Pastoral Days Part 7

Although loving the cold, and choosing the winter season to be with us, the snow-birds cannot hold their own against the little hardy chickadee.

Indeed, I sometimes think that this little frost-proof puff is happier and more sprightly in proportion as the cold increases, and that even the sight of a frozen thermometer would be, perhaps, an especial inspiration for his song. Not so the little snow-birds. When those raw and bitter winds sweep like a blight over the face of nature, their little song is frozen, and their familiar forms are seen no more. You hunt amid the evergreens and hedge-rows, but they are not there. But when the shingle-vane on the old barn-gable veers and points toward the south or west, should you chance to be in the neighborhood of the barrack mow, you would hear the m.u.f.fled twittering of the little thawing voices underneath the conical roof. Here they have a.s.sembled among the wheat-sheaves still unthreshed, finding a warm and cosy shelter--"a pavilion till the storm is overpast."

The winter woods are full of life and beauty, if we will only look for them. We do as much for the summer woods, why not for the winter? Were we to seclude ourselves in-doors in June, and shut our eyes to all its loveliness, it would be only what so many do from November till the budding spring. In one respect, at least, the woods are even more beautiful in winter than in summer; for in their height of leafy splendor--sometimes to me almost oppressive in its universal greenness--the true and living tree is hidden from sight, its exquisite anatomy is concealed, and, to a certain degree, all the different trees melt into a ma.s.s of "nothing but leaves."

No one ever sees the full charm of the forest who turns his back upon it in the winter, for its clear-cut tree-forms are an unceasing delight and wonder. Look at the exquisite lines of that drooping birch, the intricate interlacing tracery of the minute branching twigs! Could anything be more graceful or more chaste? could any covering of leaves enhance its beauty? And so the apple-tree by the old stone wall--how different its various angles! how individual in its character! how beautiful its silhouette against the sky! Thus every separate tree affords a perfect study, of infinite design. See that mottled beech trunk yonder. What! never noticed it before? That was because its drooping leaf-clad branches concealed its beauty; but now not only does it emerge from its wonted obscurity, but the whiteness of the snowy ground beyond gives added value to every subtle tint upon its dappled surface. Step nearer. With what variety of exquisite tender grays has nature painted the clean smooth bark! See those marbled variegations, each spot with a distinct tint of its own, and each tint composed of a mult.i.tude of microscopic points of color. Here we see a fimbriated blotch of dark olive moss, spreading its intertwining rootlets in all directions, and further up a spongy tuft of rich brown lichen tipped with snow. Who could pa.s.s by unnoticed such a refined and exquisite bit of painting as this? And yet they abound on every side. See the shingly s.h.a.gbark, with its mottlings of pale green lichen and orange spots, its jagged outline so perfectly relieved against the snow, and, beyond, that group of rock-maples, with its bold contrasts of deep green moss, and striped tints of most varied shades, from lightest drab to deepest brown. And there is the yellow birch with its tight-wound bark, fringed with ravellings of buff-colored satin. Here we come upon a clump of chestnuts, their cool trunks set off in bold relief against a background of dark hemlocks, whose outer branches, clothed in snow, like tufted mittens, hang low upon the ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WINTER'S DARLING.]

Pa.s.sing from the wood, we now pick our way through a neglected by-path shut in on either side with birches, whose brown and slender branches spring from a trunk so white as to be almost lost in the background tint of snow. At every step we dislodge the glistening wreaths of snowy flakes from the bluish raspberry canes. The little withered nests on the tips of the wild-carrot stems hurl their fleecy burden to the ground; and each in turn the phantom shapes give place to homely yarrows, golden-rods, or thistles. Further on we see a wild-rose branch with scarlet berries, and further st--What's that? A fleet-footed little creature darts out almost from under our very feet, and bounds away into the dark recess. That little cotton tail! what a tempting target it always was for me! Lucky for you, my dear little fellow, that I am not a boy again, or I'd set a snare for you in about ten minutes. This always was a favorite haunt for hares, and if we had only kept our eyes open we might have known it, for, see! all around us the snow is dotted with hollows from their four little jumping foot-pads.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "WHO'S THAT?"]

Now we enter the old swamp lot, thick-set with bristling bulrushes and bare and spindling brooms of iron-weed. Here is the little turtle pond, from whose animated mud we fished the bugs and polly-wogs for our aquarium. Now it is shrunken and cold with crackling ice. Around its borders a thicket of black alder grows, its close-clinging scarlet berries, half hid in summer by the overhanging foliage, now seen in all their brilliancy and profusion, the brightest touches of color in nature's winter landscape.

