1
00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:07,559
Christmas Eve at Topmast Tickle by Norman
Duncan. It was Labrador weather, sure

2
00:00:07,639 --> 00:00:12,679
enough, and winter weather too,
a cold, windy time. There was

3
00:00:12,839 --> 00:00:16,600
nothing for it, however, the
doctor and I must brave our way along

4
00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:21,640
myself Davy Roth, a mite of
a youngster in those days, and that

5
00:00:21,719 --> 00:00:26,719
good man and wise physician whom we
called Doctor Luke on our grim coast.

6
00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,920
We loved the man from Cape Chidley
to the Straits, a thousand miles of

7
00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:37,880
bitter coast, now his professional round. We loved him never such another,

8
00:00:38,079 --> 00:00:43,159
for courage and tenderness as he he
had come, a castaway from the wreck

9
00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,200
of the Saint Lawrence to our harbor, a moody, wretched fellow, with

10
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,920
the imprint of evil upon him.
What evil he had done I do not

11
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:57,159
to this day know. So vivid
was this suggestion. I recall, however,

12
00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,119
that I was moved one night to
pray for him with all my might,

13
00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,959
And my prayer was addressed to my
mother, then recently dead, in

14
00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,079
whose power in her new estate I
had implicit faith. It seemed that she

15
00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:18,359
must understand that she might procure his
restoration. Dear Mamma, I prayed,

16
00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,760
there's something wrong along with the doctor
man who came the night you died.

17
00:01:23,359 --> 00:01:27,239
He've managed somehow to get wonderful sick. I'm not knowing what ails him or

18
00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,560
where he cotched it, but I
sees it plain in his face, and

19
00:01:30,719 --> 00:01:34,680
tis a woeful sickness. Do you
make haste to the throne of God,

20
00:01:34,799 --> 00:01:38,719
please, ma'am and tell him I've
been asking you to have him cured.

21
00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,359
You'd want him well too, and
you was here, and the Lord ll

22
00:01:44,439 --> 00:01:47,959
surely listen to you and take your
word for it. Oh, do you

23
00:01:48,079 --> 00:01:51,640
pray the Lord with all you might, and may and dim Mamma to heal

24
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,280
that man. It came about presently
that the doctor made up his mind to

25
00:01:56,319 --> 00:01:59,840
stay on our coast, and I
did not doubt that my mother had in

26
00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:05,840
some way accomplished his determination that night, the night when the doctor told me

27
00:02:05,959 --> 00:02:08,919
that he was to stay, I
rode him to North Tickle and let the

28
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:14,400
punt lie in the swell of the
open sea, where it was very solemn

29
00:02:14,479 --> 00:02:19,639
and quiet. The sky was heavy
with drifting masses of cloud, a flare

30
00:02:19,719 --> 00:02:23,199
with red and gold, and all
the sunset colors from the black line of

31
00:02:23,319 --> 00:02:29,159
coast lying in the west far into
the east, where sea and sky were

32
00:02:29,199 --> 00:02:34,360
turning gray. Indeed, it was
very still, very solemn, lying in

33
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,159
the long crimson swell of the great
Deep, while the dusk came creeping over

34
00:02:38,199 --> 00:02:43,680
the sea. I do not wonder, the doctor muttered, with a shudder,

35
00:02:43,879 --> 00:02:49,000
that the people who dwell here fear
God. There was something familiar to

36
00:02:49,039 --> 00:02:52,639
me in that feeling, but for
the moment I could not make it out,

37
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:58,280
Sir, I said. His eyes
ranged timidly over the somber waist,

38
00:02:58,759 --> 00:03:04,159
the vasty, splendid heavens, the
coast, dark and unfeeling, the infinite

39
00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,479
sullen sea, which ominously darkened as
he looked, and he covered his face

40
00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:14,039
with his hands. No, he
whispered, looking up, I do not

41
00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:19,439
wonder that you believe in God and
fear him. Then I knew that round

42
00:03:19,479 --> 00:03:23,759
about he felt the presence of an
offended God, and fear him, he

43
00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:29,840
repeated. I leveled my finger at
him. You've been wicked, I said,

44
00:03:30,039 --> 00:03:34,120
knowing that my accusation was true.
Yes, he answered, I have

45
00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:38,439
been wicked. I had been wicked
too in my time and understood. Is

46
00:03:38,479 --> 00:03:43,080
it going to be good? Now? I'm going to stay here, he

47
00:03:43,159 --> 00:03:46,319
replied, and I'm going to heal
the people and try to be good.

