A Christmas At The Foot Of The Rockies.

A Christmas at the Foot of the Rockies .

By COJSTSTAiVCE V . CAVE . Author of "' Once Upon a Time , " " When the Snow Lay on tho ( . 1 round " 4-c , . ye . [ AIA , Rutin ' s RESEKVKH . ]

E 6 E ** 32 ?) f 3 l : 'fe ^ - (^? - ^ Wlls m ^ ^ * Chiistnuis in the Far West ; and as I ' ¦ 'Iw ' 3 ^ ' : ilwoke iind saw the cold , grey light stealing in through ' '¦ ni $ H ' *' le W 1 ' ^ 0 W-S ° f the shanty , there . was a choking iJeJ ij * £ | - - feeling in my throat and a dimness in 1113- eyes , as feo . — - ; .-. VL ) 3 I realised how differently my own people were keeping the day , so many thousand miles off .

Then the clock struck six—it was one o ' clock now in Old England . Church was over , and they had got home again , and were busy opening their cards and letters . " Would mine be there Y " 1 wondered . I had timed it to reach them on Christmas Day , but , so far west as wo were , we could not reckon on the mails with anything like certainty .

And as I lay there in the grey dawn , it all seemed such a dream to me—my leaving home , and travelling all by myself over this great continent to my brother ' s shanty , under the shadow of the Rocky Mountains . it had been a long journey , but I could hardly call it a lonely one , for I had met with so much consideration and

kindness from all classes of Americans with whom I had come in contact , that I hardl y knew how to feel grateful enough to them . I remembered , with a smile , my many mistakes as to the ways and customs of the strange country I found myself in , and the unvarying courtesy with which they had been met , and wvme to the conclusion

that 111 no country could a girl travel alone with such comfort as in the land of the " Star-spangled Banner . " Then my thoughts flew back again homo . What were they sill doing ? Perhaps , even at

that moment thinking of me , and again my eyes filled , and J was glad when the door opened and admitted the friend—whom I will for convenience speak of as Eveline—in whose home my brother and myself were spending our Yuletide .

"A happy Christmas to you , dear ! " she said , with carefully averted face .

But I was not to be done—for drawing her towards ntc , I saw her eyelids wcie suspiciously pinky . Then we both looked at each other with a smile that had not much happiness about- it , and then—I think it best to draw a veil over what really happened .

feulhce it to say , that , iil ' ter a time , during which we had heard sounds from the kitchen , into which my room opened . Eveline looked in , and ( hen pointed , with a pleasant smile , to the kettle , which was singing briskl y 011 a blazing lire . "The boys have made the kettle boil , " I cried with joy . "How

good : and jumping out of bed , I speedily got into a dressing-gown . Then the same thought struck us both—Mveliue promptly seized the ieapot , and 1 the fin-lined pail , which did duty for n caddy , and , in a very few moments we were indulging in a woman ' s pet luxury—a cup

ot tea . After that wc felt two different creatures ; and warmed and fed we soon dressed ; then , arming ourselves with two steaming jugs of tea , well wrapped up in our shawls , for there was quite time enough for the tea to get thoroughly chilled before , reaching the

Corralls . We put on our cloaks and over-shoes , and trudged along over the crisp , sparkling snow . It was still intensel y cold , but the sun was up , and that burning luminary is quite another person out West to what he is at homo . His rays fell upon the snowy

A Christmas At The Foot Of The Rockies.

Range 111 front of us , and the snow on Pike ' s Peak and Long ' s Peak was turned to crimson under his influence . All the foot-hills beneath were veiled in clouds , which lay in rolling mists around them , but their big brothers of the Range stood out plainly enough . " Oh , do look , Eveline , " 1 cried . " You don ' t see anything like that at home , do you ? Ugh ! it is cold ! "

For answer Eveline made a little grimace . " If you had been out here as long as I have , " she retorted , " you would thankfull y give all the mountains for the sight of a spn ' gof holly or a church tower . I urn like the old lady we met on the cars , the other day , on the

Denver and Rio Grande . I ' m chock full of scenery . ' Come , the tea is getting cold . Hurry up ! " And I am bound to say we both did so to the best of our ability . 2 feedless to say , when wcgot to the Corral , the boys , who were busy milking , were glad enough of the warm tea .

"Wasn't the milk frozen Y " asked Eveline ' s husband , trying to unfreeze his own moustache as he spoke . " In ii perfect cake , " I laughed . " But one expects the best of ice creams in America . It was good of you to think of the tea though !"

" Aye , 1 thought you both would feel better after it , " was tha reply , during which the operation hud been successfully accomplished . " 1 guess Eveline was a bit low this morning—thinking of home folk . "

Then , after Christmas greetings , tor wo were all of ns English , Eveline and 1 hurried back to get breakfast . For , in this little Western shanty we had to do all our own work , and we always managed , except 011 washing days , to have the rooms settled and breakfast ready by the time the boys had "done the chores . "

Christmas Day being a holiday , two more boys , who were "baching" on a neighbouring ranche , were coming to breakfast , so we wanted a particularly nice " spread . " Eveline tucked up her sleeves , and baked a pan of the hot biscuit she was so famed for : whilst 1 , who was at that time but a novice in baking , set the

oatmeal on the stove , and got the beefsteaks and the potatoes ready , for an American breakfast is never complete without potatoes , stewed fruit and mush . We took kindly to the two former articles , but substituted oatmeal for the mush , which was certainl y to me an acquired taste . I much preferred my usual porridge .

" 1 do hope the ham is not frozen , " said Eveline earnestly . "I don ' t think it can be , its still in the collar ( as we culled our'dugout' ) , and 1 told the boys to be sure and not bring it up till fhe hist moment . Mind and boil the eggs lightly , so for pity ' s sake , don ' t let them gallop for more than six minutes . "

"I never can get the eggs right , " I sig hed , despairingly . "Do , Eveline , boil them yourself , and I'll fry the potatoes . Wonder if Colonel will bring us some cream to eat with our oatmeal , " referring to one of our visitors , who used sometimes to appear with a basin of that delicacy .

"Don ' t be so greedy , " admonished Eveline . "There ! I think everything is right- now—cranberries , marmalade , and sweet pickles on Y Yes . Xow we have only to clear the coffee and make some hot tea . "

" And put this in the middle ol the table , " I replied . And darling into my room , I brought out a jar full of vivid-coloured ivy leaves , treasured for the occasion , and relieved b y ( rails of Kilikinic with its dark green leaves and crimson berries , -and a few bits of dark pine . " There ! " I said triumphantly , us I placed my prize in the middle of the table .

Kvelme shook her head . "Its very pretty , child ; but its easy to see you are still a 'tenderfoot . ' Wh y , the boys would far rather see another plute of my hot biscuit ! " " There ' s p lenty of room for both , " I said . " Xow , Eveline , let it

slay . I 111 sure they'll notice it . So my table decoration remained , but I am bound to ssty Eveline was ri g ht ; and none of the hoys—every man under lil ' ty seemed to me to be called a boy—took much interest in it . They much

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