“ Silently they depart, dreading the rigor of the winter, seeking a warmer and a sunnier clime. No longer is the dawn betokened by their chorus; yet we are far from being entirely deserted, as there are over fifty species that brave the cold weather with us. These winter birds are generally from the north, spending their summers in Labrador or the Hudson Bay region, and finding a warmer and more congenial resort in the pine and hemlock vales of New England. On the other hand, there is a very respectable minority who make this their permanent home. ”

“ The narrow valley which nestled in the lap of the Ossipee and Sheep mountains had already begun to awaken from its summer reverie. The early September days had touched it with their first faint suggestiveness of autumn glories, and the second growth maples in the lowlands [Pg 64] had answered with a few crimson leaves and golden boughs. The little Bear Camp brook, which had hardly moistened the sands of its sinuous banks during the long, dry summer, had begun to flow again. Farther up the valley the saw-mills of Forest City could be heard, starting up after their summer’s idleness. ”

“ Ralph heard his sister’s voice asking George Wardsworth if the evening air wasn’t becoming a little chilly. Compelled to respond, George gallantly escorted her into the parlors.
Drawing his chair closer, Ralph dwelt with loving words upon his favorite topic, their engagement. “And when that happy day shall come,” he said, “when our engagement is over and real love begins, do you think, Grace, that we will be happier? ”

“ Even the dusty old motto, “God Bless Our Home,” which hung over the crude board shelf, seemed to bear an ill-omened import. Beside it was a well kept picture, a battle scene. Brave men were defending a fortification, amid snow and sleet and fire and lead, against an insidious attack by the Muskigo tribe on New Year’s eve. ’Neath the feet of those still contending lay the bleeding bodies of those who had fought their last. [Pg 34] Did this have any special meaning in that home? If so, surely war is honorable, and to die in loyal defence leaves not a stigma upon one’s posterity. ”

“ The wonder of every one was, that Harry did not get married. There surely were several young ladies whom one in his circumstances might be proud of taking for a wife, but he stubbornly adhered to bachelorhood, and prospective mothers-in-law became more abashed as he obstinately resisted the charms of all the young ladies. ”

“ Jack Simonds, don’t yo’ never let me ketch yo’ round hyar agin. Yo’ kin take yo’r chice ter s’port yo’r paw an’ maw, ez yo’ orter, or them shiftless Simonds.’”
Pete had stood leaning on his gun, and digging with the toe of his cowhide boot a miniature crater in the soft earth. As his “ole man” sat down sullenly on his bench, Pete buttoned up his leather jacket, and, his gun on his shoulder, shambled down across the brook and out into the clearing beyond.
“Lize hain’t goin’ ter starve,” he kept saying to himself all day, as he tramped through the rocky woods of Sheep mountain in search of game. ”

“ I’ve known yo’ fur a long spell, Lize. It’s nigh sixteen year, hain’t it?”
Lize, who could hardly tell her own age, ’lowed it war a moughty long time.
“Wa-al,” said Pete, hesitatingly, “bein’ ez how we’re in love, Lize, let’s git merred fur keeps. Thet wa’n’t no weddin’ last summer, when [Pg 80] paw and maw sent us daown ter Bar Camp, was it, Lize?”
“A weddin’?” asked Lize, “naw; we jest got merred. Thar hain’t no weddin’ ’thout yo’’re in love; an’ we’ve got it naow, Pete, sartin;” and Lize looked surprised at the new thought. ”

“ Harry St. Albans was good looking, that was conceded by all. His father was wealthy, and Harry was the especial admiration of all the young ladies. Whether from his ability to entertain, his good looks, or his father’s wealth, no party or private theatrical of any account was a success without him as principal actor. At college he had been a member of the dramatic [Pg 50] club, and taken one of the leading parts in “The Rivals.” ”

“ Their crossed bills, which furnish them their common name, are their most noticeable and interesting characteristic. It is a spectacle as pretty as it is curious to see one take the seeds from the cone of a fir tree. The hooked upper mandible serves to catch hold of and tear out the seed, while the lower one is a receptacle for it. With the red crossbill is sometimes seen the white species, which is much the rarer visitant of the two.
But if mention is to be made of any representative winter birds, we must notice the chickadee. ”

