1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,400 Speaker 1: The Stairway to Happiness The Story of a Christmas Eve 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:09,880 by Dellah Dimmit, Now, Mamsie, I just will pull those 3 00:00:09,919 --> 00:00:14,359 wet rubbers off your poor tired feet here, stick them out. 4 00:00:14,919 --> 00:00:17,480 Why there's a hole in the heel of this one, 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,199 and you've tried to stop it with a wad of paper. Oh, 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,800 you naughty Mamsie, not to have bought yourself new rubbers 7 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,239 instead of the muffler. You got me me wearing a muffler, 8 00:00:28,239 --> 00:00:33,439 and you with a hole in your rubbers. Oh, Mamsie Judith, 9 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:38,039 you ridiculous child. The offending rubber was whisked instantly out 10 00:00:38,039 --> 00:00:41,799 of sight, divested of her moist outer garments by three 11 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:46,880 pairs of willing, girlish hands. The indomitable figure of Mamsie straightened, 12 00:00:47,399 --> 00:00:50,039 showing in the lamp light's glow not a trace of 13 00:00:50,079 --> 00:00:52,880 the weariness with which she had plodded home through the dark, 14 00:00:53,119 --> 00:00:57,640 slushy illy lighted streets, not daring to use even the 15 00:00:57,679 --> 00:01:02,159 small price of a car fare. Come children, The voice 16 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,079 was that of a girl herself. Let us see what 17 00:01:05,159 --> 00:01:08,079 Ellen has for our tea to night, same as last 18 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:11,000 night and the night afore, Mamsie, dear the voice of Ellen, 19 00:01:11,239 --> 00:01:15,239 familiarly known as the market Woman, came blithely floating back 20 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,000 from the dining room where she had retired to light 21 00:01:18,079 --> 00:01:21,319 up tea and toast the butter spread a little thinner, 22 00:01:21,439 --> 00:01:24,079 just for the sake of variety, Would we dare buy 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,560 a chicken, a very small one, Mamsie, for our Christmas 24 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:32,400 dinner tomorrow? No, dear, the full round cheerfulness of Mamsie's 25 00:01:32,439 --> 00:01:35,120 tone never wavered. You know, we all agreed that this 26 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,799 was to be a penny Christmas and we must abide 27 00:01:37,799 --> 00:01:42,079 by the articles. That's all right, Mamsie, as cheerfully responded 28 00:01:42,079 --> 00:01:45,400 the market Woman. I just asked for information, that was all. 29 00:01:46,239 --> 00:01:48,680 There's enough of the cold Heart left over from Sunday's 30 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,760 dinner to serve another meal, and with some fresh dressing, 31 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,560 it will be delicious. Want to hear what's on the 32 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,040 boards for tonight, Mamsie? Dear, Well, we're going to turn 33 00:01:58,079 --> 00:02:01,359 ourselves into real Christmas weights for thing after supper and 34 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,000 stroll through town singing carols on people's doorsteps. That was 35 00:02:05,079 --> 00:02:08,599 Judith's idea, isn't it clever? And we're going to leave 36 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,280 you to do the dishes all by your lone self, Mamsie, 37 00:02:11,719 --> 00:02:14,080 you haven't had all the exercise that's rightly coming to 38 00:02:14,159 --> 00:02:17,039 you down at that employment bureau, wrestling with other folk 39 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,199 servant girl problems for the munificent sum of a dollar 40 00:02:20,199 --> 00:02:22,439 a day. So we're just going to let you wash 41 00:02:22,479 --> 00:02:25,599 all these dishes. After that you may cuddle up by 42 00:02:25,599 --> 00:02:28,520 the fireplace in here and warm your toes into exactly 43 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,879 as you please all the rest of the time we're gone. 44 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,280 Only do not go into the east room where we 45 00:02:33,319 --> 00:02:35,840 fix the tree and snip off all your presents to 46 00:02:35,879 --> 00:02:39,360 give to somebody else. We, for our part, have sure 47 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:41,800 lived up to the articles. For there isn't a blessed 48 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,199 thing on that tree or among any of the packages 49 00:02:44,199 --> 00:02:47,560 that Rastus carried round for us this afternoon that cost 50 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,439 more than a penny. And that's a certified fact. Mother, 51 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:54,199 Wait that Judith Dabney, Ellen Maria and Eileen Mayo Weight 52 00:02:54,319 --> 00:02:58,080 can each fix her hand and seal there too. But Mamsie, 53 00:02:58,199 --> 00:03:01,000 I'm desperately afraid some of the dear people exchanging with 54 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,000 us have not lived up to the agreement as they 55 00:03:03,039 --> 00:03:06,919 said they would. Aunt Lucy Landis, for one, has sent 56 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,000 a little remembrance in a great big bandbox affair, and 57 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,719 some of the other packages are sizeable and hefty too. 58 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:19,280 In that case, and Mamsie's face was gravity itself. I 59 00:03:19,319 --> 00:03:22,039 would advise the calling in of a committee to appraise 60 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,400 the gifts all round. And if by any chance someone's 61 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,039 offering exceeds your own in value, why carry it back 62 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,479 without delay and demand your own on the spot. Let 63 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,599 us preserve our independence though the heavens fall. But mother, 64 00:03:37,439 --> 00:03:40,199 a bright red spot burned in either of Judith's smooth, 65 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,520 olive cheeks. We girls don't mind being poor the least 66 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,240 little bit in the world. It's only being paupers that hurts, 67 00:03:47,879 --> 00:03:52,080 I understand, Dear, returned Mamsie, who, knowing a better way, 68 00:03:52,319 --> 00:03:57,080 never argued with her daughters. Now wrap up warmly, she admonished, 69 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,400 as the girls rose from the table, leaving her to 70 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,719 finish her tea alone. Put on your muffler, Judith, and 71 00:04:02,759 --> 00:04:05,439 don't expose that precious throat, Dear, more than you can 72 00:04:05,479 --> 00:04:10,240 help my charming weights, she exclaimed, as presently the gay 73 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,520 group came flitting down the stairway, cloaked for the street, 74 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,279 their dainty heads all bound in bright scarves. What a 75 00:04:17,319 --> 00:04:20,120 sweet way you have chosen to usher in the Christmas joys. 76 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:25,000 Now give all our dear dear friends your mother's kindliest greeting, 77 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,439 and thank each one who has in any way contributed 78 00:04:28,439 --> 00:04:32,079 to our own Christmas. We can, still, in spite of 79 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:37,000 our changed circumstances, afford to be gracious. Tell Miss Eliza 80 00:04:37,079 --> 00:04:39,839 Elkins that I am promising myself the pleasure of a 81 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,639 little visit with her tomorrow, directly after dinner. She will 82 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,720 understand why we cannot this year invite our friends to us, 83 00:04:47,439 --> 00:04:49,439 And say to Doctor Gliddon that I wish him to 84 00:04:49,519 --> 00:04:52,519 accept with my dearest love, this gift in remembrance of 85 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,800 your father. You are all willing, are you not? That 86 00:04:55,879 --> 00:04:59,120 I should part with it? She had risen as she 87 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,199 spoke from the meagerly furnished tea table, and drawn from 88 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:06,560 a secret drawer in a man's much worn desk, still 89 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,360 filled with his unused possessions, a packet wrapped in fine 90 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,160 