Soon we are walking over the soft and silent carpet in the pine grove's sombre shelter, stopping for one brief moment to listen to the sighing wind overhead, and to inhale one long and lasting whiff of the delicious invigorating aroma of the trees.

Once more out in the open, our attention is arrested by a little stain of blood upon the snow. Leading to the spot we see a row of tiny imprints of some little field-mouse, and the white surface in close vicinity is ruffled and disturbed. A cruel tragedy has been committed here, and its evidence is plain, for there is but one line of wee footprints from the little hole beneath the stump near by--no return.

Poor little fellow! I wish I had beneath my foot the sharp-eyed owl that surprised you in your little antics on the snow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SUNSHINE AND SHADOW IN THE WOODS.]

A deserted nest now hangs across our pathway, and as I look upon the cold heap within its hollow, I wonder where are the little birds that nestled beneath the mother's wings in the cosy warmth of that cradled home only a few short months ago. And now I am reminded that nearly all this land through which we have been strolling belongs to Nathan Beers; for there's his house right across the road, only a few rods in front of us. I cannot help but laugh as I look over into that old door-yard at the incident it recalls.

I remember how, about fifteen years ago, I came up through these very woods into the clearing where we stand, and saw old Nathan, with slouched straw hat and stoga boots, entering his front gate. He was muttering and gesticulating to himself; and on the gravel behind him he trailed along a huge steel trap and clinking chain. He evidently had a strong opinion on _some_ subject, and I knew pretty well what that subject _was_.

"h.e.l.lo, Nathan!" I ask, "what's up?"

He turns quickly, and I observe that his usually good-natured Yankee face now wears a troubled expression.

"My dander's up--that's what's up," he replies, a little sullenly.

"They tell me you've been after a fox, Nathan; did you catch him?"

"No, 'n I don't cal'late to try agin nuther, he's _airnt his livi'_ fer all _me_;" and with an impetuous fling he sent the old trap into a corner of the wood-shed.

I am soon by his side, anxious to hear all about it. "What's the fox done?" I ask, eagerly.

"What _hain't_ he done, yeu better say. I never see nuthin' t' beat it since uz born, 'n I've ketched tew er three on 'em afore naow, teu. I've heern tell o' them critters' cunnin', but I swaiou I alliz thort ez haow folks wuz _coddi'_; but _thar_, yeu can't tell me nuthin' 'baout _foxes_. It's nigh c.u.m a fortnit thet I've been arter thet feller, 'n I swar teu gosh all hemlock! I hain't got so much's one on his pesky red hairs teu _show_ for't, 'n I'm _sick_ on't. I tell ye that ar feller is _mischievouser than pizen_, 'n his hed's as long as a horse's."

"Why, what's he been doing, Nathan?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: A SUNNY CORNER.]

"_Doin'?_ why fer considerable of a spell back he's bin hangin' raoun'

my hen-roost an' pickin' off my brammys; thet's what he's bin doin', 'n the _fust_ time I sot the trap I stuck it under some chaff in the hole yender in the hen-haouse jest arter the hens hed gone ter roost--cal'latin' as haow I'd wait a spell, 'n then go 'n take it away.

I thort that 'ud fetch him sure; but _thar_, deu yeu b'leeve, I heern thet feller c.u.m' sneakin' along putty soon, 'n he c.u.m' raoun' to t'other side 'n scairt all the hens aout the hole. I heern a great squawkin', 'n I put fer the place ez tight ez I cud, 'n thar I see my best dorkin' hen in the trap. Ef I'd only gyn the feller time, like's not he'd a chawed off her leg, 'n lugged her off to his hole in the rocks yender. I tell ye, everybody araoun' what's got hens hez hed to take thet feller's sa.s.s, 'n they'd orter be an end on't. There's old Reuben Scales, so poor he hain't got a pa'r o' pants teu his back, 'n dependin' on his faowls fer his meat vittles; why, they tell me daown t' the store thet he's bin jest _cleaned right aout_, 'n hain't got even a ha'r-backed pullet left.

They ain't no _gunni'_ nuther. Thet red-haired thief hez knabbed every tarnal pattridge 'n Bob White they iz."

And so he went on for half an hour, telling me all the various stratagems by which Reynard had outwitted him.

"I set it thar in the pine woods in a bed of pine needles, with the ded rabbit hangin' over it, 'n the next day I see by the scratched up dirt haow the feller hed jumped clean over the trap at a _lick_, 'n taken his rabbit on a fly. Yeu kin laff; but what I'm tellin' ye is az true az preachin'. So yest'd'y I lit aout on a new idee, 'n set the trap on top a stump cluss teu a tree 'n covered it with leaves. I hung the bait on the tree higher up, 'n sez I, old feller, I've got ye naow, sez I. I left it thar. I went daown thar agin this mornin', 'n I've _jest c.u.m_ from thar. _No more fox fer me_; s'elp me gosh!"

