Latest / The Children's Book of Christmas Stories / Christmas Reindeer (Version 2) - Thornton W. Burgess

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Christmas Reindeer (Version 2) - Thornton W. Burgess · The Children's Book of Christmas Stories

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  Speaker 1: Chapter one of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
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  Speaker 1: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess, Tuktu and Aclock. Tuktu
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  Speaker 1: was a little Eskimo girl. Tuktu means cariboo. She had
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  Speaker 1: been given this name because only a few days before
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  Speaker 1: her birth, a relative named Tuktu had died, and, as
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  Speaker 1: is the custom, this name had been given to the baby.
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  Speaker 1: She was well named for Caribou were to have much
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  Speaker 1: to do with her life. On the very day that
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  Speaker 1: she was born, Kutok, her father, had killed a cariboo
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  Speaker 1: when food was greatly needed that year, for some unknown reason,
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  Speaker 1: cariboo had moved from their usual feeding grounds, and Kutok
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  Speaker 1: and his family had had to dep and almost wholly
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  Speaker 1: on seal and polar bear, and these had been none
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  Speaker 1: too plentiful. So this cariboo had brought great joy to
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  Speaker 1: the home of Kutok. In the days following, he found
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  Speaker 1: the cariboo back in their old feeding grounds. Later, Kutok
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  Speaker 1: was to become a herder of reindeer, and the reindeer,
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  Speaker 1: you know, are the first cousins of the Cariboo. So
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  Speaker 1: it was that Tuktu was well named Aclock. Her brother
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  Speaker 1: bore the name of the great brown Bear. Aclock was
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  Speaker 1: two years older than Tuktu and gave promise of being
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  Speaker 1: like his father, a mighty hunter. Already he had killed
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  Speaker 1: his seal, and none knew better than he how to
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  Speaker 1: snare the ptarmigan. In the summer. He and Tuktu gathered
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  Speaker 1: eggs when the waterfowl came north in untold thousands for
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  Speaker 1: the nesting. Whatever Aclock did, Tuktu tried to do. While
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  Speaker 1: the children were still small, their father had become a
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  Speaker 1: herder of reindeer, and the little folk spent much of
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  Speaker 1: their time with the deer. They helped, heard them, They
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  Speaker 1: did their part at the annual round up in the spring,
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  Speaker 1: they hunted for stray calves that had lost their mothers.
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  Speaker 1: Both learned to drive deer to a sled. During the
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  Speaker 1: long winter nights, the herders often gathered in Kutok's house,
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  Speaker 1: and there they told stories while the children listened. There
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  Speaker 1: were stories of hunting, stories of adventure, stories of many
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  Speaker 1: strange things, But the story that Tuktu and Aclock liked
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  Speaker 1: the best of all was that of the chosen Deer
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  Speaker 1: of the Valley of the Good Spirit. This was especially
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  Speaker 1: true of Tuktu. She used to dream of that wonderful valley,
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  Speaker 1: and whenever she saw the northern lights the Aurora, shooting
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  Speaker 1: up high overhead, she would wonder what would happen to
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  Speaker 1: anyone who might stray into that valley, For it was
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  Speaker 1: said that it was from this valley that those lights came.
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  Speaker 1: At last, there came a time when she and Aclock
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  Speaker 1: actually were to live for a week or two, almost
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  Speaker 1: on the border of that valley. Do you wonder that
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  Speaker 1: she tingled clear to the tips of her fingers and
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  Speaker 1: toes with little thrills of anticipation, excitement, and perhaps just
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  Speaker 1: a wee bit of fear. It was the fulfillment of
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  Speaker 1: a promise that their father had made them that when
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  Speaker 1: the deer moved over from their summer feeding grounds to
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  Speaker 1: the Valley of the Good Spirit, they should go with
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  Speaker 1: him to keep watch from a distance. Even Aclock was excited,
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  Speaker 1: though he did his utmost not to appear so, and
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  Speaker 1: trudged along behind his father as if visiting the Valley
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  Speaker 1: of the Good Spirit were an everyday affair. All day
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  Speaker 1: they traveled, That is, they traveled what would have been
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  Speaker 1: all day were you I live. It wasn't all day there,
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  Speaker 1: for you know, way up in the north there is
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  Speaker 1: no real night in summer. At last they reached the
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  Speaker 1: hut in which they were to live while the deer
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  Speaker 1: grazed on the hills of the Valley of the Good Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: This hut was a very rude affair, built partly in
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  Speaker 1: the ground and partly on the ground. It was of
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  Speaker 1: wood and stone, with a skin roof and a long
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  Speaker 1: entrance passage. While not as big and comfortable as the
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  Speaker 1: house at home, it was the sort of thing these
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  Speaker 1: children were used to, and it was quite good enough.
