

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safely housed in the old barn.
There were no negroes now, no blooded

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stock, no fluttering fowl, save
one belligerent old turkey gobbler, fleeing from

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a white haired darky who tried in
vain to drive him to his roost in

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the barn. In the line library
of the old house, a man,

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tall and eagle eyed, peered out
beneath bushy, white eyebrows, at the

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fading landscape, blurred by the dancing
forms of the Negro and the recalcitant Turkey.

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He watched the chase end with an
impertinent gobble from the Turkey, and

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at the sound of a closing door
in the rear of the house, tapped

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a bell at his side. Footsteps
shuffled along the hallway, and breathless from

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his chaise, the old Negro entered. Colonel Fairfax wheeled with military precision.

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Uncle Noah, he said, sternly, tomorrow will be Christmas. The darky

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nodded and hobbled hurriedly to the wood
fire, bending over as he poked it

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to hide the look of anxiety in
his face. Laws a massy mass of

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Fairfax, he grumbled, in good
natured evasion, you'd most freeze to death.

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I reckons thou sendin for me?
He coughed, and amended hastily,

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thou sendin for one of the servants
to pile up this here fire. The

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amendment was but one of Uncle Noah's
many subterfuges to convince himself and his master

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that there had been no changes in
the Fairfax fortunes since the old days,

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that he was the last of the
Colonel's retainers, a wageless, loyal,

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old dependent attending to the manifold tasks
of a soul domestic. The negro never

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admitted even to himself that his quaint
pretensions, however, were daily stimulants to

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the fierce old colonel, hungrily eating
his heart out with memories. Uncle Noah

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was well aware. So the pitiful
little subterfuges, revealing the subtle understanding of

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the two, peopled the old house
with swarming Negroes and the horn of plenty,

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to the joy of both. But
to day Uncle Noah felt uneasily that

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the reference to the servants had not
bolstered the colonel as it usually did,

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and the old Darky groaned inwardly as
he added wood to the fire. From

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the corner of his eye, he
saw that the colonel had drawn himself up

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to military rigidity and evidence that the
old soldier was on his metal and would

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brook no opposition, Uncle Noah,
he said, fixing a stern eye on

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the old man. In the Fairfax
family, there has always been a turkey

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at Christmas. There was no suggestion
in the darkis affable tones of the erratic

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manner in which his heart was beating. Yes, sir, he agreed ofttimes

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morn one, Owing to circumstances understood
by you and myself, but by no

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one else, there would be no
turkey this year save that, yes,

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sir, Uncle Noah laid a wrinkled
brown hand upon the nearest chair for support.

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We have a live turkey in stock, added the colonel, firmly,

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looking squarely into the trembling Negro's eyes. Uncle Noah's heart gave a convulsive leap.

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The thunderbolt had fallen the fierce old
turkey gobbler, solitary tenant of the

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crazy outbuildings. The imperial tyrant,
upon whom Uncle Noah had bestowed the affection

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of his loyal old heart, had
been sentenced to death by the highest earthly

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tribunal. The old Negro recognized as
as I fear'll be tough. Colonel Fairfax,

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he quavered ah Ah a god,
a massy mess, a dick.

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You wouldn't kill old Joe. He's
too smart for a bird, and he's

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done a most powerful sight. O
runnin sah. I reckons he's most all

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muscle. There was an agonized appeal
in the Darky's voice that cut straight to

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the Colonel's heart. Uncle Noah,
he said kindly, it can't be helped.

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Job goes for the sake of some
one else, Ol Missus. Yes,

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thank god, Uncle Noah. The
Colonel laid a gentle hand on the

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Negro's shoulder. That she doesn't know
of our er financial crisis. His halting

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utterance showed how distasteful the words were
to him, save of course, that

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we must live with economy as we
have for years of the catastrophe of last

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fall. She is ignorant, and
a Fairfax Christmas without a turkey would she

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must not know, he finished abruptly. The Colonel had spoken with a simple

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dignity and confidence that brought the old
Negro back from the field of sentiment to

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the barren desert of reality. Dimly
in his mental chaos stood for three pitiless

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facts. All Missus was grieving her
heart out for the Sun with whom the

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Colonel had quarreled three years before.
Of this money trouble from which Colonel Fairfax

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had shielded her, she must as
yet know nothing, And there was no

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turkey for the Christmas dinner. Verily, things looked dark for the ill fated

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job roosting in unsuspecting security in the
desolate old barn. With bowed head,

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the darky walked slowly toward the door, Uncle Noah. The Colonel's tones were

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incisive. You will kill job to
night. I most forgot massa Dick faltered,

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Uncle Noah, that supper is ready, sir, Oh, missus Duncombe

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downstairs, just for I chases job
to roost laws a mess in massa Dick.

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Can he live till after supper?
The colonel nodded, carefully avoiding the

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old man's troubled eyes, and went
to join his wife at supper. Christmas

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Eve, My dear, he announced
cheerfully as he bent to kiss the sweet,

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wistful face that turned to greet him. I beg your pardon for keeping

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you waiting. Uncle Noah, and
I were discussing tomorrow's turkey. He gazed

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calmly at the old negro nervously handling
the tea things. He has selected a

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large bird, and I have been
advising a smaller. The Colonel opened his

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napkin and deftly tucked the hole in
the end out of sight beneath the table.

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Now, Uncle Noah, what is
there to night for supper? To

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Uncle Noah, this nightly question had
become a sacred institution, a stimulus to

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imaginative powers highly developed. In his
quaint dialogs with the Colonel, he forgot

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the doomed job. It was Christmas
Eve, and his creative gift took festive

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wings. Well, sir, he
beamed, we has a little chicken gumbo,

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some fried chicken, just the right
golden brown, sir, Cream potatoes,

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hot biscuits with currant jelly er,
slashed ham, and baked potatoes.

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Colonel Fairfax thoughtfully considered the appetizing prospect
in accordance with the rules of the game.

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What mattered it that the luscious edibles
existed only in the brain of the

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loyal old Darky. The little pretense
gave to each a delightful thrill, surely

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an adequate extenuation of the harmless diversion. As usual, Colonel Fairfax found the

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key to the situation in the closing
items of Uncle Noah's list. It all

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sounds delicious, Uncle Noah, he
observed, graciously, But I have a

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touch of my old enemy, the
dyspepsia. To day I think I shall

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have sliced ham and baked potatoes that
I think will do for us both.

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Missus Fairfax agreed, her kindly eyes
fixed upon Uncle Noah's attentive face, and

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Sir Uncle Noah began, it was
Christmas Eve, and this game must be

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perfectly played. Shall I attend to
the distribution of gifts in a negro's coudice?

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Sir Yes, agreed. The colonel
see that no one is slighted.

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Missus Fairfax bowed her wistful face upon
her hands to hide the blinding tears,

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and an odd, uncomfortable silence fell
upon the little group. At length,

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the Colonel pushed his chair back and
rose, Uncle Noah, He said,

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sternly, a suspicious brightness gleaming in
his eyes. That turkey of yours is

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making a terrible noise under the window. Make him quick gobbling, Patricia,

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I don't wonder he makes you nervous. He's an old renegade. That the

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object of the Colonel's wrath had long
since retired to rust mattered not to his

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accuser. The turkey had developed a
convenient habit of gobbling under the window whenever

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a motion forced the colonel to seek
event In stern commands, Uncle Noah crossed

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to the window and commanded job to
be silent. Missus Fairfax, Southern gentlewoman

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and thoroughbred from tip to toe,
quivered proudly, and as Uncle Noah returned,

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bade him serve the supper in tones
as well controlled as they were gentle.

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Chapter two, The Inspiration In the
Great barren Kitchen, Uncle Noah wiped

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his steel roomed spectacles and glared angrily
about him. Oh, Missus Greebner had

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out for young massa dick, he
reflected, and a colonel say slat no

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one, gaud em messy, what
a missieur old world comin to every time,

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Ol miss Kraft, a young massa
dick. Colonel says, Job gobbles.

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The old Darky choked miserably at the
thought of the destined check to Job's

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gobbling career, and replacing his spectacles, carefully carried in the supper, prolonging

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its simple service to the uttermost with
the single idea of adding precious minutes to

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the doomed turkey's span of life.
When at length he sought the barn,

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it was quite dark, and the
velvet stillness of the night was dotted thickly

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with snowflakes. With trembling fingers,
he opened the great barn door lit a

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queer old lantern hanging just within,
and hung it high upon a projecting hook.

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The dim light revealed an antique carriage
house in one corner of which,

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upon a rude, improvised roost of
shingles, the tyrant Job slept the sleep

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of the just and the unjust rolled
into one. As the lights flickered upon

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his ruffled feathers. The turkey emitted
a throaty grunt of disapproval and moved cumbrously

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around to avoid the light. Uncle
Noah addressed him with great firmness. Now

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see here, massa Job, he
said, tain't no use your puttin on

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your high and mighty airs tonight.
I's come to interview you, sir,

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understand. Job majestically tucked his head
beneath his wing, as if to intimate

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his indifference to the proposed interview.
Uncle Noah surveyed his ruffled back feathers with

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increased respect. So he said,
you refuse me an interview, massa Job,

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Fairfax. You're sleepy, sah,
that's what's got unto you. He

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stroked the turkey with a gentle hand, and Job, resenting the indignity,

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withdrew his head from the sheltering wing
and pecked at the brown fingers, turning

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around with a stately movement and facing
the light once more with a sleepy blink

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of his bright bead like eyes.
Now, sir, we can talk,

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exclaimed the negro in delight. Drawing
up an old box, he seated himself

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before the roost and beamed benevolently over
his glasses. Colonel Dunn, say,

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yo gobble under the window about supper
time, he began confidentially when old miss

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crabout young Massa dick. The colonel
he just got a scold about somethin',

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and as you was the most important
person about, he just naturally selects you.

