BABES OF THE HIGHWAY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 27, 26 October 1907, Page 14

BABES OF THE HIGHWAY.

Joseph Swan chafed ,in peevish impotence. Nit only -was the weather—in. his words—

"infernal,"- not only were his-.warm woollen gloves forgotten at: homo, hut' a multitude of arrears in the office of Glaphani and Sons lia:l. caused him 'to miss the'.s.l0 —the last train to Acres. ' Oftimes crusty, this.continuity of misfortune filled: him . with-' exasperation. Work-bound on a stool he sat, waspishly biting one end of his pen during the idle inteivals snatched from the other. "A spare, sallow wisp of a man with black moustache, black eyes, and sombre countenance, ninety pounds a,year was .'the'crazy income •• of- his services extracted from the- firm of Clapham anl Soiis,. a 'suni which helped to keep together the bodies and sfiuls of Mrs. Swan and two little Swans. It was Christmas Eye. This was tho only office open in-Norwich. "We'll brush away our excess' of work," the manager had said, "that our holiday after Christmas may be longer.", . . That is why Mr. Swan had missed his train and: the clock on the 'mantelpiece, said ten minutes past ten. A quarter of.'an .hour more and the last necessary figures had been scrawled in the ledger, Mr. Swan had' donned his lmt and entered-his coat. With'a niggardly .nod-to the-one other clerk he■ opened the (loor and stepped outside.:' His-attitude standing was suggestive of extreme fear, the lean shoulders shrank as from a. ..blow, and the small head hung' in forlorn submission. The third finger of his writing hand was flecked with -dry vhik, and. ho sucked it diflidnitly before thrusting ' both'.fists into his coat pockets, while the room'.behind • warmed his back through the open door ,and hampered hi« intention to' venture forth upon the frosty journey. The abandoned clerk inside could see this queer figure stooping to the cold of tho night and huddled together in: its blackovercoat, about the tail end of which shimmered a thread-bare pool, born of the. past sedentary habits of Mr.' §wan.\'.. V._ "■'Shut the door," he said-sharply. '. Mr; Swan' obeyed. Everything l outside was white and glistened in the'light lof the frosty moon: only down in'the valley jto''the'right there crawled-a .slow mist, muffling the far-off end of the road near which the clerk stood. A few becolded stars had crept. into the sky : aiid hung now tremulously in Imots overhead. The whole lay ' lapped in a- tense silence, which Mr. "Swan broke by. a nervous grating cough. With a sort of dive he-began his walk, shambling along ■ the hard road on his heels for, .fear he should slip. The chill of the night smartened his pallid chee-ks to a-hectic flush, and braced him for. the journey of three milps, that stood between.him and house: in the village, of Acres. " , ~ .

That day,' consequent upon, a wrangle with his he had. sallied'forth-to a toy-shop, paticniscd by him°in the past,'and-there purchased a grey elephant and a plump dollpresents destined for his-two children. The elephant, which derived animation from'a key in its belly, bulked.'big in the right pocket; an;l a wax nose,, flattened against. Mr. Swan's' chill - left -hand,; enlightened himv,.at least'' as to the whereabouts of,the plump doll..

He, trudged along,, fostering, thoughts, on 1 the delectable qualities innate ;in the ty>somsof. these dead -toys.. They' had cost two, shiilings eael>,- and' Miv Swan contemplated a- . wordy; tussle with his mate as.'to which ;of-,the. off-. spring, should have the blejhant—in'his mind by -far,-the'; handsomer, present; It ; was bitterly cold, .and the -memory-of- just such 'a'•-.night' spprit'-years ago. warmly -with some-boon .companions- shot, .back, vivid and delightful as ho closed and unclosed his stifffingers;,.but:th-J recollections,were hardly, in Jiarmony.'.witji. his present. conjugal and;, a,;. vcil r ..''wa3 drawn over : them; /Yet for '• a moment •he regretted ever hayihglmet -Mrs.' Swari.-'~-Emb"e'rs of ,a* , peppery- spirit; imperfectly ".sWamped.- by his ' better/ half still .'smouldered ;in- the ' .little clerk's- heart; .'and the ' night 'air. creeping' into both pockets '• and" nipjiing' 'hisunniittcried liands''faiined': this ll'ot" to' in -flame,' too lift-to' 'remained ■ for "thht, l but—"to" r a :i ; flicker.