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  Speaker 1: That night, after the evening meal, Tuktu begged her father
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  Speaker 1: to once more tell the story of the Valley of
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  Speaker 1: the Good Spirit and of the Chosen Reindeer. Why is
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  Speaker 1: it called the Valley of the Good Spirit, she asked, because,
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  Speaker 1: replied Kutok, a wonderful and good spirit lives and moves there.
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  Speaker 1: Has anyone ever seen him? Aclock asked, No, replied Kutok,
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  Speaker 1: none but the deer people, and of these only the
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  Speaker 1: chosen ones ever go down into that valley. But we
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  Speaker 1: know that a good spirit lives there. For always the
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  Speaker 1: deer that graze on the hills about the valley are
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  Speaker 1: safe from the wolf, the bear, and all other enemies.
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  Speaker 1: They do not need to be watched. There need be
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  Speaker 1: no herder here. Were it not that it is well
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  Speaker 1: to know when the herd moves out, for then the
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  Speaker 1: summer grazing is over. It is a good spirit. For
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  Speaker 1: is it not true that every year eight deer are chosen,
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  Speaker 1: and the next year returned to us the finest sled
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  Speaker 1: deer in all the north. The good Spirit dwells there,
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  Speaker 1: and with him live many lesser spirits who do his bidding.
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  Speaker 1: Thus it was that Kutak told the children of what
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  Speaker 1: you and I know as fairies and elves, and gnomes
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  Speaker 1: and trolls. Eskimo children know nothing about these little unseen people.
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  Speaker 1: To them all are spirits. Have you ever looked down
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  Speaker 1: into the valley, asked Aclock. No, replied Kutock. It is
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  Speaker 1: not well to be curious. I am content to stay
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  Speaker 1: here and wait for the deer to move, So must
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  Speaker 1: you be. What would happen if one should venture down
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  Speaker 1: into the valley, asked aclock that no man knows, for
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  Speaker 1: no man has ever been so bold as to even
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  Speaker 1: think of doing such a thing, replied his father, my son,
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  Speaker 1: be wise with the wisdom of your elders, and be satisfied.
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  Speaker 1: None but the dear folk ever enter that valley, and
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  Speaker 1: these only the chosen ones. We will stay here and
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  Speaker 1: from a distance watch the herd. If it is such
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  Speaker 1: a good spirit, thought tucktoo, although she didn't venture to
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  Speaker 1: express her thought aloud. Why should anyone fear to go
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  Speaker 1: down in to the valley? And she was still wondering
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  Speaker 1: as she fell asleep end of chapter one, Chapter two
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  Speaker 1: of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording. All
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The Christmas
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  Speaker 1: Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess, Kringle Valley. For the greater
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  Speaker 1: part of the short Arctic summer, the great herd of
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  Speaker 1: reindeer had grazed within the sound of the waters of
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  Speaker 1: the Arctic Ocean lapping on the beach. More than two
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  Speaker 1: thousand deer were in that herd. They were not all kutox,
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  Speaker 1: although all were in his charge, for he was the
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  Speaker 1: chief herder. Only about two hundred of the deer were his,
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  Speaker 1: as shown by the ear marks. It was in deer
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  Speaker 1: that Kutak was paid for his services in looking after
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  Speaker 1: the great herd, which was owned by white men. With
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  Speaker 1: the approach of the long winter, the deer would move
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  Speaker 1: inland to winter range, and Kutak and his family would
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  Speaker 1: return to their permanent home. For several days before the
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  Speaker 1: opening of this story, the deer had been uneasy. They
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  Speaker 1: had done more or less milling. This means that they
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  Speaker 1: had gathered in a great body, the outer members traveling
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  Speaker 1: in a large circle and trotting tirelessly most of the time.