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The Turkey held his head upon one
side, apparently in critical admiration of

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the Darky's quaint old scarf pin,
which resembled a grain of corn mounted on

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a needle. Uncle Noah, who
had always had a faint mistrust of Job's

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attitude towards this ancient Ethiopian heirloom,
promptly removed it to a place of safety.

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Then, with a sudden resolve that
no thought of the coming tragedy should

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mar his last visit with his old
companion, he wrote and sought a dim

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cobwebby corner of the barn. Whence
he returned with a box. Deez here,

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Job, he explained, is the
flowers what young massa dick have sent

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to his mother every holiday since he
done went away from here mornin' aspects when

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the Colonel sees him out of plate, he'll declare your goblin's somethin fierce under

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the window again he always do.
The old negro broke the string of the

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box and removed a glowing mass of
purple orchids. Odd transient tenants of the

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crazy old barn Job suddenly reached over
and pecked a blossom from its stem ate

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the heart with the dainty air of
an epicure, and discarded the remainder with

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a noise akin to a gobble of
disgust. Uncle Noah rose and scandalized.

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Protest you good for nothin miserable sassed
turkey, he scolded, hastily removing the

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orchids. You certainly is the most
scandless no count bird I ever knowed.

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Eat one o ol missus Orchard's laws
a massive job. You goes most too

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far. Now, sir, you
be quiet and listen to this note I

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gets from young Massa Dick, and
he carefully deciphered the written lines for the

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listening job. Dear Uncle Noah,
I have written Foster and Company as usual

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to send mother's orchids. They should
get there Christmas Eve. Will you put

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them at her plate in the morning. I find they are the only suggestion

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of me that the Colonel will allow
in the house. I tried another letter

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this week, but it came back
unopened, Uncle Noah, give mother a

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merry Christmas for me, Dick.
Uncle Noah laid the letter on his knee

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and drew from a worn leather wallet
several newspaper clippings. They were glowing reports

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gleaned from a stray newspaper of the
success of a young architect in a distant

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northern city, one Richard Fairfax.
Junior. Uncle Noah proudly read them aloud

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for the hundredth time, interpolating little
explanatory remarks to the turkey who gobbled threateningly

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but failed to intimidate his tormentor job. What you think about this here,

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quarrel, Uncle Noah said, as
the turkey eyed him sternly. I say

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the Colonel's too hot on the boy
a Quarrel's a quarrel, you say,

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hum, Maybe you're right, but
it's this fair Fax pride of the Colonel's

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to keep him from readin the boy's
letters and nothin else. Sir, he's

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sorry for that quarrel. Don't you
forget it? But the colonel he prouder

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and lucifer. Hum, you say, y understand pride, as you're proud

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yourself. Then, as the turkey
relapsed into slumber, now see yere massa

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job, ye ain't no more sleepier
eyes, Uncle Noah poked the turkey with

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his finger, and Job arched his
neck with a threatening flap of his wings,

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and descended from his perch. Fight
me, will ya, demanded Uncle

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Noah in secret delight you is the
touchiest bird. Yere fight with these here

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crusts of bread. Job spread his
tail magnificently and began an erratic consumption of

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the bread crusts, pertly taking them
more by one from the old Negro's hand

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and arranging them upon the barn floor
for later and more personal inspection. Uncle

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Noah watched him with misty eyes.
Presently his gaze furtively sought the rusty axe

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in the corner, and great tear
rolled down his cheek. Caught in the

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wave of a sudden panic, he
dropped upon his knees and clasped his trembling

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hands. The dusky barn, littered
with odds and ends, was dimly visible

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in the glimmering light of the old
fashioned lantern, whose slanting rays fell upon

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the doomed bird and the praying negro. No thought of sacrilege marred the quaint,

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halting prayer. A terrible earnestness lined
the Negro's face with a holiness of

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purpose and made it beautiful. Oh
Lord, he prayed, Save this here,

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old turkey gobbler. I knows,
Lord, he's a powerful, worthless

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bird, but he's all as God. A's just an old slave massa what's

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been free since the war? And
Job, sir, he understands me.

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Lord, I don't want to live
no more if I ask to kill old

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Job. Send me an inspiration,
Lord, and tell me how I can

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save his worthless old hide. Save
him and an God bless the colonel aimen

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for an interval in which the only
sound was that of Job's feet as he

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strutted about, seeking an eatable successor
to the bread Uncle Noah remained upon his

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knees in the attitude of prayer,
perhaps awaiting inspiration. At length, he

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rose, and seating himself upon the
box once more buried his white head dejectedly

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in his hands. The snowflakes filtered
slowly through a crevice at the side,

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heaping fantastically into a miniature drift.
Absently, Uncle Noah watched them, his

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mind traveling back to many a snowy
Christmas before the war. Suddenly, his

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brown face glowed with radiance, and
he drew a long breath of relief.

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Joe, he said, leaning forward
and patting the turkey. I has it.

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00:16:52,639 --> 00:16:56,399
You'd scarcely believe it, sir,
But I's a gunna save you.

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He rose, transformed the bond and
droop of his lean body, replaced by

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00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:06,400
an alert energy. Now, Joe, he coaxed, I'll just want you

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00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,680
for to come along with me,
peaceable sir, as after you, to

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00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:14,240
save your old had from the Christmas
platter. But Job, with a malicious

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00:17:14,279 --> 00:17:17,880
enjoyment of the game, was prancing
wildly about the barn, flapping his wings

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00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:22,640
in hysterical derision of his breathless pursuer. Brought to bay, he squawked a

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protest and struggled violently as Uncle Noah
unceremoniously imprisoned him beneath one arm. There,

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Sir exclaimed the Negro triumphantly. Ah, hes, yer, you're certainly

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the most worthless turkey on this yere
plantation. Tightly clasping the outraged tyrant,

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Uncle Noah tiptoed to the lantern and
blew it out. Then, stumbling across

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the floor, he stealthily left the
barn and set out across the snowy fields

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to a tumble down shanty sole survivor
of a string of Negro huts long since

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burned one by one in the library
fireplace. Into its dilapidated interior, he

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thrust the protesting turkey, pausing at
the door as he struck a match to

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view the bird's temporary quarters. Now, massa job, Fairfax, he began,

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I know you is just mad clean
through y're jest naturally objects to beIN

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toped out in the snow in the
middle of a turkey knat without beIN asked,

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he says, your back is full
of snow. Well, I just

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ask you, massa job Fairfax.
Ain't to have better an beIN without a

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00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,480
head, now, sa I ask
ye to be most terrible quiet as yea

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not ies A goin into Coatsville on
a little trip. An I don't want

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a colonel to know you're here.
He closed the rickety door, and,

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hurrying back across the fields, sought
the kitchen, his eyes behind their spectacles

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shining with excitement. Muffling himself in
a quaint red knitted scarf, a dingy

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overcoat, and a worn fur cap
plentifully earlapped, he left the house again,

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00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,359
pausing only long enough to peer through
the library window at the colonel,

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who was reading aloud to his wife, both drawn up in the cheery warmth

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of a blazing wood fire. Then
he hurried on along the road to town,

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00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,519
with a prayer in his heart for
the success of his mission. Uncle

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Noah trudged sturdily down the two miles
to Coatesville, past Major Verney's old plantation,

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the cheery lights of the great House
twinkling brightly through a curtain of snow,

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and into the snow laden air of
the village, streets alive with Christmas

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00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:22,759
shoppers, hawley and mistletoe Christmas trees
filling the air with the odor of pine

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00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:29,279
dancing snowflakes and bright lights, wonderful
windows wreathed and dotted in Christmas glitter,

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00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,240
and cheery voices. Who could resist
them? Uncle Noah felt his heart quiver

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with hope. Jubilantly, he turned
his steps toward the railroad station. Ahead.

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00:19:38,759 --> 00:19:42,279
The Northern Express flashed through the snow
and came to a stop with a

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00:19:42,319 --> 00:19:47,839
clang and a roar, disgorging a
chattering holiday crowd who paused for a change

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00:19:47,839 --> 00:19:52,440
of cars at Coatesville on their southbound
trips. Uncle Noah hastened his shuffling footsteps.

253
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,160
The Northern Express, with its horde
of transient visitors, had been a

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00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,559
vital part of the inspiration. Upon
the station platform, people stamped up and

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00:20:00,599 --> 00:20:04,480
down in the snow, or laughed
and chatted, quite oblivious to the timid

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00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:08,319
gaze of the old Darky, who
slowly made his way among them. One

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00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:12,240
by one. Uncle Noah left them
all behind, a great disappointment in his

258
00:20:12,319 --> 00:20:18,200
face. In their laughing countenances,
he had found nothing of what he sought.

