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Speaker 1: The Christmas Gift that came to Rupert A Story for

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Small Soldiers from Missus Skagg's Husbands and other stories by

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Brett Hart. It was the Christmas season in California, a

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season of falling rain and springing grasses. There were intervals when,

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through driving clouds and a flying scud, the sun visited

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the Haggard Hills with a miracle, and death and resurrection

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were as won and out of the very throes of decay,

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a joyous life struggled outward and upward. Even the storms

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that swept down the dead leaves nurtured the tender buds

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that took their places. There were no episodes of snowy

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silence over the quickening fields. The farmers plowshare hard followed

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the furrows left by the latest rains. Perhaps it was

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for this reason that the Christmas evergreens, which decorate the

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drawing room took upon themselves a foreign aspect and offered

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a weird contrast to the roses seen dimly through the

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windows as the southwest wind beat their soft faces against

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the panes. Now, said the doctor, drawing his chair closer

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to the fire, and looking mildly but firmly at the

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semicircle of flaxen heads around him. I want it distinctly

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understood before I begin my story, that I am not

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to be interrupted by any ridiculous questions. At the first one,

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I shall stop. At the second, I shall feel it

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my duty to administer a dose of castor oil all around.

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The boy that moves his legs or arms will be

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understood to invite amputation. I have brought my instruments with

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me and never allow pleasure to interfere with my business.

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Do you promise, yes, er, said six small voices simultaneously.

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The volley was, however, followed by a half dozen dropping questions. Silence, Bob,

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put your feet down and stop rattling that sword. Flora

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shall sit by my side like a little lady and

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be an example to the rest. Fung Tang shall stay

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too if he likes. Now, turn down the gas a

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little there. That will do just enough to make the

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fire look brighter and to show off the Christmas candles. Silence, everybody.

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The boy who cracks an almond or breathes too loud

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over his raisins will be put out of the room.

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There was a profound silence. Bob laid his sword tenderly

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aside and nursed his leg thoughtfully. Flora, after coquettishly adjusting

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the pocket of her little apron, put her arm upon

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the Doctor's shoulder and permitted herself to be drawn beside him.

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Fung Tang, the little heathen page, who was permitted on

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this rare occasion to share the Christian revels in the

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drawing room, surveyed the group with a smile that was

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at once sweet and philosophical. The light ticking of a

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French clock on the mantel, supported by a young shepherdess

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of bronze complexion and great symmetry of limb, was the

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only sound that disturbed the Christmas like piece of the apartment,

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a piece which held the odors of Evergreen's new toys,

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cedar boxes, glue and varnish in a harmonious combination that

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passed all understanding. About four years ago this time began

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the doctor I attended a course of lectures in a

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certain city. One of the professors, who was a sociable

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kind of man, though somewhat practical and hard headed, invited

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me to his house on Christmas night. I was very

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glad to go, as I was anxious to see one

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of his sons, who, though only twelve years old, was

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said to be very clever. I dare not tell you

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how many Latin verses this little fellow could recite, or

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how many English ones he had composed. In the first place,

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you'd want me to repeat them. Secondly, I'm not a

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judge of poetry Latin or English. But there were judges

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who said they were wonderful for a boy, and everybody

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predicted a splendor future for him, everybody but his father.

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He shook his head doubtingly whenever it was mentioned, for

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as I have told you, he was a practical, matter

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of fact man. There was a pleasant party at the

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professor's that night. All the children of the neighborhood were there,

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and among them the professor's clever son, Rupert, as they

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called him, a thin little chap about as tall as

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Bobby there, and as fair and delicate as Flora by

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my side. His health was feeble, his father said. He

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seldom ran about and played with other boys, preferred to

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stay at home and brood over his books and compose

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what he called his verses. Well, we had a Christmas

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tree just like this, and we had been laughing and talking,

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calling off the names of the children who had presents

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on the tree, and everybody was very happy and joyous

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when one of the children suddenly uttered a cry of

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mingled surprise and hilarity and said, here's something for Rupert.

