1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,160 The Whizzer by Mary Hartwell kither Wood. That was a coal old evening. 2 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:08,439 The snow was just as dry as flour and had been beat down till the 3 00:00:08,519 --> 00:00:11,720 road looked slick as a ribbon far up and far down, and squeaked every 4 00:00:11,759 --> 00:00:15,839 step. I pulled Mara on our sled. All the boys went home by 5 00:00:15,839 --> 00:00:18,960 the crick to skate, but I was fraidm'raar would get cold. She's such 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,879 a little thing. I liked to play with the girls if the boys do 7 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:24,800 laugh, for some of the big ones might Pushmrraar down and hurt her. 8 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:27,800 She misses her mother, so I babies are more than I used to. 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,800 We's almost out side of the schoolhouse and just where the road elbows by the 10 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:36,200 Widow Briggs's place. When something passed us like whizz I'd been pulling along with 11 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,079 the sled rope over my arm and my hands in my pockets, and didn't 12 00:00:39,079 --> 00:00:41,600 hear a team or anything, but it made me shy off the side of 13 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,320 the road and pretty ear up set Mrar school. Let's out at four o'clock 14 00:00:45,359 --> 00:00:48,119 and dust come soon after that. But it was wooly gray yet, so 15 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,280 you could see plain except in the fence corners, and the thing that passed 16 00:00:51,359 --> 00:00:56,039 us was a man riding on nothing but one big wheel. Oh see there, 17 00:00:56,359 --> 00:00:59,320 says Mr. Scared as could be. I felt glad on her account. 18 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,399 We's close to Briggs's place. It would be easy to hustle her over 19 00:01:02,439 --> 00:01:06,000 Briggs's fence. But the thing runs so still and fast it might take fences 20 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,359 as well as a straight road. The man turned round after he passed us 21 00:01:08,359 --> 00:01:11,200 and came rearing back away up on that wheel, and I stood as close 22 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,959 before the sled as I could. He sat high up in the air and 23 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,640 wiggled his feet on each side of the wheel. And I never saw a 24 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:19,959 camel or elephant or any kind of wild thing at a show. That made 25 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,959 me feel so funny. But just when I thought he's going to cut through 26 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,239 us, he turned short and stopped. He had on an overcoat to his 27 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,959 ears, and a fur cap down to his nose, and hairy gloves on, 28 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,040 and a little satchel strapped over his shoulder. And I saw there was 29 00:01:33,079 --> 00:01:36,400 a real small wheel behind the big one that balanced him up. He wasn't 30 00:01:36,439 --> 00:01:38,239 sitting on the tire neither, but on a saddle place, and the big 31 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,760 wheel had lots of silver spoats, crossing back and forward. Whose children are 32 00:01:42,799 --> 00:01:48,159 you, says the man? Noboddies, says I. But who owns and 33 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,959 switches you? Says he. The schoolmaster switches me, says I. But 34 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,560 we ain't own since mother died. Mar begun to cry. We live at 35 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,599 Uncle Mosey, says she. They don't want to give us away. The 36 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,799 man laughed and says, are you right, sir? But I hated to 37 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,599 have her scared, so I told her the wheel couldn't hurt her nor him 38 00:02:07,599 --> 00:02:09,879 either. I've seen the car as many a time, I says, And 39 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:14,439 I've seen balloons and reading the paper about things that went on three wheels. 40 00:02:14,439 --> 00:02:17,520 But this, it's a bicycle, says he. I'm a wheel man. 41 00:02:19,319 --> 00:02:22,719 That's what I thought, says I. Then he wanted to know our names. 