48
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,719
I'll die to see it, I
cried, I Cod. My friend,

49
00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:57,039
old skipper Tommy Lovejoy commented, when
the news was imparted to him. You'll

50
00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,400
never tell me the doctor man is
to stay in our harbor well well and

51
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,599
all because the Saint Lawrence was wrecked, and because your mother died the night

52
00:04:04,639 --> 00:04:09,280
he come ashore, an because he
might a safer had he been here in

53
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,400
time enough, it, Cod says
the Lord. Now that I got that

54
00:04:13,599 --> 00:04:16,000
doctor man there, I'll just put
it in his mind to stay an do

55
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,920
a day's work or two for me. I'm sure he meant it. I'm

56
00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:24,879
sure he meant to do just that. I'm sure twas all done a purpose.

57
00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,360
We thinks he's hard and a bit
free and careless, he cod.

58
00:04:29,519 --> 00:04:32,800
There's times when we thinks he fair
bungles his job. He kills us,

59
00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,079
and he cripples us, and he
starves us, and he hurts our hearts

60
00:04:36,439 --> 00:04:42,199
an then Davy, we says he's
a dunderhead at runnin the world, which

61
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,959
says we we could run a sight
better if we was able to make one.

62
00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,879
But the lard Davy does his day's
work in a seaman like way usin

63
00:04:49,959 --> 00:04:55,319
no more crooked backs and empty stomachs, and children's tears and broken hearts than

64
00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,000
he can help. Tis little we
knows about what he's up to, all

65
00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:05,360
which was characteristic of Skipper Tommy,
and the doctor was presently cured. There

66
00:05:05,439 --> 00:05:10,839
is virtue for the city bread I
fancy in the clean salt air and simple

67
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:15,959
living of our coast, and surely
for everyone everywhere. A tonic in the

68
00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:20,600
performance of good deeds. Hard practice
in fair and foul weather worked a vast

69
00:05:20,759 --> 00:05:27,399
change in the doctor. Toil and
fresh air are eminent physicians, the wonder

70
00:05:27,439 --> 00:05:30,639
of salty wind, and the hand
to hand conflict with the northern sea.

71
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,800
They gave him health, a clear
eyed, brown, deep breathed sort of

72
00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:40,720
health, and restored a strength,
broad shouldered and lithe and playful that was

73
00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:46,360
his natural heritage. With this new
power came joyous courage, indomitability of purpose,

74
00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:53,240
a restless activity of body and mind. He was now in manly qualities.

75
00:05:53,399 --> 00:05:58,759
The man the good God designed strong
and bonny and tender hearted, betraying

76
00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:02,040
no weakness in the duties of the
day. And he went about with hearty

77
00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,319
words on the tip of his tongue
and a laugh in his gray eyes.

78
00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:10,240
The children ran out of the cottages
to greet him as he passed by,

79
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,360
and a multitude of surly, ill
conditioned dogs which yielded the road to no

80
00:06:15,439 --> 00:06:20,800
one else accepted him as a distinguished
intimate. But to the story. It

81
00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:26,040
was Labrador weather, as I have
said, white weather, and the day

82
00:06:26,079 --> 00:06:30,959
before Christmas, the Doctor and I
must get along. There was nothing for

83
00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:34,240
it. We must spend Christmas at
home. The wind must not deny us,

84
00:06:34,519 --> 00:06:39,839
nor the cold, nor the driving
snow. Returning a foot from the

85
00:06:39,879 --> 00:06:44,480
bedside of long John wise ad run
by Guess, and from many a bedside

86
00:06:44,519 --> 00:06:47,720
and wretched hearth by the way,
the Doctor and I strapped our packs aback

87
00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:53,680
and heartily set out from the Hudson's
Bay Company's post at bread and Water Bay

88
00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:58,000
in the dawn of the day before
Christmas, Being then three weeks gone from

89
00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:02,439
our harbor, and thinking to reach
next day, we were to chance hospitality

90
00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,160
for the night. And this must
be they told us. At the cottage

91
00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:11,600
of a man of the name of
Jonas Jut, which is at topmast Tickle,

92
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,480
there was a lusty old wind scampering
down the coast, with many a

93
00:07:15,519 --> 00:07:19,639
sportive whirl and whoop, flinging the
snow about in vast delight, a big,

94
00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:25,199
rollicking winter's wind blowing straight out of
the north at the pitch of half

95
00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:30,040
a gale. With this abeam we
made brave progress. But yet twas late

96
00:07:30,079 --> 00:07:33,560
at night when we floundered down the
gully called long and deep, where the

97
00:07:33,639 --> 00:07:39,839
drifts were overhead. And each must
rescue the other from sudden misfortune. A

98
00:07:39,879 --> 00:07:45,000
warm glimmer of light in Jonas Jut's
kitchen window to guide and hearken us.