Annie, not Arch'iej''should hhve the- elephant.' ■ -Mr.: Swan;niuttofed-monosyllables thought only in the'. home. at! Acres,, and he coughed querulously;-What; warmed , his- .testiness, to-boiling-point,-; was' tho behaviour .of , the. elcr lihant in';hi^,'ppcketv:,The jolting of tho jour-; hoy' had ,'somehow. .deranged, that' qiiadruped's mechanism, aii'd" sundry- odd noises,.' echoed; from the patient abdomen; just where the key entered. Mry-'Sfrali'fclenfched f thtej' l: tby with r ■ fifrote}!igo.uc'iaiid' ihqAli i itii'ibut sit no : temporary,; m'alaise-.oni the!.-part: of the "elephant,

and every, farther, step of the clerk's-sang-to' the "tunc. of. a muffled rattle.-, , ■ .

. ,The..ro'ad soon, branched- off to, the- left and' ran between two rows of, snow-clad , trees, at the end of . which loomed a stone archway, in outline like' the .entrance to some, -prilicely castle, but built here for the-unromantic suppj't of the railway; •'-A' great cap. of snow shot ovr the' edge ■ and . threw a gaunt blurred shadow far f away .-down tlie road. ;The arch long, with niches deep and broad on either side, where line-menders stored their implements. Mr. Swan recollected-these'.shel-

!te?=,'arid a?so that once he had lit upon a tramp reclining there,-and his testiness made wiy for a vajjuc fe ; ar. What -if : some burly vagrant thirsting for' his' blood crouched-• in the shadow-at the cjid, or, -worse . still; r -eome shariicless. ghost hankering, aftefc-his' soul?. All . the stories of the - neighbourhood tumbled, .in'tb his; brain','- and" liis heart sank. to. his boots, so that-: for.X,moment' he-hesitated'; but, the: necessity of reaching homo, the. chilliness of standing still;', and.-the 'eve'r ; preseiit flgiire' of -Mrs."Swan," pushed him. forward. Sliivcring/'from mingled fear and cold', he' slouchcd' inb, the- archwayi and caught a:strip::of'the' wbit>. landscape; beyond.- -Not a,thing-;stirred in ' the -gloonV of the. -masonry—the .•echoing boom, of: the' clerk's steps" alone..outraged'the , silence. The' niches : to .'both; sjdes .'were, 'empty, aU'but-'the'last-on-. the left; where sprawled a bundle lit'b,v. a straggling moonbeam. ; '.. . 1 With 'lightened' heart;the' clerk pressed* on,, when'-something about; tlic' bundle ..caught ..his, eye, ,and ihe/halted,' rigid withvsurprise.-' Nestling against the -wall;- a patched- coat:round' their; shoulders, slumbered" two-tiny children; The stray•. -ln.oonbeam, which-:- .dappled:, - the miisonry-."above,, seemed to change tfiem. to .beings ~flbt. of. this . elves—and Mr.' Swaii: held liis ! breath in' wondering,awe. ; Ono wa's. a' girl .with long ;black - locks,; the other aWy'.with curly"yejlow". hair;'; the; girl'-.had; a fftiry. white arm -tight round s hoc!:.' and; thus ;the t i .vo;'sluni6cred with that sutlime' confidence' known...- only; ■ to' absolute strength 'and vab'soluto. weakness; ■••• A.- coil ,: of rope jumbled in-tho corner stood as pillow to the pair, while a stockinged-foot-of each foiind shelter • ben'eath some -littered.! sticks" of.! wood. What puzzled, .MK. Swan! .was ■ the :!disppsal. Of the' : other two feet. . Tho;right.' leg of. the little girl" and'-.the left leg .of -the litfle boy;.were shrouded-'iii a musty sack reaching above the knees; '- in " such a. ; way;' moreover,' ;that • the, folds' of' the covering'-betrayed the outline pf nothing underneath.'- Had they only a le.,' "each I' Or' was' the sack: too small' for all four legs, and-had they' thereforo, shared the bedclothes, neither-wishing to usurp-a'bed for: both his—or her—legs?, One foot warm, rather than bofh cold. That, must bo it, .thought, the clerk,' but' as lie raised .his ey t es to'the' piece of wall above'them, something-hanging there, explained 'the'' phenomenon,' and a, vague revulsion of conscience: swept over him. A ctiri-, ous-tremor shook-his heart, 'as'when! he read' Dickens' homely • stories or heard"'singin'g .-in 'lbs cliurch'-at Acres. -■

