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oldtime christmas by jack downing seba smith m r3 briggs came bustling out of the kitchen into the long din ingroom and took her seat at the breakfast table where iier husband mr solomon briggs and all the chil dren being ten in number were seated before her she had stopped in the kitchen till the last moment to see the last dish properly prepared for breakfast next thursday is christmas said she and nothing done yet to pre pare for it i do wish we could ever have things in any sort of season at the mention of christmas the childrens eyes all brightened from james the eldest who was twenty- one down to mary who was but two years old mr briggs however who consid ered the last remark as having a little bearing upon himself replied that three days was time enough to get a christmas dinner or a christmas upper good enough for anybody it would be time enough to get it said mrs briggs if we had any thing to get it with well well mother said mr briggs very moderately and with a half smile theres a bushel of as good wheat as ever was ground i put into a bag on saturday james can take a horse and carry it to mill this morning and in two hours you may- have a bushel of good flour youve got butter enough and lard enough in the house and if you want any plums or raisins or any such sort of things james may call at haskalls tore as he comes home from mill and get what you want then mr butterfield is going to kill a beef critter this morning and im going to have a quarter so that before noon you can have a hundredweight of beef to make your mince pies of and if that aint enough ill send to mr butterficlds for another quarter and then there is ave cartloads of large yellow punkins in the barn and there is five cows that give a good mess of milk and youve got spices and ginger and molasses and sugar enough in the house and as for the poultry itll be time enough to kill that tomorrow morning if two tur keys aint enough ill kill four be sides a basket full of chickens the children clapped their hands and laughed and said father al ways brings it out all right at last from that hour forth for three days there was unusual hurry and bustle in the kitchen particularly there was commotion the oven was hot from morning till night and al most from night till morning there was baking of pound cake and plum cake and sponge cake and christ mas cake and new years cake there were ovens full of mince pics and apple pies and custard pics there were punkin pies baked on large platters for christmas dinner and others on large plates for break fast and supper afterwards and others still in saucers for each of the mall children there was a pair of plum puddings and indian puddings to match the roastings on the morn ing of christmas were in full keep ing with the rest of the preparations besides a fine sirloin of beef two fat turkeys were roasted two geese and a half dozen chickens and then an other half dozen of chickens were made into an enormous chicken pie this array of food was not prepared for a single family but for a numer ous company to be made up from many families in the neighborhood the dinner fulfilled every expecta tion and gave entire satisfaction to all parties a table of extra length was spread in the long dining hall which was graced by a goodly circle of elderly people besides many of the middleaged and the young the loin of beef was reduced to a skeleton two turkeys one goose and five chickens vanished in the twinkling of a caseknife the large milk pan containing the chicken pie was cleared to the very bottom and three or four large puddings and a couple of acres of punkin pie were among the things lost in the dessert now james whos coming here tonight said susan the eldest daughter a bright blueeyed girl of eighteen who have you asked jest name em over will you oh i cant name em over said james jest wait an hour or two and youll see for yourself ive asked pretty much all the young folks with in a mile or two well have you asked betsy har low said susan yes and ivory loo if thats what you want to know said james nobody said anything about ivory m susan as the color came to her check and she turned to go here suky come back here said james ive something to tell you what is it said susan turning around at the door and waiting they say ivory is waiting on har riet gibbs i dont believe a word of it saij susan coloring still more deeply well harriet will be here this evening said james and then may be you can judge for yourself that christmas was rather a cold writings of seba smith icere almost as famous in america a century ago as icere those of his transatlantic contemporary charles dickens a creation of smiths major jack domiing of downingsville became a national byname for political iciseacres and sharpers collections of the majors homespun letters to the press became bestseller books and fostered a new school of american humor having artemus ward petro leum v xasby josh billings and others as its products meanwhile seba smith penned sentimental stories about new england life which also struck a popular chord one of them had an effect compar able to charles dickens annual christmas tales in helping to diminish the old puritan prejudice against christmas observances day ard as night approached it grew still colder pile on more wood said mr briggs gel the rooms warm so there shant be no shiverin or hud dling about the fire this evening so the large fireplace in the long diningroom was piled full of round sticks of heavy wood almost up to the mantel and the fires in the fore- room and in the end room were re newed with equal bounty by early candlelight the company began to drop in there were stout boys ia round jackets and stouter boys in longtailed coats and rosycheeked girls in shawls and blankets and cloaks and muffs and tippets some of the middleaged and elderly people who had remained to pass the eve ning sat in the foreroom with mr and mrs briggs while the young folks were huddled into the end room till the supper table should be spread in the long dininghall theres ivory harlows bells said james as a sleigh came with a merry- jingle up to the door and instantly the windows were crowded with heads looking out to see who had come with him why theres four of em as true as i live said susan as they crossed the stream of candlelight that poured from the windows and spread across the door yard one of the younger boys