tissue paper a watch. It proved to be a watch 91 00:05:14,199 --> 00:05:18,519 of magnificent workmanship and priceless, for it had been presented 92 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,759 to the dead father of the girls by the Medical 93 00:05:20,759 --> 00:05:24,040 Association of his state. As the lines engraved on the 94 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,519 inner lid of the watch read in token of appreciation 95 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:32,839 for his distinguished service in behalf of suffering humanity. How 96 00:05:32,879 --> 00:05:37,560 sweet of you, mother, How sweet Judith's voice was pointed 97 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:43,000 with little tender thrills. May I carry it over. With 98 00:05:43,079 --> 00:05:46,199 the departure of the girls, the old house grew strangely 99 00:05:46,439 --> 00:05:50,160 oppressively quiet. But to the mother it was an intense 100 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,120 relief to sink into the shabby, sheltering arms of the 101 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,240 chair that had been her husband's, and there alone, among 102 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,439 the wavering shadows of the fire lit room, with no 103 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:05,600 solicitous young eyes on her, just be without dissimulation. What 104 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,959 in sad reality she was only a tired, utterly dispirited 105 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,399 woman with the battle of life going against her. Brooding 106 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,040 was a costly luxury, but she gave herself up to it, 107 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,000 And as the images of the old bright days when 108 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,680 a strong arm had shielded her and her little brood 109 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,399 from the rigors of a hard world without rose before her, 110 00:06:30,079 --> 00:06:34,959 tears forced themselves between the tightly closed eyelids in the 111 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,720 secrecy of her heart. She was compelled to admit the sheer, 112 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,160 blank wall confronting her whichever way she turned. There was 113 00:06:43,199 --> 00:06:45,439 the matter of the twins being kept in the academy 114 00:06:45,439 --> 00:06:49,120 the remainder of the year, the tuition she might, by 115 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,680 dint of closer management, yet possibly provide for, But their 116 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,759 graduation gowns and other incidentals were beyond her power of obtaining. 117 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,639 Then there were judas mens music lessons, so few remaining 118 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,120 until the child could complete the course and measurably fit 119 00:07:06,199 --> 00:07:10,040 herself for teaching the art she so passionately loved. But 120 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,360 that too was not to be thought of. Already they 121 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,279 were restricting themselves in the matter of living expenses to 122 00:07:16,319 --> 00:07:20,240 the barest necessities. It had gone to her heart to 123 00:07:20,319 --> 00:07:23,519 deny Ellen's unspoken wish in the matter of the Christmas dinner, 124 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,000 but it had to be done silently. She lifted up 125 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,959 her heart in a prayer for sustaining grace and a 126 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,079 yet larger human wisdom in meeting these and all emergencies. 127 00:07:36,519 --> 00:07:40,759 At the first sound of tripping feet, she drew herself up, and, 128 00:07:40,879 --> 00:07:43,759 as though by some magic, seemed to become young and 129 00:07:43,839 --> 00:07:49,399 eager eyed again, Oh Mamsie, the gay weight, Their cheeks flushed, 130 00:07:49,639 --> 00:07:52,399 their eyes sparkling, and all speaking at once burst in 131 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,519 upon her. Such a time as we've had, such a wonderful, 132 00:07:56,959 --> 00:08:01,720 wonderful time. Why you haven't watched the dishes, girl, She 133 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,160 hasn't washed the dishes, nor cleared the table. And above 134 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:09,079 the din rose Mamsie's own blithe voice, denying the charge 135 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,680 of mooning, and engaging to do the forgotten dishes twice 136 00:08:12,759 --> 00:08:15,439 next day by way of penance. If only they might 137 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,680 be allowed to stand tonight, since this was Christmas Eve. 138 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,319 Now tell me all that happened. Mamsie's expressive face shone 139 00:08:24,319 --> 00:08:28,199 with the light of anticipation. Mamsie's voice quivered under the 140 00:08:28,279 --> 00:08:32,080 enchantment of the hour, still as pretty as any of 141 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,639 her girls. What a picture Mamsie made, and what a 142 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,200 Christmas Eve they were all having. Now, don't leave out 143 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,120 a bit. I'm wild to know what everybody did and said. 144 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:45,120 I know they must all have thought it bright and clever, 145 00:08:45,639 --> 00:08:48,840 a really beautiful thing in you to turn yourselves into 146 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:53,000 real Christmas weights and come singing their festivities in Where 147 00:08:53,039 --> 00:08:56,679 did you go first? Why, Mamsie? What a question to 148 00:08:56,799 --> 00:08:59,840 doctor Gliddon's, of course. And when the dear blessed old 149 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,360 man came and softly opened his door, and we could 150 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:06,039 see him sitting there inside with his grand white head bowed, 151 00:09:06,159 --> 00:09:09,399 listening with his hand up to his good ear. We 152 00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:12,320 just stole inside and made a little circle round him 153 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,879 and sang him every one of our carols. Then we 154 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,759 presented him the watch, and he arose and made us 155 00:09:18,759 --> 00:09:21,559 a little speech. I don't believe any of us ever 156 00:09:21,639 --> 00:09:25,559 quite realized before. I'm afraid we did not what a 157 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,559 perfectly splendid man our father was. But doctor Gliddon told 158 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,200 us some things about him to night Mother, some things 159 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,559 which he had done for folks, oh, poor suffering folks 160 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,399 who could never pay him anything, you know. That made 161 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,480 us feel very exalted and very humble too. And then 162 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:46,039 doctor Gliddon just slipped father's watch inside his pocket and 163 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,840 said he would carry it, thinking ever of his great 164 00:09:48,879 --> 00:09:52,320 and good friend Wyndham Weight, and hoped that he himself 165 00:09:52,399 --> 00:09:54,919 might one day pass it back into our family again, 166 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,279 untarnished and with its usefulness unimpaired. Why it was just 167 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:02,440 as though Mother, he were giving us some great and 168 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,799 unspeakable gift, instead of us giving him one any man 169 00:10:06,879 --> 00:10:10,039 can give, dear, But it takes a gentleman to receive 170 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,600 Mamsie's voice thrilled. So when the watch finally comes back 171 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,840 into your hands, its value will be enhanced by all 172 00:10:17,879 --> 00:10:21,440 the sacred and beautiful memories of the christly minister who 173 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,159 received both your father and mother into the church, married them, 174 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,080 christened their three children, and read the commitment service over 175 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:34,679 your father's grave. The dear doctor well where next to 176 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,240 miss Eliza's, and we found her crying over Eileen's letter calendar. 