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  Speaker 1: Kutok knew the sign they will soon seek the Valley
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  Speaker 1: of the Good Spirit, said he to the other herders
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  Speaker 1: who assisted him. That very afternoon, the herd, as if
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  Speaker 1: at a signal from some wise old leader, began to
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  Speaker 1: move inland. In a short time, all the deer but
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  Speaker 1: the trained pack animals which had been fastened, had disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: It was then that Kutak had taken tuck to and
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  Speaker 1: Atlock to the hut not far from the entrance to
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  Speaker 1: the Valley of the Good Spirit. It was the greatest
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  Speaker 1: event in the lives of these two little Eskimo folk.
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  Speaker 1: For always they had heard this valley spoken of with
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  Speaker 1: awe that was almost reverence. Now perhaps they might be
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  Speaker 1: permitted to see the wondrous colored mists that were said
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  Speaker 1: to rise from it. Kringle Valley was the name by
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  Speaker 1: which it was known to the white men, none of
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  Speaker 1: whom believed in it, for none had ever seen it.
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  Speaker 1: But to the Eskimos it was, as I have already stated,
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  Speaker 1: the valley of the Good Spirit. Did they not know
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  Speaker 1: that on its gentle slopes wild grasses grew in such
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  Speaker 1: abundance and such richness as could be found nowhere else
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  Speaker 1: in all the North. Were not the hillsides carpeted with
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  Speaker 1: wild flowers until they glowed in patches of brilliant color.
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  Speaker 1: You see, even the Arctic has its summer. It is
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  Speaker 1: a short summer, but a wonderful summer. Up there above
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  Speaker 1: the Arctic circle, there are days when the sun does
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  Speaker 1: not set at all, and the number of days during
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  Speaker 1: which the sun does not set increases as one goes north,
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  Speaker 1: until at the North Pole there are six months and
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  Speaker 1: five days of continuous daylight when the sun does set
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  Speaker 1: for a few hours. The twilight is so brilliant that
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  Speaker 1: it is difficult to think of the day as having
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  Speaker 1: ended when the sun disappears. Kringle Valley is a valley
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  Speaker 1: of mystery. No man as yet has been privileged to
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  Speaker 1: enter it. No man has even looked down into it,
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  Speaker 1: save from a distance. It is said to be filled
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  Speaker 1: with a soft, many colored mist, which is neither of
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  Speaker 1: dampness nor of smoke. The Eskimos believe it to be
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  Speaker 1: the birthplace of the ever changing, many colored lights of
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  Speaker 1: the Aurora. Only the herder of the reindeer which yearly
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  Speaker 1: seek pasturage on the hills around the valley, have ever
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  Speaker 1: ventured near enough to see, even from a distance, the
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  Speaker 1: curtain of many colored mist around the winter fire pots.
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  Speaker 1: The story is told to the children of how every year,
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  Speaker 1: just before the great herd leaves the valley, the deer
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  Speaker 1: gather at the upper end, and there for a time mill.
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  Speaker 1: There is no fear among these milling deer. As they
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  Speaker 1: trot tirelessly in a huge circle. There is a constant shifting,
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  Speaker 1: until in turn each of the bucks has made at
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  Speaker 1: least one circuit in the outer ring. Thus each has
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  Speaker 1: a chance to show his full strength and beauty. From
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  Speaker 1: time to time, as at a signal, one of these
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  Speaker 1: trotting deer leaves the circle and stands motionless, just without
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  Speaker 1: the curtain of colored mist. When eight have been thus chosen,
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  Speaker 1: they disappear in single fire into the midst of the valley,
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  Speaker 1: while the leaders of the great herd at once start
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  Speaker 1: the southern migration, and the herders know that no longer
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  Speaker 1: will the deer feed in Kringle Valley until toward the
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  Speaker 1: end of another summer. And the herders know too that
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  Speaker 1: when the winter round up in the corrals is made
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  Speaker 1: for the yearly count, the eight best sled deer in
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  Speaker 1: all the herds will be missing. They will be the
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  Speaker 1: ones which vanished into the shimmering mists of Kringle Valley.