had already opened the door and in a moment more the newcomers were ushered into the room viz ivory harlow and his sister betsy and harriet gibbs and a strange gen tleman whom ivory introduced to the company as mr stephen long the gentleman who was engaged to keep the district school that winter and then he turned and whispered to james and told him that the school master had arrived at their house a sleigh came with a merry jingle up lo the door that afternoon as he was to begin the school the day after christmas so he thought he would bring him im glad you did said james though at the same time his heart belied his words for he felt afraid it would spoil half the fun of the eve ning the boys and girls all at once put on long and sober faces and sat and stood around the room as quiet as though they had been at a funeral presently susan whispered to james and told him he ought to take the schoolmaster into the foreroom james at once took mr long into the other room and introduced him to mr and mrs briggs and the rest of the company a chair was of course set for mr iong and he sat down in it and began to talk about the weather while james retreated back into the end room the moment the schoolmaster had left the room the boys and girls all began to talk and laugh as merry as crickets it seems they had not rightly estimated mr stephen longs social and youthful qualities although two or three and twenty years om he was almost as much of a boy as any in the room he had not been gone more than fifteen minutes before he came back into the room with the young folks a cloud immediately settled upon their faces all were sober as dea cons till mr long came across the room with an exceedingly droll ex pression of merriment upon his face and gave james a hearty slap on the back saying at the same time well now whats the order of the day here tonight dance or for- illustrations by william borutta feits or blind mans buff im for improving the time at once the whole company burst into a laugh and several of the juniors feeling such a burden sudden ly removed from them fell to pound ing each others shoulders i guess well have something or other agoing bime by said james whatever the company likes best but i guess well have supper first the words were but just littered when the call for supper was given and the foreroom and the end room poured out their respective companies into the long dininghall it was soon perceived that long as the table was they could not all be seated at once and there began to be some canvass ing to determine who should wait the elderly people must of course sit down and the schoolmaster must of course sit at the first table and then it was decided that the youngest of the young folks should sit down too because the eldest of the young folks chose to wait and eat by themselves to this last arrangement there was one exception for miss harriet gibbs when she saw the schoolmaster seated on one side of the table had somehow or other taken a seat on the other side directly opposite to him and when as the young folks were retir ing from the room ivory harlow looked at her and saw she had con cluded to remain susan thought she saw considerable color come into ivorys face after the first company at the table had eaten up mince apple and cus tard and punkin pics of the larg est class together with a reasonable portion of various kinds of cakes and sweetmeats and had given place to the second company at the table who had gone through similar operations to a similar extent the great dining- hall was speedily cleared the elderly people were again seat ed in the foreroom where a brisk fire was blazing so warmly that they could sit back comfortably clear to the walls and around the hearth was a goodly array of mugs and pitchers of cider and bowls heaped with mel low apples red and yellow and green now then what shall we have to begin with said james suppose we have a quiet dance to begin with said susan oh id rather have something that has more life in it said harriet gibbs lets have hunt the slipper or forfeits i dont care which oh get away with them said bill dingley lets go right into blind mans bun at once thats the stuff for christmas you know we must please the ladies bill said james briggs i guess well have a sort of game at forfeits first well agreed said all hands accordingly the company arranged themselves in a circle around the large hall holding the palms of their hands together and james took a piece of money between his hands and passed around to each one of the company and made the motion lo put the coin into the hands of each button button whos got the but ton said james to the head one when he had been around the circle harriet gibbs was the reply button button whos got the but ton said james to the next betsy harlow answered the next at last when james had been clear around the circle and questioned each one in like manner he called out them thats got it rise at once up hopped sam nelson a sly little redheaded fellow about a dozen years old whom no one sus pected of having it every one of the company therefore had to pay a forfeit i move we redeem before we go any further said ivory harlow the motion was seconded all around and the forfeits were accord ingly collected and james selecting a couple held them over harriet gibbs head whose two pawns arc these said he and what shall he and she do lo redeem them the lady shall kiss the schoolmas ter said harriet and the gentle man shall go into the foreroom and kiss mrs briggs miss harriet gibbs and mr ivory harlow go and pay forfeit said james oh la me i shant do no sich thing said harriet with a half scream then you dont have your ring again said james well then i suppose i must do it or i shall be setting a bad example to the rest said harriet and away he ran across the room to mr long and at once gave the whole company for three days there was hurry and bustle and in the kitchen particularly the oven was hot from morning till night and almost from night until morning audible evidence i hat she had fully redeemed her ring ivory harlow walked leisurely into the foreroom what he did there the young people could not certainly say but from the hearty laugh that came from the elderly people there assem bled they inferred that he did some thing and on his return james gave him his pawn james then selected two more of the forfeits and held them over bill dingleys head whose two pawns are these and what