"Why," I ask, "what was the matter down there, Nathan?"

"Why, _blame my stogys_, ef the feller hadn't gone 'n highsted the clog-stick on the end o' the chain, 'n shoved it agin the pan, 'n sprung the trap on't, 'n then stepped up and knabbed the bait. An' I say thet enny feller what's got brains enuff fer thet, I swaiou he'd oughter _live_ off'n um; 'n he _kin_ fer all _me_!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: WINTER BROWSING.]

It was too bad to have fooled old Nathan so; but then, you see, he had a big farm, and was awfully stingy with us boys, and never would let us set a rabbit snare on his place. He said it was "pesky _cruel_," and seemed to prefer the more humane way of wounding them with shot, and breaking their necks afterward to end their sufferings. Nathan had kept very quiet about his little game. There really was a very sly fox in the neighborhood; but boys make good foxes too, sometimes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A JANUARY THAW.]

Nathan's house was a typical New England home, with slanting roof on one side, and embowered in maples, and it had the most picturesque barn in the neighborhood. Oh you good people far off in the country everywhere, how I envy you these dear old barns! How much you ought to appreciate their homely rustic beauty! But you never will, until, like me, you are forced to live away from them, and to see them only through the golden haze of memory. Then you will learn how great a part they took in influencing your daily life and happiness.

Was ever perfume sweeter than that all-pervading fragrance of the sweet-scented hay? and was ever an interior so truly picturesque, so full of quiet harmony?

The lofty hay-mows piled nearly to the roof, the jagged axe-notched beams overhung with cobwebs flecked with dust of hay-seed, with perhaps a downy feather here and there. The rude, quaint hen boxes, with the lone nest-egg in little nooks and corners. How vividly, how lovingly, I recall each one!

In those snow-bound days, when the white flakes shut in the earth down deep beneath, and the drifts obstructed the highways, and we heard the noisy teamsters, with snap of whip and exciting shouts, urge their straining oxen through the solid barricade; when all the fences and stone walls were almost lost to sight in the universal avalanche; and, best of all, when the little district school-house upon the hill stood in an impa.s.sable sea of snow--then we a.s.sembled in the old barn to play, sought out every hidden corner in our game of hide-and-seek, or jumped and frolicked in the hay, now stopping quietly to listen to the tiny squeak of some rustling mouse near by, or, it may be, creeping cautiously to the little hole up near the eaves in search of the big-eyed owl we once caught napping there. In a hundred ways we pa.s.sed the fleeting hours. The general features of New England barns are all alike; and the barn of memory is a garner full of treasure sweet as new-mown hay. You remember the great broad double doors, which made their sweeping circuit in the snow; the ruddy pumpkins, piled up in the corner near the bins, and the wistful whinny of the old farm-horse, as with p.r.i.c.ked-up ears and eager pull of chain he urged your prompt attention to your ch.o.r.es; the cows, too, in the manger stalls--how pleasant their low breathing--how sweet their perfumed breath! Outside the corn-crib stands, its golden stores gleaming through the open laths, and the oxen, reaching with lapping upturned tongues, yearn for the tempting feast, "so near and yet so far." The party-colored hens group themselves in rich contrast against the sunny boards of the weather-beaten shed, and the ducks and geese, with rattling croak and husky hiss, and quick vibrating tails (that strange contagion), waddle across the slushy snow, and sail out upon the barn-yard pond.

Here is the pile of husks from whose bleached and rustling sheaths you picked the little ravellings of brown for your corn-silk cigarettes. Did ever "pure Havana" taste as sweet?

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MOONLIGHT RIDE.]

Near by we see the barracks stored with yellow sheaves of wheat. Soon we shall hear the intermittent music of the beating flail on the old barn floor, now c.h.i.n.king soft on the broken sheaf, now loud and clear on the sounding boards. Upon the roof above we see the cooing doves, with nodding heads and necks gleaming with iridescent sheen. Turning, in another corner we look upon a miscellaneous group of ploughs and rakes and all the farm utensils, and harness hanging on the wooden pegs.

There, too, is the little sleigh we love so well. Could it but speak, how sweet a story it could tell of lovely drives through romantic glens and moonlit woods, of tender squeezes of the little hand beneath the covering robe, of whispered vows, and of the encircling arm--a shelter from the cold and cruel wind! But no--I'll say no more: these are memories too sacred for the common ear. And there's the carry-all sleigh just by its side. How well you'll remember the merry loads it carried, its three wide seats and s.p.a.ce between packed full of jolly company! How the hard-pressed snow squeaked beneath the gliding runners, as with prancing span and jingling bells you sped down through the village street, with waving handkerchiefs and cheerful greetings right and left!