42 00:02:23,439 --> 00:02:25,719 Mine's sealed Petticord, I says, And this is my little sister Marr. 43 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,439 His eyes looked sharp at us, and he says, your mother died 44 00:02:30,479 --> 00:02:34,919 about six weeks ago. Yes, sir, says I. Tomorrow won't be 45 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,759 a very nice Christmas for you, says he. No, sir, says 46 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:40,319 I, digging my heel in the snow, for he had no business to 47 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,599 talk that way and make Mara feel bad when I had a little wagon all 48 00:02:44,599 --> 00:02:46,520 whittled out in my pocket to give her. And she cried most every night 49 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,719 anyhow, until aunt Ebby threatened to switch her if she waked the family any 50 00:02:50,719 --> 00:02:53,120 more. I slept with the boys, but when I heard marar sniffling in 51 00:02:53,159 --> 00:02:55,960 the big bed a good many nights, I slipped out and sat by her 52 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,479 and whispered stories to take her attention as long as my jaws worked, but 53 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,039 when they chattered too much with the cold, I'd lay down on the cover 54 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:07,280 with my arm across until she went to sleep. I like MA. He 55 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,520 said we might go up to cousin Andy sanders Is to stay over, says 56 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:14,319 I. We don't have to be at Uncle Moses at Christmas. That's some 57 00:03:14,479 --> 00:03:17,039 consolation, as it says he. I was not going to let him know 58 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,520 what the relations did. But I never liked relations outside of our place. 59 00:03:22,039 --> 00:03:24,280 At aunt Ebbie and Uncle Moses, the children fight like cats, and they 60 00:03:24,319 --> 00:03:28,879 always act poor at Christmas and make fun of hanging your stockings or setting your 61 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,719 plate, for you'd only get ashes or corn cobs. Aunt Ebbie keeps your 62 00:03:31,759 --> 00:03:35,919 sleeves rolled up so she can slap real handy, and Uncle Mose has yellow 63 00:03:35,919 --> 00:03:38,960 streaks in his eyes, and he shivers over the stove and keeps everybody else 64 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,759 back at Cousin Andy Sanders, as they have no children and don't want them. 65 00:03:43,159 --> 00:03:45,560 He durst hardly come in out of the snow, and all the best 66 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:47,479 things on the table will make you sick. If there is a piece in 67 00:03:47,479 --> 00:03:51,120 the paper that is hard to read and ugly as it can be, they 68 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,759 will make you sit still and read it, and if you get done too 69 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:54,960 quick, they will say you skipped, and you have to read it out 70 00:03:55,039 --> 00:04:00,120 loud while they find fault. I knew Cousin Andy Sanders never had any canto 71 00:04:00,159 --> 00:04:02,120 your taffy for Christmas. But Murar and me could be peaceful there, for 72 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:06,599 they don't push her around so bad. Well hand me your rope, says 73 00:04:06,639 --> 00:04:11,400 the man, and I'll give you a ride. I liked that notion, 74 00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:13,599 so I handed him the rope, and he waited till I got on the 75 00:04:13,599 --> 00:04:16,720 sled in front of Murar. That's what o'briggs's homestead, isn't it, he 76 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,639 said, just before he started. I told him it was, and asked 77 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,319 if he ever lived down our way. He laughed, and said he knew 78 00:04:23,319 --> 00:04:26,680 something about every place, and then he set the wheel agoin. Murrar held 79 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,079 tight to me, and I braced my heels against the front round of the 80 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,720 sled. The fence corners went faster and faster, and the wind whistled through 81 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,720 our ears while you could not see one dry blade in the fodder shocks. 82 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:40,279 Move. Ain't he a wizzard? Says I to Murar. We turned another 83 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,839 jog and spokes in the wheel looked all smeared together. It did beat horse 84 00:04:43,959 --> 00:04:46,560 racing. I got excited and hollered for him to go it, old wizzard, 85 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,560 and he went it till we's passed Cousin Andy sanders Is. Before I 86 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,399 knew the place was nigh cass loose. Now, mister, we're much obliged, 87 00:04:54,439 --> 00:04:57,160 says I. But he kept right on like he never heard me. 88 00:04:57,439 --> 00:05:00,240 So I yelled up louder and told him we's there, and he turned round 89 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,720 his head a minute and laughed, Please let go, mister, I says, 90 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,759 that's cousin Andy sanders Is a way back there. We're obliged, but 91 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:10,399 we'll have to go back. The wizard never let on. He whizzed a 92 00:05:10,399 --> 00:05:13,279 head as fast as ever I thought it was a mean trick for him to 93 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:15,160 play on Marr and wished I could trip up his wheel. It would be 94 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,439 dark long before I got her back to cousin Andy Sanders, and the Wizard 95 00:05:18,439 --> 00:05:21,560 whizzed ahead like he was running off with us. I had a notion to 96 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,759 cut the rope, but there was no talent. When I'd get another, 97 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,319 