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00:20:19,079 --> 00:20:25,119
Chapter three, The Gray eyed Lady. Just ahead, a girl appeared

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00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:29,319
from the shadows and walked quickly toward
the waiting room. Uncle Noah looked into

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her fresh, sweet face. Then
his own lit up with renewed hope,

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00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,759
and he followed her in and touched
her timidly on the arm. The girl

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00:20:36,839 --> 00:20:41,079
turned, revealing her face rosy with
cold and a pair of warm gray eyes

264
00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:45,039
fringed in lashes of black eyes that
frankly offered a glimpse of a girl's impulsive

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00:20:45,039 --> 00:20:52,480
heart brimming over with Christmas spirit.
Uncle Noah removed the battered fur cap and

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00:20:52,559 --> 00:20:57,359
bowed low with the deference of a
cavalier a asjist come in to to ask

267
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:02,160
him, miss, He said,
simply, if you'd like to buy an

268
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:08,119
old nigger servant as for sale?
For sale? The girl took in the

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00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:14,680
quaint figure with a glance of blank
astonishment. Why, she gasped, surely

270
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you as, oh, miss,
he interrupted timidly, but meeting her gaze

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00:21:18,519 --> 00:21:23,799
with unwavering sincerity. I suspects asmost
a hundred, but as powerful, tough

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00:21:23,839 --> 00:21:29,200
and full o work an a miss. I has to sell myself to night

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00:21:29,319 --> 00:21:36,160
cause cuz Uncle Noah paused uncertainly,
seeking a fit expression of his dilemma,

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and the girl readily intuitive glanced swiftly
about to assure herself that the waiting room

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00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:47,920
was free from unsympathetic eavesdroppers, then
strangely drawn by this quaint old vender of

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00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,440
humanity, and warmly eager to put
him more at his ease, she impulsively

277
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:55,880
pushed a rocking chair toward the old
stove in the center, and motioned him

278
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,839
to be seated. But Uncle Noah
had been reared in the Fairfax family,

279
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,400
and a Fairfax never sat when a
lady was still upon her feet. With

280
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,960
a courtly gesture, the old man
bowed her to the chair she had drawn

281
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:11,920
for him. A quick gleam of
approval flashed in the gray eyes, and

282
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with a deepening flush of puzzled interest, the girl instantly seated herself, unfastening

283
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the silver fox at her throat,
as she felt the warm of the old

284
00:22:19,039 --> 00:22:23,480
country stove. Please, I would
so much rather you too, would sit

285
00:22:23,519 --> 00:22:27,279
down, she said impulsively, And
as Uncle Noah drew forward another of the

286
00:22:27,319 --> 00:22:33,000
rickety old rocking chairs with which the
coats filled waiting room was dotted, she

287
00:22:33,079 --> 00:22:37,160
bent toward him. A light in
the wonderful gray eyes that one Uncle Noah's

288
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:41,319
heart. Tell me, she said, kindly, tell me just why you

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00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:45,880
want to sell yourself. No,
she had not laughed at him. Uncle

290
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,160
Noah glowed to the tips of his
fingers at the ready sympathy of her tone.

291
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,799
He beamed mildly at her over his
spectacles, turning the old fur cap

292
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,559
round and round in his hands as
he sought to voice the words struggled to

293
00:22:56,559 --> 00:23:03,319
his lips. Old masses money an
miss. He ain't had much since the

294
00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:07,720
war, just enough to live comfortable. I'll go in the Coatsville bank crash

295
00:23:07,839 --> 00:23:11,000
last fall, and he don't want
old miss for the know. I's the

296
00:23:11,079 --> 00:23:15,759
only one of the niggas was left, and there's only one old turkey gobbler

297
00:23:15,839 --> 00:23:18,599
left to the stock. He's my
old pet, miss, most like a

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child. And and Uncle Noah choked. The girl's eyes were misty velvet.

299
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And he told you to kill your
pet for the Christmas dinner, she finished

300
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,559
gently. Uncle Noah nodded. MASSA
doesn't say we must have a turkey for

301
00:23:33,599 --> 00:23:38,279
the Christmas dinner or old missiles suspect
the the financial crisis, what we're in

302
00:23:40,039 --> 00:23:42,079
out in the bond. I prays
for an inspiration, an I suspect it

303
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:48,279
come. And so you decided to
sell yourself, began the girl. Yes'm

304
00:23:48,599 --> 00:23:52,880
Uncle Noah's voice had grown apologetic.
You see, miss, I's the only

305
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:57,200
thing what I really own sip is
here, old stickpin, cause I's free

306
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,359
now. But I reckons if I
I has a mind to sell myself,

307
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:06,200
de norf can't stop me. I's
sellin' my own property. There was a

308
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:11,440
gentle defiance in the old Negro's argument, and you you wouldn't accept a alone,

309
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,960
The girl flushed. The Negro's hurt
eyes were answer enough. Uncle Noah

310
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,799
had not lived in an atmosphere permeated
with Fairfax pride without feeling its influence.

311
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,480
I was not asking for charity,
Miss he averred stubbornly. I's a sellin

312
00:24:27,599 --> 00:24:32,319
somethin'. I reckons if you buy
me, miss An, you'll let me

313
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:34,920
go back and stay Christmas with the
old Master. I'll sell myself cheap.

314
00:24:36,559 --> 00:24:40,359
You see, I's a plannin first
to buy a turkey what'll take Job's place

315
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,920
on a platter, And then to
give the Massa a grand Christmas. WI

316
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,799
the restin' money what I gets for
myself, savin' out jest enough to buy

317
00:24:47,799 --> 00:24:51,640
my old turkey An, come to
your first day after Christmas. It'd be

318
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:56,559
hard to leave old Massa and miss
but I reckons it's just gotta be done.

319
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,920
Uncle Noah gulped and blinked, and
there was a glimmer of wet flashes

320
00:25:00,079 --> 00:25:03,319
about the warm gray eyes that had
won his heart. The girl was silent

321
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:07,519
so long that Uncle Noah shifted uneasily. But at last she spoke a little

322
00:25:07,559 --> 00:25:15,240
tremulously. For what price will you
sell yourself? She asked, And Uncle

323
00:25:15,319 --> 00:25:18,480
Noah never doubted, but that she
regarded the purchase in the same light in

324
00:25:18,519 --> 00:25:22,480
which he himself had viewed it.
He turned about for his purchaser's thorough inspection,

325
00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:26,119
his bald head above the fringe of
white wool about it, glistening in

326
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:33,000
the lamp let. Do you think
I's worth? Say twenty five dollars?

327
00:25:33,279 --> 00:25:37,519
He queried, regarding her fixedly over
his spectacles. The girl touched her throat

328
00:25:37,519 --> 00:25:41,880
with an unconscious gesture. Yes you
are, she cried impulsively, You are

329
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:47,559
indeed, And before Uncle Noah had
quite time to adjust himself to the joy

330
00:25:47,599 --> 00:25:51,279
of his unique sale, the girl
thrust a roll of bills into his hands

331
00:25:51,319 --> 00:25:59,680
and disappeared through the station door.
Chapter four Christmas Intrigue. Uncle Noah hobbled

332
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,119
after her. Her his new mistress
had quite forgotten to tell him where to

333
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,799
deliver himself when his Christmas with the
Colonel was over. But when he reached

334
00:26:06,839 --> 00:26:10,000
the door, she was eagerly greeting
a man who had just alighted from a

335
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,599
waiting carriage. Uncle Noah could but
dimly see, but as the genial voice

336
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,359
reached his ears, he halted in
the shadow, quite content it was Major

337
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,319
Verney. The fact that the colonel's
old friend and neighbor had driven in from

338
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,559
Fernlands to meet the radiant lady,
whose great gray eyes Uncle Noah now recalled

339
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,400
had had the Verney look, which
endeared the owner of Fernlands to all who

340
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,279
knew him, seemed to the watching
Negro a direct interposition of providence. A

341
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:38,640
scant mile of cotton fields lay between
the two plantations, and Christmas over,

342
00:26:40,079 --> 00:26:42,920
Uncle Noah had but to trudge across
the fields to deliver himself to the Major's

343
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:49,279
guest, and Ruth concluded Major Verney
in laughing reprimand you've kept me waiting,

344
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:55,240
why, child? The Northern Express
came in fifteen minutes ago. Uncle Noah

345
00:26:55,279 --> 00:26:59,039
did not catch the girl's reply as
Major Verney assisted her into the carriage and

346
00:26:59,079 --> 00:27:04,079
they drove rapidly. The old darky
beamed happily after the retreating carriage. Then,

347
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,839
with his hand tightly clasped about the
precious roll of green backs for which

348
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,519
he had so willingly bartered his freedom, he began a tour of the Coatesville

349
00:27:11,559 --> 00:27:15,799
stores. When at length he staggered
into the Big Grocery store for his final

350
00:27:15,839 --> 00:27:21,240
purchases. He was laden with a
miscellaneous collection of Christmas packages, from which

351
00:27:21,279 --> 00:27:26,720
he was cheerfully disentangled by the bulky
proprietor himself. Uncle Noah made a critical