99
00:07:46,199 --> 00:07:49,800
The doctor beat on the door with
his fist open. He cried, open.

100
00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:57,279
There was no response. Open,
the doctor shouted, still furiously knocking.

101
00:07:57,879 --> 00:08:01,639
Not a whisper, not a creek
was elicited from within. Are you

102
00:08:01,839 --> 00:08:07,120
dead? Are ye deef? The
doctor cried, good Lord, willya never

103
00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:11,160
opened this door? So gruff was
the voice, so big and commanding,

104
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:16,519
and so sudden was the outcry,
And so late was the night, and

105
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,639
wild the wind, and far away
the little cottage, that the three little

106
00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:26,560
Juts who then sat expectant at the
kitchen fire must all at once have huddled

107
00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,279
close. I fancy that Sammy blinked
no longer at the crack in the stove,

108
00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,000
But slipped from his chair and limped
to his sister, whose hand he

109
00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,080
clutched. I am sure of it. I am sure that little Sammy Jutt

110
00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,600
slipped from his chair in affright,
that he limped across the floor to Martha

111
00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,559
Jut, and that he caught hold
of her hand, and that he stared

112
00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:52,840
at the door with his eyes popping
out while the furious knocking went on and

113
00:08:52,919 --> 00:08:58,360
the big voice commanding entrance. That
was little Sammy Jutt's way to limp to

114
00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:03,399
his sister and catch her hand.
We'll freeze, I tell you, shouted

115
00:09:03,399 --> 00:09:07,759
the doctor opened up. Ah,
thank you in a mollified way, as

116
00:09:07,879 --> 00:09:13,679
Skipper Jonas Jutt opened the door,
and then, most engagingly, may we

117
00:09:13,799 --> 00:09:18,799
come in an welcome'srz, said the
hearty Jonas. Whoever you be, tis

118
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,080
gettin' to be a wild knight.
Thank you, Yes, yes, a

119
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,320
wild knight. Glad to catch sight
of your light from the top of the

120
00:09:24,399 --> 00:09:30,320
hill. We'll leave the rackets here
straight ahead. Thank you. I see

121
00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:35,600
the glow of a fire we entered. Hello, cried the doctor, stopping

122
00:09:35,639 --> 00:09:41,080
short. What's this kids? Good? Three of them? Ah? How

123
00:09:41,279 --> 00:09:45,679
are you? The manner of asking
the question was most indignant, not to

124
00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,240
say threatening, and a gasp and
heavy frown accompanied it. By this,

125
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,320
I knew that the doctor was about
to make sport for Martha and Jimmie and

126
00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,600
Sammy Jutt, as their names turned
out to be, which often he did

127
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:03,399
for chillchildren by pretending to be in
a great rage, and invariably they found

128
00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:09,679
it delicious entertainment. For however fiercely
he blustered, his eyes twinkled most merrily

129
00:10:09,759 --> 00:10:15,399
all the time, so that one
was irresistibly moved to chuckle with delight at

130
00:10:15,399 --> 00:10:18,600
the sight of them, no matter
how suddenly or how terribly he drew down

131
00:10:18,639 --> 00:10:22,080
his brows. I like kids,
said he, with a smack of the

132
00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,320
lips, I eat em. Gurgles
of delight escaped from the little juts,

133
00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:31,360
and each turned to the other,
the eyes of all dancing. And how

134
00:10:31,399 --> 00:10:37,639
are you, the doctor demanded.
His fierce little glance was indubitably directed at

135
00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:41,720
little Sammy, as though God save
us, the lad had no right to

136
00:10:41,799 --> 00:10:46,960
be anything but well, and ought
to be and should be birched on the

137
00:10:46,039 --> 00:10:50,639
instant if he had the temerity to
admit the smallest ache or pain from the

138
00:10:50,639 --> 00:10:56,279
crown of his head to the soles
of his feet. But Sammy looked frankly

139
00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:01,440
into the flashing eyes, grinned,
chuckled audibly, and lisped that he was

140
00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:07,080
better. Better. The doctor exploded. If there, said Sammy. The

141
00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:11,840
doctor searched Sammy's white face and scrawny
body, as though for evidence to the

142
00:11:11,919 --> 00:11:16,720
contrary. Is that the best you
can do? He demanded better. Ah,

143
00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,720
Why aren't you well? Ah?
Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Sammie

144
00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,360
was not at all ashamed of himself, and he was delighted with the big

145
00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:30,320
stranger. Ah, the doctor growled
again, looking Sammy over from head to

146
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:35,440
foot. I'll attend to you.
Thereupon, Skipper Jonas took us to the

147
00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,120
shed, where we laid off our
packs and were brushed clean of snow.