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  Speaker 1: And the herders whose deer have so disappeared will rejoice greatly.
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  Speaker 1: They will be counted as being blessed above their fellows.
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  Speaker 1: They know that their deer are not lost. They know
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  Speaker 1: that when once again the great herd moves to Kringle Valley,
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  Speaker 1: they will find there the eight deer, fat, sleek, well
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  Speaker 1: cared for. They know that these deer thereafter will never
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  Speaker 1: mingle with the herd, but will be for as long
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  Speaker 1: as they live, the finest sled deer in all the world.
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  Speaker 2: So it is.
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  Speaker 1: Considered good fortune if, after the herd leaves Kringle Valley,
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  Speaker 1: one's deer be found missing. End of chapter two, Chapter
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  Speaker 1: three of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess Tuktu's soft Heart. These
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  Speaker 1: were happy days for Tuktu in Aclock. Tuktu's only duties
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  Speaker 1: were to cook meals for her father and brother. An
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  Speaker 1: Eskimo girl learns these things very young, and Tuktu had
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  Speaker 1: been well taught. Aclock spent most of his time hunting.
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  Speaker 1: Father did little but sit for long hours, smoking and
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  Speaker 1: watching the distant hillsides where the reindeer grazed above the
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  Speaker 1: Valley of the Good Spirit. These were lazy, happy days,
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  Speaker 1: and Kutok was making them most of them, for the
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  Speaker 1: summer was nearly at an end, and he knew that
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  Speaker 1: when the herd moved there would be little time for lazing,
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  Speaker 1: Tuktuo roamed about picking the flowers that grew in such profusion,
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  Speaker 1: and also hunting for the flocks of young Ptarmigan, for
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  Speaker 1: she dearly loved to watch these pretty chickens of the north.
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  Speaker 1: Not for all the world would tuck to have harmed
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  Speaker 1: one of them. Not for the world would she have
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  Speaker 1: told her brother Aclock how she felt when he brought
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  Speaker 1: in Ptarmigan and other birds for the cooking pot. But
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  Speaker 1: despite the fact that she ate them and enjoyed the eating,
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  Speaker 1: there was all the time in her heart a wee
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  Speaker 1: feeling of sadness. For Tuktoo's heart was the loving heart.
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  Speaker 1: Aclock was a good herder and had away with the deer,
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  Speaker 1: which some of the older herders might well have envied.
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  Speaker 1: But there was no one among all the herders or
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  Speaker 1: families who could go among the deer as freely and
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  Speaker 1: unnoticed as could tucktu It was as if she held
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  Speaker 1: some strange power over the deer people, as if they
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  Speaker 1: had accepted her as one of their own number. She
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  Speaker 1: could approach the most timid and nervous among the wilder
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  Speaker 1: members of the big herds. As for the sled deer,
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  Speaker 1: they might balk and strike at others, but never at Tuktu.
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  Speaker 1: When she harnessed them. She loved them, every one, and
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  Speaker 1: seemingly they knew it. So it was that Tuktu found
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  Speaker 1: her playmates among the wild people who were not wild
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  Speaker 1: with her. Many a time had she stroked a ptarmigan
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  Speaker 1: on the nest. Many a time had the arctic hair
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  Speaker 1: fed from her fingers. The sea fowl paid no attention
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  Speaker 1: to her. Love has a strange way of making itself
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  Speaker 1: felt among the wild folk, and the soft heart of
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  Speaker 1: Tuktu was soft because of love. So it was that
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  Speaker 1: when she found the home of a blue fox about
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  Speaker 1: the entrance to which four half grown little foxes were playing,
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  Speaker 1: she did not tell her brother. Each day she would
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  Speaker 1: steal away and sit by the entrance to the den,
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  Speaker 1: taking with her bits of meat for the little foxes.