352
00:27:26,759 --> 00:27:30,240
pilgrimage about the store, pausing at
last before a counter where the proprietor had

353
00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:34,759
laid out a number of turkeys for
the careful inspection of this beaming shopper about

354
00:27:34,799 --> 00:27:41,039
to select an understudy for the incomparable
job. A very respectable fowl was presently

355
00:27:41,039 --> 00:27:45,480
mantled in brown paper and laid beside
the other bundles, along with sundry bags

356
00:27:45,519 --> 00:27:49,240
of cranberries and apples, oranges and
nuts, celery and raisins, cigars for

357
00:27:49,279 --> 00:27:53,480
the kernel, a box of candy
for Missus Fairfax, huge bunches of holly

358
00:27:53,559 --> 00:27:57,480
and mistletoe, Christmas wreaths for the
windows, and a great bag of cracked

359
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:03,079
corn for the reprieved tyrant, gloomily
roosting in the ruined hut. As Uncle

360
00:28:03,079 --> 00:28:07,680
Noah carefully counted out the money required
to purchase this astonishing outlay, the bulky

361
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,960
proprietor asked pleasantly, Uncle Noah,
do you happen to know where I can

362
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:17,400
get a good woman to scrub up
my store every evening? Uncle Noah fingered

363
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,359
his scarf pin uncertainly. How much
do you pay for the work, he

364
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:27,160
queried? Fifty cents a day.
The negro leaned forward intense expectancy. Do

365
00:28:27,279 --> 00:28:32,720
you suspect I could do it?
He demanded excitedly. The proprietor, secretly

366
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,279
astonished by the old man's manner,
nodded assuringly. Why yes, you could

367
00:28:37,279 --> 00:28:41,759
easily. It's nothing much. But
the colonel Colonel don't have foo to know,

368
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,880
exclaimed Uncle Noah. I comes yer
Mornin's foys up, and I clare

369
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:49,519
to goodness, sir, I need
the money most powerful. The proprietor was

370
00:28:49,559 --> 00:28:55,599
easy going and too phlegmatic to harbor
curiosity, so the bargain was straightway sealed

371
00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:00,799
under a pledge of deepest secrecy.
Somewhat Confused by the unusual series of events,

372
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,960
Uncle Noah, his eyes shining with
a strange excitement, started for the

373
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:10,240
door, quite forgetting the countless packages
on the counter. The proprietor recalled him

374
00:29:10,279 --> 00:29:12,400
with a hearty laugh. Uncle Noah, he called, you've forgotten one or

375
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:18,039
two little bundles here with a smothered
gasp. The old negro hurried back,

376
00:29:18,599 --> 00:29:21,880
but try as they would, room
for all the numerous bundles could not be

377
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:26,359
found. The proprietor energetically tucked bundles
into all of Uncle Noah's pockets, piled

378
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,039
them tower fashion upon his arms,
and even hung a collection bound together with

379
00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:34,680
a string over his shoulder while Uncle
Noah wheezed and groaned and struggled to find

380
00:29:34,759 --> 00:29:40,480
new and unsuspected storage space in his
clothes. But still there remained bundles and

381
00:29:40,519 --> 00:29:45,039
bundles, at which Uncle Noah gazed
over his spectacles in growing discomfiture. What

382
00:29:45,119 --> 00:29:48,000
am I going to do? He
demanded, I never can come all the

383
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,799
way back here in the snow of
desire, old legs. Man, get

384
00:29:52,839 --> 00:29:56,880
one of them station cabs, advised
the grocer, and so, after considerable

385
00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:02,200
discussion, the bundle problem was resolved. Ten minutes later, Uncle Noah entered

386
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,920
a hired carriage for the first time
in his life at the town florist's.

387
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,039
He rapped a timid signal to the
driver to stop, and, glowing with

388
00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:14,359
anticipation, spryly shuffled into the warm
scented air of the little shop. Here,

389
00:30:14,599 --> 00:30:17,839
to the smiling clerk's astonishment, he
ordered a bunch of violets to be

390
00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,480
delivered Christmas morning to the young lady
with the gray eyes. What's at Major

391
00:30:21,559 --> 00:30:26,039
Verney's, surely smiled the clerk.
You don't want that on the card.

392
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,200
But Uncle Noah was stubborn more.
He insisted on writing the inscription himself,

393
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:34,880
his orthography quite as quaint as his
penmanship, and so the card went to

394
00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:40,079
be read by the wonderful gray eyes
in the morning. Back through the snow

395
00:30:40,079 --> 00:30:44,920
in his rickety carriage rolled Uncle Noah
rattling home along the snowy road down which

396
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,279
he had trudged in the early evening, chuckling now intermittently in a mental rehearsal

397
00:30:48,279 --> 00:30:52,039
of his new plan. Fifty cents
a day, he thought, and to

398
00:30:52,119 --> 00:30:55,680
morrow I was a going to slip
over to fern Lands in a morning and

399
00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,400
ask her to let me buy myself
back on a stallment plan. Most likely

400
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,920
she'll take a week and with all
the rest of that grocer money. Oh,

401
00:31:03,039 --> 00:31:04,680
miss don't have to know what the
Colonel and me is a goin through.

402
00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,839
In accordance with Uncle Noah's whispered directions, the cab crept gently up the

403
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,680
driveway at Briarwood and paused at the
kitchen door, where the driver, who

404
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,079
had taken a great fancy to Uncle
Noah, became transformed into a benevolent stevedore,

405
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,640
tiptoeing in and out of the kitchen
with the bundles which the old darky

406
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,400
drew from the cavernous pit of the
cab. Job's understudy came last, and

407
00:31:26,559 --> 00:31:30,839
Uncle Noah, tightly pressing the precious
fowl in his arms, watched the carriage

408
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:36,359
drive slowly away. Then, after
an interval in the kitchen, devoted to

409
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:41,000
hiding his purchases, he sought the
library, striving to simulate a decent depression

410
00:31:41,039 --> 00:31:47,160
over the assumed decapitation of Job.
Colonel Fairfax looked up inquiringly as he entered.

411
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,720
I's just come to tell you,
sir, said Uncle Noah, with

412
00:31:51,759 --> 00:31:55,680
a meaning glance at missus Fairfax that
I has a turkey all ready for the

413
00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,279
oven. A faint red crept through
the Colonel's skin, but he met the

414
00:32:00,319 --> 00:32:04,599
darky's eyes squarely. Thank you,
Uncle Noah, he said, and the

415
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:09,359
Negro shuffled hurriedly away in his old
rocking chair by the kitchen fire. Uncle

416
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:14,440
Noah, alert and excited, waited
until he heard the Colonel and Missus Fairfax

417
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,480
go up to bed. Then,
chuckling to himself, he extinguished the kitchen

418
00:32:17,559 --> 00:32:22,359
lights, and, carrying one of
his Christmas bundles, plodded across the field

419
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:27,359
to Job's nocturnal hermitage. The light
of a match revealed the tyrant roosting glumly

420
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,119
on the summit of a ruined plowshare. As brought you a Christmas surprise,

421
00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:35,440
Messa Job, Fairfax, said Uncle
Noah, And he sprinkled the floor of

422
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,559
the hut with corn, that the
turkey might find it in the morning.

423
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,519
With his heart full of thanksgiving,
the Negro plodded homeward through the snow.

424
00:32:44,079 --> 00:32:46,680
As he reached the old barn,
the great clock in the library struck twelve,

425
00:32:47,079 --> 00:32:51,599
and faintly through the snowy air floated
the distant, silvery charms of the

426
00:32:51,599 --> 00:32:57,200
Coatsville, bells clear and sweet,
ringing in a Christmas morning, creeping to

427
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,400
bed. Long after the first rooster
had crowed, Uncle Noah had sought the

428
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:05,799
kitchen again with the sunrise, his
tired eyes opening jubilantly upon a snapping,

429
00:33:05,839 --> 00:33:10,319
cold Christmas morning, radiant in gold
and white. Downstairs, clusters of holly

430
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:15,200
and mistletoe festooned doors and windows,
dotted the old fashioned hanging lamps with spots

431
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:21,440
of crimson, and crowned the family
portraits with royal diadems and evergreen wreaths hung

432
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,200
in the windows, all the work
of a wrinkled pair of faithful brown hands

433
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:30,119
toiling while the world slept. In
the library, a blazing wood fire leaped

434
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:34,799
and crackled, while in the dining
room the table was spread for breakfast.

435
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,920
Certain long needed articles of china,
which had mysteriously disappeared from time to time

436
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:44,880
since the autumn, dotted a tablecloth
free from holes, a new one subjected

437
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,119
to a severe laundry process during the
night, and the napkins no longer resembled

438
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:53,440
ku Kluck's masks. A great bowl
of purple orchids glowed at Missus Fairfax's plate.