shall he and she do to redeem them said james they shall kiss each oilier through a chair back said bill susan briggs and mr long have got to do that said james whereupon the schoolmaster read ily took a chair and approached miss susan briggs but susan when she saw the schoolmaster coming towards her colored up to the eyes and turned away mr long seemed bent upon re deeming his pawn at any rate and he followed susan with the chair when she found herself cornered she the hustle at blind mans buff drew the elderly people o lie door kissed her hand and tossed it at him that wont do cried half a dozen voices when mr long found he could not redeem his pawn through the chair he declared he would redeem it with out the chair so letting the chair down he advanced upon miss susan who held both hands tightly over her face after some tussling the com pany heard the appropriate signal of triumph in redeeming later pawns the pen alties were as various as the char acters of the several persons who stood judges when bill dingley stood as judge he declared he wasnt in favor of any halfway punish ments ard he accordingly adjudged the delinquents to kiss every lady and gentleman in the room that is the lady to kiss the gentlemen and the gentleman to kiss the ladies when the game of pawns was over the general vote seemed to be in favor of blind mans buff james had to blind first he whirled about the room with as much ease and boldness as though he had nothing over his eyes and he kept the company continually hying from one and of the hall to the other like a flock of frightened pig eons however he caught them one after another and sent them into the end room while they were running this way and that ivory harlow couldnt help noticing that somehow or other harriet gibbs most always blundered into the same corner where the schoolmaster was and sometimes she would run right against him be fore she saw him and then sometimes she would almost fall down and the schoolmaster would have to catch hold of her to keep her from falling the brisk running and bustle at blind mans buff drew the elderly peo ple to the door of the foreroom where they looked on when james had caught about half the company mrs briggs could not stand it any longer she slipped off her shoes ard in she went right among them and jomed in the game and she ran about lighter and quicker than any girl there so much upon the alert was she and moved about with such noiseless and nimble footsteps that she was the very last to be taken and when at last she was cornered and caught james was a little puz zled to know who it was for he felt almost sure he had caught all the larger girls but wncn he put his hand upon her head and face and neck and shoulders he exclaimed well done mother this is you now you shall blind oh no i cant do that james said mrs briggs retreating toward the foreroom yes but you must said james you arc the last caught yes yes you must you must echoed the young folks from all sides well said mrs briggs at last if mr briggs and tiie rest of em will come out and run ill blind the elderly people stood and looked at each other a minute and at last they hwhawod right out and then half a dozen of them came out upon the floor to join the game the hand kerchief was put upon mrs briggss eyes and the old folks commenced running and the old folks stepped heavy and the young folks laughed loud and there was a most decided racket mrs briggs however was spry as a cat and caught her prey fast when this run was over the play went back again exclusively into the hands of ihe young folks and after several of them had been blinded it came at last to bill dingleys turn bill went into it like a days work he leaped upon his prey like a tiger among sheep he ran ovar one and tripped up another knocked one this way and another that this wound up the blind mans buff mrs briggs then came out and told susan to get a table out in the middle of the room she then brought forward a couple of loaves of christ mas cake and placed them on a couple of plates and cut them up into as many slices as there mere young folks present now said mrs briggs well see which of you is going to be married first these two cakes have each of em a christmas ring in them and whichever gets the slice that has the ring in it will be married before the year is out so all the gals over six teen years old stand up in a row on one side and all the young men over eighteen stand up in a row on the other side and ill pass ihc cake around she carried it around to the young men first and each took a slice and commenced eating to ascertain who had the ring by jings i havent got it said billy dingley swallowing his cake at three mouthfuls maybe youve swallowed it said george gibbs well them thats got it said mrs briggs please to keep quiet till we find out which of the gals has the other the young ladies then took their slices and mrs briggs passed on to sally dingley bills sister who being on the wrong side of forty did not stand in the row and rather declined taking the cake mrs briggs urged her and told her she must take some when bill suddenly called out take hold sal take hold and try your luck as long as theres life theres hope miss sally dingley ran across the loom and boxed bills ears and then came back and said shed take a piece of cake for who knows said she but what i shall get the ring and who knows but what i shall be married before any of you now after the young ladies had eaten their cake mrs briggs called upon them that had the rings to step for ward into the floor upon which ivory harlow stepped out on one side and harriet gibbs on the other ah that aint fair thats chcatln thats cheatin cried out little sam nelson why what do you mean by that sam said mrs briggs cause said sam i sec susan when she was eating the cake take the ring out of her mouth and slip it into harriet gibbs liana at this susan blushed harriet looked angry and ihc company laughed by this time it was twelve oclock and the elderly people began to think it was time for them to be moving homeward and as soon as they were gone the young folks put on their shawls and cloaks and hats and pre pared to follow them before they went however ivory harlow got a chance to whisper to susan briggs and tell her that he supposed he should have to carry harriet hom this time but it was the last tlm he should ever carry her anywhere as long as his name was ivory harlow 1957 king features syndicate inc