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  Speaker 1: How she loved to see them roll and tumble about
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  Speaker 1: her feet. Sometimes two of them would get hold of
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  Speaker 1: the same piece of meat, and then there would be
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  Speaker 1: a tug of war. Tuktu's eyes would dance and she
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  Speaker 1: would laugh softly. And then when one little fox had
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  Speaker 1: succeeded in pulling the meat from the other, she would
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  Speaker 1: give the loser the extra piece which she always had
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  Speaker 1: for that purpose. And a short distance away sat Motherfox,
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  Speaker 1: grinning happily while she picked the flowers and played with
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  Speaker 1: the foxes, and now and then a young ptarmigan that
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  Speaker 1: had been lost from the flock. She dreamed of the
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  Speaker 1: Valley of the Good Spirit. It seemed such a little
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  Speaker 1: distance to the prow of the nearest hill overlooking that
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  Speaker 1: valley that she couldn't help but wonder what she would
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  Speaker 1: see if she should climb up there. But not once
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  Speaker 1: did the thought of really doing it enter her head.
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  Speaker 1: It was enough for Tuktu that it was forbidden. It
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  Speaker 1: was not that she was afraid. She knew that her
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  Speaker 1: father was afraid. She knew that Aclock was afraid. She
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  Speaker 1: knew that they regarded the Good Spirit and the valley
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  Speaker 1: where he lived with reverence and awe. But Tuktu was
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  Speaker 1: not afraid. It was enough for her that the Valley
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  Speaker 1: of the Good Spirit was sacred and not to be
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  Speaker 1: approached by other than the dear people. So, no matter
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  Speaker 1: how great her longing to look down from that hilltop,
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  Speaker 1: the thought of actually trying to do such a thing
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  Speaker 1: never entered her wildest dreams. She would sit for hours,
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  Speaker 1: looking over toward the valley and wondering what the deer
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  Speaker 1: folk saw Therein Now and again she could see the
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: deer moving on the upper hills. Once, as she was
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  Speaker 1: watching them, she said softly, for she had a way
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  Speaker 1: of talking to herself. I wish I really were a
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  Speaker 1: Tucktu a caribou. Why, asked Aclock, who had stolen softly
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  Speaker 1: up behind her, just in time to hear what she said,
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  Speaker 1: Because then I might go into the valley of the
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  Speaker 1: Good Spirit, and I might even be chosen by the
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  Speaker 1: good Spirit who knows. Aclock laughed, but it was a
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: good natured laugh. It is the reindeer, not the caribou,
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  Speaker 1: who go down into the valley, said he. But the
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: cariboo go too, replied tucktoo quickly, For only this morning
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  Speaker 1: I saw a band of them heading that way, And
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: after all, the reindeer are but tame cariboo. You saw
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  Speaker 1: a band this morning, exclaimed Aclock excitedly, for all that
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  Speaker 1: morning he had been hunting for caribou and had not
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  Speaker 1: seen one. Tuck To nodded yes, said she and Aclock.
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad you didn't see them. I am glad they
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  Speaker 1: have gone where you cannot follow, for I would not
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  Speaker 1: like to have a caribou killed here, so near to
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  Speaker 1: the Valley of the Good Spirit. Aclock opened his mouth
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  Speaker 1: for a quick retort, then thought better of it. Perhaps,
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  Speaker 1: after all Tuktu was right, Perhaps it were better that
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  Speaker 1: there should be no killing of the deer folk so
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  Speaker 1: near the Valley of the Good Spirit. He remembered that
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  Speaker 1: not even the wolves nor the great brown bear for
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  Speaker 1: whom he was named, ever killed there. End of chapter three.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Chapter four of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: All librivokx recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess, Whitefoot goes Astray. The
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: two pack deer with which Kutok had moved up near
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  Speaker 2: the Valley of the Good Spirit had been kept fastened,
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  Speaker 2: each with a long rawhide line. But Kutok well knew
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: that should they be allowed to go free, they would
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: be likely to join the herds over on the hills
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: above the valley. So they were kept tethered by long lines,
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: and each day were moved to a new grazing ground
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: sometimes Kutok attended to this, sometimes Aklock. It happened one
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: day that both Kutok and Akloch had gone hunting. Took to.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Is not at all lonely, for loneliness is something that
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Eskimo folk know little about. Had she not the too
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: deer for company, to say nothing of the little fo
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: boxes with whom she played daily, it was nothing new
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: for her to be left alone while her father and
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: brother went hunting. It was Oclock who had moved the