439
00:33:54,880 --> 00:34:00,440
Chapter five Fern lands. The Colonel
greeted the Christmas festoons of Holly in

440
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:05,480
the library with a stare of astonished
approval. A question had risen to his

441
00:34:05,559 --> 00:34:08,039
lips, but the warning look in
Uncle Noah's eyes as they rested on Missus

442
00:34:08,039 --> 00:34:13,880
Fairfax had checked it. These two
had had many financial and domestic secrets from

443
00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,960
the dear Lady, and the Colonel
promptly decided that Uncle Noah had sold some

444
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:22,519
forgotten relic and had once more made
use of his highly developed faculty for expanding

445
00:34:22,519 --> 00:34:28,239
a small sum to incredible elasticity,
and he praised the result accordingly. Missus

446
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,920
Fairfax too brightened wonderfully, yielding to
the Christmas spirit with which the old Darky

447
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:37,360
had contrived to fill the house.
Uncle Noah felt a glow of delight at

448
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:42,559
their outspoken appreciation, and bowing elaborately, he ushered his master and mistress to

449
00:34:42,599 --> 00:34:45,960
breakfast here again. As he seated
himself, the Colonel was conscious of an

450
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:51,360
agreeable flood of astonishment. There was
quite an air about this Christmas breakfast.

451
00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:55,440
Fixing his keen eyes on the tablecloth
and napkins, he stealthily fingered them with

452
00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:00,039
a searching look at the waiting Negro. Fortunately, his interest were speedily diverted.

453
00:35:00,559 --> 00:35:04,480
He caught sight of the orchids and
the tear stained face of his wife,

454
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,920
bending over them with a wrench of
his chair. He arose Patricia,

455
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,480
He said, stormily, Did I
not say that nothing of his? Did

456
00:35:12,519 --> 00:35:16,320
I not? He paused and gulped. Uncle Noah. He added, unsteadily

457
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:20,159
that turkey of yours is gobbling like
a fiend out of the window. You

458
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:25,840
he The colonel stopped, abruptly,
reddened as his eyes fell upon the Negro.

459
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:32,000
Uncle Noah had wisely turned away and
sternly reseated himself. Somewhat confused by

460
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:38,360
his thoughtless reference to the late lamented
job, Uncle Noah hobbled from the room,

461
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:43,559
his brown face working convulsively. In
the kitchen, he shook with silent

462
00:35:43,639 --> 00:35:47,760
laughter, doubling over breathlessly and clasping
his hands over his stomach in aching distress.

463
00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,599
And what, Uncle Noah asked the
colonel kindly, as the old Negro

464
00:35:52,639 --> 00:35:58,679
presently re entered the dining room,
have we for our Christmas breakfast? Well,

465
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,599
sir? Uncle Noah began luinley.
We has grapefruit cereal with cream,

466
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:07,920
quail on toast, fried oysters,
er, oatmeal, hot muffins, fried

467
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:14,360
chicken, com bread and coffee.
The colonel, appearing to be thoughtfully considering

468
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,519
his choice, replied, as usual, it all sounds delicious, Uncle Noah,

469
00:36:17,519 --> 00:36:22,119
but I have a touch of my
old enemy dyspepsia today. I think

470
00:36:22,119 --> 00:36:24,360
I shall have some corn bread and
coffee, and so will missus Fairfax.

471
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:30,079
I don't think you quite understand,
mess Sir averred, Uncle Noah, and

472
00:36:30,199 --> 00:36:34,079
Sir, I suspect yer dyspepsia ain't
so bad this morning. We has for

473
00:36:34,119 --> 00:36:38,519
breakfast, sir, grapefruit cereal with
cream, quail on toast, fried oysters,

474
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,559
er, oatmeal, fried chicken,
hot muffins, corn bread and coffee.

475
00:36:44,559 --> 00:36:47,559
There was no mistaking in the emphasis
this time. Colonel Fairfax darted a

476
00:36:47,639 --> 00:36:52,320
lightning glance at the negro and amended
his selection with a question in his voice.

477
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,320
Well, now, I come to
think of it, Uncle Noah,

478
00:36:54,360 --> 00:37:00,840
he said, my dyspepsia isn't nearly
so bad. I'll have a let me

479
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:06,639
see oatmeal that was in the list. I believe h fried chicken, Am

480
00:37:06,639 --> 00:37:12,719
I right? Muffins, corn bread
and coffee. There was a conviction in

481
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:16,360
the colonel's deep voice that something extraordinary
was afoot, and Uncle Noah, flurried

482
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:21,480
by its ominous ring, hurried from
the room. Dimly he had pictured his

483
00:37:21,559 --> 00:37:25,280
master's gracious astonishment and pleasure. Any
queries relative to the financial source of the

484
00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:30,800
Christmas delicacies, however, had been
lost entirely in the darky's jubilant excitement.

485
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,760
Now, he groaned in dismay.
Yo is in a mess for sure,

486
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,360
Uncle Noah, he apostrophised himself,
What do you do when it come time

487
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:42,920
for dinner? Here you has a
Christmas dinner fit for a king and a

488
00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:45,920
colonel. He know right well that
we has only a little left from the

489
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:49,719
money and what we don't get when
we sold a silver teapot. It was

490
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,719
Christmas, however, and Uncle Noah
felt convinced that the providence that had watched

491
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:57,960
so well over his Christmas Eve would
order a special dispensation for his new dilemma

492
00:37:58,639 --> 00:38:01,679
while awaiting its manifestation, and he
would studiously avoid the Colonel and would slip

493
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:07,000
across to Fernlands once the pseudo job
was safe in the oven, and begged

494
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,000
the gray eyed lady to accept a
dollar a week of the grocer's money.

495
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:15,599
In his inspired scheme of self redemption. With this in mind, Uncle Noah

496
00:38:15,599 --> 00:38:19,559
served the breakfast, hurried his preparations
for the mid day feast, and at

497
00:38:19,599 --> 00:38:22,920
five minutes of eleven the turkey,
safely roasting, set out across the fields

498
00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:28,960
for Major Verney's. At Fernland's,
the eleven strokes of the grandfather's clock in

499
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,280
the great Hall found the gray eyed
lady in the arms of a young fellow,

500
00:38:31,639 --> 00:38:35,679
who had but that instant, bounded
lightly up the walk from the sleigh.

501
00:38:35,679 --> 00:38:39,760
Major Verney had dispatched to Coatesville to
meet the Northern Express. The Major,

502
00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:45,400
smilingly awaiting his opportunity to greet the
newcomer, ran his eye approvingly over

503
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,920
the lines of the well knit figure
and handsome face of the young man.

504
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:53,039
Well dick, said the Major,
advancing with outstretched hand, as the girl

505
00:38:53,119 --> 00:38:59,079
flushed prettily and smoothed back the dark
mist of hair from her forehead. How

506
00:38:59,119 --> 00:39:01,440
are you, my boy? Busy? Of course, we read fine things

507
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:05,920
of you in the papers at times. Then, as the young man took

508
00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:08,079
off his overcoat, what, sir, the Major, inquired, do you

509
00:39:08,159 --> 00:39:12,960
mean by falling in love with my
only niece? Here? My brother writes

510
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,880
me that his daughter is engaged to
a man who knows me, and will

511
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:20,159
I pack off a car load of
testimonials by a special messenger endorsing the little

512
00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:22,800
rascal who used to steal my apples. What, sir, do you mean

513
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:28,760
well, Major Dick answered, as
he was ushered into the big living room,

514
00:39:29,039 --> 00:39:31,760
his laughing eyes alight with happiness.
She had the verny eyes, and

515
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:37,079
you remember I always liked them.
He sank into a chair by Ruth with

516
00:39:37,159 --> 00:39:40,400
a smiling glance at the Major.
It is unusually cold for down here.

517
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:45,199
There's a real bracing northern sting in
the air, and what a snow.

518
00:39:45,559 --> 00:39:49,599
It's packed down so that the runners
fairly flew. Major, do sit down.

519
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:53,159
The Major was still bustling about,
urging Ruth into another chair by the

520
00:39:53,199 --> 00:39:58,159
fire, that he himself might sit
by Dick, poking energetically at the blazing

521
00:39:58,199 --> 00:40:02,079
logs and firing a volley of direct
at black Sam there, he exclaimed,

522
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:07,960
finally seating himself. Now, Sir, relative to this infatuated young person on

523
00:40:07,039 --> 00:40:10,639
my left, who has condescended to
visit her uncle for the first time since

524
00:40:10,639 --> 00:40:15,000
she arrived on the planet, I
met her last night. According to telegraphed

525
00:40:15,039 --> 00:40:19,119
instructions and she kept me waiting.
Let me see, Uncle, protested,

526
00:40:19,199 --> 00:40:22,440
ruth you've added fifteen minutes to that
weight every time you've mentioned it, my

527
00:40:22,559 --> 00:40:27,000
dear child, politeness alone has kept
me from naming the full extent of my

528
00:40:27,079 --> 00:40:30,400
weight, If you please, sir, He turned to Dick. She was

529
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:34,280
in the clutches of a beggar who
obtained twenty five dollars by a most extraordinary

530
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:38,639
yarn. Twenty five dollars, Dick
whistled, smiling at the flush that crept

531
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:43,079
up to the gray eyes. Was
it an aged father this time or a

532
00:40:43,159 --> 00:40:47,320
hungry brood of motherless waifs Ruthie,
Dick listen, cried the girl. Uncle

533
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,719
misjudges him. It was a dear
old colored man, and he told me

534
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,400
the strangest story. You don't often
find a grateful beggar who sends you violets

535
00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:58,719
in the morning, purchased with some
of your own, shekels, said,

536
00:40:58,719 --> 00:41:01,119
the major, pinching the flushed cheek. Tell him, Ruthie, it was

537
00:41:01,159 --> 00:41:06,239
odd, and I believe I'd have
done the same thing myself. The girl

538
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:08,519
flashed a grateful look at him,
and then told the story of her purchase

539
00:41:08,559 --> 00:41:13,320
of the night before, so eloquently
that The Major and Dick heard her through

540
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:17,519
with sober faces, secretly touched by
its pathos, and he must have recognized

541
00:41:17,599 --> 00:41:22,000
Uncle. She ended for the violets
came this morning with the quaintest card.

