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Speaker 1: Where the Christmas tree grew. It was afternoon recess at

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Number four District School in Warner. There was a heavy

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snow storm, so everyone was in the warm school room,

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except a few adventurous spirits who were tumbling about in

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the snow drifts out in the yard, getting their clothes

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wet and preparing themselves for chidings at home. Their shrill

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cries and shouts of laughter floated into the school room,

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but the small group near the stove did not heed

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them at all. They were five or six little girls

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and one boy. The girls, with the exception of Jenny Brown,

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were trim and sweet in their winter dresses and neat

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school aprons. They perched on the desks and the arms

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of the settee with careless grace, like birds. Some of

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them had their arms linked. The one boy lounged against

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the blackboard. His dark, stre great profiled face was all

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aglow as he talked. His big brown eyes gazed now

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soberly and impressively at Jenny. Then gave a gay dance

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in the direction of the other girls. Yes it does, honest,

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said he. The other girls nudged one another softly, but

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Jenny Brown stood with her innocent solemn eyes fixed upon

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Earl Monroe's face, drinking in every word. You ask anybody

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who knows, continued Earle, ask Judge Barker, ask the minister. Oh,

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cried the little girls. But the boy shook his head

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impatiently at them. Yes, said he. You just go and

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ask mister Fisher tomorrow, and you'll see what he'll tell you.

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Why look here, Earle straightened himself and stretched out an

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arm like an orator. It's nothing more than reasonable that

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Christmas trees grow wild with the presents all on em.

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What sense would there be in em if they didn't.

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I'd like to know. They grow in different places, of course,

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but these around here grow mostly on the mountain over there.

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They come up every spring, and they all blossom out

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about Christmas time, and folks go hunting for them to

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give to the children. Father and Ben are over on

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the mountain to day. Oh, oh, cried the little girls.

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I mean, I guess they are amended, Earle, trying to

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put his feet on the boundary line of truth. I

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hope they'll find a full one. Jenny Brown had a little, round,

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simple face. Her thin brown hair was combed back and

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braided tightly in one tiny braid tied with a bit

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of shoe string. She wore a nondescript gown which nearly

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trailed behind and showed in front her little, coarsely shod feet,

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which towed in helplessly. The gown was of a faded

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green color. It was scalloped and bound around the bottom,

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and had some green ribbon bows down the front. It was,

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in fact the discarded polonaise of a benevolent woman who

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aided the poor substantially, but not tastefully. Jenny Brown was

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eight and small for her age, a strange, gentle, ignorant

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little creature, never doubting the truth of what she was told,

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which sorely tempted the other children to impose upon her.

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Standing there in the school room, that stormy recess in

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the midst of that group of wiser, richer mostly older girls,

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and that one handsome, mischievous boy. She believed every word

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she heard. This was her first term at school, and

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she had never before seen much of other children. She

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had lived her eight years all alone at home with

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her mother, and she had never been told about Christmas.

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Her mother had other things to think about. She was

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a dull, spiritless, reticent woman who had lived through much trouble.

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She worked doing washings and cleanings, like a poor feeble

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machine that still moves, but has no interest in its motion.

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Sometimes the Browns had almost enough to eat. At other

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times they half starved. It was half starving time just

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then Jenny had not had enough to eat that day.

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There was a pinched look on the little face upturned

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toward Earl Monroe's Earle's words gained authority by coming from himself.

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Jenny had always regarded him with awe and admiration. It

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was much that he should speak to her at all.

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Earl Monroe was quite the king of this little school district.

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He was the son of the wealthiest man in town.

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No other boy was so well dressed, so gently bred,

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so luxuriously lodged and fed. Earle himself really his importance,

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and had at times the loftiness of a young prince

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in his manner. Occasionally some independent urchin would bristle with

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democratic spirit and tell him to his face that he

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was stuck up and he hadn't so much more to

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be proud of than other folks, that his grandfather wasn't

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anything but an old ragman. Then Earle would wilt arrogance

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in a free country is likely to have an unstable foundation.

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Earles tottered at the mention of his paternal grandfather, who

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had given the first impetus to the family fortune by

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driving a tin cart about the country. Moreover, the boy

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was really pleasant and generous hearted, and had no mind

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in the long run for a lonely state and disagreeable haughtiness.

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He enjoyed being lordly once in a while. That was

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all he did now with Jenny. He eyed her with

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a gay condescension, which would have greatly amused his tin

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peddler grandfather. Soon the bell rang, and they all filed

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to their seats, and the lessons were begun. After school

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was done that night, Earle stood in the door when

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Jennie passed out. Say Jenny, he called, When are you

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goin over on the mountain to find a Christmas tree?

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You'd better go pretty sooner they'll be gone. That's so,

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chimed in one of the girls. You'd better go right off, Jenny.

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She passed along, her face shyly, dimpling with her little

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innocent smile, and said nothing. She would never talk much.