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: deer to new grazing ground just before starting that morning.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: Two or three times took to wandered over to pat
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: them and pet them, as was her habit. When she
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: became sleepy, she lay down for a nap. It was
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: when she awoke from this that she discovered one of
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: the deer had pulled the peg by which he had
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: been fastened and had wandered away. It must be that
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: Oclock was in too much of a hurry when he
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: drove that peg, thought took to, I must find Whitefoot
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: and bring him back, or father will be very angry.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: He will blame Oclock, and it will be very unpleasant
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: to have only one deer when it is time to move. Yes,
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I must find Whitefoot and bring him back. Whitefoot was
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: the deer's name, for his off forefoot was white. Having
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: often helped in the rounding up of strays from the herd,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: tuk Too was skilled in reading signs. Almost at once
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: she found traces of the wandering whitefoot. He was grazing
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: as he moved along, taking a bit, now on this side,
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: and now on that side. Once she found a little
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: bush in which the dragging peg had become entangled. Whitefoot
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: had broken the branches of the bush in tearing himself free.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Tukto hurried on, for she saw that the course was
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: leading toward the hills above the Valley of the Good Spirit.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: I must catch him before he gets much farther, thought,
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: took To as she hurried on. Father was right. Whitefoot
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: is doing just what Father said the deer would do
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: if they should be free. He is going to join
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: the great herd. I must get him before he gets there,
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: or we shall see no more of him until the
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: herd moves out from the valley. It was warm work,
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: for in summer it becomes unpleasantly hot even way up
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: there in the Northland. Tuk To was panting and perspiring,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: and she was growing tired, but not for an instant
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: did she delay. I must get him, I must get him,
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: she kept saying, over and over, I must get Whitefoot.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: At last, from a little rise of ground, she saw
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: the wanderer, just going up a little hill. Whitefoot. She called, whitefoot, Stop, whitefoot.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: At the sound of her voice, Whitefoot lifted his head
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: and looked back, whitefoot, whitefoot, she called, hurrying forward, whitefoot hesitated.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: He looked back in the direction in which he had
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: been traveling. Somewhere ahead of him was the great herd.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: The scent of it was borne to him on the wind.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: The longing to join it was almost sistible. Behind him
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: rang the commands of the little mistress. He had learned
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: to love and obey. Stop, Whitefoot stop. His nose demanded
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: obedience to the call of the herd. His ears demanded
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: obedience to the command of his little mistress. Which should
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: he obey, no wonder whitefoot hesitated. It was not for
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: nothing that Tuktu was known among her companions as little Fleetfoot.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: She was out of breath, she was tired, and she
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: was oh so hot. But despite all this, she ran
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: now as if she were running a race, just as
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Whitefoot decided that the call of the herd must be heated,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Tukto threw herself forward on the dragging peg at the
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: end of the long line which trailed behind Whitefoot. The
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: decision was no longer his, Tuktu had won. Holding fast
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: to the line, Tukto seated herself in the grass and
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: slowly drew the reluctant Whitefoot toward her. All the time
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: she talked to him, chiding him for wandering away, telling
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: him how necessary he was, calling him names of endearment
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: in one breath and scolding him in the next. Whitefoot
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: stamped once or twice impatiently. Then, as if having made
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: up his mind that he might as well make the
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: best of the matter, he fell to grazing For a
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: long time. Tuktu sat there, for, as I have said,
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: she was tired. At last she arose Whitefoot. She said severely,
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: you have made me run a long way. Now you
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: will have to carry me back. As you know, Whitefoot
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: was a pack animal. He had been trained to carry
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: loads on his back. Took To had ridden him many times,
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: so it was nothing new for him to feel his
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: little mistress on his back. She turned his head toward camp.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: And then she saw the white, thick midst of the
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Arctic fog rolling in from the coast. Already it had
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: almost reached them. End of chapter four. Read by Ted Perkins, Cote,
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Saint Luke, Canada, July twenty twenty two.