542
00:41:22,079 --> 00:41:25,920
For an instant, she dreamily scanned
the fire, seeing in its glowing embers,

543
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:30,920
the brown wrinkled Negro face with its
honest eyes, peering at her over

544
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:36,719
his spectacles in troubled apprehension. Then
she sprang to her feet. Uncle Edward,

545
00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:38,400
she cried, did you tell Uncle
Neb to wait with the sleigh?

546
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:44,559
Those sleigh bells are beginning to sound
hysterical merciful goodness, cried the Major.

547
00:41:44,599 --> 00:41:47,159
I certainly did. I had the
strictest commands to drive into church for Mother

548
00:41:47,199 --> 00:41:51,960
Vernie at eleven o'clock. Hi,
Sam, you black rascal. Tell Uncle

549
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,480
Neb. I'll be right out.
I'll tell him. Uncle called Ruth,

550
00:41:54,840 --> 00:42:00,199
flying swiftly up the long hall to
the library window, But no clear call

551
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,599
went ringing over the snow to Uncle
Neb. Instead, there was silence,

552
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:07,719
broken at length by a voice that
called softly in great excitement, Dick,

553
00:42:07,039 --> 00:42:10,559
Uncle Edward, do come here.
Look, she cried, as they quickly

554
00:42:10,639 --> 00:42:15,239
joined her. You see, Uncle
he didn't forget. Smiling, the two

555
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:20,000
men looked from the window. An
old negro, muffled in a threadbare coat,

556
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:23,159
was plodding up the walk, his
eyes scanning the house with evident curiosity.

557
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:30,199
The Major uttered a quick exclamation,
and the girl wheeled about. Don't

558
00:42:30,199 --> 00:42:31,920
you see, she cried, he's
come to day, honest old fellow that

559
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:37,760
he is. See Dick, She
stopped abruptly, looking from one to the

560
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,440
other. There was something in the
two stern faces staring beyond her at the

561
00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:45,760
bent negro that struck a chill to
her heart. Dick's face had gone white,

562
00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:47,599
and the Major's hand had stolen to
the younger man's shoulder, as if

563
00:42:47,639 --> 00:42:52,400
to steady him. There was a
startled incredulity in the Major's face as he

564
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:57,480
said, praise up, old man. You didn't know neither did I?

565
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:04,400
Ruth Dick asked, unsteadily. Is
that the old colored man? Whose whose

566
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,719
master? Yes? Cried the girl, the sharp pain of premonition in her

567
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:13,800
voice. Oh, Dick, who
is he? Dick's miserable eyes sought hers

568
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:20,119
as he answered, it's it's Dad's
uncle. Noah, Ruth I. He

569
00:43:20,199 --> 00:43:24,519
turned and sought the hall. Ruth's
face flamed at his words. Uncle Noah's

570
00:43:24,559 --> 00:43:30,440
pathetic story came crowding over her again
in the light of Dick's revelation. His

571
00:43:30,559 --> 00:43:35,000
father and mother, the stern old
Colonel, of whom Dick always spoke with

572
00:43:35,039 --> 00:43:38,199
such respectful loyalty in spite of their
quarrel, and the dear mother, whose

573
00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:43,320
tender eyes, gazing from the old
fashioned to geratype Dick always carried, had

574
00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:47,639
made her choke with sudden tears.
These two were Uncle Noah's beloved Old Massa

575
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:52,480
and old miss She turned. The
Major had followed Dick to the hallway.

576
00:43:53,039 --> 00:43:57,360
A shuffling step sounded on the porch
outside, and the girl hurried towards the

577
00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:01,119
door, a sudden light of daring
in her eyes. Impulse had always ruled

578
00:44:01,119 --> 00:44:05,000
the Verney's, and Ruth was a
vernie, from the crown of her dark

579
00:44:05,039 --> 00:44:08,280
head to the tips of her small
feet. Catching up Grandmother Verney's long cloak

580
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:14,519
hanging over a chair, she softly
left the house. Dick, struggling into

581
00:44:14,519 --> 00:44:17,280
his overcoat, turned at the Major's
touch on his arm. Just a minute

582
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:22,119
Dick. Major Verney's genial voice was
sympathetic as a woman's. Remember that what

583
00:44:22,199 --> 00:44:28,119
the colonel refused in prosperity, he's
not likely to take in adversity. Sit

584
00:44:28,199 --> 00:44:31,519
down here by the fire until we
talk it over. But Major, there

585
00:44:31,559 --> 00:44:35,760
was a note of anguish in the
boy's voice. I must go to him.

586
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:40,360
Think of Uncle Noah's selling himself to
help them and and I. But

587
00:44:40,440 --> 00:44:45,119
the Major had already removed the overcoat
and gently pushed his guests into a chair

588
00:44:45,159 --> 00:44:47,840
by the fire. Yes, yes, he said, as he seated himself.

589
00:44:49,199 --> 00:44:51,639
We know all about that, my
boy. But I'm afraid Dick.

590
00:44:51,679 --> 00:44:54,440
He added, regretfully that the Colonel
wouldn't let you in. He's very bitter.

591
00:44:55,559 --> 00:44:59,840
Dick groaned. He was calmer.
Now, you're right, Major,

592
00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:04,440
he said steadily. It hurts so
at first that I didn't think I can't

593
00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:09,800
go. Now he leaned forward anxiously. The coats fill bank, he questioned,

594
00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:15,000
abruptly crashed in the autumn in September. Dick bit his lip, and

595
00:45:15,079 --> 00:45:22,320
the Major added he was heavily interested. Dick stared at the fire. It

596
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:28,360
was all he had, he said, I see. The Major's quiet voice

597
00:45:28,599 --> 00:45:31,920
gave no hint of his own emotion. I didn't know, of course,

598
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:36,199
I'd heard he lost something. But
we all did, but I thought he

599
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:42,000
had other money. No, tell
me, Major, you've been going to

600
00:45:42,039 --> 00:45:45,480
Briarwood this winter, just as usual, of course, every Wednesday night.

601
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:49,679
The Colonel and I are too old
to alter the habit of a lifetime.

602
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:52,800
And besides, we both loved that
long evening playing chess. There's always a

603
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:57,320
roaring wood fire and a steaming pot
of coffee, and your mother always plays

604
00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,519
Beethoven for us. Just before I
go, a look of relief shone in

605
00:46:00,599 --> 00:46:06,639
Dick's eyes. Always a fire,
he repeated. I'm glad of that.

606
00:46:07,519 --> 00:46:13,480
There was no suggestion of I've want
Heavens. No, The Major's deep voice

607
00:46:13,519 --> 00:46:16,639
was full of assurance. Last week, he added, thoughtfully, the coffee

608
00:46:16,679 --> 00:46:21,840
was pretty weak, But it never
occurred to me that he stopped. Abruptly,

609
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:24,119
rose from his chair with sudden energy, violently blew his nose, and

610
00:46:24,159 --> 00:46:28,599
tramped down to the end of the
hall and back. Damn the fair Fax

611
00:46:28,639 --> 00:46:31,079
Pride, he exclaimed fiercely. Here, Uncle Noah has been coming into the

612
00:46:31,119 --> 00:46:35,880
library Wednesday nights and telling the Colonel
that the stock had all been bedded down

613
00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,079
for the night, when all the
time there's been nothing left but this confounded

614
00:46:38,079 --> 00:46:42,639
old Turkey gobble we've been hearing about. He swore last week that somebody had

615
00:46:42,679 --> 00:46:45,679
stolen the silver teapot. Abominable old
liar, he must have sold it.

616
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:51,320
The Major threw out his arms with
a wrathful gesture. All this comedy,

617
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:53,960
if you please from my benefit here. I've been there every week and never

618
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:59,360
suspected thanks to the infernal stratagems of
that black fiend of an uncle. Noah,

619
00:46:59,559 --> 00:47:04,239
damn the Fairfax pride. The Major
sat down as suddenly as he had

620
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:07,800
risen, and bending over, attacked
the fire with vicious energy. Tell me,

621
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:12,239
Major, Dick presently asked, have
you ever mentioned me to the Colonel

622
00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:16,320
since I went north? Once?
The Major made a wry face. I

623
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:22,719
never tried again, Dick colored,
does he know about Ruth? No?

624
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:27,960
I dared not mention it. The
Major looked at the other intently. Dick,

625
00:47:28,039 --> 00:47:31,880
He said, what was this quarrel
all about? Anyway? In the

626
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:37,559
beginning, Major admitted, the young
man flushing, it was so childish,

627
00:47:37,559 --> 00:47:39,960
I'm ashamed to speak of it.
Out with it, commanded the Major.

