Page 35 - Giv'er Miramichi Magazine - Christmas-Winter Giver 2024

"Come in!" cried Claus.
"Come out!" answered Jack, "for you have a fire inside."
So Claus came out. He had known Jack Frost in the
Forest, and liked the jolly rogue, even while he mistrusted
him.
"There will be rare sport for me to-night, Claus!" shouted
the sprite. "Isn't this glorious weather? I shall nip scores of
noses and ears and toes before daybreak."
"If you love me, Jack, spare the children," begged Claus.
"And why?" asked the other, in surprise.
"They are tender and helpless," answered Claus.
"But I love to nip the tender ones!" declared Jack. "The
older ones are tough, and tire my fingers."
"The young ones are weak, and can not fight you," said
Claus.
"True," agreed Jack, thoughtfully. "Well, I will not pinch
a child this night—if I can resist the temptation," he
promised. "Good night, Claus!"
"Good night."
The young man went in and closed the door, and Jack
Frost ran on to the nearest village.
Claus threw a log on the fire, which burned up brightly.
Beside the hearth sat Blinkie, a big cat give him by Peter the
Knook. Her fur was soft and glossy, and she purred never-
ending songs of contentment.
"I shall not see the children again soon," said Claus to
the cat, who kindly paused in her song to listen. "The winter
is upon us, the snow will be deep for many days, and I shall
be unable to play with my little friends." haunches and watched him, listening at the same time to her
The cat raised a paw and stroked her nose thoughtfully, master's merry whistle, which she loved to hear even more
but made no reply. So long as the fire burned and Claus sat than her own purring songs.
in his easy chair by the hearth she did not mind the weather. Claus glanced at puss and then at the stick he was
So passed many days and many long evenings. The whittling, until presently the wood began to have a shape, and
cupboard was always full, but Claus became weary with the shape was like the head of a cat, with two ears sticking
having nothing to do more than to feed the fire from the big upward.
wood-pile the Knooks had brought him. Claus stopped whistling to laugh, and then both he and
One evening he picked up a stick of wood and began to the cat looked at the wooden image in some surprise. Then
cut it with his sharp knife. He had no thought, at first, except he carved out the eyes and the nose, and rounded the lower
to occupy his time, and he whistled and sang to the cat as he part of the head so that it rested upon a neck.
carved away portions of the stick. Puss sat up on her
continued on page 39...

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