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Speaker 1: Christmas Eve at Topmast Tickle by Norman Duncan. It was

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Labrador weather, sure enough, and winter weather too, a cold,

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windy time. There was nothing for it, however, the doctor

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and I must brave our way along myself Davy Roth,

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a mite of a youngster in those days, and that

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good man and wise physician whom we called Doctor Luke

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on our grim coast. We loved the man from Cape

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Chidley to the Straits, a thousand miles of bitter coast,

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now his professional round. We loved him never such another,

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for courage and tenderness as he he had come, a

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castaway from the wreck of the Saint Lawrence to our harbor,

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a moody, wretched fellow, with the imprint of evil upon him.

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What evil he had done I do not to this

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day know. So vivid was this suggestion. I recall, however,

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that I was moved one night to pray for him

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with all my might, And my prayer was addressed to

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my mother, then recently dead, in whose power in her

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new estate I had implicit faith. It seemed that she

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must understand that she might procure his restoration. Dear Mamma,

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I prayed, there's something wrong along with the doctor man

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who came the night you died. He've managed somehow to

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get wonderful sick. I'm not knowing what ails him or

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where he cotched it, but I sees it plain in

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his face, and tis a woeful sickness. Do you make

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haste to the throne of God, please, ma'am and tell

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him I've been asking you to have him cured. You'd

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want him well too, and you was here, and the

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Lord ll surely listen to you and take your word

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for it. Oh, do you pray the Lord with all

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you might, and may and dim Mamma to heal that man.

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It came about presently that the doctor made up his

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mind to stay on our coast, and I did not

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doubt that my mother had in some way accomplished his

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determination that night, the night when the doctor told me

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that he was to stay, I rode him to North

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Tickle and let the punt lie in the swell of

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the open sea, where it was very solemn and quiet.

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The sky was heavy with drifting masses of cloud, a

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flare with red and gold, and all the sunset colors

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from the black line of coast lying in the west

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far into the east, where sea and sky were turning gray. Indeed,

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it was very still, very solemn, lying in the long

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crimson swell of the great Deep, while the dusk came

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creeping over the sea. I do not wonder, the doctor muttered,

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with a shudder, that the people who dwell here fear God.

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There was something familiar to me in that feeling, but

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for the moment I could not make it out, Sir,

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I said. His eyes ranged timidly over the somber waist,

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the vasty, splendid heavens, the coast, dark and unfeeling, the

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infinite sullen sea, which ominously darkened as he looked, and

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he covered his face with his hands. No, he whispered,

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looking up, I do not wonder that you believe in

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God and fear him. Then I knew that round about

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he felt the presence of an offended God, and fear him,

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he repeated. I leveled my finger at him. You've been wicked,

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I said, knowing that my accusation was true. Yes, he answered,

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I have been wicked. I had been wicked too in

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my time and understood. Is it going to be good? Now?

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I'm going to stay here, he replied, and I'm going

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to heal the people and try to be good. I'll

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die to see it, I cried, I Cod. My friend,

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old skipper Tommy Lovejoy commented, when the news was imparted

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to him. You'll never tell me the doctor man is

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to stay in our harbor well well and all because

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the Saint Lawrence was wrecked, and because your mother died

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the night he come ashore, an because he might a

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safer had he been here in time enough, it, Cod

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says the Lord. Now that I got that doctor man there,

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I'll just put it in his mind to stay an

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do a day's work or two for me. I'm sure

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he meant it. I'm sure he meant to do just that.

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I'm sure twas all done a purpose. We thinks he's

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hard and a bit free and careless, he cod. There's

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times when we thinks he fair bungles his job. He

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kills us, and he cripples us, and he starves us,

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and he hurts our hearts an then Davy, we says

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he's a dunderhead at runnin the world, which says we

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we could run a sight better if we was able

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to make one. But the lard Davy does his day's

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work in a seaman like way usin no more crooked

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backs and empty stomachs, and children's tears and broken hearts

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than he can help. Tis little we knows about what

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he's up to, all which was characteristic of Skipper Tommy,

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and the doctor was presently cured. There is virtue for

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the city bread I fancy in the clean salt air

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and simple living of our coast, and surely for everyone everywhere.