628
00:47:40,239 --> 00:47:45,679
I won't be hoodwinked by a Fairfax
any longer, well, sir, if

629
00:47:45,679 --> 00:47:50,320
you must know, it was about
the war, the war, exploded the

630
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:53,639
Major. By God, sir,
what what about the war? Dad and

631
00:47:53,679 --> 00:47:57,639
I were talking it over and well, to be frank, Major, I

632
00:47:57,679 --> 00:48:00,199
said, I thought the North had
been right, and that if I been

633
00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:01,800
in the world at the time,
I would have fought with them despite my

634
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:07,320
Kinsman, go on, did you
fight in any other post mortem wars?

635
00:48:07,559 --> 00:48:12,960
The Revolution or the fall of Rome? Dick ignored the sarcasm. My sympathy

636
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:15,199
for the North made him furious.
He went on, we quarreled terribly,

637
00:48:15,199 --> 00:48:19,519
and both of us said things that
I know we didn't mean. It was

638
00:48:19,559 --> 00:48:22,800
the Fairfax temper, Sir, I
damn the Fairfax temper, roared the Major.

639
00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:28,239
Thank Heavens, the Verneys are mild. Dick laughed in spite of himself.

640
00:48:29,119 --> 00:48:31,920
I apologized, he continued soberly,
but he wouldn't listen. Told me

641
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:35,880
to get out, said if I
chose to change my opinions about the North,

642
00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:38,880
we'd talk it over, and I
of course refused. Of course,

643
00:48:39,039 --> 00:48:44,679
interpolated the Major trimly I've written since, suggesting that we forget it all and

644
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:49,599
start anew But he won't listen,
Sir. The Major stroked his beard ominously.

645
00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:52,280
Did it ever occur? To you, Dick. He demanded that enough

646
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:57,519
families were estranged by that war without
carrying it over into the twentieth century.

647
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,559
Let me see how long after the
war were you born? Twenty years,

648
00:49:00,639 --> 00:49:05,679
wasn't it. I remember your father
and Ruths were married about the same time.

649
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:09,119
Every man has a right to his
opinions. Major Dick asserted with spirit.

650
00:49:09,519 --> 00:49:14,400
Of course, I've no personal knowledge
of the war, but stubbornly the

651
00:49:14,480 --> 00:49:19,199
North was right Fairfax to the corps, thought the Major, in secret admiration.

652
00:49:19,639 --> 00:49:22,119
The boys is father all over again? Well, Dick, he said

653
00:49:22,159 --> 00:49:25,960
mildly. We older men of the
South feel a little differently about this war.

654
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:30,800
But my boy, these post bellum
disputes don't pay, particularly when one

655
00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:35,920
participant was born long after the guns
were quiet. In my opinion, you

656
00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:38,800
didn't know enough about the war to
quarrel over it. Great Scott, quarreling

657
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:44,320
over the war, Dick, you
deserve to be spanked. The jingle of

658
00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:47,320
sleigh bells rang blithely through the silence
that followed, and the Major sprang to

659
00:49:47,360 --> 00:49:51,920
his feet. Merciful heavens, he
exclaimed, staring at his watch. It's

660
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:54,840
twelve o'clock. That must be Uncle
Neb still waiting, and Grandmother Verney's probably

661
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:59,400
standing on the church porch. Yet
mad as a hornet, he was at

662
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:02,519
the door now calling wildly to the
Negro Uncle Neb, why under the canopy

663
00:50:02,559 --> 00:50:07,639
didn't you call me? The darky? Scratched his head, Messa Edward,

664
00:50:07,719 --> 00:50:10,039
he confessed, I ain't been here. I just drove Missy Ruth over to

665
00:50:10,039 --> 00:50:15,719
Briarwood with Uncle Noah to see Colonel
Fairfax. The Major summoned Dick in great

666
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:19,320
excitement. Dick, he exclaimed,
get into your overcoat as fast as you

667
00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:22,599
can and drive over to Briarwood with
Uncle Neb. Ruth's gone ahead of you,

668
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:25,719
and you couldn't have a better deputy
short of an angel. Dick wrung

669
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:30,079
the Major's hand and fled to the
waiting sleigh, the color flooding his face,

670
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:34,559
and Uncle Neb called the Major frantically, hurry back, or grandmother Vernie

671
00:50:34,599 --> 00:50:38,199
will be tramping home in the snow. Rheumatism or no rheumatism. With a

672
00:50:38,199 --> 00:50:43,480
wild jingle of bells that seemed to
Dick the hysterical echo of his own heartbeats,

673
00:50:43,679 --> 00:50:51,639
the sleigh was off Chapter six,
The Colonel's Christmas at briarwood. The

674
00:50:51,679 --> 00:50:55,320
colonel wrought to a high tension of
excitement by the mysterious flood of Christmas prosperity,

675
00:50:55,519 --> 00:51:00,599
of which the latest manifestation had been
a fresh newspaper dated the night before,

676
00:51:00,159 --> 00:51:04,880
surmounted by a cigar of no mean
label, had been vainly searching for

677
00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:08,400
Uncle Noah, bewildered by the darky's
odd vagaries, which had culminated in the

678
00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:14,079
culprit's disappearance. Just as the Colonel
had returned to the library, drawn his

679
00:51:14,159 --> 00:51:16,519
favorite chair up to the cheerful blaze
of the wood fire, and opened his

680
00:51:16,559 --> 00:51:21,360
favorite volume. A door in the
rear of the house shut softly, and

681
00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:24,360
convinced that Uncle Noah had returned,
the Colonel closed his book and adjusted his

682
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:29,480
glasses, determined to have an immediate
reckoning with the author of all this Christmas

683
00:51:29,559 --> 00:51:34,199
cheer. A light step sounded behind
his chair, and the colonel turned,

684
00:51:34,559 --> 00:51:37,280
quite prime for an altercation. In
an instant, however, the old man

685
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:42,840
was on his feet, bowing grandly
in spite of his astonishment. A girl

686
00:51:42,840 --> 00:51:46,119
stood in the doorway, her cloak
falling loosely about her figure. Her cheeks

687
00:51:46,159 --> 00:51:50,519
were blazing scarlet from the cold,
and the deep gray eyes, fringed in

688
00:51:50,559 --> 00:51:55,239
black, bore something in their warm
depths that stirred familiar memories, Colonel,

689
00:51:55,360 --> 00:52:00,320
she said, stretching out a slim
white hand. I'm Ruth Vernie, Major

690
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:05,320
Edward's niece. I've just driven one
of your servants rare tact was but one

691
00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:07,960
of the Verney charms over from Fernland's, and I thought you wouldn't mind if

692
00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:13,360
I ran in for an instant to
enjoy your fire. Why child, the

693
00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:16,239
colonel cried, forgetting all else in
his delight. You must be Walter Verney's

694
00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:21,360
daughter. Ruth smilingly nodded. I
knew it, he went on, you

695
00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:24,400
have his eyes. Sit down here. I knew your father well when we

696
00:52:24,400 --> 00:52:29,480
were boys. He and I were
inseparable. He paused, and added simply,

697
00:52:30,239 --> 00:52:34,599
that was before the war. The
dark lashes veiled for an instant,

698
00:52:34,639 --> 00:52:37,840
a certain excitement in the gray eyes. I'm down for Christmas with Uncle Edward,

699
00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:42,440
Ruth explained, And before the colonel
had fully realized that they were chatting

700
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:46,920
happily together like old friends, suddenly
the girl exclaimed, Colonel Fairfax, I

701
00:52:47,039 --> 00:52:50,679
know you'll be glad to hear that
dad and the Major are friends again.

702
00:52:51,719 --> 00:52:54,079
Indeed, I am agreed the colonel
heartily. In the old days, we

703
00:52:54,079 --> 00:52:57,920
would have laughed at the man who
could possibly have suggested a quarrel for the

704
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:01,039
Verney twins. Nothing but a cruel
war could have done it, said the

705
00:53:01,039 --> 00:53:06,360
girl quietly. What does it matter
now, she demanded impetuously. If Daddy

706
00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:08,519
did fight for the North and the
Major for the South, it's all so

707
00:53:08,679 --> 00:53:14,000
long ago that a quarrel about it
is foolish. The colonel cleared his throat.

708
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:19,719
Yes, it is foolish, she
admitted. You see, Ruth leaned

709
00:53:19,719 --> 00:53:22,960
eagerly forward. I met a man
who knew the Major, and he praised

710
00:53:22,039 --> 00:53:25,920
him so highly that I lay awake
all one night thinking what a pity it

711
00:53:27,079 --> 00:53:30,920
was that two such splendid men as
Daddy and his brother should still be enemies

712
00:53:30,199 --> 00:53:34,880
over an old, bygone war.
You know, Colonel, they would have

713
00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:37,599
been friends ages ago, only each
was too proud to make the first advance.

714
00:53:38,119 --> 00:53:43,519
Wasn't it foolish? The colonel nodded, carefully, shading his eyes from

715
00:53:43,519 --> 00:53:46,679
the fire. They were just wasting
precious years of companionship, went on the

716
00:53:46,679 --> 00:53:51,159
girl. That thought came to me
as I lay awake in bed and the

717
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:53,760
very next morning, I wrote to
the Major. You see, Colonel Fairfax,

718
00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:58,079
I feel this way. She explained, there's no north and no south.