and it was new. I made up my mind to do it, though, 98 00:05:27,399 --> 00:05:30,480 when we come along by our old place. But there the Wizard turned 99 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:32,240 round and jumped off in the road. I picked up the end of my 100 00:05:32,319 --> 00:05:35,800 rope and shook my head because I was mad. Why didn't you let go? 101 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,040 Says I. Haven't I brought you home? He says. I looked 102 00:05:41,079 --> 00:05:43,639 at the shut up house and felt a good deal worse than when I thought 103 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,040 he was running off with us. Oh, steely, says Marr. Let's 104 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,680 go in and stay. I want to come home so bad. He was 105 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,199 a man grown, and I is only ten years old. But he ought 106 00:05:54,199 --> 00:05:57,000 to know it better than to maide Mark cry till the tears run down her 107 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,120 chin. I'd been to look at the house myself, but never say a 108 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,120 word to her about it. Once about noon, I slipped up there by 109 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,240 the cornfields round about, and sat on the fence and thought about Mother till 110 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,839 I could hardly stand it. The house looked lonesomer than an old cabin about 111 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,000 to fall, because an old cabin about to fall has forgot its folks. 112 00:06:13,079 --> 00:06:15,519 But all our things were locked up here, except what aunt Ibby and cousin 113 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,959 and Andy Sanders had carried off. Our sail was to be in January. 114 00:06:19,399 --> 00:06:23,240 The snow was knee deep in the yard and drifted even on the porch, 115 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,120 but tracks showed where aunt Ibby walked. When she got out a load of 116 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,879 provisions and bedclothes. She had the front door key, and took even the 117 00:06:29,959 --> 00:06:32,079 blue and white coverlet with birds woven that I heard Mother say was to be 118 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:36,000 marrs and the canned fruit, for fear it would freeze when our cellar is 119 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,879 warmer than they're stove. She said to Uncle Mose when I was by unbeknown 120 00:06:40,879 --> 00:06:44,319 that Murr and me would have ten times as much property as her children anyhow, 121 00:06:44,519 --> 00:06:46,360 and she ought to be paid more for keeping us. She might have 122 00:06:46,519 --> 00:06:49,120 our money for all I cared, But I did not know how to stand 123 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,519 her robbing things out of mother's house, and wished the sale would come quick 124 00:06:53,519 --> 00:06:57,439 and scatter them all. The wizard leant his chin on his breast and looked 125 00:06:57,439 --> 00:07:00,279 pitiful out of his eyes at Murar, for seemed like the tears had a 126 00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:02,279 notion to freeze on her face, only she kept them running down too fast. 127 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:06,360 And he says, let's go into the house. Oh douce steely, 128 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:10,839 says Mar, hugging my knee, for I was alongside the sled. And 129 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,800 I'll cook all your dinners and we'll hang up our Christmas stockings every Sunday, 130 00:07:14,959 --> 00:07:17,519 says she. And aunt Ibby's boys won't durst to take away my lead pencil, 131 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,079 mother give me. And if you see them coming here, you'll set 132 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:25,600 bounce on them. Marr says, I. We will go in and make 133 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,120 a fire and act like mother's just gone out to a neighbor's. Then she 134 00:07:29,199 --> 00:07:30,959 begun to laugh, and one of her tears stuck to an inSpot that comes 135 00:07:30,959 --> 00:07:34,120 and goes in her face like it was dnned with your finger. But now 136 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,120 you mind, I says. If aunt Ibby or Uncle Mose goes to whip 137 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,319 us for this, you tell him I put you up to it and made 138 00:07:40,319 --> 00:07:44,480 you go along with me. Mar looked scared, and you tell them, 139 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:46,879 says the wizard, lifting his wheel across the snow toward the gate, that 140 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,399 I put you both up to it and made you go along with me. 141 00:07:50,399 --> 00:07:55,199 I pulled Mara over the drifts and we went to the side door. Aunt 142 00:07:55,199 --> 00:07:57,639 Ibby's got the big key, I says, and I'll have to raise a 143 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,160 window while you wait here the window as we're all locked down. But we 144 00:08:01,199 --> 00:08:03,560 went round and round till the one in the shed give way, and I 145 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,120 