177 00:10:38,799 --> 00:10:41,240 She had just opened it because she couldn't wait any longer. 178 00:10:41,519 --> 00:10:44,480 And the poor old soul kept saying, three hundred and 179 00:10:44,519 --> 00:10:48,320 sixty five letters, three hundred and sixty five letters, all 180 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,639 for me. I can't die this year. I've simply got 181 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,000 to keep alive until the last one of those letters 182 00:10:54,039 --> 00:10:57,039 is read. So then we told her that the very 183 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,039 last of all was the autograph letter from General Lee 184 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,879 to great Aunt Sallie Wcut on the eve of her marriage. 185 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:07,159 And miss Eliza said, children, has Sallie Wait committed that 186 00:11:07,279 --> 00:11:11,120 treasure to my hands? And mother, you'd have thought she 187 00:11:11,159 --> 00:11:15,279 held an empire's crown jewels in her hands. Oh, I 188 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:21,039 can well believe it, tremulously, responded missus Waite. For Miss Eliza, then, 189 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:25,159 in her beautiful girlhood, was bridesmaid to Aunt Sallie, and 190 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,240 her own sweetheart was one of the General's aides, and 191 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,919 after his early tragic death, the General wrote Miss Liza 192 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,080 a letter, but her letter was lost in the family's 193 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:39,639 flight that next year out of Petersburg. Yes, yes, dear 194 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:43,159 miss Eliza, I knew she would prize that letter above 195 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,639 all earthly possessions. And Missus French, poor lady, did you 196 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:51,159 sing under her window? Oh yes, Mamsie. And when we 197 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,240 told them we wanted to come once a week throughout 198 00:11:53,279 --> 00:11:55,919 the year and sing as our Christmas present to them, 199 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,600 the Major followed us outside to thank us and to 200 00:11:58,639 --> 00:12:01,120 whisper that this would be the most acceptable gift we 201 00:12:01,159 --> 00:12:04,559 could possibly have brought. That Missus French was always better 202 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:08,159 for days after one of our little sings. And oh, Mamsie, 203 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,679 old bedridden Missus Maynard was so happy over her portable 204 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,840 window garden gay and all those blossoms we had coaxed 205 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:18,240 out under the window glass. And Aunt Lucy exclaimed and 206 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,440 kept on exclaiming over Ellen's sewing basket made out of 207 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,879 the cheese box, lacquered and lined with the flounce off 208 00:12:23,879 --> 00:12:27,039 my old pink dimity. Really it did look handsome with 209 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,200 those bands of brass beating tacked around it, and it 210 00:12:30,399 --> 00:12:33,440 just fitted into the jet in her bay window, and oh, 211 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,639 everybody else was charmed, and it was such fun. Why, Mother, 212 00:12:36,919 --> 00:12:39,159 it just seemed like we actually had more to give 213 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,799 this year, when we thought the locusts had just about 214 00:12:41,799 --> 00:12:44,600 eaten us out of everything we possessed than we ever 215 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:47,639 had to give before. They all seemed to think that 216 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:50,159 even if we hadn't put money, as we had put 217 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:53,440 time and ingenuity and heaps of love, or as Aunt 218 00:12:53,519 --> 00:12:57,159 Lucy Landis expressed it, we had put ourselves, the whole 219 00:12:57,159 --> 00:13:01,159 of ourselves into our home made presents. Why it was beautiful, 220 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,360 just beautiful, Mother, And we were so carried away by 221 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,279 the spirit of it, and feeling so sort of Christmasy 222 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,559 ourselves that we forgot everything about the bank breaking and 223 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:12,320 us losing all the money we had in the world. 224 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:14,200 And do you know what we've gone and done? Mother? 225 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,600 Why we told miss Eliza and Doctor Gliddon and Major 226 00:13:17,639 --> 00:13:19,960 and missus French that we were expecting them all quite 227 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,559 as usual for Christmas dinner tomorrow. We never meant to Mother, 228 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,840 truly we didn't, But what else were we to say 229 00:13:26,879 --> 00:13:28,799 when every one of them said to us that they 230 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,320 supposed they were to come as usual to us? Tomorrow. 231 00:13:32,279 --> 00:13:35,159 Whatever are we going to do about it, Mamsie. Do 232 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:40,320 Mamsie's heart, it is true, gave one dismayed bound, but 233 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,759 not for worlds and more worlds? Would she have let 234 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,559 her girls know it? Do? Why? We will make them 235 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,399 all welcome. Of course. We will set out our best 236 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:52,320 china and my finest damask in the silver service that 237 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,519 was your great great grandmother's, which has graced every like 238 00:13:55,519 --> 00:13:59,200 occasion all these years, And with Doctor Gliddon's dear voice 239 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,960 invoking God's blessing upon us, all even warmed over heart, 240 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,440 will furnish a feast. Besides, I think there is little 241 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,720 of the quince marmalade left, and with some of Ellen's 242 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,960 milk biscuit, I have no doubt but that we shall 243 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,000 fare famously. Now let us have our tree. But first, 244 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,000 if you are not too hoarse, sing just for me. 245 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,960 It came upon the midnight clear Mamsie seated at the 246 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,799 old piano, touching the time stained keys with light fingers, 247 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,200 listened with straining heart for the lines. And ye beneath 248 00:14:32,279 --> 00:14:37,000 life's crushing load, whose forms are bending low, who toil 249 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:42,000 along the climbing way with painful steps and slow look 250 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:46,000 now for glad and golden hours. Come swiftly on the 251 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:50,480 wing oh rest beside the weary road, and hear the 252 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:56,759 angels sing. The little glimmering Southern Pine, soon relieved of 253 00:14:56,799 --> 00:15:00,480 its light burden of home gifts, stood in uncom promising 254 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:05,679 stiffness above the packages from outside acquaintances. Judith picked up 255 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,440 the band box affair and handed it to her mother, saying, 256 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,000 with a little catch in her voice, I don't care 257 00:15:12,039 --> 00:15:14,000 if there's a town lot in side of this, mother. 