148
00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:43,639
And by that time Matilda Jut,
the mother of Martha and Jimmie and Sammy,

149
00:11:43,039 --> 00:11:46,960
had spread the table with the best
She had little enough, god knows,

150
00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,440
being but bread and tea, and
was smiling beyond Presently there was nothing

151
00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,919
left of the bread and tea.
And then we drew up to the fire,

152
00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:01,759
where the little Jut still sat regarding
us with great interest. And I

153
00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,960
observed that Martha Jutt held a letter
in her hand, whereupon I divined precisely

154
00:12:07,039 --> 00:12:11,000
what our arrival had interrupted, for
I was Labrador born and knew well enough

155
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,519
what went on in the kitchens of
our land of a Christmas Eve. And

156
00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:20,519
now my girl, said the doctor, what's what? By this extraordinary question,

157
00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,879
delivered as it was, in a
manner that called imperatively for an answer.

158
00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:31,720
Martha Jutt was quite nonplussed, as
the doctor had intended she should be

159
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:37,159
What's what? Repeated the doctor.
Quite startled, Martha lifted the letter from

160
00:12:37,159 --> 00:12:41,120
her lap. He's not coming,
sir, she gasped, for lack of

161
00:12:41,159 --> 00:12:46,159
something better. You're disappointed, I
see, said the doctor. So he's

162
00:12:46,159 --> 00:12:50,799
not coming, No, sir,
not this year. Well that's too bad.

163
00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,679
But you mustn't mind it, you
know, not for an instant.

164
00:12:54,039 --> 00:12:58,159
What's the matter with him? He've
broke his legs? Sir? What?

165
00:12:58,639 --> 00:13:03,480
Cried the doctor, restored of a
sudden to his natural manner, Poor fellow,

166
00:13:03,799 --> 00:13:05,799
How did he come to do that? Catch him? Wanted a wild?

167
00:13:05,919 --> 00:13:11,559
Dear sir? Catching a deer,
the doctor exclaimed, A most extraordinary

168
00:13:11,639 --> 00:13:16,879
thing. He was a fool to
try it? How long ago? Sure

169
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,759
can't be more than half an hour, For he've the doctor jumped up.

170
00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,399
Where is he? He demanded with
professional eagerness. It can't be far,

171
00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,799
davy. I must get to him
at once. I must attend to that

172
00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:35,000
leg. Where is he? Narth
Pole, Sir whispered Sammie, Oh,

173
00:13:35,039 --> 00:13:39,120
cried the doctor, and he sat
down again and pursed his lips and winked

174
00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:45,799
at Sammy in a way most peculiar. I see is sir, Jimmy rattled

175
00:13:45,799 --> 00:13:50,480
eagerly. We're fair disappointed that he's
not. Hah, The doctor interrupted,

176
00:13:50,519 --> 00:13:56,440
I see hum well now, And, having thus incoherently exclaimed for a little,

177
00:13:56,759 --> 00:14:01,879
the light in his eyes growing merrier
all the time, he most unaccountably

178
00:14:01,879 --> 00:14:05,399
worked himself into a great rage,
whereby I knew that the little juts were

179
00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:11,639
in some way to be mightily amused. The lazy rascal, he shouted,

180
00:14:11,799 --> 00:14:16,399
jumping out of his chair and beginning
to stamp the room, frowning terribly,

181
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,720
the fat idle, blundering dunderhead.
Did they send you that message? Did

182
00:14:20,799 --> 00:14:26,039
they now tell me? Did they
give me that letter? He snatched the

183
00:14:26,159 --> 00:14:30,399
letter from Martha's lap. Sammy,
he demanded, where did this letter come

184
00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,960
from? North Pole? Sir Jonas
Jutt blushed and Matilda threw her apron over

185
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,159
her head to hide her confusion.
And how did it come out of the

186
00:14:41,279 --> 00:14:46,000
stove? Sir? The Doctor opened
the letter and paused to slap it angrily

187
00:14:46,039 --> 00:14:52,320
from time to time as he read
it. North Pole, Dear Martha,

188
00:14:52,799 --> 00:14:56,480
few lines to let you know on
account of having broken me leg cotchin the