crawled through and bursted the latch off the kitchen door. I breathed so fast 146 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,560 it made my heart thump. When I unlocked the side door and let the 147 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,920 whizzard in Marra into the sitting room. I noticed then he'd hung his wheel 148 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,600 on the limb of a tree, for it glittered. Bouncing an't here to 149 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,639 jump on us, is he? Mrar, says I no, when he 150 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:24,279 hates to stay at cousin Andy Sanders's says she. Bounce would come to the 151 00:08:24,279 --> 00:08:26,160 schoolhouse and kind of cry till I asked the master, please may I go 152 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,199 out, and then bouncing me to have a talk behind the schoolhouse, and 153 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:31,840 I'd tell him I could not help it. And he'd known that he might 154 00:08:31,919 --> 00:08:35,759 live at Aunt Abbie's with us, if he could only keep from chawing up 155 00:08:35,759 --> 00:08:39,840 their miserable yellow dogs, and we'd both feel better. But I did miss 156 00:08:39,879 --> 00:08:41,360 him that minute. I opened the door when here he come, like a 157 00:08:41,399 --> 00:08:45,360 house of fire, and leant down on the floor, panting and pounding his 158 00:08:45,399 --> 00:08:48,159 tail and laughing. And then he jumped up and paught us in the dark 159 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,799 till Mrar had to hold him round the neck to keep him still while I 160 00:08:50,799 --> 00:08:54,000 got a light. He must have snuffed our tracks when we whiz past cousin 161 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,240 Andy Sanders. I felt to the pantry and put my hand in the candlebox, 162 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,120 but Aunt Abby never left one. I knew there's a piece and a 163 00:09:01,159 --> 00:09:03,639 candlestick in the shed cupboard, though it burnt half out the night mother died, 164 00:09:05,039 --> 00:09:07,279 so I got it, and the Wizard scraped a match and lit the 165 00:09:07,279 --> 00:09:09,360 wick. The Wizard and me set to then and brought in loads from the 166 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,200 wood house. We built a fire, cleaned up into the chimney, and 167 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,279 Ruar took the broom and swept all the dust into it. Bounced, laid 168 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:18,759 on the carpet and licked at us and whacked his tail till weez in a 169 00:09:18,799 --> 00:09:22,480 broad laugh. The fire got me warmer than I'd been since Mother died. 170 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:24,840 The Wizard took out a thick gold watch and wound our clock and set it. 171 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,840 Then he says, let's go over the house, and we did. 172 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,759 I carried the candle and Ruar and the dog went along. The Wizard looked 173 00:09:33,759 --> 00:09:37,320 in all the upstairs presses and opened the bureau drawers. I stayed outside of 174 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,399 the parlor and run bounced did too. I did not want to think of 175 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,440 the sheet stretched in the corner, for it was not like Mother under the 176 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,600 sheet, but her picture hung up in there, and so did my father's. 177 00:09:46,879 --> 00:09:50,679 The Wizard stayed in with the candle a good while. I heard him 178 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,039 go in from one thing to another, and wondered what he was about. 179 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,120 I'd rather gone out to the graveyard, though, and set on the fence, 180 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,840 watching mother's and father's graves, and heard the dry sumac bushes scraped together, 181 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,159 than to stepped into the parlor. Father died a year before mother, 182 00:10:03,279 --> 00:10:05,559 but I didn't like him the same as I did her. Then we looked 183 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,559 down cellar, and I thought I ought to tell the whizzer about the provisions 184 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,759 and bedclothes being taken out of the house or he'd suppose Mother never kept us 185 00:10:11,879 --> 00:10:16,559 nice. He smiled under his cap, and I found one jar of canned 186 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,200 honey behind some bars, where Aunt Abby overlooked it. We carried that up 187 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,399 to the sitting room. Mar likes canned honey better than anything. Just as 188 00:10:24,399 --> 00:10:26,240 we come into the sitting room, I heard somebody pound on the front door. 189 00:10:28,159 --> 00:10:31,720 They're after us, says Mar. Let me see to it, says 190 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,840 the Whizzer. So he stepped around the house and came back with his wheel 191 00:10:33,879 --> 00:10:37,879 on his arm, and held the door open. The snow made outdoors light, 192 00:10:37,879 --> 00:10:39,399 and we saw a little fellow lead a horse and buggy through the yard 193 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,600 into the barn lot, and he came right in carrying a couple of baskets. 