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A tonic in the performance of good deeds. Hard practice

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in fair and foul weather worked a vast change in

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the doctor. Toil and fresh air are eminent physicians, the

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wonder of salty wind, and the hand to hand conflict

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with the northern sea. They gave him health, a clear eyed, brown,

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deep breathed sort of health, and restored a strength, broad

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shouldered and lithe and playful that was his natural heritage.

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With this new power came joyous courage, indomitability of purpose,

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a restless activity of body and mind. He was now

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in manly qualities. The man the good God designed strong

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and bonny and tender hearted, betraying no weakness in the

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duties of the day. And he went about with hearty

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words on the tip of his tongue and a laugh

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in his gray eyes. The children ran out of the

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cottages to greet him as he passed by, and a

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multitude of surly, ill conditioned dogs which yielded the road

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to no one else accepted him as a distinguished intimate.

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But to the story. It was Labrador weather, as I

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have said, white weather, and the day before Christmas, the

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Doctor and I must get along. There was nothing for it.

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We must spend Christmas at home. The wind must not

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deny us, nor the cold, nor the driving snow. Returning

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a foot from the bedside of long John wise ad

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run by Guess, and from many a bedside and wretched

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hearth by the way, the Doctor and I strapped our

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packs aback and heartily set out from the Hudson's Bay

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Company's post at bread and Water Bay in the dawn

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of the day before Christmas, Being then three weeks gone

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from our harbor, and thinking to reach next day, we

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were to chance hospitality for the night. And this must

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be they told us. At the cottage of a man

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of the name of Jonas Jut, which is at topmast Tickle,

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there was a lusty old wind scampering down the coast,

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with many a sportive whirl and whoop, flinging the snow

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about in vast delight, a big, rollicking winter's wind blowing

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straight out of the north at the pitch of half

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a gale. With this abeam we made brave progress. But

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yet twas late at night when we floundered down the

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gully called long and deep, where the drifts were overhead.

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And each must rescue the other from sudden misfortune. A

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warm glimmer of light in Jonas Jut's kitchen window to

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guide and hearken us. The doctor beat on the door

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with his fist open. He cried, open. There was no response. Open,

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the doctor shouted, still furiously knocking. Not a whisper, not

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a creek was elicited from within. Are you dead? Are

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ye deef? The doctor cried, good Lord, willya never opened

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this door? So gruff was the voice, so big and commanding,

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and so sudden was the outcry, And so late was

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the night, and wild the wind, and far away the

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little cottage, that the three little Juts who then sat

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expectant at the kitchen fire must all at once have

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huddled close. I fancy that Sammy blinked no longer at

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the crack in the stove, But slipped from his chair

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and limped to his sister, whose hand he clutched. I

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am sure of it. I am sure that little Sammy

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Jutt slipped from his chair in affright, that he limped

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across the floor to Martha Jut, and that he caught

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hold of her hand, and that he stared at the

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door with his eyes popping out while the furious knocking

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went on and the big voice commanding entrance. That was

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little Sammy Jutt's way to limp to his sister and

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catch her hand. We'll freeze, I tell you, shouted the

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doctor opened up. Ah, thank you in a mollified way,

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as Skipper Jonas Jutt opened the door, and then, most engagingly,

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may we come in an welcome'srz, said the hearty Jonas.

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Whoever you be, tis gettin' to be a wild knight.

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Thank you, Yes, yes, a wild knight. Glad to catch

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sight of your light from the top of the hill.

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We'll leave the rackets here straight ahead. Thank you. I

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see the glow of a fire we entered. Hello, cried

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the doctor, stopping short. What's this kids? Good? Three of them? Ah?