189
00:14:56,559 --> 00:15:01,159
deer. I'm sorry. I'm in
a state o hell, not being able

190
00:15:01,399 --> 00:15:05,159
so as to be out in heavy
weather. Hopin you is all well as

191
00:15:05,159 --> 00:15:11,919
it leaves me yours, respectful sandy
claws. Fish was poor, and it

192
00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,080
would not be much this year's anyways, Tell little Sammy, Ha, cried

193
00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:20,519
the doctor, as he crushed the
letter to a little ball and flung it

194
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,200
under the table. Ha, that's
the kind of thing that happens when one's

195
00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,039
away from home. There you have
it. Discipline gone to the dogs,

196
00:15:28,559 --> 00:15:33,399
system gone to the dogs. Everything
gone to the dogs. Now what do

197
00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:37,639
you think of that? He scowled, and gritted his teeth and puffed and

198
00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,200
said, ha, in a fashion
so threatening that one must needs have fled

199
00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:46,840
the room had there not been a
curiously reassuring twinkle in his eyes. What

200
00:15:46,879 --> 00:15:50,919
do you think of that? He
repeated fiercely, at last, a countermanded

201
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,919
order. I'll attend to him,
he burst out. I'll fix that fellow,

202
00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,639
the lazy dunderhead. I'll soon fix
him. Give me pen and ink?

203
00:16:00,919 --> 00:16:03,120
Where's the paper? Never mind,
I've got some in my pack.

204
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:07,120
One moment and I'll He rushed to
the shed, to the great surprise and

205
00:16:07,159 --> 00:16:11,600
alarm of the little juts, and
loudly called back for a candle, which

206
00:16:11,679 --> 00:16:15,720
Skipper Jonas carried to him. And
when he had been gone a long time,

207
00:16:17,039 --> 00:16:21,440
he returned with a letter in his
hand, still ejaculating in a great

208
00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,559
rage. See that, said he
to the three little jets. Well that's

209
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:30,120
for Santa Claus's clerk. That'll fix
him. That'll blister the stupid fellow.

210
00:16:30,759 --> 00:16:36,039
Please, sir, whispered Martha jut
Well, snapped the doctor, stopping short

211
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,399
in a rush to the stove.
Please, sir, said Martha, taking

212
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,440
courage and laying a timid hand on
his arm. Sure, I don't know

213
00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,879
what tis all about. I don't
know what blunder he made, but aninkin'

214
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,879
sir, you'll be sorry if you
axe in haste. Tis wise to count

215
00:16:52,879 --> 00:16:56,519
a hundred. Don't be too hard
on him, sir, tis like the

216
00:16:56,559 --> 00:17:00,799
blunder may be mended. Tis like
he'll do better next time. Don't be

217
00:17:00,919 --> 00:17:06,759
hard hard on him, the doctor
interrupted, Hard on him, hard on,

218
00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:11,480
that is, sir, she pleaded, looking fearlessly up. Won't you

219
00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,799
count a hundred? Count? It, said he grimly. Martha counted.

220
00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:22,480
I observed that the numbers fell slower
and yet more slowly from her lips,

221
00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:26,720
until and she was keenly on the
watch. A gentler look overspread the doctor's

222
00:17:26,759 --> 00:17:32,039
face, and then she rattled them
off, as though she feared he might

223
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:37,119
change his mind once more. And
a hundred she concluded, breathless. Well,

224
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,960
the doctor drawled, rubbing his nose. I'll modify it, whereupon Martha

225
00:17:42,079 --> 00:17:48,880
smiled, just oblige you. Whereupon
she blushed. So he scratched a deal

226
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,279
of the letter out. Then he
sealed it, strode to the stove,

227
00:17:52,519 --> 00:17:56,720
opened the door, flung the letter
into the flames, slammed the door,

228
00:17:56,039 --> 00:18:00,920
and turned with a wondrously sweet smile
to the amaze little juts there. He

229
00:18:02,079 --> 00:18:04,160
sighed, I think that will do
the trick. We'll soon know. At

230
00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:10,759
any rate, we waited, all
very still, all with eyes wide open,

231
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,319
all gazing fixedly at the door of
the stove. Then, all at

232
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,440
once, and in the very deepest
of the silence, the doctor uttered a

233
00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:25,759
startling ah, leaped from his chair
with such violence that he overturned it awkwardly,

234
00:18:25,839 --> 00:18:30,160
upset Jimmy Jutt's stool, and sent
the lad tumbling head over heels,

235
00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,480
for which he did not stop to
apologize, And there was great confusion in

236
00:18:34,559 --> 00:18:38,680
the midst of which the doctor jerked
the stove door open, thrust in his

237
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:44,640
arm, and snatched a blazing letter
straight from the flames, all before Jimmy

238
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,359
and Martha and Sammy Jutt had time
to recover from the daze into which the

239
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:55,279
sudden uproar had thrown them. There, cried the doctor when he had managed

240
00:18:55,319 --> 00:19:00,559
to extinguish the blaze. We'll just
see what's in this better news warrant.