How with "ducking" heads and m.u.f.fled screams you ran the gauntlet past the school-house mob; saw them scrambling for "a hitch," and with tantalizing beckonings tipped your horses with the whip. Away you go through the deep ravine, with a _jing, jing, jing_ on the frosty air, with voices high in merry laughs, amid loud hurrahs from the "boysterous" crowd now far behind. Now you speed through a mist of drifting snow, and the rosy cheeks tingle with the stinging icy flakes flying before the wind. Now comes another chorus of piercing screams, as the laden hemlock bough, tapped with mischievous whip, hurls down its fleecy avalanche on coat and robe, on jaunty little hat--yes, and on a small pink ear, and even down a pretty neck. Ah me! How is it possible that a shriek like that could come from a throat so fair? But so you go, with a _jing, jing, jing_, now past the mill-pond with its game, now up the hill, now through the woods and far away, now farther still, the silvery bells now scarcely heard, now fainter yet, till lost to sight and sound--but not to memory dear; for all through life we shall hear those happy jingling bells.

And when, with ruddy faces and stamping feet, we all rush in and crowd the old fireplace, how welcome the glowing warmth, how keen the relish for the appetizing spread upon the snow-white table-cloth: the smoking dish of beans, with crisp accompaniment of luscious pork; the hot brown bread so sweet; and, last of all, the far-famed Indian pudding, fresh and steaming from the old brick oven!

How distinctly I recall those long and happy evenings around that radiant hearth, the games, the stories read from welcome magazines!

Little we cared for the howling storm without. I hear the tick of the ancient clock in the corner shadowed by the old arm-chair; I see the glimmer on the whitewashed wall, the festooned strings of apples, sliced and hung above the fire to dry; I hear the patient, expectant stroke of hammer on the upturned log, and now the crackling burst of the rough-sh.e.l.led b.u.t.ternut, yielding up its long and filmy kernel; I hear the apples sizzling on the hearth, the puffy snap of pop-corn jumping in its fiery cage, the kettle singing on the pendent hook--a thousand things; and what a precious living picture of sweet home-life they all bring back to me!

But look! there is another hidden picture in the book of life--a shadowed page, which we had well-nigh forgotten. See that crouching figure in the dark, deserted street--that spurned and wretched outcast, without a home, without a friend! Perhaps if that broken heart has not already ceased to yearn, if the last spark has not yet been smothered by the driving, covering snow, we might still hear the faint and stifled sobs:

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SHADOWED PAGE.]

"Once I was loved for my innocent grace, Flattered and sought for the charm of my face.

Father, mother, sisters, all, G.o.d, and myself, I have lost in my fall.

The veriest wretch that goes shivering by Will take a wide sweep lest I wander too nigh, For of all that is on or about me, I know, There is nothing that's pure but the beautiful snow.

How strange it should be that this beautiful snow Should fall on a sinner with nowhere to go!

How strange it would be, when the night comes again, If the snow and the ice struck my desperate brain, Fainting, freezing, dying alone!"

Life's book is full of shadowed pages such as this; and it were well if in the midst of our contented homes, around our cheerful fires, we stopped to think and give a silent, heart-felt prayer for those who, by some strange, inexplicable fatality, seem doomed to walk with cruel burdens and with bleeding feet the path of life: no helping hand, no friend, no hope, no G.o.d.

What a terrible night! Hark how the wind moans, like a long wail from some despairing soul shut out in the awful storm! The air is filled with dense clouds of flying snow and sleet chased along by the gale. The trees bend and writhe, and, as if in fear, scratch their boughs upon the roof; the driving flakes beat with an angry, hissing sound upon the window-panes, and for a moment there is a m.u.f.fled, ominous silence. Now comes a wild and furious gust, and a great white whirlwind sweeps with serpentine contortions past the window and disappears in the thick darkness of the night. Our very walls sway and tremble to their foundation. The clap-boards snap, and some loosened blind is torn from its hinges and hurled as a feather before the raging wind. We hear a crash of breaking gla.s.s, the shaking of the old barn doors, and now a frightened neigh, half smothered in the storm.

Who would venture out in such a night as this? We shudder at the thought, and yet there is one whose holy sense of duty will see no barrier even in this fierce tempest. Even now he is urging his faithful horse onward through the lonely road, cold and benumbed, but thinking only of the suffering he hopes to relieve.