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How are you? The manner of asking the question was

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most indignant, not to say threatening, and a gasp and

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heavy frown accompanied it. By this, I knew that the

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doctor was about to make sport for Martha and Jimmie

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and Sammy Jutt, as their names turned out to be,

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which often he did for chillchildren by pretending to be

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in a great rage, and invariably they found it delicious entertainment.

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For however fiercely he blustered, his eyes twinkled most merrily

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all the time, so that one was irresistibly moved to

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chuckle with delight at the sight of them, no matter

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how suddenly or how terribly he drew down his brows.

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I like kids, said he, with a smack of the lips,

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I eat em. Gurgles of delight escaped from the little juts,

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and each turned to the other, the eyes of all dancing.

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And how are you, the doctor demanded. His fierce little

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glance was indubitably directed at little Sammy, as though God

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save us, the lad had no right to be anything

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but well, and ought to be and should be birched

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on the instant if he had the temerity to admit

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the smallest ache or pain from the crown of his

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head to the soles of his feet. But Sammy looked

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frankly into the flashing eyes, grinned, chuckled audibly, and lisped

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that he was better. Better. The doctor exploded. If there,

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said Sammy. The doctor searched Sammy's white face and scrawny body,

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as though for evidence to the contrary. Is that the

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best you can do? He demanded better. Ah, Why aren't

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you well? Ah? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Sammie was

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not at all ashamed of himself, and he was delighted

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with the big stranger. Ah, the doctor growled again, looking

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Sammy over from head to foot. I'll attend to you. Thereupon,

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Skipper Jonas took us to the shed, where we laid

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off our packs and were brushed clean of snow. And

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by that time Matilda Jut, the mother of Martha and

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Jimmie and Sammy, had spread the table with the best

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She had little enough, god knows, being but bread and tea,

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and was smiling beyond Presently there was nothing left of

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the bread and tea. And then we drew up to

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the fire, where the little Jut still sat regarding us

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with great interest. And I observed that Martha Jutt held

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a letter in her hand, whereupon I divined precisely what

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our arrival had interrupted, for I was Labrador born and

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knew well enough what went on in the kitchens of

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our land of a Christmas Eve. And now my girl,

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said the doctor, what's what? By this extraordinary question, delivered

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as it was, in a manner that called imperatively for

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an answer. Martha Jutt was quite nonplussed, as the doctor

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had intended she should be What's what? Repeated the doctor.

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Quite startled, Martha lifted the letter from her lap. He's

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not coming, sir, she gasped, for lack of something better.

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You're disappointed, I see, said the doctor. So he's not coming, No, sir,

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not this year. Well that's too bad. But you mustn't

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mind it, you know, not for an instant. What's the

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matter with him? He've broke his legs? Sir? What? Cried

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the doctor, restored of a sudden to his natural manner,

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Poor fellow, How did he come to do that? Catch him?

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Wanted a wild? Dear sir? Catching a deer, the doctor exclaimed,

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A most extraordinary thing. He was a fool to try it?

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How long ago? Sure can't be more than half an hour,

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For he've the doctor jumped up. Where is he? He

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demanded with professional eagerness. It can't be far, davy. I

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must get to him at once. I must attend to

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that leg. Where is he? Narth Pole, Sir whispered Sammie, Oh,

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cried the doctor, and he sat down again and pursed

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his lips and winked at Sammy in a way most peculiar.

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I see is sir, Jimmy rattled eagerly. We're fair disappointed

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that he's not. Hah, The doctor interrupted, I see hum

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well now, And, having thus incoherently exclaimed for a little,

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the light in his eyes growing merrier all the time,

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he most unaccountably worked himself into a great rage, whereby

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I knew that the little juts were in some way

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to be mightily amused. The lazy rascal, he shouted, jumping

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out of his chair and beginning to stamp the room,

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frowning terribly, the fat idle, blundering dunderhead. Did they send

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you that message? Did they now tell me? Did they

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give me that letter? He snatched the letter from Martha's lap. Sammy,

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he demanded, where did this letter come from? North Pole?