241
00:19:00,559 --> 00:19:04,599
You may be sure that the little
juts were blinking amazement. There could be

242
00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:10,839
no doubt about the authenticity of that
communication, and the doctor seemed to know

243
00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:15,519
it, for he calmly tore the
envelope open, glanced the contents over,

244
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:21,079
and turned to Martha, the broadest
of grins wrinkling his face. Martha Jutt

245
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:26,440
said, he will you please be
good enough to read that and Martha read

246
00:19:26,079 --> 00:19:32,720
North Pole December twenty fourth, ten
eighteen p m. To Captain Blizzard Jonah

247
00:19:32,759 --> 00:19:38,039
Jutt's cottage, topmost Tickle, Labrador
Coast, Respected, Sir, regret erroneous

248
00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:42,519
report, mistake of a clerk in
the Bureau of Information, Santa Claus got

249
00:19:42,559 --> 00:19:48,839
away at nine thirty six whend blowing
due south, strong and fresh snow,

250
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:53,400
Chief Clerk. Then there was a
great outburst of glee. It was the

251
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:59,200
doctor who raised the first cheer three
times three and a tiger. And what

252
00:19:59,319 --> 00:20:02,920
a tiger itt is? Was?
What with the treble of Sammy, which

253
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:07,279
was of the thinnest description, and
the treble of Martha, which was full

254
00:20:07,319 --> 00:20:11,880
and sure, and the treble of
Jimmy, which dangerously bordered on a cracked

255
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:17,799
base, And what with Matilda's cackle
and Skipper Jonas's croak, and my own

256
00:20:17,839 --> 00:20:22,079
who rays and the Doctor's guttural uproar
which might have been mistaken for a very

257
00:20:22,079 --> 00:20:26,960
double bass. What with all this, as you may be sure, the

258
00:20:26,039 --> 00:20:30,440
shout of the wind was nowhere.
Then we joined hands. It was the

259
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:36,640
doctor who began it by catching Martha
and Matilda and danced the table round,

260
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:41,240
shaking our feet and tossing our arms. The glee, ever more uproarious,

261
00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,160
danced until we were breathless, every
one save little Sammy, who was not

262
00:20:45,319 --> 00:20:49,240
asked to join the gambol, but
sat still in his chair and seemed to

263
00:20:49,319 --> 00:20:56,079
expect no invitation. Whend blown due
south, strong and fresh, gasped Jimmy

264
00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,240
when at last we sat down.
He'll be down in a hurry with they

265
00:21:00,279 --> 00:21:04,799
swilt deer ny, but he'll just
whizz in this gale. But tis sad,

266
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,079
tis too late to get word to
him, said Martha, the smile

267
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:12,319
gone from her face. Sad,
is it, cried the doctor, sad.

268
00:21:12,759 --> 00:21:17,359
What's the word you want to send? Tis something for Sammy? Sir?

269
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,079
Sammy gave Martha a quick dig in
the ribs, and Mamma, he

270
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,319
lisped, reproachfully, is sir,
we'll want it bad? And does ye

271
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:32,000
think us could get word to him
for Sammie, sir? A Mamma Sammie

272
00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:37,240
insisted we can try at any rate. The doctor answered, doubtfully. Maybe

273
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:41,079
we can catch him on the way
down. Where's that pin? Here we

274
00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:45,880
are now? He scribbled, rapidly, folded the letter in great haste,

275
00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:49,440
and dispatched it to Santa Claus's clerk
by the simple process of throwing it in

276
00:21:49,519 --> 00:21:53,119
the fire. As before, he
went to his pack in the shed,

277
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:57,759
taking the candle with him. The
errand appeared to be really most trivial,

278
00:21:59,079 --> 00:22:02,759
and stayed so long that the little
juts, who now loved him very much

279
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,680
as I could see, wished that
the need would not rise again. But

280
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,480
all in good time. He returned
and sat to watch for the reply,

281
00:22:11,039 --> 00:22:15,720
intent as any of them, and
presently he snatched the stove door open,

282
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:22,240
creating great confusion in the act as
before, and before the little judts could

283
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,839
recover from the sudden surprise, he
held up a smoking letter. Then he

284
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:32,119
read aloud, try Hamilton Inlet.
Touch is there? Ten forty eight?