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And what do you think it is. We all guessed

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a desk, a copy of Milton, a gold pen, a

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rhyming dictionary. No, what then a drum? A wat asked everybody,

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a drum with Rupert's name on it. Sure enough, there

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it was, a good sized, bright, new brass bound drum

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with a slip of paper on it with the inscription

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for Rupert. Of course, we all laughed and thought it

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a good joke. You see, you're to make noise in

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the world, Rupert said one. Here's parchment for the poet,

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said another, Rupert's last work in sheepskin covers, said a third.

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Give us a classic tune, Rupert said a fourth, and

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so on. But Rupert seemed too mortified to speak. He

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changed color, bit his lips, and finally burst into a

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passionate fit of crying and left the room. Than those

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who had joked him felt ashamed, and everybody began to

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ask who had put the drum there, But no one knew,

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or if they did, the unexpected sympathy awakened for the

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sensitive boy kept them silent. Even the servants were called

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up in question, but no one could give any idea

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where it came from, and what was still more singular.

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Everybody declared that up to the moment it was produced,

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no one had seen it hanging on the tree. What

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do I think, Well, I have my own opinion, but

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no questions enough for you to know that Rupert did

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not come down stairs again that night, and the parties

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soon after broke up. I had almost forgotten those things

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for the War of the Rebellion broke out the next spring,

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and I was appointed surgeon in one of the new

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regiments and was on my way to the Sea of War.

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But I had to pass through the city where the

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Professor lived, and there I met him. My first question

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was about Rupert. The professor shook his head. Sadly. He's

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not so well, he said. He has been declining since

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last Christmas when you saw him. A very strange case,

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he added, giving it a long Latin name, a very

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singular case. But go and see him yourself, he urged.

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It may distract his mind and do him good. I

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went accordingly to the professor's house and found Rupert lying

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on a sofa propped up with pillows. Around him were

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scattered his books, and what seemed in singular contrast that

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drum I told you about, was hanging on a nail

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just above his head. His face was thin and wasted,

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there was a red spot on either cheek, and his

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eyes were very bright and widely opened. He was glad

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to see me, and when I told him where I

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was going, he asked a thousand questions about the war.

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I thought I had thoroughly diverted his mind from its

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sick and languid fancies, when he suddenly grasped my hand

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and drew me towards him. Doctor, he said, in a

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low whisper, You won't laugh at me if I tell

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you something. No, certainly not, I said. You remember that drum,

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he said, pointing to the glittering toy that hung around

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the wall. You know too, how it came to me

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a few weeks after Christmas. I was lying half asleep

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here and the drum was hanging on the wall, when

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suddenly I heard it beaten, at first low and slowly,

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then faster and louder, until its rolling filled the house.

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In the middle of the night, I heard it again.

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I did not dare to tell anybody about it, But

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I have heard it every night ever since. He paused

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and looked anxiously in my face. Sometimes, he continued, it

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is played softly, sometimes loudly, but always quickening to a

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drum roll, so loud and alarming that I have looked

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to see people coming into my room to ask what

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was the matter. But I think, doctor, I think, he repeated, slowly,

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looking up with a painful interest into my face, that

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no one hears it but myself. I thought so too.

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But I asked him if he had heard it at

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any other time, once or twice in the daytime. He replied,

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when I have been reading or writing, and then very loudly,

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as though it were angry, and tried in that way

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to attract my attention away from my books. I looked

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into his face and placed my hand upon his pulse.