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00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,960
Sir Jonas Jutt blushed and Matilda threw her apron over

235
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her head to hide her confusion. And how did it

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00:14:40,799 --> 00:14:44,799
come out of the stove? Sir? The Doctor opened the

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00:14:44,919 --> 00:14:47,600
letter and paused to slap it angrily from time to

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time as he read it. North Pole, Dear Martha, few

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lines to let you know on account of having broken

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00:14:56,279 --> 00:14:59,320
me leg cotchin the deer. I'm sorry. I'm in a

241
00:14:59,399 --> 00:15:02,279
state o hell, not being able so as to be

242
00:15:02,399 --> 00:15:06,159
out in heavy weather. Hopin you is all well as

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00:15:06,159 --> 00:15:11,279
it leaves me yours, respectful sandy claws. Fish was poor,

244
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,600
and it would not be much this year's anyways, Tell

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00:15:14,639 --> 00:15:18,440
little Sammy, Ha, cried the doctor, as he crushed the

246
00:15:18,519 --> 00:15:21,679
letter to a little ball and flung it under the table. Ha,

247
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,480
that's the kind of thing that happens when one's away

248
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,039
from home. There you have it. Discipline gone to the dogs,

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system gone to the dogs. Everything gone to the dogs.

250
00:15:32,919 --> 00:15:35,879
Now what do you think of that? He scowled, and

251
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gritted his teeth and puffed and said, ha, in a

252
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fashion so threatening that one must needs have fled the

253
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room had there not been a curiously reassuring twinkle in

254
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his eyes. What do you think of that? He repeated fiercely,

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at last, a countermanded order. I'll attend to him, he

256
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,039
burst out. I'll fix that fellow, the lazy dunderhead. I'll

257
00:15:58,039 --> 00:16:01,799
soon fix him. Give me pen and ink? Where's the paper?

258
00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,799
Never mind, I've got some in my pack. One moment

259
00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,399
and I'll He rushed to the shed, to the great

260
00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,039
surprise and alarm of the little juts, and loudly called

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back for a candle, which Skipper Jonas carried to him.

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And when he had been gone a long time, he

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returned with a letter in his hand, still ejaculating in

264
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a great rage. See that, said he to the three

265
00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:28,159
little jets. Well that's for Santa Claus's clerk. That'll fix him.

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That'll blister the stupid fellow. Please, sir, whispered Martha jut Well,

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snapped the doctor, stopping short in a rush to the stove. Please, sir,

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said Martha, taking courage and laying a timid hand on

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his arm. Sure, I don't know what tis all about.

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I don't know what blunder he made, but aninkin' sir,

271
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you'll be sorry if you axe in haste. Tis wise

272
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,399
to count a hundred. Don't be too hard on him, sir,

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tis like the blunder may be mended. Tis like he'll

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do better next time. Don't be hard hard on him,

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the doctor interrupted, Hard on him, hard on, that is, sir,

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she pleaded, looking fearlessly up. Won't you count a hundred? Count? It,

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said he grimly. Martha counted. I observed that the numbers

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00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:23,200
fell slower and yet more slowly from her lips, until

279
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,400
and she was keenly on the watch. A gentler look

280
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:30,559
overspread the doctor's face, and then she rattled them off,

281
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,920
as though she feared he might change his mind once more.