258 00:15:14,639 --> 00:15:18,159 If Doctor Gliddon could receive father's watch and Miss Eliza 259 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,480 Aunt Sally's letter in the spirit in which they were 260 00:15:20,519 --> 00:15:23,720 both given, we are mighty poor in soul if we 261 00:15:23,799 --> 00:15:26,960 haven't caught a little bit of their nobleness. Take off 262 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,879 the lid, Mamsie. But the band box, unwrapped, yielded nothing 263 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,919 but a round footrest that stood apologetically on four wobbly 264 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:40,480 screw legs, and some other articles, crying loudly their home manufacture. 265 00:15:41,639 --> 00:15:45,600 Poor Aunt Lucy Landis had done her conscientious best, but 266 00:15:45,759 --> 00:15:47,639 even the girls could see that it had been the 267 00:15:47,639 --> 00:15:51,519 most dismal kind of failure. They stood in a little 268 00:15:51,639 --> 00:15:55,200 hushed group, thinking remorsefully of what it must have cost 269 00:15:55,279 --> 00:16:00,919 this most generous of friends to have dispatched these poor contrivances. Oh, 270 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:06,879 Mamsie exclaimed Judith contritely, weren't we vulgar? Weren't we vulgar? Though? 271 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,399 To go around telling folks that because we were poor 272 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,080 they couldn't pay anything for the presents they gave us 273 00:16:12,519 --> 00:16:17,279 not vulgar, dear, amended Mamsie, only thoughtless and a little 274 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,039 unmindful of the rights of others who like to give 275 00:16:20,159 --> 00:16:24,200 as well as to receive. They would not perhaps have 276 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,720 admitted it, but there was a sense of disappointment, of 277 00:16:27,799 --> 00:16:31,480 something lacking, which even the cards and notes, freighted with 278 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,840 love and tender wishes could not altogether cover. Deeper than 279 00:16:35,879 --> 00:16:38,639 the dearth of gifts or the meagerness of such as 280 00:16:38,639 --> 00:16:42,039 were sent, was the consciousness of pain inflicted on some 281 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,399 whose friendship had made much of the sweetness of life 282 00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:48,759 to them all. But they were not left long to 283 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,320 such reveries, for presently there broke a sound as of 284 00:16:52,399 --> 00:16:56,759 shuffling feet on the back gallery, some colored person, doubtless 285 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,159 come to ask a donation for a Christmas festivity. Mamsie's 286 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,400 first regretful thought was that, for the first and only 287 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,359 time in her life, she would be compelled to deny 288 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:12,119 any such demand on her slender resources. Then it was 289 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,039 that Judith, upon opening the door, received the warm, soft 290 00:17:16,039 --> 00:17:21,039 little bundle being thrust unceremoniously upon her. Instinctively her arms 291 00:17:21,039 --> 00:17:24,680 close round it. Those of her family within the inner 292 00:17:24,799 --> 00:17:28,559 room caught the drawling, honeyed voice such as the southern 293 00:17:28,599 --> 00:17:33,240 negress alone of all the world possesses, saying, tell miss Sallie, 294 00:17:33,279 --> 00:17:35,279 I'd nun waited a mighty long time on them, no 295 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,680 count white folks what never come back after this her baby, 296 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,359 And I'd just blage to get back home and change 297 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:44,240 this old dress and get all my good shoes, and 298 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:46,759 say to miss Sallie child, if she'd be pleased to 299 00:17:46,799 --> 00:17:49,480 look after it till we all's church Christmas suppers over, 300 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,400 I'll shaw'll come back and rid her of it. P 301 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,559 is like to me the same rich, warm voice went 302 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,160 on complainingly that some folks as mighty careless of their 303 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,200 chillin drop an I'm raul for we old a tan 304 00:18:01,279 --> 00:18:04,599 what ain't no kin to em at all? Missus Waite 305 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,319 came hastening to the door. Oh suki, she broke in 306 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,319 at once. Has no one from the foundling's home been 307 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,559 over yet after that, poor little knight, Why, of course 308 00:18:14,559 --> 00:18:17,160 I will keep the baby. You did perfectly right to 309 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,599 bring it over to me, Only do not come back 310 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,119 for it. Not to night, Suki, I myself will see 311 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,720 that it is cared for this one night at least, 312 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,960 She closed the door on the already rapidly retreating Suki, 313 00:18:30,519 --> 00:18:33,119 whose thoughts were all centered on the church supper and 314 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,920 her own proper adorning for that all important function. Meanwhile, 315 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:40,759 Judith had carried her unsought burden into the warmth and 316 00:18:40,839 --> 00:18:44,119 light of the living room, and was engaged in unswathing 317 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,720 the coarse, soiled wrappings from about a plump and fuzzy 318 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,960 headed baby, who fixed a pair of unwinking and very 319 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,880 blue eyes upon her and continued steadily to regard her. 320 00:18:56,279 --> 00:19:00,839 Howdy do inquired the object of this concentrated screw affably, 321 00:19:01,559 --> 00:19:05,039 while the other girls gathered round in laughing wonderment, all 322 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:08,839 questioning at once where did he come from? Mamsie? Is 323 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,440 it a him? Or is he a her? Oh? Isn't 324 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,160 he the darlingest thing? Ever? He's ours to keep, isn't he? Mamsie? 325 00:19:16,559 --> 00:19:20,440 In the midst of such rapid cross fire, of inquiries piecemeal, 326 00:19:20,599 --> 00:19:24,039 such slight details as were known concerning the baby came out. 327 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,920 He had been found. Indeed, Mamsie herself had picked him 328 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,119 up that morning, having almost stepped upon the odd looking 329 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,720 bundle wrapped about with a soiled gray blanket and thrust 330 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,440 a short way within a dark alley through which she 331 00:19:38,519 --> 00:19:42,279 was hastening to reach the office on time. It appeared 332 00:19:42,319 --> 00:19:45,559 to be a simple case of child abandonment, although no 333 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,440 trace of any person or persons leaving a child had 334 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,920 as yet been found, other than a mover's wagon with 335 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,519 tightly drawn cover had been seen very early that morning 336 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,279 in the neighborhood of the alley into which the baby 337 00:19:58,319 --> 00:20:02,480 had been placed. The supposition was that these were the 338 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,799 people who had cast off the child. There had been 339 00:20:05,839 --> 00:20:10,160 some talk of pursuing the wagon, but or so Mamsie argued, 340 00:20:10,559 --> 00:20:13,000 the persons in the wagon had shown their unfitness for 341 00:20:13,039 --> 00:20:16,759 any responsibility on its behalf, parental or otherwise by their 342 00:20:16,799 --> 00:20:20,160 heartless act of abandonment, and so she was inclined to 343 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,240 believe that no move had been made in the matter. 344 00:20:23,079 --> 00:20:26,519 At least she hoped that none had been made. She 345 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,640 said this with her eyes resting on the baby, thinking 346 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,839 how soft and tender a blue his eyes were, and 347 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,400 thinking too of the hardness of heart of any who 348 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:39,319 could cast adrift on a cold December morning, so small 349 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:43,680 and helpless a creature. What do you suppose his name is, Mamsie? 