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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-12-22, Page 9a PAGE 8B—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1987 Warm wishes for a season of friendship and good cheer. Many , thanks for your support! Wishing you and yours all the best this Christmas season. May you enjoy every nunute of a tilrrry Christmas and share its good times with those dear to you. Thanks all. HURON CONCRETE SUPPLY Highway No. 8 Dial 524-7361 1 to our valued Patrons From all of us at: BRINDLEY TRANSPORT R.R. No. 4, Goderich 524-8114 We're delivering our fondest wishes to you, dear friends, for a very From: alVilf Denomme, Bev, Chris, Willie, Vic, Joanne, Audrey, and Samantha. W.J. DENOMME FLOWER SHOP Goderich 524-8132 Wishing you a joyful holiday season and Peace throughout the New Year. from: Anne & Wayne, Sherry, Anne, Drew, Jay, Sue, Linda, Sherri, Sharon, Jackie, Rob 38 East St. Goderich 524-2648 Cosette (Adopted from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo) t was Christmas eve, and Cosette was in her usual place, seated on the crossbar of the kitchen table, near the fireplace. She was nearly eight years old, but she was so thin and pale that she seemed to be barely six. She was dressed in rags; her bare feet were in wooden shoes; and by the light of the fire she was knitting woollen stock- ings for her mistress's little girls. In the next room could be heard the voices of the two children laughing and prattling. On this Christmas Eve several men were seated at the table in a low bare room of the Thenardiers Inn. Four new travellers had just arrived. Cosette was thinking sadly that it was evening and very dark, and that the pit- chers in the rooms must be filled, and that there was no more water in the tank. From tune to time one of the travellers would look out into the street and say,"It is as black as an oven outsides" or "One would have to be a cat to go along the streets tonight without a lantern." Cosette trembled with fear. She knew she would have to go to the spring. Suddenly a man came in,from the yard and said in a harsh voice, "My horse has not been watered." Cosette crept back under the table, but Madame Thenardier called angrily to her, "Come out of theres" and when Cosette crawled out she said, throwing open the door of the house, "Here, go, and take some water to that horse." "But Madame," said the child timidly, "there is no water." "Go and get some then, there is plenty in the spring." And as the landlady went back to the stove she continued, "She is the laziest girl that ever was." Then turning to Cosette she said, "On the way back you are to get a loaf of bread at the baker's. Here is the money." Cosette went over to the fireplace for an empty bucket that stood there. The bucket was so large that she could have . sat in it very easily. The child had a small pocket in the side of her apron. She took the money without saying a word, and dropped it into her pocket. "Get along with you," creid Madame Thenardier. Cosette went out, and the door closed behind her. Just opposite the inn was toyshop all gay with Christmas toys. In the window was a large doll, nearly two feet high, dressed in a pink dress and with real hair and blue eyes. Cosette called it "the lady". All day this wonderful doll had stood there, for it seemed as if no mother was rich enough to buy it for her child. As Cosette went out into the street, very miserable and frightened, she could not help looking over toward this wonder- ful doll and saying to herself,"One would have to be a queen or at least a princess to have a doll' like that." She was not able to turn her eyes away. She forgot everything, even the errand on which she had been sent. Suddenly she heard a harsh voice screaming, "Haven't you gone yet? Be off with your" Cosette fled with her bucket, running as fast as she could. The poor child now found herself alone in the thick darkness. She rattled the handle of her bucket so as to make some noise that would seem to keep her company. She was not afraid as long as the houses were in sight. Every now and then she saw the light of a candle through the cracks in a shutter, and this was a great comfort to her. But when she had passed the lsat house she stopped, for now all around her was the dark, silent country. There were no people here, and perhaps there were some wild beasts about. She could almost hear them moving in the grass. "I will go back," she said to herself. Then she remembered Madame Thenardier's cruel face and angry eyes. She took up the bucket again, and began to run down the path toward the spring. She did not turn her eyes to the right or the left for fear of seeing things in the bushes. The spring was about two feet deep, and paved with several large stones. Cosette did not take time to breathe. She bent down and plunged the bucket into the water. She did not notice that something fell out of her pocket and into the spring. She drew out the bucket nearly full, and set it on the grass. Then she sat down shivering. She had but one desire, which was to rush through this fearful darkne to the houses, the windows, the light candles. But she dared not go with'?tl bucket of water. She grasped the handle with both her hands, but she could hardly lift the bucket. She took a dozen steps, but the bucket was so heavy that she was forced to set it on the ground. She took another breath, and lilfted her load again. She walked, bending forward with drooping head like an old woman. The iron handle was freezing her little ' wet hands. The cold water splashed over her bare legs. Sobs choked her, but she did not dare to cry, so afraid she was of her mistress even at this distance. Suddenly she was conscious that the weight of the bucket was gone. A hand, which seemed to her very large, had taken hold of the handle and lifted it. Cosette raised her head. A large dark figure was walking beside her. It was a man who had come up behind her, though she had never heard him. But she was not afraid. The man spoke to her in a low voice. "My child," he said, "this is very heavy for you." "Yes sir," said Cosette. "Give it to me," said the stranger, "and I will carry it for you." Cosette let go of the handle, and the man walked along beside her. "How old are you, little one?" "Eight sir." "Are you going far with this?" "About a quarter of an hour's walk from here." The man said nothing for a moment, then he asked abruptly, "So you kr. no mother?" "I don't know," answered the child. Then she added, "I don't think so. I don't know. Other children have mothers." "Where do you live, little