282
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And a hundred she concluded, breathless. Well, the doctor drawled,

283
00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:44,160
rubbing his nose. I'll modify it, whereupon Martha smiled, just

284
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,880
oblige you. Whereupon she blushed. So he scratched a deal

285
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of the letter out. Then he sealed it, strode to

286
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the stove, opened the door, flung the letter into the flames,

287
00:17:55,759 --> 00:17:59,319
slammed the door, and turned with a wondrously sweet smile

288
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,920
to the amaze little juts there. He sighed, I think

289
00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,720
that will do the trick. We'll soon know. At any rate,

290
00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,759
we waited, all very still, all with eyes wide open,

291
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all gazing fixedly at the door of the stove. Then,

292
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,960
all at once, and in the very deepest of the silence,

293
00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,160
the doctor uttered a startling ah, leaped from his chair

294
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with such violence that he overturned it awkwardly, upset Jimmy

295
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,160
Jutt's stool, and sent the lad tumbling head over heels,

296
00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,640
for which he did not stop to apologize, And there

297
00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,920
was great confusion in the midst of which the doctor

298
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,319
jerked the stove door open, thrust in his arm, and

299
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snatched a blazing letter straight from the flames, all before

300
00:18:44,319 --> 00:18:47,720
Jimmy and Martha and Sammy Jutt had time to recover

301
00:18:47,839 --> 00:18:52,799
from the daze into which the sudden uproar had thrown them. There,

302
00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,759
cried the doctor when he had managed to extinguish the blaze.

303
00:18:57,079 --> 00:19:01,640
We'll just see what's in this better news warrant. You

304
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,680
may be sure that the little juts were blinking amazement.

305
00:19:05,079 --> 00:19:08,759
There could be no doubt about the authenticity of that communication,

306
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,160
and the doctor seemed to know it, for he calmly

307
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:16,440
tore the envelope open, glanced the contents over, and turned

308
00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:20,680
to Martha, the broadest of grins wrinkling his face. Martha

309
00:19:20,759 --> 00:19:23,920
Jutt said, he will you please be good enough to

310
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:29,160
read that and Martha read North Pole December twenty fourth,

311
00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:33,640
ten eighteen p m. To Captain Blizzard Jonah Jutt's cottage,

312
00:19:33,759 --> 00:19:40,160
topmost Tickle, Labrador Coast, Respected, Sir, regret erroneous report, mistake

313
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,279
of a clerk in the Bureau of Information, Santa Claus

314
00:19:43,319 --> 00:19:46,559
got away at nine thirty six whend blowing due south,

315
00:19:46,759 --> 00:19:51,960
strong and fresh snow, Chief Clerk. Then there was a

316
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,480
great outburst of glee. It was the doctor who raised

317
00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,000
the first cheer three times three and a tiger. And

318
00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:01,880
what a tiger itt is? Was? What with the treble

319
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,440
of Sammy, which was of the thinnest description, and the

320
00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,599
treble of Martha, which was full and sure, and the

321
00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:12,279
treble of Jimmy, which dangerously bordered on a cracked base,

322
00:20:12,799 --> 00:20:17,119
And what with Matilda's cackle and Skipper Jonas's croak, and

323
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,079
my own who rays and the Doctor's guttural uproar which

324
00:20:21,319 --> 00:20:24,279
might have been mistaken for a very double bass. What

325
00:20:24,519 --> 00:20:27,400
with all this, as you may be sure, the shout

326
00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,079
of the wind was nowhere. Then we joined hands. It

327
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,119
was the doctor who began it by catching Martha and

328
00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,880
Matilda and danced the table round, shaking our feet and

329
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,440
tossing our arms. The glee, ever more uproarious, danced until

330
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:46,039
we were breathless, every one save little Sammy, who was

331
00:20:46,079 --> 00:20:48,759
not asked to join the gambol, but sat still in

332
00:20:48,799 --> 00:20:53,519
his chair and seemed to expect no invitation. Whend blown

333
00:20:53,599 --> 00:20:56,839
due south, strong and fresh, gasped Jimmy when at last

334
00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,759
we sat down. He'll be down in a hurry with

335
00:21:00,079 --> 00:21:04,400
they swilt deer ny, but he'll just whizz in this gale.