350 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,160 Could you make a guess just by looking at him? 351 00:20:46,519 --> 00:20:50,559 Suddenly asked Judith, transferring her interest from the uninteresting matter 352 00:20:50,599 --> 00:20:54,200 of the baby's guardians to the baby itself, who still 353 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,480 maintained a fixity of gaze, as though he would determine 354 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,279 what sort of a strange creature this was, with the 355 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:03,680 vivid red cheeks and the very dark eyes, who seemed 356 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,240 to have appropriated him all to herself. I'll tell you 357 00:21:07,279 --> 00:21:10,480 what he looks like, said Ellen, her head turned critically 358 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,920 to one side. He looks why, he looks, for all 359 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,119 the world like a chicken. That's just Pip the shell. 360 00:21:16,799 --> 00:21:21,079 I say, let's call him Pip. Pip Pip, Oh, you 361 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,759 dear fuzzy headed Pip, Mamsie, I say, Mamsie, can't we 362 00:21:25,839 --> 00:21:30,000 keep Pip for our very own Yes, yes, Mamsie, they won, 363 00:21:30,039 --> 00:21:32,960 and all now chimed in. Do let us keep him? 364 00:21:33,599 --> 00:21:35,279 It won't take any more to feed Pip than it 365 00:21:35,319 --> 00:21:37,839 does to feed one of the kittens. This from Ellen, 366 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,960 and I'll make all his clothes. I'll wash an iron 367 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,400 for him too, This from Judith. Yes, do let us 368 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,759 keep him? Do do? Now? They were all three talking 369 00:21:47,799 --> 00:21:51,359 clamorously at once. Please do, Mamsie. We won't let him 370 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:53,359 be one speck of trouble to you. We'll give the 371 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,920 white kitten and the gray kitten, and yes, the Maltese 372 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,960 kitten all away. Indeed we will, Mamsie, just as soon 373 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,400 as ever we can find good Christmas holmes for them. 374 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,279 Please say that we may keep Pip. Mamsie said nothing 375 00:22:05,319 --> 00:22:09,240 at all. She only looked at little Pip. They couldn't 376 00:22:09,319 --> 00:22:12,000 keep him, of course they couldn't. It was not to 377 00:22:12,039 --> 00:22:15,759 be considered for one moment. But what a dear, downy 378 00:22:15,839 --> 00:22:19,319 yellow head Pip had. It cost far more to keep 379 00:22:19,319 --> 00:22:21,519 a baby than it did to keep a kitten, or 380 00:22:21,559 --> 00:22:24,640 two kittens, or three kittens, or any number of kittens. 381 00:22:25,279 --> 00:22:28,920 Mamsie knew that if the girls didn't, No, she could not, 382 00:22:29,599 --> 00:22:32,160 She positively could not allow herself to think of it. 383 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,599 But what round wondering eyes Pip had, and so blue? No, 384 00:22:37,839 --> 00:22:42,920 she must not, she positively must not. So stealing her 385 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,000 heart as she invariably tried to steal it Whenever a 386 00:22:46,039 --> 00:22:48,759 new wave of a kitten appeared to have its fate decided, 387 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:53,279 she began quite firmly, I am sure you wouldn't have me, 388 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,960 When all at once it flashed upon her that it 389 00:22:57,079 --> 00:22:59,960 was on just such a night as this the inn 390 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:04,440 had been too full to receive another such little child. No, 391 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,279 I am sure you wouldn't have me, she recommenced, in 392 00:23:08,279 --> 00:23:12,119 a strangely altered voice, turn a helpless baby out into 393 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:16,680 the wet and storm of of a Christmas eve. Oh Pip, 394 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,839 you're going to be my baby? No, mine, mine, I 395 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,160 say again. All three voices were raised at one and 396 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:27,359 the same time, each striving to outbid the others. Oh, Pip, 397 00:23:27,559 --> 00:23:30,599 we'll have to divide you, Yes, Snip, you wentto two no, 398 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:35,119 into three parts with the scissors. How will you like that, Pip? Apparently, 399 00:23:35,319 --> 00:23:37,799 Pip looked with no favor on this just division of 400 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,640 him into three several parts, For suddenly, and without warning, 401 00:23:42,039 --> 00:23:45,119 he lifted up his voice in an anguish and prolonged wail. 402 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:50,599 He's scared to death, exclaimed Judith, hugging Pip in his entirety, 403 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,480 jealously to her breast. It's more likely that he's hungry, 404 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,160 said the more experienced Mamsie. Have we any milk, dear, 405 00:23:58,519 --> 00:24:02,119 she asked vellin only what we got for our breakfast. Mamsie, 406 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,960 bring that, then we surely can go without our breakfast 407 00:24:06,039 --> 00:24:09,000 on a Christmas morning, that a little hungry child may 408 00:24:09,039 --> 00:24:12,440 be fed. She took the baby and sat down with 409 00:24:12,519 --> 00:24:15,279 him in her arms, hardly daring to think of the 410 00:24:15,279 --> 00:24:19,480 grave uncertainties to which she had just committed herself. She 411 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,440 only knew that one of those swift and searching tests 412 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,039 that reached to the very root and groundwork of character 413 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:27,759 had come to her, and she had met it in 414 00:24:27,799 --> 00:24:31,039 the only way she could. It was as though she 415 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,920 had been obliged to step off on to a frail raft, 416 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,640 and without owe or any means of determining her course, 417 00:24:37,839 --> 00:24:41,559 trust herself to the open sea, and for the moment 418 00:24:41,839 --> 00:24:45,359 she was uplifted above fear, even the fear of the 419 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,920 uncertainties of the future touching herself and her helpless family, 420 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,880 which had been for weeks gnawing at her heart, That too, 421 00:24:53,079 --> 00:24:57,359 had somehow, for the moment, vanished a lightness of spirit. 422 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,400 It might be from the very desperation of her case 423 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:05,039 had taken free and full possession of her. Pip had 424 00:25:05,039 --> 00:25:09,599 been very hungry. At each spoonful of sustenance offered, he 425 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,200 stretched his mouth widely in the manner of a young 426 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,160 fledgling impatient for a worm, till at length a gasping 427 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:20,799 hiccough proclaimed him full to the point of spilling over. Then, 428 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,000 leaving Pip to the girl's care and bearing a candle, 429 00:25:24,599 --> 00:25:27,720 Mamsie went upstairs to bring from the lavendered hiding place 430 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,039 in an upper chamber the cherished things which had clothed 431 00:25:31,039 --> 00:25:33,960 her own baby daughters and that were now to become 432 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,440 the possession of the waif so strangely drifted into her care. 433 00:25:38,839 --> 00:25:42,279 Only once did Mamsie falter in her task, and that 434 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,319 was when, with full arms, she began to descend the 435 00:25:45,319 --> 00:25:49,799 stairway on another Christmas Eve, just twenty two years ago. 436 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,960 That very night, and at the self same hour, she 437 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,559 was placing a white slippered foot on this same old stairway, 438 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,319 a broad and beautiful thing of grace, its slender carved 439 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:05,319 hand rail, rich with the mellow tones of age, rounding 440 00:26:05,319 --> 00:26:07,880 out into the full and gracious curve of the final 441 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,920 downward step. It had been fitly called the stairway to 442 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:16,279 happiness because of so many brides, two generations of them 443 00:26:16,279 --> 00:26:21,279 before Mamsie's time, having come down its shining length on 444 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,039 this night of all nights, memories crowded thick and fast 445 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:27,960 upon her, and for a moment it seemed as though 446 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:31,440 she would sink upon the steps. Then it came to 447 00:26:31,519 --> 00:26:34,279 her that this was, not, after all, the way by 448 00:26:34,279 --> 00:26:37,640 which any had crossed the mystic borderline into life's happiness. 