194 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,600 All right, Sam, says the Whizzer. Put your horse in the 195 00:10:46,639 --> 00:10:48,840 stable, and then build a fire in the kitchen stove. The man he 196 00:10:48,879 --> 00:10:52,879 called Sam, stopped to warm himself at our heart, And I never saw 197 00:10:52,879 --> 00:10:56,120 such a looking creature before. He had a cap with a button on top 198 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,759 of his head, and his hair was braided and a long tail behind. 199 00:10:58,159 --> 00:11:01,639 He laughed in his eyes glittered and they sloped up like a ladder set against 200 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,039 the house. He was just as yellow as brass and wore a cloth circular 201 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,639 big sleeves, but the rest of him looked like other folks. Mur went 202 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:11,720 back into the corner and I noticed the whizzer set his wheel against the wall, 203 00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:15,240 and I wondered if he'd left it out for us sign so the little 204 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,519 yellow man would know where to stop. The yellow man went out to his 205 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:20,360 horse, and the whizzard took off his cap and gloves and coat and hung 206 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,639 them in the sitting room. He looked nice. His eyes snapped, and 207 00:11:24,639 --> 00:11:26,799 his hair was cut off close except a brush ride along the middle of his 208 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,919 head. We set our chairs up to the fire, and I watched him 209 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,960 and watched him. If you and that fellow travel together, I says, 210 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,159 what makes him go in a buggy? And you want a wheel? Oh? 211 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,799 I like the bicycle, says he. I've run thousands of miles on 212 00:11:41,879 --> 00:11:43,799 it. I sent Sam out from San Francisco by the railroad, but I 213 00:11:43,879 --> 00:11:48,399 came through on the wheel. It took me three months. I thought he 214 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,840 was a funny man, but I liked him too. When Sam came in 215 00:11:50,879 --> 00:11:54,440 from the stable, Murra and I went to the kitchen and saw him cook 216 00:11:54,519 --> 00:11:58,399 supper for one of the baskets was jam full of vituls. He heated a 217 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,559 roasted turkey and made oyster soup, and mashed potatoes and chopped cabbage. There 218 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:05,000 were preserves the Wizard called scotch, and hot rolls and jelly, and cold 219 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,000 chicken, and little round cakes that melted in your mouth, pickles and nuts 220 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,360 and oranges. And we put the candied honey on the table. The coffee 221 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,759 smelt like thanksgiving. Sam waited on us, and I eat till I was 222 00:12:16,799 --> 00:12:20,519 ashamed. We never expected to have such a dinner and Mother's house anymore. 223 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,000 When Mr and I got down and begun to toss our oranges, the Wizard 224 00:12:24,039 --> 00:12:26,720 told Sam to clear the things away and have his supper in the kitchen, 225 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,480 and then to fix the beds as comfortable as he could. I'd made up 226 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,240 my mind, even if the Wizard did travel ahead, that Mran meant to 227 00:12:33,279 --> 00:12:37,080 stay there all night. Aunt Ibbies would think we were at Cousin Andy Sanders', 228 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,679 and Cousin Andy Sanders' would think we were at Aunt Abbie's. He sat 229 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,639 in Mother's big chair before the fire, and I felt willing. If it 230 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:46,960 had been Uncle Mo's in the chair, I wouldn't felt willing. When a 231 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,600 stick broke on the dog irons, we piled on more wood, and the 232 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,960 clock ticked and struck nine, and I wished we's never going away from there 233 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,159 again. Murr and I played and jumped, and he was blind man, 234 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,879 and we had solid fun till we's tired out. I showed him my books, 235 00:13:00,039 --> 00:13:01,799 for I never took one to Uncle Moses. The boys there make you 236 00:13:01,879 --> 00:13:05,480 give up everything, and they licked their dirty thumbs to turn leaves. Mara 237 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,399 and I stood and looked into the glass doors of the bookcase like we used 238 00:13:09,399 --> 00:13:11,320 to when the fire made them like a looking glass. And there were our 239 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,720 faces, hers round and wide between the eyes, and curly headed, and 240 00:13:15,799 --> 00:13:18,679 mine long and narrow between the eyes and my hair, and a black roach. 