336
00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,519
But tis sad, tis too late to get word to him,

337
00:21:07,559 --> 00:21:11,680
said Martha, the smile gone from her face. Sad, is it,

338
00:21:11,839 --> 00:21:15,200
cried the doctor, sad. What's the word you want to send?

339
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,720
Tis something for Sammy? Sir? Sammy gave Martha a quick

340
00:21:19,839 --> 00:21:24,880
dig in the ribs, and Mamma, he lisped, reproachfully, is sir,

341
00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,279
we'll want it bad? And does ye think us could

342
00:21:28,279 --> 00:21:32,000
get word to him for Sammie, sir? A Mamma Sammie

343
00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:36,519
insisted we can try at any rate. The doctor answered, doubtfully.

344
00:21:36,839 --> 00:21:39,680
Maybe we can catch him on the way down. Where's

345
00:21:39,759 --> 00:21:44,519
that pin? Here we are now? He scribbled, rapidly, folded

346
00:21:44,559 --> 00:21:47,440
the letter in great haste, and dispatched it to Santa

347
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,440
Claus's clerk by the simple process of throwing it in

348
00:21:50,519 --> 00:21:53,599
the fire. As before, he went to his pack in

349
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,079
the shed, taking the candle with him. The errand appeared

350
00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,319
to be really most trivial, and stayed so long that

351
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,279
the little juts, who now loved him very much as

352
00:22:03,319 --> 00:22:06,920
I could see, wished that the need would not rise again.

353
00:22:07,599 --> 00:22:10,480
But all in good time. He returned and sat to

354
00:22:10,559 --> 00:22:14,119
watch for the reply, intent as any of them, and

355
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:18,640
presently he snatched the stove door open, creating great confusion

356
00:22:18,759 --> 00:22:22,000
in the act as before, and before the little judts

357
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,079
could recover from the sudden surprise, he held up a

358
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:30,440
smoking letter. Then he read aloud, try Hamilton Inlet. Touch

359
00:22:30,519 --> 00:22:35,200
is there? Ten forty eight? Time of arrival of topmastickle. Uncertain,

360
00:22:35,599 --> 00:22:40,640
no use waiting up snow clerk by jove, exclaimed the doctor.

361
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,920
That's jolly touches Hamilton Inlet. At ten forty eight, he

362
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,240
consulted his watch. It's now ten forty three and a half.

363
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,160
We've just four and a half minutes. I'll get a

364
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,480
message off at once. Where's the confounded pin Ah? Here

365
00:22:56,519 --> 00:22:58,839
we are now? What is it you want for Sammy

366
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,440
and Mamma? The three little Juts were suddenly thrown into

367
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,640
a fearful state of excitement. They tried to talk all

368
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,240
at once, but not one of them could frame a

369
00:23:08,279 --> 00:23:13,599
coherent sentence. It was most distressful to see the exterminator.

370
00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:18,279
Martha managed to jerk out at last. Oh Ay, cried Jimmy, Jut, quick, sir,

371
00:23:18,599 --> 00:23:23,960
write and down Pine's prompt pain exterminator warranted to cure. Please, sir,

372
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:29,559
make haste. The doctor stared at Jimmy. Oh Zurr groaned Martha.

373
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,920
Don't be starin like that, right, sir? Twas all in

374
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,960
the paper. The prospector left last summer. Pine's prompt pain

375
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:41,599
Exterminator cures boils, rheumatism, pains in the back and chest,

376
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,839
sore throat and all they things and warts on the

377
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:49,000
hands by a simple application with brown paper. We wants

378
00:23:49,079 --> 00:23:53,519
it for the rheumatism, Sir oh Zurr. None genuine without

379
00:23:53,519 --> 00:23:58,200
the label, Jimmy put in in an excited rattle. Money refunded.