“ There was a movement of surprise in the audience as Pete and Lize went down the narrow aisle, and one or two of the uncouth mountaineers instinctively drew their slouch hats from their heads.
“Whar yo’ goin’, Pete?” inquired Lize, timidly, as they went out of the school-house into the Christmas night.
“Goin’ home, uv co’rse,” he said. [Pg 83] “Paw’ll be moughty pleased, fur I ’low ez he hain’t hed nothin’ ter eat fur mor’’n a month. I tell yo’ what, Lize, I’ll su’prise him with er Christmas present. ’Tain’t allus ez paw gits er Christmas present.” ”

“ Yo’ don’t wan’ ter come sneakin’ ’round hyar, Pete Larkim; if yo’ do, I’ll shoot yo’. I don’t want none o’ yo’ Christmas present.” And the window dropped with a crash.
For a moment Pete was silent with astonishment, till Lize, taking him by the hand, said,—
“Don’t yo’ keer, Pete. It’s moughty hard luck. But I ’low ez haow Bill Simonds hain’t fergot. Yo’ come er long with me, Pete;” and together they sought refuge under the roof of the Simonds shanty.
“Paw hain’t no call ter kick us out,” said Pete, at length. “But I’m moughty glad we went ter the [Pg 87] celebrashun, hain’t yo’, Lize?” ”

“ It meant nothing more than the enjoyment of the peanuts together and the satisfying of their parents’ wishes. Pete still lived with his “paw” and “maw,” and spent his days in hunting, while Lize remained in the Simonds shanty and scolded the half dozen younger [Pg 66] children as they quarrelled over hoecake and hominy. Pete’s “ole man” objected to his spending his whole time in hunting, and Pete had taken to crawling quietly from his bed of straw in the loft long before Bill Larkim was up, and starting on his day’s tramp over the steep sides of Black Snout or Sheep mountain. ”

“ It is cruel,” she said, “but with my soul in sympathy with another’s, I could not be faithful to you, Ralph. Forget me, as unworthy of your love. I regret the pain I have caused you. But I”——
“Stop,” he cried. “It is true you never loved me. Oh! that I should be deceived by a woman’s love. Go, and may the curse”——but with an angry movement she was gone. With a muttered curse for George Wardsworth, whom he [Pg 121] knew too well was to be Grace’s successful suitor, and almost maddened with grief, he strode down the gravel walk and was lost in the gathering night. ”

“ So Ted put on his dress suit, spent the evening in an orchestra stall at the Park, by the side of dear little old Mrs. Burnham, and was as proud and happy as she at “her Eva’s” success, for although the Princess Absurdaria is not the most attractive part in a “comic [Pg 9] opera” that has many superiors, still the newcomer in the cast was so pretty and graceful and young that the crowded house noticed the change at once, and manifested its approval many times. ”

“ To-night is New Year’s eve, and he is to open his new theatre, ‘The Grand Royal,’ and his daughter, who has lately [Pg 53] returned from abroad, is to be the leading actress.” Of course Harry would be only too glad to call on his father’s old friend; and the first place he went, on his arrival in the city, was to the private office of “The Grand Royal.”
“Henry St. Albans’ son? Oh! yes, but you will excuse me for a moment. I have some urgent business with my leading actor. Please step into the office for a moment,” replied Manager Harris, when Harry introduced himself. ”

“ None of the birds that spend the winter with us receive so much notice as these, on account of the frequency with which they visit the village in search of the seeds of frozen fruit, or the buds on evergreen trees. A low mellow whistle apprises the pedestrian of the proximity of the grosbeak, and the bird is quickly [Pg 21] discovered, probably with from six or eight to thirty companions, that gradually show themselves to the admiring observer. About the size of a robin, the females are distinguished by a soft yellow coloring, which becomes a brilliant scarlet in the male. ”

“ If one searches the wooded hills at some distance from the town, rarer species of owls and the like may be found with partridges, occasionally Canada jays, and during especially severe winters straggling Arctic birds. Indeed, one can hardly walk abroad without having his interest well repaid, and rare finds and new discoveries are of sufficient frequency to keep the observer enthusiastic. ”

