mp.

The weather held good, and late that night the camp heard the jangle of
bells as Mr. Starr drove over to the stables.

Great secrecy and whispers were the result of that trip to town. And
many hours, while the children were at school, Mrs. Starr and Mrs.
Latimer were busy sewing.

Finally, the great festival time arrived, and everyone wondered what
sort of Christmas fun could be had out in the woods.

The two ladies had spent several days in the kitchen showing Cookee some
marvelous things! He had never seen a plum pudding cooked before, but
he declared he could make one like it, after having watched Mrs. Starr
prepare an immense one.

High, flaky cakes, with chocolate or jelly between the layers, were
baked and stood hidden in the closet back of the table.

The timber men had come across a cranberry swamp in the early days of
cutting and Mrs. Starr had quietly appropriated the pretty red berries
for a future use. Now they reappeared as cranberry sauce.

"Huh! who'd a'thought them sour little balls'd made sich a fine juice!"
exclaimed Cookee, smacking his lips after a taste of the sauce.

"That's to go with the venison on Christmas Day," said Mrs. Latimer.

"Didn't yeh know? Heven't yeh hearn what Mike cotched?" asked Cookee
eagerly.

"No, what?" asked the ladies, expectantly.

"Couple of wil' turkeys! Dey was roostin' near his trap, and Mike ain't
never had a catch in it this year, so he was feelin' like a mighty poor
kind of a trapper, when dese turkeys lit on a line wid his eye. It was
some job to cotch bote on em, 'cause one allus flies away soon's a sound
is hearn. But, Mike--he jest says to hisself, 'By gum! I'll git bote on
yer or chase yer all over the Nort!'" and Cookee laughed as he thought
of Mike's determined manner when he threw down both turkeys.

"Why, how perfectly lovely! We will have a real Eastern dinner after
all," cried Mrs. Starr.

"An dat ain't all dere is to it, nuther! Mike, he's gone duck shootin'
to-day an 'spects to bring back several brace of ducks to hep out on de
turkeys," said Cookee, grinning at the way he gave away Mike's secrets
for Christmas dinner.

"We'd better save the venison steak for New Year's, then," suggested
Mrs. Latimer.

"Huh, huh! I will," replied Cookee, who was a favored mortal in camp,
for timber-jacks could do without sleep but not without food.

"Now's we got the juice done, an' the cakes baked, I'll jes' show you
what I done made fer the fea