380
00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,839
If no cure, get a bar with the label. The

381
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:06,880
doctor laughed, laughed aloud, and laughed again. By Jove, he roared,

382
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:11,240
you'll get it. It's odd, but ah, by Jove, he

383
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,759
has it. In stock. The laughter and repeated assurance seemed

384
00:24:15,839 --> 00:24:19,440
vastly to encourage Jimmy and Martha. The doctor wrote like

385
00:24:19,559 --> 00:24:23,319
mad while he talked, but not Little Sammy. All that

386
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,279
he lisped, all that he shouted, all that he screamed,

387
00:24:27,559 --> 00:24:31,039
had gone unheeded. As though unable to put up with

388
00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,960
the neglect any longer, he limped over the floor to

389
00:24:34,079 --> 00:24:37,680
Martha and tugged her sleeve, and pulled at Jimmy's coat tail,

390
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:42,279
and jogged the doctor's arm, until at last he attracted

391
00:24:42,319 --> 00:24:47,799
a measure of attention. Notwithstanding his mother's protest, notwithstanding her

392
00:24:47,839 --> 00:24:52,319
giggles and waving hands, notwithstanding that she blushed as red

393
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:56,039
as ink, until as I perceived, her freckles were all

394
00:24:56,079 --> 00:24:59,839
lost to sight. Notwithstanding that she threw her apron over

395
00:25:00,039 --> 00:25:03,039
her head and rushed headlong from the room to the

396
00:25:03,079 --> 00:25:06,920
imminent danger of the door post. Little Sammy insisted that

397
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,400
his mother's gift should be named in the letter of request.

398
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,720
Quick cried the doctor, what is it? We've but half

399
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,680
a minute left. Sammy began to stutter. Make haste by it,

400
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:23,720
cried Jimmy. One bottle of the magic Egyptian beautifier, said Sammy,

401
00:25:24,039 --> 00:25:27,720
quite distinctly for the first time in his life. The

402
00:25:27,799 --> 00:25:32,240
doctor looked blank, but he doggedly nodded his head nevertheless,

403
00:25:32,599 --> 00:25:35,720
and wrote it down. And off went the letter at

404
00:25:35,759 --> 00:25:41,519
precisely ten forty seven forty five, as the doctor said later,

405
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,400
when the excitement had all subsided and we sat dreaming

406
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,559
in the warmth and glow, the doctor took little Sammy

407
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,000
in his lap and told him he was a very

408
00:25:51,039 --> 00:25:54,319
good boy, and looked deep in his eyes, and stroked

409
00:25:54,319 --> 00:25:58,559
his hair, and at last, very tenderly bared his knee.

410
00:25:59,039 --> 00:26:02,839
Sammy flinched at that, and he said ouch once and

411
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,599
screwed up his face. When the doctor, his gruffness all gone,

412
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,440
his eyes gentle and sad, his hand as light as

413
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,839
a mother's, worked the joint and felt the knee cap

414
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,480
and socket with the tips of his fingers. And is

415
00:26:17,519 --> 00:26:20,000
this the room? It is? The prompt exterminator is to

416
00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:24,400
cure Sammy, He asked, if there? And is that where

417
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,960
it hurts you, right on the point of the bone there,

418
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:32,160
if there? And was there no fall on the rocket? All? Ah,

419
00:26:32,319 --> 00:26:35,359
there was a fall and the bruise was just there

420
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,240
where it hurts so much, and it's very hard to

421
00:26:38,279 --> 00:26:42,480
bear isn't it? Sammy shook his head. No, but it

422
00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:46,279
hurts a great deal sometimes, does it not. That's too bad,

423
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:52,480
that's very sad, indeed. But perhaps perhaps Sammy, I can

424
00:26:52,559 --> 00:26:55,599
cure it for you, if you are brave. And are

425
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,599
you brave? No? Oh, I think you are. And you'll

426
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,400
try to be at any rate, won't you. Of course,

427
00:27:02,599 --> 00:27:06,319
that's a good boy. And so with his sharp little knives,

428
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,960
the doctor cured Sammy Jutt's knee while the lad lay

429
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,519
white and still on the kitchen table. And twas not

430
00:27:13,599 --> 00:27:16,880
hard to do. But had not the doctor chanced that way,

431
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,119
Sammy Jutt would have been a cripple all his life.