285
00:22:32,559 --> 00:22:37,880
Time of arrival of topmastickle. Uncertain, no use waiting up snow clerk by

286
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:44,079
jove, exclaimed the doctor. That's
jolly touches Hamilton Inlet. At ten forty

287
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:48,240
eight, he consulted his watch.
It's now ten forty three and a half.

288
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,920
We've just four and a half minutes. I'll get a message off at

289
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,920
once. Where's the confounded pin Ah? Here we are now? What is

290
00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:02,200
it you want for Sammy and Mamma? The three little Juts were suddenly thrown

291
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,119
into a fearful state of excitement.
They tried to talk all at once,

292
00:23:06,559 --> 00:23:11,240
but not one of them could frame
a coherent sentence. It was most distressful

293
00:23:11,319 --> 00:23:15,519
to see the exterminator. Martha managed
to jerk out at last. Oh Ay,

294
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,559
cried Jimmy, Jut, quick,
sir, write and down Pine's prompt

295
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:26,000
pain exterminator warranted to cure. Please, sir, make haste. The doctor

296
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:30,039
stared at Jimmy. Oh Zurr groaned
Martha. Don't be starin like that,

297
00:23:30,519 --> 00:23:34,279
right, sir? Twas all in
the paper. The prospector left last summer.

298
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:41,200
Pine's prompt pain Exterminator cures boils,
rheumatism, pains in the back and

299
00:23:41,319 --> 00:23:45,599
chest, sore throat and all they
things and warts on the hands by a

300
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,799
simple application with brown paper. We
wants it for the rheumatism, Sir oh

301
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:56,960
Zurr. None genuine without the label, Jimmy put in in an excited rattle.

302
00:23:56,319 --> 00:24:00,960
Money refunded. If no cure,
get a bar with the label.

303
00:24:00,759 --> 00:24:06,400
The doctor laughed, laughed aloud,
and laughed again. By Jove, he

304
00:24:06,519 --> 00:24:10,839
roared, you'll get it. It's
odd, but ah, by Jove,

305
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,480
he has it. In stock.
The laughter and repeated assurance seemed vastly to

306
00:24:15,559 --> 00:24:21,119
encourage Jimmy and Martha. The doctor
wrote like mad while he talked, but

307
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:26,160
not Little Sammy. All that he
lisped, all that he shouted, all

308
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,039
that he screamed, had gone unheeded. As though unable to put up with

309
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:34,480
the neglect any longer, he limped
over the floor to Martha and tugged her

310
00:24:34,519 --> 00:24:40,039
sleeve, and pulled at Jimmy's coat
tail, and jogged the doctor's arm,

311
00:24:40,279 --> 00:24:45,400
until at last he attracted a measure
of attention. Notwithstanding his mother's protest,

312
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:52,880
notwithstanding her giggles and waving hands,
notwithstanding that she blushed as red as ink,

313
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:57,480
until as I perceived, her freckles
were all lost to sight. Notwithstanding

314
00:24:57,519 --> 00:25:02,839
that she threw her apron over her
head and rushed headlong from the room to

315
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,880
the imminent danger of the door post. Little Sammy insisted that his mother's gift

316
00:25:07,079 --> 00:25:11,160
should be named in the letter of
request. Quick cried the doctor, what

317
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:15,319
is it? We've but half a
minute left. Sammy began to stutter.

318
00:25:15,839 --> 00:25:22,720
Make haste by it, cried Jimmy. One bottle of the magic Egyptian beautifier,

319
00:25:22,079 --> 00:25:26,720
said Sammy, quite distinctly for the
first time in his life. The

320
00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:33,319
doctor looked blank, but he doggedly
nodded his head nevertheless, and wrote it

321
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:37,640
down. And off went the letter
at precisely ten forty seven forty five,

322
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:44,920
as the doctor said later, when
the excitement had all subsided and we sat

323
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,279
dreaming in the warmth and glow,
the doctor took little Sammy in his lap

324
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:52,279
and told him he was a very
good boy, and looked deep in his

325
00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:56,799
eyes, and stroked his hair,
and at last, very tenderly bared his

326
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:03,440
knee. Sammy flinched at that,
and he said ouch once and screwed up

327
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,119
his face. When the doctor,
his gruffness all gone, his eyes gentle

328
00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:11,640
and sad, his hand as light
as a mother's, worked the joint and

329
00:26:11,759 --> 00:26:17,480
felt the knee cap and socket with
the tips of his fingers. And is