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His eyes were very bright, and his pulse a little

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flurried and quick. I then tried to explain to him

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that he was very weak, and that his senses were

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very acute, as most weak peoples are, and how that

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when we breed or grew interested and excited, or when

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he was tired at night, the throbbing of a big

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artery made the beating sound he heard. He listened to

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me with a sad smile and unbelief, but thanked me,

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and in a little while I went away. But as

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I was going downstairs I met the Professor. I gave

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him my opinion of the case. Well, no matter what

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it was, he wants some fresh air and exercise, said

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the professor, and some practical experience of life, Sir. The

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Professor was not a bad man, but he was a

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little worried and impatient, and thought, as clever people are

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apt to think, that things which he didn't understand were

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either silly or improper. I left the city that very day,

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and in the excitement of battlefields and hospitals, I forgot

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all about little Rupert, nor did I hear of him

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again until one day, meeting an old classmate in the

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army who had known the Professor. He told me that

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Rupert had become quite insane, and that in one of

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his paroxysms, he had escaped from the house, and as

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he had never been found, it was feared that he

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had fallen in the river. And was drowned. I was

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terribly shocked for the moment, as you may imagine, But

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dear me, I was living just then among scenes as

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terrible and shocking, and I had little time to spare

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to mourn over Poort Rupert. It was not long after

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receiving this intelligence that we had a terrible battle in

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which a portion of our army was surprised and driven

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back with great slaughter. I was detached from my brigade

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to ride over to the battle field and assist the

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surgeons of the beaten division, who had more on their

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hands than they could attend to. When I reached the

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barn that served for a temporary hospital, I went at

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once to work. Ah Bob, said the doctor, thoughtfully, taking

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the bright sword from the hands of the half frightened

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Bob and holding it gravely before him. These pretty playthings

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are symbols of cruel, ugly realities. I turned to a tall,

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stout vermonter. He continued, very slowly tracing a pattern on

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the rug with the point of the scabbard, who was

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badly wounded in both thighs. But he held up his

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hands and begged me to help others first, who needed

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it more than he. I did not at first heed

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his request, for this kind of unselfishness was very common

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in the army, but he went on. For God's sake, Doctor,

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leave me here. There is a drummer boy of our regiment,

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a mere child dying. If he isn't dead, now go

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and save him first he lies over there. He saved

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more than one life he was at his post in

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the panic this morning, and save the honor of the regiment.

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I was so much more impressed by the man's manner

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than by the substance of his speech, which was, however,

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corroborated by the other poor fellows stretched around me, that

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I passed over to where the drummer lay, with his

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drum beside him. I gave one glance at his face,

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and yes, Bob, yes, children, it was rupert. Well well,

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it needed not the chalked cross which my brother surgeons

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had left upon the rough board whenever he lay to

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show how urgent was the relief he sought. It needed

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not the prophetic words of the vermonter, nor the damp

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that mingled with the brown curls that clung to his

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pale forehead to show how hopeless it was. Now I

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called him by name. He opened his eyes larger, I thought,

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in the new vision that was beginning to dawn upon him,

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and recognized me. He whispered, I am glad you have come,

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but I don't think you can do me any good.

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I could not tell him a lie. I could not

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say anything. I only pressed his hand in mine as

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he went on, But you will see Father and ask

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him to forgive me. Nobody is to blame but myself.

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It was a long time before I understood why the

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drum came to me that Christmas night, and why it

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kept calling to me every night, and what it said.

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I know it now. The work is done, and I

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am content. Tell Father it is better as it is.

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I should have lived only to worry and perplex him,

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and something in me tells me this is right. He

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lay still for a moment, and then, grasping my hand,

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said hark. I listened, but heard nothing but the suppressed

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moans of the wounded men around me. The drum, he said, faintly,

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don't you hear it? The drum is calling me. He

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reached out his arm to where it lay, as though

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he would embrace it. Listen, he went on, it's the

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revelie there are the ranks drawn up in the review.

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Don't you see the sunlight flash down the long line

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of bayonets. Their faces are shining, They present arms. They

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come to the General. But his face I cannot look at,

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for the glory round his head. He sees me. He smiles,

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it is, and with a name upon his lips that

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he had learned long ago. He stretched himself wearily upon

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the planks and lay quite still. That's all, no question now,

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Never mind what became of the drum? Who's that sniveling?

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Bless my soul? Where's my pill box? End of the

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story The Christmas Gift That Came to Rupert by Brett

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Hart