432
00:27:21,079 --> 00:27:24,880
Doctor Zirr, said Matilda Jut, when the children were put

433
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:28,680
to bed with Martha to watch by Sammy, who was

434
00:27:29,039 --> 00:27:32,039
still very sick. Is you really got a bottle of

435
00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,359
Pine's pomped? The doctor laughed, an empty bottle, said he.

436
00:27:36,799 --> 00:27:39,480
I picked it up a poverty cove, thought it might

437
00:27:39,599 --> 00:27:43,599
come useful. I'll put Sammy's medicine in that they'll not

438
00:27:43,759 --> 00:27:46,319
know the difference, and you'll treat the knee with it,

439
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,480
as I've told you. That's all we must turn in

440
00:27:49,559 --> 00:27:52,119
at once, for we must be gone before the children

441
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,000
wake in the morning, Oh isy, sir, And she began,

442
00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,359
but hesitated, much embarrassed. Well, the doctor aked asked, with

443
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,119
a smile, would you mind putting some queer lookin stuff

444
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,880
on one of the bottles of yours, not in the

445
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,440
least in surprise, and writing something on a bit of paper.

446
00:28:10,559 --> 00:28:13,640
She went on, pulling at her apron and looking down

447
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,880
and goin' it to the bottle. Not at all. But

448
00:28:17,079 --> 00:28:22,279
what shall I write? She flushed? Magic Egyptian beautifiers? Sir,

449
00:28:22,799 --> 00:28:25,880
she answered, for I'm thinkin' twould please little Sammy to

450
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:30,319
think that Sandy Claus left something for me too. If

451
00:28:30,319 --> 00:28:33,200
you think that the three little juts found nothing but

452
00:28:33,319 --> 00:28:37,000
bottles of medicine in their stockings when they got downstairs

453
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,319
on Christmas morning, you are very much mistaken. Indeed, there

454
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,319
was much more than that, a great deal more than that.

455
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,119
I will not tell you what it was, for you

456
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,240
might sniff and say, huh, that's little enough. But there

457
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,799
was more than medicine. No man, rich man, poor man,

458
00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,519
beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, or merchant chief never yet

459
00:29:00,599 --> 00:29:04,519
left a Hudson's Bay Company's post. Stared in the face

460
00:29:04,599 --> 00:29:07,599
by the chance of having to seek hospitality of a

461
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,759
Christmas Eve. No right feeling man I say, ever, yet

462
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,599
left a Hudson's Bay Company's post under such circumstances without

463
00:29:16,599 --> 00:29:20,480
putting something more than medicine in his pack. I chanced

464
00:29:20,519 --> 00:29:23,480
to know at any rate, that upon this occasion Doctor

465
00:29:23,559 --> 00:29:26,720
Luke did not. And I know too you may be

466
00:29:26,839 --> 00:29:29,720
interested to learn it that as we floundered through the

467
00:29:29,759 --> 00:29:33,880
deep snow homeward bound soon after dawn the next day,

468
00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:38,000
he was glad enough that he hadn't No merry shouts

469
00:29:38,079 --> 00:29:41,079
came over the white miles from the cottage of Jonas Jutt,

470
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,400
though I am sure that they rang there most heartily.

471
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,720
But the doctor did not care. He shouted merrily enough

472
00:29:48,759 --> 00:29:52,640
for himself, for he was very happy. And that's the

473
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,920
way you'd feel too, if you spent your days hunting

474
00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:01,519
good deeds to do and of smiths Eve at topmast

475
00:30:01,599 --> 00:30:03,119
Tickle by Norman Duncan