449 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,880 This stairway, shining and beautiful though it was, was but 450 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:46,680 the outward and visible symbol of the real stairway by 451 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:51,240 which she, following after those long vanished brides, and young 452 00:26:51,279 --> 00:26:54,279 Wyndham Wait who had become her husband on that long 453 00:26:54,319 --> 00:26:59,559 ago night, had passed over into happiness. That stairway, the 454 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:04,839 reels stairway they had together builded for themselves. Its base 455 00:27:05,079 --> 00:27:09,759 lay deep in self surrender, in kindly thought, in tender deed, 456 00:27:10,559 --> 00:27:12,920 each for the other, and for so much of the 457 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,759 wide world as lay within their reach. Why all the 458 00:27:16,759 --> 00:27:20,279 span of her husband's short professional life had been one 459 00:27:20,319 --> 00:27:24,359 continuous mission of mercy. His very death from yellow fever, 460 00:27:24,599 --> 00:27:28,279 caught while going freely about among its suffering victims an 461 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:33,519 act of devotion. No, no, no, this was not that 462 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,680 over which they had entered into happiness. That the real 463 00:27:37,759 --> 00:27:43,440 stairway was a thing of the spirit, mystic, imperishable, as 464 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,640 are the things that belonged to God. The baby had 465 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:49,960 scarcely been put into its white slip of a night 466 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,119 gown when in walked Doctor Gliddon, having come in person, 467 00:27:54,319 --> 00:27:57,519 as had been his habit through all the happy, changeful years, 468 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,599 to bring the season's greetings. It was a pretty sight 469 00:28:01,799 --> 00:28:04,799 to see the girls instantly cluster about the benign figure 470 00:28:05,279 --> 00:28:08,839 of this most revered of friends, one taking his cane, 471 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,119 another his hat, and still another helping him out of 472 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:16,119 his greatcoat. He listened in silence to the commonplace story 473 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:20,599 of the baby. Such things were of daily occurrence. Babies 474 00:28:20,599 --> 00:28:23,240 were everywhere thrust upon the cold mercies of the world 475 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,319 with as little care for what might befall them. Perhaps 476 00:28:27,319 --> 00:28:29,960 it was the night, perhaps it was the smallness and 477 00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:34,240 helplessness of little Pip, but at any rate, something seemed 478 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,759 to have filled all their hearts with an inexplicable and 479 00:28:36,839 --> 00:28:42,160 overflowing tenderness. Saying no word, doctor Gliddon took the little 480 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,640 one and placed it on his knee, then very gently 481 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,680 he laid his hand upon its small, downy head. He too, 482 00:28:49,759 --> 00:28:52,880 had quite forgotten that this was a foundling. It might 483 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,680 have been the Christ himself, for the welcome one and 484 00:28:55,759 --> 00:28:59,680 all had given him. They were still sitting there, a 485 00:28:59,759 --> 00:29:03,440 mood and silent group, when all at once a strange 486 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,720 and thunderous knocking began that shook the old house to 487 00:29:06,799 --> 00:29:10,920 its oaken beams. Mamsie again took up the lighted candle 488 00:29:11,279 --> 00:29:14,160 and went hurriedly through the wide front hall, out of 489 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,680 which the stairway wound. Mamsie was unacquainted with fear, and 490 00:29:18,799 --> 00:29:21,480 yet she acknowledged to herself a sense of safety in 491 00:29:21,519 --> 00:29:25,480 the presence of doctor Gliddon within. Reaching the door, she 492 00:29:25,599 --> 00:29:28,839 flung it widely open. It may have been that the 493 00:29:28,839 --> 00:29:31,839 group outside were not entirely prepared for the appearance of 494 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:36,400 a slender woman with softly shining, unafraid eyes holding a 495 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,319 candle aloft as she peered into the night. At any rate, 496 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:45,000 there was a something hostile, a something suggestive of a challenge, 497 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,000 a threat, even in the voice demanding to know if 498 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,079 a certain Missus Waite lived in that house. I am 499 00:29:51,079 --> 00:29:54,559 missus Waite. There was not a tremor in Mamsie's voice, 500 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,039 Will you walk in, gentlemen, One lone man, and not 501 00:29:59,079 --> 00:30:02,319 the one who had spoken, stepped swiftly forward into the 502 00:30:02,319 --> 00:30:05,160 solitary ray of light made by the candle's wind blown 503 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:10,200 flame beyond him. Mamsie could not at the moment see 504 00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:15,160 the darkness, however, seemed palpitant with other living, breathing persons, 505 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,519 how many she could not sense. One sidelong glance was 506 00:30:19,519 --> 00:30:22,319 sufficient to assure her that the man closely following her 507 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,640 was young. There was about him a certain disorder of appearance, 508 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,440 as though he might have jumped into his clothes days 509 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:33,319 ago and then forgotten ever to take them off. There 510 00:30:33,359 --> 00:30:36,400 was a strained look in his eyes, a haggardness in 511 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,640 his face that, taken in connection with the tell tale 512 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,519 splotches of mud on his furred overcoat, told of fast 513 00:30:43,559 --> 00:30:47,480 and furious riding, very possibly in a forward leaning posture, 514 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,279 as though he would outride the wind itself. It would 515 00:30:51,319 --> 00:30:54,839 have been a curiously interesting thing to know just which 516 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,759 of the many conflicting emotions surging through the man's soul was, 517 00:30:58,839 --> 00:31:02,079 at the moment uppermost. When Mamsie's light touch on the 518 00:31:02,119 --> 00:31:05,640 door knob disclosed. The picture within it was a very 519 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:10,119 simple picture, just a benign and beautiful old man sitting 520 00:31:10,119 --> 00:31:13,440 holding a sleeping child in his arms, three young girls 521 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:18,599 hovering over both. A hoarse and scarcely articulate sound that 522 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,200 seemed to have the name of God in it escaped 523 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,839 the man's lips. In two swift strides, he had crossed 524 00:31:24,839 --> 00:31:28,319 the room