“ To the passerby they were the same patched and dilapidated huts which they were the day Pete Larkim and Lize Simonds had made that memorable “weddin’ [Pg 65] tower” to Bear Camp a couple of months ago. Pete’s “ole man” and “Ria” had flattered themselves that their bit of diplomacy, which had prearranged and carried out Pete’s marriage to Lize, would bring them a happy old age of ease and indolence. ”

“ Mrs. Clancy glanced around the kitchen of the four-room flat on the top floor of a Broome-street tenement, and wondered why Clancy didn’t come. It was almost 7 o’clock, and he “struck work” at 6. Besides, to-morrow was Christmas, and their turkey depended on Clancy’s ability to get home with his [Pg 106] week’s pay in his pocket. She had not much confidence in this, for he had come home with an empty purse and a full bottle too many times. So Norah Clancy slipped a shawl over her head, and started down stairs. ”

“ On Fifth avenue a man hurried past the wealthy and cheerful homes of the most fortunate citizens. The electric light glared upon him and revealed the face of an old friend, Ralph Leighton. But how changed from the handsome Ralph of former days! His unfortunate love affair, followed by the death of that sister whom he so dearly loved, had added many a year to the once youthful face.
“I might do it,” he muttered as he strode along, “I might dash [Pg 124] George Wardsworth from his proud position to the level of a beggar ”

“ Clancy, yez’ll hov that turkey.”
Clancy walked down stairs and out into the street, where he stood for a moment, irresolute.
[Pg 111]
His ideas on where to procure the turkey he had so rashly promised were very hazy, and, furthermore, he thought Mrs. Clancy had his money. As he reached his hand down into his pocket he felt something. He took it out, gazed at it contemplatively, and bit it. This seemed to satisfy his doubts. He had a quarter!
Then he considered what should be done with it. A quarter would hardly buy a turkey, and a quarter would buy considerable in the line of drink. ”

“ It was nearly midnight when Pete and Lize reached the two shanties which for sixteen years had been all that “home” meant to them. Pete pounded loudly on the rough door of the Larkim shanty, eager to present his angry “ole man” his [Pg 84] Christmas present, which had brought so much happiness to him. In a moment there was a big bushy head thrust out the little square window at the side, and Pete called,—
“Haow are yo’, paw? I’s got a Christmas present fur yo’.”
“Naw yo’ hain’t, nuther,” broke in Bill. “What yo’ doin’ ’round hyar ennyways, yo’ young rascal, yo’? Be that Lize?” ”

“ A few justice-loving people shrugged their shoulders, looked disapproval and cast sympathizing, if not almost admiring, glances at his strong, honest face. General Brockaway, proud of the results of his instruction, half wanted Dan to win, and even started to rise in his seat to interpose objections to the decisions rendered, but as quickly as cloud follows sunshine, evil impulse follows good, one [Pg 42] thought another, he realized the risk of his prestige and settled back in his seat. The weekly lyceum was continued for years thereafter, but the last prize contest in Shelby town was over. ”

“ The rehearsal was gone through with successfully, all being present except the leading lady, who wished to save her strength for the evening performance.
The theatre was crowded, for Oscar Redmond was an excellent actor and a great favorite. Just before going on the stage, Harry was introduced to the leading [Pg 57] actress. He was thunderstruck; it was the lady with the blue eyes.
Never did actor play with more enthusiasm and fervor, never was a love scene more realistic ”

“ A moment before, Pete was thinking of going home; but now, when [Pg 72] Lize questioned him, he answered quickly, “Goin’ up to Forrest City. Paw ’lows I can’t go home no more ’thout I quit givin’ yo’ game, Lize. An’ yo’ hain’t goin’ to starve, not ef Pete Larkim knows it. Hyar, Lize, take these plovers; they’ll feed yo’ for a day or two. Game’s moughty scarce on the mounting, but I’ll git yo’ suthin, Lize.” ”

“ Each month it contains short stories, essays, a department of college verse, and bright sketches. This volume of “X-mas Sketches” is from the December number of the “Lit.” and shows the work the “Lit.” is doing in developing the literary spirit in college.
For the Alumni.
It contains the most complete alumni department ever published. Each issue has an interesting article by some prominent alumnus upon the war record of the College. The portrait of some Dartmouth hero accompanies each article. These articles are attracting a great deal of attention. ”