one?" "At the inn, if you know where that is." "And who sent you at such an hour as this to get water in the forest?" "My mistress, Madame Thenardier," said Cosette. "And what does your mistress do?" asked the 'man'. "She keeps the inn," replied the child. "The inn?" said the man. "Well, I am going to stay there tonight. Show me the way." In a little while the man said, "Is there no servant in the inn?" "No sir." "Are you all alone there?" "Yes sir," replied Cosette. Then she added, "That is to say, there are two lit- tle girls." "What little girls?" "The landlady, Madame Thenardier's." "And what do these little girls do?" ' "Oh," said the child, "They have beautiful dolls, and they play all day long." "And you?" "I? Oh, I work." "All day long?" The child raised her face and said ` gently,"Yes sir." After a silence she con- tinued, "Sometimes when I have finished my work, they let me play but I have on- ly a lead sword to play with. It is about as big as that," and she held up her tiny finger. As they came near the inn, Cosette said timidly, "Will you let me take the bucket now, for if Madame sees that some one MEWCHREDWit TO IA Jolly wishes for a Christmas filled to .s brimming with good things hi stone for you. We're especially. glad to say, "thanks`?, Let the Spirit of rejoicing fill your hearts as we remember the true meaning of Christmas The Board of Governors and Staff 0 6 O o O e o O o O ® Oo 0 Al2romoli) (6nbericly O. 410 Canthriige Vit. 524-0751 has carried it for me she will beat me?" The man gave her the bucket, and in a moment they were at the door of the inn. Cosette knocked, and the landlady ap- peared with a candle in her hand. "So it's you is it?" she cried angrily. "You seem to have taken your time." "Madame," said Cosette trembling. "Here is a gentleman who wants a lodging." " dome in sir," said the landlady. And the man entered, and he seated himself at the table. Cosette took up her old place under the kitchen table and went on with her knit- ting. Wet and cold as she was, she did not dare to go near the fire. Suddenly Madame exclaimed, "Where's that bread?" Cosette thrust her hand into her pocket, and then turned white. The money was not there. "Have you lost it?" screamed the landlady, reaching out her hand toward a whip that hung on the wall. The man had been watching Cosette. "Here Madame," he said. "Here is the money. It fell from the little girl's pocket." "Yes, that its it," said the landlady. It was much mode than she had given Cosette, but she put it in her pocket, and threw an ugly look at the child. "What is she knitting?" the man asked in a gentle voice. "Stockings, if yu please," said Madame. "Stockings for my little girls." The man looked at Cosette's poor little red feet. "When will she finish this pair of stock- ings?" he asked. "It will take three or four days yet, the lazy thing," said Madame. "And how much will the stockings be worth when they are done?" The landlady looked at him. "Five francs at least." "Will you take that for them now?" asked the man. The innkeeper thought it was time for him to speak. "Yes," he said, "you may have them for five francs. We can refuse nothing to travellers." "You must pay for them now," said Madame sharply. "I will buy that pair of stockings," said the man, drawing the money from his pocket and laying it on the table. Then he turned to Cosette. "Now your work belongs to me. You need not finish the stockings. You may play, my child." "Is it true, Madame? May I play?" "Play," said the landlady in a terrible voice. "Thank you, Madame," said Cosette, and while her mouth spoke these thanks, her whole little soul thanked the traveller. Meantime the landlady's little girls had been playing with their doll, and had left it on the floor while they dressed up a kit- ten. Cosette now fixed up her little lead sword for a doll, and rocking it in her arms, she pretended to put it to sleep. Suddenly she paused and turned around, for she had caught sight of the doll which the landlady's children had left on the floor near the kitchen table. Cosette dropped the lead sword, and crept out from under the table on her hands and knees. She seized the doll, and in a moment was back in her place again. This joy lasted about a quarter of an hour. Then Cosette let one of the doll's legs stick out so that the firelight shone on it. This caught the landlady's eye. "Cosette," she screamed, in a terrible voice. Cosette started as if the ground were trembling beneath her. She laid the doll gently on the floor, then wringing her hands, she burst into tears. The traveller rose to his feet. ".What is the matter?" he asked. "Don't you see?" cried Madame. "She has dared to touch the children's doll." "Well, what of it?" said the man. "She touched it with her dirty hands, with her disgusting hands," almost screamed the landlady. The man walked straight to the street door, opened it and went out. Soon the door opened again, and in came the man carrying in his hands the beautiful doll of the toyshop. He walked over to Cosette, and placing the doll in front of her said, "This is for you." Cosette raised her eys, and gazed at the man as she might have gazed at the sun coming near her. She stared at the man, then at the doll. Then she slowly crawled under the table and hid herself as far away as she could. "Well Cosette," said the landlady, in a voice that she tried to make sweet. "Aren't you ging to take your doll? The gentleman has give it to you." Cosette gazed at the wonderful doll. Her face was wet with tears, but her smile was beautiful. She felt as if some one had said to her, "Little one, you are the Queen of France." She went timidly up to the landlady. "May I really have it?" she asked. "It is yours. The gentleman has given it to you," said Madame. "Is it true sir? Is it really true?" cried Cosette. "Is the lady' mine?" The stranger's eyes filled with tears. He nodded to Cosette and placed 'the lady's' tiny hand in hers. In a moment Cosette held the ribbons and fresh pink dress of the doll against her own rags. "I shall call her Catherine," she said. So Cosette went off to bed carrying Catherine in her arms. Some time later, when the house was still and everyone was asleep, the stranger passed through the rooms as if looking for something. Under the stair- case, amidst all sorts of dust and rubbish and spiders' webs, there was a bed - if it could be called a bed. I was an old straw mattress full of holes, and on it were neither pillows nor sheets. In this bed, Cosette was sleeping. She was sleeping soundly; and clasped in her arms was the doll, whose wide blue eyes shone hi the darkness.