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She had quite a long walk to her home. Presently,

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as she was pushing weakly through the new snow. Earle

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went flying past her in his father's sleigh with the

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black horses and the fur capped coachman. He never thought

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of asking her to ride. If he had, he would

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not have hesitated a second before doing so. Jenny, as

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she waited along, could see the mountain always before her.

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This road led straight to it, then turned and wound

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around its base. It had stopped snowing, and the sun

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was setting clear. The great white mountain was all rosy.

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It stood uposit the red western sky. Jenny kept her

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eyes fixed upon the mountain. Down in the valley shadows,

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her little simple face, pale and colorless, gathered another kind

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of radiance. There was no school the next day, which

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was the one before Christmas. It was pleasant and not

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very cold. Everybody was out. The little village stores were crowded,

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sleds trailing Christmas greens went flying, people with parcels under

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their arms, their hands full. Jenny Brown was also out.

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She was climbing Franklin Mountain. The snowy pine boughs bent

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so low that they brushed her head. She stepped deeply

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into the untrodden snow. The train of her green polonaise

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dipped into it and swept it along, And all the

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time she was peering through those white fairy columns and

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arches for a Christmas tree. That night, the mountain had

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turned rosy and faded, and the stars were coming out,

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when a frantic woman, panting, crying out now and then,

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in her distress, went running down the road to the

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Monroe house. It was the only one between her own

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and the mountain. The woman rained some clattering knocks on

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the door. She could not stop for the bell. Then

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she burst into the house and threw open the dining

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room door, crying out in gasps. Have you seen her? Oh?

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Have you? My? My Jenny, My Jenny's lost, She's lost.

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Oh oh oh. They said they saw her coming this

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way this mornin'. Have you seen her? Have you? Earle

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and his father and mother were having tea there in

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the handsome oak paneled dining room. Mister Monroe rose at

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once and went forward. Missus Monroe looked with a pale

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face around her silver tea urn, and Earle sat as

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if frozen. He heard his father's soothing questions and the

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mother's answers. She had been out at work all day

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When she returned, Jenny was gone. Some one had seen

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her going up the road toward the Monroes that morning

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about ten o'clock. That was her only clue. Earle sat

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there and saw his mother draw the poor woman into

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the room and try to comfort her. He heard, with

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a vague understanding, his father order the horses to be

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harnessed immediately. He watched him putting on his coat and

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hat out in the hall. When he heard the horses

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trot up the drive, he sprang to his feet. When

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mister Monroe opened the door, Earle, with his coat and

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cap on, was at his heels. Why you can't go, Earle,

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said his father, when he saw him go back in

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at once. Earle was white and trembling. He half sobbed, Oh, father,

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I must go, said he. Earle. Be reasonable. You want

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to help, don't you, and not hinder. His mother called

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out of the dining room. Earle caught hold of his

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father's coat. Father, look here, I I believe I know

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where she is. Then his father faced sharply around his

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mother and Jenny's stood listening in bewilderment, and Earle told

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his ridiculous, childish and cruel little story. I didn't dream

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she'd really be such a little goose as to go,

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he choked out. But she must have, for with brave candor,

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I know she believed every word I told her. It

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seemed a fantastic theory, yet a likely one. It would

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give method to the search. Yet more alarmed to the searchers,

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the mountain was a wide region in which to find

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one little child. Jenny's mother screamed out, Oh, if she's

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lost on the mountain, they'll never find her. They never will,

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they never will, Oh, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. Earle gave a

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despairing glance at her and bolted upstairs to his own room.

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His mother called pityingly after him, but he only sobbed back,

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don't mother, please, and kept on. The boy lying face

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downward on his bed, crying as if his heart would break.

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Heard presently the church bells clang out, fast and furious.

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Then he heard loud voices down in the road, and

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the flurry of sleigh bells. His father had raised the alarm,

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and the search was organized. After a while, Earle arose

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and crept over to the window. It looked toward the mountains,

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which towered up, cold and white and relentless, like one

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of the ice hearted giants of the old Indian tales.

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Earle shuddered as he looked at it. Presently he crawled

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downstairs and into the parlor. In the bay window stood

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like a gay mockery the Christmas tree. It was quite

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a small one, this year, only for the family. Some

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expected guests had failed to come, but it was well laden.

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After tea, the presents were to have been distributed. There

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were some for his father and mother, and some for

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the servants, but the bulk of them were for Earl.

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By and by his mother, who had heard him come downstairs,

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peeped into the room and saw him busily taking his

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presence from the tree. Her heart sank with displeasure and amazement.

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She would not have believed that her boy could be

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so utterly selfish as to think of Christmas presents then,

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but she said nothing. She stole away and returned to

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poor missus Brown, whom she was keeping with her. Still

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she continued to think of it all that long terrible night,

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as they sat there waiting, listening to the signal horns

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over on the mountain. Morning came at last, and mister

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Monroe with it no success, So far, He drank some

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coffee and was off again. That was quite early. An

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hour or two later, the breakfast bell rang. Earle did

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not respond to it, so his mother went to the

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foot of the stairs and called him. There was a

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stern ring in her soft voice. All this time she

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had in mind his heartlessness and greediness over the presence.