' Eroiu soihe unevenly fixed hails in the stoneworK .'dangled a pair-of stockings,-varying iii colon'' arid. size. These two babes of the highwiy were courting gifts from .Santa;- Clans. 1 •Wi'ih that affecting faith innate;in all children which, in spite of eternal disappointment, is proof against all discouragement, they- had thus commemorated '.Christmas : Eve. Eirelcss, homeless, alone, lliey yet; trusted in the generosity of the great god Saiita dan's.;- Mr. Swan had" eiitered the archway braced" for some" villain's onslaught. Two children had defeated him; .he -looked fori blackguardism and tomiil innocences-lambs instead , bf' a -lion.' What stirred his vcly soul war, the limpness of the r-tockihgs—thev were both empty. Very old they looked, too. I'rayed at the top, worn in the' leg, perforated;- the' foot; -Santa-''Clans would have li'ad to insert some big present or the stockings Vrouid still be empty, by morning. ■ A tinge of meanness warped, Mr. Swan's nature, aiid, the humour of the occasion struck him ail of a sudden. How, apt it would be to drop something'in,, to the children's astonishment. on the. morrow ;;;th.ey could not really expect anything, he argued; and ,so would not' bo disappointed. Moreover, they '.had kept him waiting, and he was. cold. He had'drawii both hands from his pockets on entering; the-'arch-' way. to cope with the expectant assailant, and now lie tluust them back again. .'.Each- came in contact with a toy. Mr. Swan had quite forgotten the toys. How if lie dropped them into the stockings before liini, would not 'the children's consternation be distinctly more ap-propriate-then? He smiled. But what would - Mrs. Swan say if he came ' home . emptyhanded? ; Besides, this Santa Claus. business was very absurd, and should be put a stop to. Mr: -Swan, as a member of the community, should set his foot down and resist the pleadings of sentiment. .'Hut the-other, face,of the question showed in opposition—the charm' of this'-immemorial custom. Had ho not as a child revelled in it, gone to bed on-Christmas Eve with-a - flutter of expectation, risen , on Christmas morn ta'-n wonderful fulfilment! and then for-a moment the thought of that great gift on tho first -Christmas morning

flashed• into■ memory, arid-he'-drew 'forth th# two toys.. .Breathless, on'tip-toe', numbed in the hands, he fumbled with tho stockings. 'At last, after dreary miscarriages, the-deed was done. The worsted stocking with the darned i holes partially draped the plump 'doll; and the nether part of the elephant's, anatomy bulged through a rent in the other stocking's heeli' 0110 of that quadruped's -hind legs-also shot' out of a mend in. the. sok\ . • Mr.' Swan had 'been chilly standing under the-'archway,' now lie felt quite warm; perhaps 1 it • was- heat froni 'within, it '■could'"not been 'lieat from without. / Twenty minutes stood' between him and - a fire. Various iwere his thoughts on-tho way; I llow to ..explain, the absence of presents was; a problem; yiat. tortured him, for : .with',.: Mrs. Swain as wife.a solution was Suppose "a story 'of highway, robbery ... were . concocted—a > few' gaudy ''details" 'focussing .'upon' Mr. Swan- as the' hero, a hero' agaiiist.'ddds'inn'umerable?' But' (law's scaTrCd tlle' : very' suN face- of •■'such - an ' invention, for what' coiild : a vagabond-want. .with: toys• when•:'he"' left--.- a Wa'terbury. .watch . and >-:a-• chain?.,. Ad!, the truth and nothing .but-the truth; moreover, the clerk knew that somewhere deep in his'-.wife's heart—as in-hissqwn —there .lingered a tender,spot;;he would melt her' with a soul-stirring" summaryof" the. night's adventure. ' At , last the. house" 'was reached. ' • . : " . - ' ! "You'are late,•"• said "Mrs; Swari'laconically, "We-shut office late,'' answered her husband.'- •• "Did you .buy. those toys?" she queried.' •' "Yes."; ~ ~ ' '".i-".--t"Where,' are. they?,".. •■ > :.• ■■ •' :i. >. '\. r VI dropped them on the road." "Dropped them'on- the road,.'she . ex« claimed, pivoting-round bnOiim. "Into two stockings," he. said. ■ The story was.; told: as they sat round'the' fire, she stirring . his gruel. ' Mrs.; Swan. hung her head during the -narration, .'but n£v*r stoppedvstirring. - A tear splashed into:\tha gruel-when he finished; • > —Oliver Looker Lanmson, in *,'Blackwood'l , Masazmo."