and himself stood over the whole group. The 525 00:31:28,359 --> 00:31:32,440 little Chap's all right, eh, he spoke, breathlessly and with 526 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:36,880 a swift, sliding inflection. His voice shook, and his face 527 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,559 had in it the paleness of death. Do you say 528 00:31:39,559 --> 00:31:43,119 he's all right, ma'am? At the first sound of his voice, 529 00:31:43,319 --> 00:31:45,680 all three of the girls sprang up and ranged themselves 530 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,359 in front of the baby, shutting him clear away from 531 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,079 the sight of this brusque interloper, whoever he might be. 532 00:31:51,759 --> 00:31:54,880 If you have come after our baby, cried Judith vehemently, 533 00:31:55,319 --> 00:31:57,880 you may as well go away. We found him first, 534 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,359 and we mean to keep him. To keep him, they 535 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:05,240 all three exclaimed simultaneously for a very own hush, and 536 00:32:05,319 --> 00:32:08,480 Mamsie put out her hand for silence. No one heeded her. 537 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,960 He's ours chanted the girls together again. They formed a 538 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,079 half circle, their short skirts stretched out as a screen 539 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,079 hostility in the eyes of them all. Pip is ours, 540 00:32:19,119 --> 00:32:21,200 and we mean to have him christened tomorrow, because he's 541 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:25,440 a Christmas baby, christened. The ghost of a smile for 542 00:32:25,559 --> 00:32:30,079 just a bare second wavered on the stranger's lips. Christened Pip. 543 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:32,920 Why know, that's what we are going to call him, 544 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:38,319 just among ourselves. His real name will be will be, well, 545 00:32:38,359 --> 00:32:42,079 something quite different, is it? Is it of any interest 546 00:32:42,079 --> 00:32:43,839 to you, sir, what we name our baby now that 547 00:32:43,839 --> 00:32:49,240 we've adopted him? Well, yes, a little again, that suspicion 548 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,160 of a smile just touched the man's lips. Are you? 549 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,599 Are you from the Foundlings Home? Sorry, but I can't 550 00:32:56,599 --> 00:33:01,599 claim the honor. Are you any any relation of Pips? 551 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:06,000 Only his father, that's all. And then a thing happened 552 00:33:06,079 --> 00:33:10,039 that only a skilled physician could fully have understood. The 553 00:33:10,079 --> 00:33:13,720 stranger with a backward fling of his head, burst suddenly 554 00:33:13,759 --> 00:33:18,039 and crazily into laughter. It was little wonder that they 555 00:33:18,079 --> 00:33:21,799 all stared at him. The revelation and the man's behavior 556 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:27,359 were alike astounding. Judith was the first to recover speech. Well, 557 00:33:27,519 --> 00:33:30,480 she said, witheringly, it doesn't seem to me that anybody 558 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:32,599 who would leave a dear little baby like this out 559 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,160 in the cold and wet, to starve and die deserves 560 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,799 to be a father. By way of answer, the stranger 561 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:44,039 suddenly and almost roughly, thrust her aside. Thrust them all aside. Stooping, 562 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,200 He lifted the sleeping baby and strained it to his heart. 563 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,799 And as he stood holding it so they saw that 564 00:33:50,839 --> 00:33:54,359 his eyes were wet. The baby stirred and uttered a 565 00:33:54,359 --> 00:33:58,359 faint cry. Gently, the father laid it back in Doctor 566 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,640 Gliddon's arms. I'll have to ask you to keep him 567 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,720 a little longer, he said, and this time his voice 568 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,360 sounded controlled. There's further business to do to night. Some 569 00:34:08,519 --> 00:34:11,320 telegraphing too, that I can entrust to no one but myself. 570 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:15,639 You won't mind, madam, He turned towards missus Waite, who 571 00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:19,000 had scarcely yet recovered presence of mind. You won't mind 572 00:34:19,039 --> 00:34:20,800 if I throw a guard about your house? Will you? 573 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,360 I know if you think it at all necessary? Sir? 574 00:34:25,119 --> 00:34:27,280 But would it not be a hard hearted person who 575 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,320 would harm a little child? There are such in the world, 576 00:34:30,599 --> 00:34:33,760 he made quick answer. Only four nights ago this boy 577 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,480 was taken from his crib stolen away. Oh my god, 578 00:34:38,039 --> 00:34:42,920 I expected. Mamsie's low cry interrupted him. Has he a mother? 579 00:34:43,559 --> 00:34:47,119 If she hasn't drowned herself in her tears? Oh, then, sir, 580 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:49,840 don't stop here a minute. Throw twenty guards if you 581 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,000 wish about my house. Only do not keep her in 582 00:34:52,079 --> 00:34:55,719 suspense a moment longer. Tell her, Oh, tell her for 583 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,559 me that not a hair of his head has been harmed. Stooping, 584 00:35:00,079 --> 00:35:03,119 she gathered the sleeping baby to her tender breast, and 585 00:35:03,199 --> 00:35:05,639 as she rose to face the father, her own eyes 586 00:35:05,679 --> 00:35:08,760 were as full of tears as his had been. Doctor 587 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,119 Gliddon rose at once. I will go with you, he said, 588 00:35:12,119 --> 00:35:16,159 with grave courtesy. You may require a friend's aid, and 589 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:20,840 together they passed out into the night. Soon, the storm, 590 00:35:21,159 --> 00:35:24,559 which had been all day gathering, broke with sullen fury. 591 00:35:25,519 --> 00:35:29,119 The wind increased in violence, and the long withheld rain 592 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,440 poured in a succession of slanting sheets broadside of the 593 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:37,559 old house, stoutly resisting its beating pressure. The stars faintly 594 00:35:37,599 --> 00:35:41,239 showing in the uncertain earlier evening, had all been blotted 595 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,480 out of the sky, and except for the recurrent flashes 596 00:35:44,519 --> 00:35:48,159 of lightning in the riven sky, the outside world seemed 597 00:35:48,199 --> 00:35:52,199 but a mass of trembling blackness, filled with a multiplied roar, 598 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:56,039 as of something alive and moving from far up the valley. 599 00:35:57,119 --> 00:35:59,840 The girls huddled on the floor drew closer about their 600 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,280 holding the sleeping baby on her lap. They were quite alone, 601 00:36:04,519 --> 00:36:08,199 as all new, But there were strange noises breaking every 602 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,599 now and then in the dim and silent chambers of 603 00:36:10,639 --> 00:36:13,559 the upper regions of the house, as though the dead 604 00:36:13,639 --> 00:36:17,159 and vanished life up there were awaking and endeavoring to 605 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:23,239 join in the universal tumult hemmed in surrounded all but engulfed. 