Christmas at Cedar Hill

by Lucy Ellen Guernsey

"So she got up, and after she had finished her breakfast she set to spinning with all her might. She now kept two candles lighted, the place seemed so dismal. Bose was growing very uneasy. He whined and cried to go out, and behaved so strangely that Fanny was half afraid of him."

"The day wore on slowly, and night came again, and yet she was alone."

"For three whole days, she had not seen the face of a human being. Her firewood was getting low, too. She hardly dared to go into the shed for more, and yet she was afraid her fire would go out unless she got a larger stick. At last she determined to venture. She found her sled in one corner, and, getting a pretty good-sized log on it, she managed to drag it into the kitchen. She had done this three times and was going out again, when Bose sprang between her and the door, and would not allow her to pass, even growling and taking hold of her dress with his teeth when she tried to push him out of the way. At that moment, the shed fell in with a great crash. But for the dog, Fanny would have been buried in its ruins."

"As it was, the fall of the shed was both alarming and inconvenient. She could get no more wood and no more well-water; and what if the roof to the home should fall in as that of the shed had done! She went up into the garret to see if she could see any signs of its yielding, but all stood firm as yet."

"And now Fanny made a great discovery. There was a little projecting window, such as is sometimes called a dormer window, high in the roof, looking towards the east, and through this window Fanny could see a little glimpse of daylight. She stood looking at it in a kind of ecstasy, and as she gazed a ray of clear sunshine shot through it and glanced upon the great old chimney and the blackened beams and boards of the roof. It seemed to the poor little girl like a visible angel messenger from her Father in heaven. She clasped her hands and burst into joyful tears, while she fell upon her knees and thanked God that at least the dreadful storm was over."

"It was long before she could tear herself from the sight of that blessed light; but at last, finding herself growing chilly, she descended to the kitchen, and, having carefully made up her fire, she began to spin once more, singing as she drew out her long threads and speaking cheerfully now and then to the cat and dog."

"Presently she stopped her wheel, and went to get the reel on which to wind the yarn she had spun. As she set it down, Bose sprang up, and began to bark and howl furiously, at the same time scratching violently at the door. With some trouble, Fanny quieted him for a moment, and listened as well as her beating heart would let her. There was certainly something moving outside—a muffled sound of digging. Fanny even thought she could distinguish voices. She flew to the garret, and piled one box on another, lifting easily in her excitement a chest she could hardly have moved at another time. A tall, slender pole stood in the corner. She pulled off her pink apron and tied it on the pole for a flag. Then finding that she could not move the window, she broke the glass, and, thrusting the pole through it, she waved it about. Oh, joyful sound! Her signal was answered by a shout. She was saved!"

"We must now go back to Mr. Morrell's house at the Corners. After the storm came on, Jake began to be rather uneasy about the consequences of his falsehood. He tried to comfort himself by thinking that after all Fanny very likely had gone with her father and mother, and was safe in Rockville all the time; but still the thought would haunt him that Fanny was alone in the house on the hill, and that if anything happened to her he would be answerable."

"'Bolt's folks will hardly get home to-night,' remarked Mrs. Morrell, as her husband came in with Jake from foddering the cattle and milking the cows."

"'If they have any sense at all, they won't try!' replied Mr. Morrell. 'It is quite providential, as it turns out that Fanny went with them, and that Eunice did not go up there. How is she?'"