719
00:53:58,519 --> 00:54:02,000
Daddy and the Major are so citizens
of the United States. The Colonel

720
00:54:02,079 --> 00:54:06,920
rose and busied himself about the fire. When he put back the tongs and

721
00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:10,280
re seated himself, his cheeks were
hot from its blazing warmth. And that's

722
00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:14,199
what I told Uncle Edward in the
letter, and Colonel he wrote me such

723
00:54:14,199 --> 00:54:16,280
a glorious letter back that I had
to show it to Daddy. He was

724
00:54:16,320 --> 00:54:20,360
delighted, and he said that any
two men who fought over the battles of

725
00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:25,360
a dead war were old fools.
Colonel Fairfax winced, so finished the girl

726
00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:30,480
with glowing eyes. Uncle Edward came
rushing north in a great state of excitement.

727
00:54:30,679 --> 00:54:34,519
And that's how I came to be
down here over Christmas. In her

728
00:54:34,559 --> 00:54:38,239
impetuous criticism of the wartime quarrel that
had separated the Verney twins for more than

729
00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:44,760
forty years and the expression of her
broad, impulsive patriotism, Colonel Fairfax had

730
00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:49,159
listened to certain truths which had long
been subconsciously germinating in his own mind.

731
00:54:49,880 --> 00:54:52,199
Before he could recover from the surprise
of finding that he agreed with her.

732
00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:57,440
Ruth, touched by the lines of
care, graven upon his fine old face,

733
00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:00,440
had caught her breath with a little
sob slipped from her place by the

734
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:05,440
fire, and was kneeling beside his
chair, her eyes starry with light,

735
00:55:05,599 --> 00:55:10,280
her lovely face glorified with its tender
appeal. Colonel. She cried a catch

736
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:15,280
in her voice, I'm going to
marry Dick. It was he who praised

737
00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:20,960
Uncle Edward, so the colonel's face
grew scarlet. Then he laid a trembling

738
00:55:20,960 --> 00:55:27,119
hand upon the girl's bowed head.
Child, He said, you you.

739
00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:31,679
Tears blinded his eyes, and he
stopped. In the silence that followed,

740
00:55:31,719 --> 00:55:36,679
came the sharp sound of a quick
footfall. The colonel looked up. Dick

741
00:55:36,719 --> 00:55:39,679
Fairfax stood in the doorway, his
eyes burning strangely in the white misery of

742
00:55:39,719 --> 00:55:45,920
his face. The father rose and
straightened himself with something of his old stern

743
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:51,079
dignity, but at a warm,
girlish touch. He gulped. Dick,

744
00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:55,599
he said, queerly, holding out
a trembling hand. We're we're both citizens

745
00:55:55,599 --> 00:56:01,559
of the United States, and it's
Christmas Day. Almost before he had finished,

746
00:56:01,559 --> 00:56:05,840
the boy had bounded across the floor
and wrung the outstretched hand, his

747
00:56:05,920 --> 00:56:09,280
face radiant with delight by the fire. Ruth cried softly, and the Colonel

748
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:15,519
gently patted her dark head, his
eyes full of tenderness, then taking refuge

749
00:56:15,519 --> 00:56:19,440
from the sharp pain of his emotion. In austere command, Dick, he

750
00:56:19,480 --> 00:56:22,960
said, sternly, go to your
mother. When Uncle Noah, in a

751
00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:28,960
state of beatification impossible to describe,
summoned the four to the wonderful Christmas dinner,

752
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:32,360
Colonel Fairfax was eagerly listening to the
tales of Dick's success as told by

753
00:56:32,440 --> 00:56:37,480
Ruth, and Dick was gently patting
his mother's gray hair, a halo of

754
00:56:37,519 --> 00:56:42,840
silver crowning a face radiant with happiness, a Christmas quartet whose reconciliation. Uncle

755
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:46,960
Noah could as yet but imperfectly comprehend
that he had been the unconscious instrument of

756
00:56:47,000 --> 00:56:51,760
it all. The gray eyed lady
had already told him, but Uncle Noah,

757
00:56:51,800 --> 00:56:54,639
busy with numberless culinary problems in the
kitchen, had not as yet had

758
00:56:54,639 --> 00:56:59,960
time to ferret it out. At
four o'clock, Major Verney, who had

759
00:57:00,119 --> 00:57:04,679
been restrained from dashing over to Briarwood
hours before only by the necessity of soothing

760
00:57:04,719 --> 00:57:07,800
the ruffled feelings of his irate mother
after her long wait for a belated sleigh

761
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:12,360
on the porch of the Coatsville Church, blustered in, with the aggrieved old

762
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:16,199
lady upon his arm. We've come
to supper, announced the Major no Dick,

763
00:57:16,280 --> 00:57:19,719
as the Colonel rose, sit down. I know all about it,

764
00:57:19,800 --> 00:57:22,599
and to night you're all going back
to Fernland's with me to celebrate the betrothal

765
00:57:22,599 --> 00:57:27,199
of these two youngsters. It has
been a day of mystery, as the

766
00:57:27,239 --> 00:57:30,840
Colonel said, but will someone please
tell me what Uncle Noah was doing over

767
00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:35,440
at Fernland's this morning when he was
needed here? A silence fell over the

768
00:57:35,440 --> 00:57:38,880
little group. The subject was one
whose delicacy forbade the ghost of a blunder.

769
00:57:40,199 --> 00:57:44,039
It was the Major who at last
drew his old friend into the deep

770
00:57:44,079 --> 00:57:47,079
window recess, where but the night
before he had watched Uncle Noah pursuing the

771
00:57:47,119 --> 00:57:52,480
elusive job, and told him the
story of the faithful old Negro's Christmas Eve.

772
00:57:52,679 --> 00:57:58,119
The Colonel listened intently, the snowy
landscape outside growing blurred and misty,

773
00:57:58,280 --> 00:58:01,800
as the record of the old man's
devotion gradually unfolded. Before the Major had

774
00:58:01,800 --> 00:58:06,320
finished. The Colonel's hand had crept
to the bell at his side, and

775
00:58:06,400 --> 00:58:10,079
as the darky shuffling footsteps echoed along
the corridor, he turned again and stared

776
00:58:10,119 --> 00:58:15,599
with unseeing eyes at the outline of
the old barn. Dick shifted the log

777
00:58:15,679 --> 00:58:20,239
and a crimson glow irradiated the old
library, making a halo of soft fire

778
00:58:20,320 --> 00:58:24,119
about the figure of the old darky
as he paused before his master, Uncle

779
00:58:24,159 --> 00:58:30,400
Noah said the colonel brokenly. I
but his voice failed him, and he

780
00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:34,920
wrung the old man's hand in silence. The Major bent and whispered a few

781
00:58:34,960 --> 00:58:37,639
swift words to the startled darky,
and a great light illumined the brown face.

782
00:58:38,679 --> 00:58:42,480
Don't you go for to thank me, massa Dick, he crooned,

783
00:58:42,719 --> 00:58:46,360
patting the colonel's hand with reverent devotion. I ain't worth it all I need,

784
00:58:46,480 --> 00:58:51,599
sir, is just a good kick
for disobeying orders specks. I don't

785
00:58:51,639 --> 00:58:53,679
understand it all, but I does
know, sir, that the lady with

786
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:58,639
the gray eyes what's at Major Verney's
is is a good fairy. Sir,

787
00:58:59,119 --> 00:59:05,360
and Colonel Desmas Supper am ready joyously. They filed out, Dick lingering in

788
00:59:05,400 --> 00:59:08,719
the firelight for a word with Ruth. Grandmother Verney, in high good humor,

789
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:13,280
went out on the Colonel's arm.
The grievance of the morning's belated sleigh

790
00:59:13,360 --> 00:59:17,559
quite forgotten in the genial warmth of
the Fairfax hospitality. And what, Uncle

791
00:59:17,559 --> 00:59:21,719
Noah asked the Colonel of the Old
Darky? As usual? Have we to

792
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:27,320
night for supper? Well, Sir, beamed Uncle Noah. We has ham

793
00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:31,239
and turkey and cranberry sauce and celert
and baked apples and mince pie and fruit

794
00:59:31,239 --> 00:59:37,800
cake. Am An lows A massy
massa, I's tooker flustrated to recommember any

795
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:42,360
more. We'll have them all,
cried the Colonel. A terrific gobbling arose

796
00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:45,079
beneath the dining room window, and
the major rose and stared out in astonishment.

797
00:59:46,000 --> 00:59:51,719
Merciful goodness, Dickie demanded, what
is that horrible racket? Lows A

798
00:59:51,840 --> 00:59:54,480
massy Massa, cried the Old Darky. It's job I let him out.

799
00:59:54,519 --> 00:59:58,559
Awhile back, Sir an I done
forgot to put him to roost. I

800
00:59:58,639 --> 01:00:02,440
reckon he's come to remind me.
And beaming happily at the radiant Christmas party,

801
01:00:02,639 --> 01:00:06,719
Uncle Noah flung up the window and
in a terrible voice, commanded the

802
01:00:06,760 --> 01:00:15,599
tyrant to be silent. End of
Uncle Noah's Christmas Inspiration by Leona Dalrymple