241 00:13:18,279 --> 00:13:22,039 I told the whizzard she'd better have a bed made down by the fire, 242 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,559 considering the blankets and comforts were most all out of visiting. And he 243 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,519 guessed so too, And Sam helped me bring lots of quilts and a feather 244 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:31,480 tick from my old room to fix up the lound. With Sam, went 245 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,159 into the kitchen and slept by the stove. Then I undressed Mara and heard 246 00:13:35,159 --> 00:13:37,480 her prayers. After I tucked her in. She's six years old and dressed 247 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:41,519 herself before mother died, all but hooking up. I hooked her up, 248 00:13:41,519 --> 00:13:43,799 and sometimes she's swell out her mischief when she ought to swell in. But 249 00:13:43,879 --> 00:13:48,799 now I tended to her entirely because she missed her mother. The Wizard acted 250 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,440 like he saw something in the fire. But when Mara was asleep and I 251 00:13:50,519 --> 00:13:54,799 sat down by him, he pushed up my roach and he says, you're 252 00:13:54,799 --> 00:13:58,799 a very fatherly little fellow, Steel Petticord. It put me in mind to 253 00:13:58,799 --> 00:14:01,679 ask him if he's Sam's, but he laughed out loud at the notion. 254 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,360 Sam's smaller than you. And he minds so well, says I. And 255 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,159 I never saw a man that was so handy at girls work. Sam's an 256 00:14:09,159 --> 00:14:11,679 excellent fellow, says the wizard. But I don't deserve to have a chinaman 257 00:14:11,759 --> 00:14:16,360 called my son, Oh, I says, Is he a chinaman? Well, 258 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,440 I've read about them, but I never saw one before. Then I 259 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,519 concluded to ask the wizard what his own name was, But just then he 260 00:14:22,559 --> 00:14:26,039 got up from his chair and brought the other basket to the fire. Do 261 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,960 you know who Santa Claus is? He says, talking low, I found 262 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,720 that out two years ago, says I. Well, get her little stockings. 263 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,759 Then he says, I thought you'd like to do this yourself, says 264 00:14:37,799 --> 00:14:41,399 the wizard, He acted just like mother. We took the things out of 265 00:14:41,399 --> 00:14:43,840 the basket. There were toy sheep and dogs, and dolls, and tubs 266 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,360 and dishes, and underneath them all kinds of candies enough to treat a school. 267 00:14:48,679 --> 00:14:52,159 I felt like the wizard was Santa Claus. We stuffed her little stockings 268 00:14:52,159 --> 00:14:54,480 till they stood alone like kegs, and tied bundles to them, and fastened 269 00:14:54,519 --> 00:14:58,879 them together and hung them on the mantelpiece. Bounced, Wake up and watch 270 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,559 us, and then he doze off, for Bounce was full of turkey bones 271 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,799 than he ever expected to be again, and Murar s leapt away, looking 272 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,879 like a doll in the fire shine. But all at once Bounce gave a 273 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:09,679 jump and a bark. Back went the door like the wind and tore it 274 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,840 open. And there stood Uncle Mose and Aunt Ibby, and cousin Andy Sanders, 275 00:15:13,919 --> 00:15:16,000 and the widow Briggs's grown son, and two or three men behind them. 276 00:15:16,279 --> 00:15:20,159 They all looked scared or mad, and Aunt Abby's face was so white 277 00:15:20,159 --> 00:15:24,480 that her mules all bristled. This is a pretty how to do, says 278 00:15:24,559 --> 00:15:26,360 she, speaking up loud, like she did on wash days or times she 279 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,399 took a stick and drove the boys to the woodpile. What's going on in 280 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,039 this house tonight? Fires and candles burning, and travelers putting up, and 281 00:15:33,159 --> 00:15:37,559 children running away when they're let go someplace else to stay all night, You 282 00:15:37,679 --> 00:15:41,320 little sneak, says she. You'll get one such a whipping as you waked 283 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,720 for when your mother was alive. Stop, Stop, says the wizard peaceably. 