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When Earle did not answer, she went upstairs and found

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that he was not in his room. Then she looked

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in the parlor and stood staring in bewilderment. Earle was

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not there, but neither was the Christmas tree nor his presence.

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They had vanished bodily. Just at that moment. Earle Monroe

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was hurrying down the road, dragging his big sled, on

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which were loaded his Christmas presents and the Christmas tree.

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The top of the tree trailed in the snow. Its

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branches spread over the sled on either side and rustled.

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It was a heavy load, but Earle tugged manfully in

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an enthusiasm of remorse and atonement. A fantastic, extravagant atonement

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planned by that same fertile fancy which had invented that

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story for poor little Jenny, but instigated by all the good,

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repentant impulses in the boy's nature. On every one of

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those neat parcels above his own name was written in

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a big, crooked, childish hand. Jenny Brown from Earl Monroe

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had not saved one Christmas present for himself. Pulling along

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his cheeks brilliant, his eyes glowing, he met Maud Barker.

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She was Judge Barker's daughter and the girl who had

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joined him in advising Jenny to hunt on the mountain

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for the Christmas tree. Maud stepped along, placing her trim

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little feet with dainty precision. She wore some new high

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buttoned over shoes. She also carried a new beaver muff,

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but in one hand and only the other dangled mittenless

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at her side. It was pink with cold, but on

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its third finger sparkled a new gold ring with a

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blue stone in it. Oh, Earle, she called out, Have

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they found Jenny Brown? I was going up to your

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house to why Earle Monroe. What have you got there?

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I'm carrying my Christmas presents and the tree up to

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Jenny's so she'll find em when she comes back, said

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the boy, flushing red. There was a little defiant choke

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in his voice. Why what for? I rather think they

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belonged to her more'n they do to me. After what's happened?

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Does your mother know? No, she wouldn't care. She'd think

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I was only doing what I ought all of em,

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queried Maud, Feebly, You don't s'pose i'd keep any back.

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Maude stood, staring. It was beyond her little philosophy. Earle

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was passing up when a thought struck him. Say, Maud,

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he cried eagerly. Haven't you got something you can put

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in girls? Things might please her better? You know some

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of mine are rather queer. I'm afraid what have you got?

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Demanded Maud? Well, some of the things are well enough.

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There's a lot of candy and oranges and figs and books.

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There's one by Jules Verne, I guess she'll like. But

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there's a great big jack knife and a brown velvet

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bicycle suit. Why, Earl Monroe, what could she do with

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a bicycle suit? I thought maybe she could rip the

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seams to 'em and sew 'em some sort of way

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and get a bask cut or something. Don't you suppose

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she could, Earle asked anxiously. I don't know her mother

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could tell, said Maud, well, I'll hang it on anyhow, Maud,

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haven't you anything to give to her? I don't know.

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Earle eyed her, sharply, isn't that muff new? Yes? And

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that ring? Maud nodded, Oh, Maud, put em in. She'd

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be delighted with him. Maud looked at him, her pretty

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mouth quivered a little. Some tears twinkled in her blue eyes.

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I don't believe my mother would let me faltered she

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You come with me and I'll ask her, all right,

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said Earle, with a tug at his sledge rope. He

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waited with his load in front of Maud's house until

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she came forth, radiant, lugging a big basket. She had

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her last winter's red cashmere dress, a hood, some mittens,

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some cake and biscuit, and a few nice slices of

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cold meat. Mother said these would be much more suitable

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for her, said Maud, with a funny little imitation of

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her mother's manner. Over across the street, another girl stood

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at the gate, waiting for news. Have they found her?

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She cried? Where are you going with all those things? Somehow,

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Earl's generous romantic impulse spread like an epidemic. This little

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girl soon came flying out with her contribution. Then there

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were more, quite a little procession filed finally down the

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road to Jennie Brown's house. The terrible possibilities of the

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case never occurred to them. The idea never entered their

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heads that little, innocent, trustful Jenny might never come home

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to see that Christmas tree which they set up in

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her poor home. It was with no surprise whatever that

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they saw about noon mister Monroe's sleigh containing Jenny and

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her mother and Missus Munroe drive up to the door. Afterward,

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they heard how a wood cutter had found Jenny crying

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over on the east side of the mountain at sunset

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and had taken her home with him. He lived five

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miles from the village and was an old man, not

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able to walk so far that night to tell them

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of her safety. His wife had been very good to

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the child. About eleven o'clock, some of the searchers had

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met the old man plodding along the mountain road with

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the news. The children did not stop for this now.

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They shouted to Jenny to come in quick. They pulled

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her with soft violence into the room where they had

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been at work. Then the child stood with her hands clasped,

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staring at the Christmas tree, all too far away. She

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had been searching for it. The Christmas tree grew not

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on the wild mountain side, in the lonely woods, but

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at home, close to warm, loving hearts, and that was

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where she found it.