330
00:26:17,519 --> 00:26:19,880
this the room? It is?
The prompt exterminator is to cure Sammy,

331
00:26:21,039 --> 00:26:25,440
He asked, if there? And
is that where it hurts you, right

332
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,880
on the point of the bone there, if there? And was there no

333
00:26:30,039 --> 00:26:33,039
fall on the rocket? All?
Ah, there was a fall and the

334
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,240
bruise was just there where it hurts
so much, and it's very hard to

335
00:26:37,279 --> 00:26:41,880
bear isn't it? Sammy shook his
head. No, but it hurts a

336
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:48,000
great deal sometimes, does it not. That's too bad, that's very sad,

337
00:26:48,079 --> 00:26:52,359
indeed. But perhaps perhaps Sammy,
I can cure it for you,

338
00:26:52,759 --> 00:26:56,960
if you are brave. And are
you brave? No? Oh, I

339
00:26:57,039 --> 00:27:00,359
think you are. And you'll try
to be at any rate, won't you.

340
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,839
Of course, that's a good boy. And so with his sharp little

341
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:11,039
knives, the doctor cured Sammy Jutt's
knee while the lad lay white and still

342
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:15,319
on the kitchen table. And twas
not hard to do. But had not

343
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,440
the doctor chanced that way, Sammy
Jutt would have been a cripple all his

344
00:27:18,599 --> 00:27:25,000
life. Doctor Zirr, said Matilda
Jut, when the children were put to

345
00:27:25,039 --> 00:27:30,559
bed with Martha to watch by Sammy, who was still very sick. Is

346
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,480
you really got a bottle of Pine's
pomped? The doctor laughed, an empty

347
00:27:34,519 --> 00:27:38,240
bottle, said he. I picked
it up a poverty cove, thought it

348
00:27:38,319 --> 00:27:44,559
might come useful. I'll put Sammy's
medicine in that they'll not know the difference,

349
00:27:44,839 --> 00:27:47,880
and you'll treat the knee with it, as I've told you. That's

350
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,680
all we must turn in at once, for we must be gone before the

351
00:27:51,759 --> 00:27:56,000
children wake in the morning, Oh
isy, sir, And she began,

352
00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,480
but hesitated, much embarrassed. Well, the doctor aked asked, with a

353
00:28:00,519 --> 00:28:04,160
smile, would you mind putting some
queer lookin stuff on one of the bottles

354
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:08,720
of yours, not in the least
in surprise, and writing something on a

355
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,640
bit of paper. She went on, pulling at her apron and looking down

356
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:17,680
and goin' it to the bottle.
Not at all. But what shall I

357
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:22,799
write? She flushed? Magic Egyptian
beautifiers? Sir, she answered, for

358
00:28:22,839 --> 00:28:27,200
I'm thinkin' twould please little Sammy to
think that Sandy Claus left something for me

359
00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:33,880
too. If you think that the
three little juts found nothing but bottles of

360
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:38,119
medicine in their stockings when they got
downstairs on Christmas morning, you are very

361
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,640
much mistaken. Indeed, there was
much more than that, a great deal

362
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:47,119
more than that. I will not
tell you what it was, for you

363
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:52,000
might sniff and say, huh,
that's little enough. But there was more

364
00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:56,519
than medicine. No man, rich
man, poor man, beggar man,

365
00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,680
thief, doctor, lawyer, or
merchant chief never yet left a Hudson's Bay

366
00:29:00,759 --> 00:29:07,400
Company's post. Stared in the face
by the chance of having to seek hospitality

367
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,759
of a Christmas Eve. No right
feeling man I say, ever, yet

368
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:18,480
left a Hudson's Bay Company's post under
such circumstances without putting something more than medicine

369
00:29:18,559 --> 00:29:22,400
in his pack. I chanced to
know at any rate, that upon this

370
00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:26,440
occasion Doctor Luke did not. And
I know too you may be interested to

371
00:29:26,519 --> 00:29:32,880
learn it that as we floundered through
the deep snow homeward bound soon after dawn

372
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:37,279
the next day, he was glad
enough that he hadn't No merry shouts came

373
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,519
over the white miles from the cottage
of Jonas Jutt, though I am sure

374
00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:47,319
that they rang there most heartily.
But the doctor did not care. He

375
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:52,640
shouted merrily enough for himself, for
he was very happy. And that's the

376
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,000
way you'd feel too, if you
spent your days hunting good deeds to do

377
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:03,119
and of smiths Eve at topmast Tickle
by Norman Duncan