284 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,799 What are you doing in this house, says cousin Andy Sanders. Are 285 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,440 you the man I saw go past my place to night on that wheel pulling 286 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,759 the children? I am, says the Whizzar, and I've been making notes 287 00:15:56,759 --> 00:16:00,879 of the personal property that has been carried out of the house. Well, 288 00:16:00,279 --> 00:16:04,399 says Uncle Mose. I'm the constable, and this is my posse. The 289 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,759 whizzer laughed, and he says, this thorn bush is my thorn bush, 290 00:16:07,799 --> 00:16:11,159 and this dog my dog. I did not know what he meant, and 291 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:15,440 they acted as if they did not either. I arrust you, says Uncle 292 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:21,200 mos for breaking into a house and disturbing the peace. You can't do it, 293 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,799 says the Whizzer. Go in and take him, says Uncle Mos to 294 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:29,080 the other men. Because this is my house, says the Whizzer. I 295 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,919 swallowed my breath when he said that. I wish you'd shut the door, 296 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,840 he says. And since tomorrow is Christmas and I don't want to harbor any 297 00:16:36,879 --> 00:16:38,360 ill, will you can shut it behind instead of in front of you. 298 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,720 I'm Steel Petticord, this boy's father, as you might all know by looking 299 00:16:42,759 --> 00:16:47,840 at me. Even cousin Andy Sanders didn't jump any more than I did. 300 00:16:48,039 --> 00:16:51,039 But I jumped for gladness, and seemed like he jumped for something else. 301 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,759 I'm appointed girding to the children, he says. And I don't want any 302 00:16:55,799 --> 00:16:59,679 impy to talk from a stranger. You pretend you don't know me, Andy 303 00:16:59,679 --> 00:17:03,879 Sanders, says the Wizzer. But I always knew you. You expected to 304 00:17:03,919 --> 00:17:07,480 settle on their land while Mose and his wife pillaged their goods. I didn't 305 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:11,240 grow up with you for nothing. Steel Petticord died when that boy was a 306 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:15,640 year old, says Aunt Abby. And she looked so awful and so big 307 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,160 I could hardly bear to watch her. He was killed by the Indians on 308 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,119 his way from California after he sent his money home. He was only kept 309 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:26,039 prisoner by the Indians, says my father, and sick and ill used. 310 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,359 But he had no notion he was dead till he got away after a few 311 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,880 years and heard his widow was married again and even mother to another child. 312 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,960 It's a likely story, says cousin Andy Sanders, that a man wouldn't come 313 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:42,079 forward and claim his own in such case. You're a notion of a man, 314 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,720 and mine never did agree, Andy Sanders, says my father, she 315 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,960 wasn't to blame, and her second husband was my best friend. The boy 316 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,839 and girl are mine now. It's some robbing scheme, says Aunt Abby, 317 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,680 But she looked as if she knew him well enough. I've more to give 318 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,599 them than you could have taken from them, he says, And you may 319 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,279 begin to investigate tonight. Is that the widow Briggs's boy, he says. 320 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,400 The Briggs boy came up and shook hands with them, and the other men 321 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,039 stepped in and shook hands too. They all begun to talk, but Uncle 322 00:18:11,079 --> 00:18:15,160 Mose and Aunt Ibby and cousin Andy Sanders left the door, and I heard 323 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,920 them slam the gate. Mar sleapt right along, though the neighbors talked so 324 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,440 loud and fast, and I sat down on the lounge at her feet, 325 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:25,200 wondering what she would say Christmas morning when she found out the whizzer was my 326 00:18:25,279 --> 00:18:27,240 own father, the mother thought was dead since I was a year old. 327 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,640 I felt so queer and glad that something in me whizzed like the wheel. 328 00:18:30,839 --> 00:18:33,680 And while my father was not looking, and everybody sat up to the fire 329 00:18:33,759 --> 00:18:37,119 asking questions, I slipped over and tried to hug it around the cranks that 330 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,039 he wiggled with his feet. You can read pieces about Santa Claus comin on 331 00:18:41,079 --> 00:18:45,519 a sledge, but that's nothing to have in your own father that you think 332 00:18:45,559 --> 00:18:48,240 is dead and gone, Ride up like a regular whizzer and open the house 333 00:18:48,279 --> 00:18:53,920 for Christmas. End of the Whizzer by Mary Hartwell Catherwood