606 00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,119 It seemed to Mamsie's aroused consciousness that the rise of 607 00:36:27,159 --> 00:36:30,679 another hostile wave would surely sweep her and all belonging 608 00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:34,400 to her as driftwood. Before it, she knew not where 609 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:40,079 of them all. Little Pip alone was undisturbed. In the 610 00:36:40,119 --> 00:36:44,000 safe shelter of Mamsie's encircling arms. He slept peacefully on 611 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,039 his breath, now and again, coming in little swift catches, 612 00:36:48,679 --> 00:36:51,800 his warm mouth touched at times by a fleeting smile, 613 00:36:52,559 --> 00:36:54,840 as though he had found a sweet security in the 614 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:59,719 port of dreams. A paleness came into Mamsie's cheek and 615 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,679 a tremulousness to her lips. The storm all at once 616 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:08,760 had taken on terrifying significance. In its all encompassing might, 617 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,119 It was like unto that which was ruthlessly sweeping down 618 00:37:12,199 --> 00:37:16,719 upon her. At last, doubt and despair had pounced upon her. 619 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:21,800 She was afraid, with an inward, anguished cry for help. 620 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,480 When no help was at hand, she struggled to her feet, 621 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,159 the baby still in her arms. Oh don't leave us, 622 00:37:29,199 --> 00:37:33,840 Mamsie wailed, the girls together laying restraining hands upon her. 623 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:37,719 Just a moment, DearS, I I think I hear some 624 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,800 one at the back trying to find the way in. 625 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,920 And we must not turn any shelterless away on a 626 00:37:43,039 --> 00:37:48,360 night like this. Thrusting Pip into Judith's embrace, she slipped 627 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,400 away from their hold. It was only old Rastus who 628 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:54,480 had made his way through the night and the storm 629 00:37:54,599 --> 00:37:56,920 to see if all was right with his beloved family. 630 00:37:58,079 --> 00:38:01,039 There was something warm and comforting in the old man's presence. 631 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,440 His father had served Mamsie's grandfather in his faithfulness and 632 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:10,360 devotion to her and hers. Rastus represented the stability that 633 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:14,280 had seemed to characterize the old order. She saw that 634 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:17,440 he was drenched from head to foot, the water streaming 635 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:20,559 from the ragged cap. In his trembling old hand, and 636 00:38:20,639 --> 00:38:24,119 in her sudden solicitude for his comfort, she almost forgot 637 00:38:24,119 --> 00:38:27,679 the storm. Rastus must have dry things to put on, 638 00:38:28,199 --> 00:38:31,199 and she went to fetch them. But he was strangely 639 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,199 oblivious to his own condition. He didn't seem to be 640 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,960 aware that his garments were soaked through. Something of infinitely 641 00:38:38,039 --> 00:38:42,400 more importance lay heavily upon his mind. What you all 642 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:44,719 goin to have? The old dinner to mora? He said, 643 00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:48,599 in a troubled voice. I don't know, said Mamsie, simply 644 00:38:49,079 --> 00:38:52,400 with a sudden swift recollection of a multitude fed once 645 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,000 upon a barley loaf and a few small fishes. It's 646 00:38:56,119 --> 00:38:58,320 mighty curse to ask folks to dinner and not know 647 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,079 how they's to be fed, the old man said, with 648 00:39:01,119 --> 00:39:03,920 a shake of his gray head, expressive of his own 649 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:08,039 deep misgivings. Yes, isn't it. And she tried to force 650 00:39:08,079 --> 00:39:11,920 a smile. But that is what we appear to have done. 651 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:15,639 Before she had ceased speaking, Doctor Glydden burst in through 652 00:39:15,639 --> 00:39:18,519 the front door. He too brought in with him a 653 00:39:18,519 --> 00:39:21,840 breath of the storm. But unlike Rastus. He was dry. 654 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:26,599 Some provident hand had seen to his protection. A majestic 655 00:39:26,639 --> 00:39:29,760 looking old man, he seemed under the soft, revealing light 656 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:33,280 from the old hall chandelier, which had been set dimly burning, 657 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:37,559 even taller and broader than before. Missus Waite flew to 658 00:39:37,599 --> 00:39:41,840 his side, Sally, he said, tranquility, before she had time 659 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:45,079 to speak. The gentleman will be back presently to remain 660 00:39:45,119 --> 00:39:48,880 over night, possibly through Christmas, with you, he and the child. 661 00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:52,199 There's been a wash out somewhere up through the mountain road, 662 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:55,239 and the wires are down. They are relaying the message 663 00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:57,840 to the mother by courier, and say they will get 664 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,519 it through before morning, so that her anxie piety will 665 00:40:00,559 --> 00:40:03,960 shortly be allayed. If you would like to have me, Sallie, 666 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,760 I also will remain with you over night. I see 667 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,079 Rastus out there. Have him light up the Christmas fires, Sallie, 668 00:40:10,159 --> 00:40:12,480 as he used in the old days. Tell him to 669 00:40:12,559 --> 00:40:14,920 pile on the wood, that there may be a cheerful 670 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,800 glow everywhere upstairs and down. This is such a beautiful 671 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:23,679 old house, Sallie, so mellowed by time, so redolent of memories, 672 00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:27,760 fine and sweet. The old man's gaze wandered about a moment, 673 00:40:28,199 --> 00:40:32,800 then fastened down the stairway, the beautiful, soaring stairway, disappearing 674 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:36,199 in the obscurity of the shadows above, much as human 675 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,320 life vanishes at last in the mysteries of the infinite. 676 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:45,599 And yet he continued, slowly and meditatively. You could not 677 00:40:45,639 --> 00:40:49,360 have kept the old place six months longer, I know, 678 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,840 she said, with quivering lips, and in so low a 679 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,039 whisper that he did not hear it, although he somehow 680 00:40:56,119 --> 00:41:00,320 sensed the meaning of it, and knowing all that you 681 00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:03,599 could yet take a little child in, I couldn't turn 682 00:41:03,639 --> 00:41:07,679 one away. No, turning folks away from your door is 683 00:41:07,679 --> 00:41:11,199 a thing you have never yet learned. He placed his hands, 684 00:41:11,199 --> 00:41:14,079 in fatherly affection on the shoulders of the woman he 685 00:41:14,119 --> 00:41:17,639 had held as a child upon his knee. If you had, 686 00:41:18,079 --> 00:41:20,639 things might have turned out to be vastly different, both 687 00:41:20,639 --> 00:41:23,360 for you and for the child. It would have died, 688 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,360 perished in the storm, and there would have been an 689 00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:30,320 unassuageable grief in a very grand home to night. You 690 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,000 did not know that you were saving the life of 691 00:41:33,039 --> 00:41:35,480 what is perhaps the richest baby in all the land. 692 00:41:36,199 --> 00:41:42,159 You did not know that impossible, cried Mamsie. You are dreaming, dreaming, 693 00:41:42,199 --> 00:41:45,760 am i? The old man laughed softly as he thrust 694 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:49,159 something shining and leathery into her hand. And is that 695 00:41:49,199 --> 00:41:52,119 a dream too? Within it is the price a gang 696 00:41:52,119 --> 00:41:54,559 of beasts, hunted to their lair, thought to place on 697 00:41:54,639 --> 00:41:58,440 a baby's little life. And since they failed to secure it, 698 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:01,079 it falls to you. There is enough in there to 699 00:42:01,159 --> 00:42:07,079 save your home, to secure your future. Two Why why, Sally, 700 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:13,039 what are you crying for? And of the Stairway to Happiness. 701 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:16,599 The Story of a Christmas Eve by Dellah Dimit