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: Chapter five of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess, Chapter five. Lost in
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: the Fog in from the distant sea rolled the Arctic fog.
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: It was as if one of those great white, fleecy
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: clouds you have seen sailing high in the sky had
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: come to Earth and was being pushed forward to bury
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: everything in its fleecy. Debts Tuck, who urged Whiteford Ford
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: in the swinging trot the Reindeer. Now would he be
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: able to get her to camp before that swiftly moving
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: fog bank would cut off all side in any direction.
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: She knew all about the fogs of the Far Northland.
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: Had she been at home, she would not have minded it.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: But to be caught far from the camp was another matter.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: But I can trust Whitefoot, thought Tuck too. The deer
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: felk can find their way even though they cannot see.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: So long as I am safe on the back of Whitefoot,
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: I need not worry. Whitefoot has had in the right direction,
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: and he will take me safely back. The soft mist
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: swirled about them, and Tuck too could see nothing. She
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: could see nothing, and she could hear nothing but the
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: clicking of Whitefoot's feet. There was no other sound. It
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: was as if she and Whitefoot were alone in a white,
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: wet world of silence. Click click, click, click sounded Whitefoot's feet,
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: a click with every step. It was comforting to hear
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: that much, for each click meant a forward step, and
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: each forward step meant so much nearer to the camp.
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: At least, that is what Tuck to encourage herself by thinking,
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: I wonder where Father and Aclock are. She thought, this
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: fog he must have caught them first, for they were
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: hunting in the direction of the sea coast. They must
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: have seen it coming and probably make camp. They will
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: stay there until the fog lifts. If only I were
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: back at the camp, I would not mind it a bit. Trot, whitefoot, trot,
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: Remember that Tucktu is on your back, and she wants
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: to go home. Whitefoot did trot. He trotted steadily, despite
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: the fact that he could see nothing. His head was
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: carried forward, and his nose out and his nostrils were extended.
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: With every breath. He was testing the damp air. By
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: the motion, tucktoo could tell when he was going up
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: a hill and when he started going down again. She
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: was enjoying the ride. But there came a time when
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: Tuktu began to wonder, we should be there by this time.
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: She thought, yes, indeed, we should be there by this time.
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: Whitefoot has been traveling so fast that I'm sure we
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: should have been home long ago. If he did not
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: trot along so steadily, I should think he were lost
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: and wondering about. But he seems to know just where
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: he is going. Oh, dear, I wish I could see
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: just a little way, whitefoot. What is that? Whitefoot stopped
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: abruptly through the mist. At one side, A dim form moved.
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: Tuktu gave a little sigh of thankfulness and was about
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: to drop to the ground, for she was sure that
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: this was the other pack deer that had been left
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: grazing near the camp. But she didn't drop, for she
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: became aware that another dim form was on the other
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: side of her. And then she heard the muffled click,
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: click click of many feet, a sound that could be
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: heard only where many deer were near. Too often had
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: she listened to it to not know that she was
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: now in the midst of our herd. She heard the
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: click in front, behind, and on both sides, and as
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: she strained her eyes could see dim shapes appear and
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: disappear on all sides. Whitefoot, she whispered, Why Foot, where
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: have you taken me? She wondered if by chance some
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: other herd of reindeer had moved in from the sea
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: coast on its way to the Valley of the Good Spirit.
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: She wondered if it might be that she was in
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: the midst of a band of cariboo. She decided that
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: this must be it. Probably Whitefoot had smelled or perhaps
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: heard them, so it joined them.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: She was not.
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: Afraid, did she not know that the reindeer are the
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: most gentle of animals. Had she not lived with them
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: and loved them from babyhood, she would remain on Whitefoot's
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: back and hope that the fog would live soon If
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: it did not, she would stop Whitefoot and push the
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: pag into the ground to fasten him. Then they would
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: remain there together until such time as the fog should disappear.
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: There was only one thing that worried tuk Tou. If
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: she had to remain there long, what should she eat?
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: But even this did not greatly worry her, for she
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: was sure that the fog would last but a little while,
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: and she knew that they could not be far from camp.
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: Whitefoot no longer was trotting, nor were any of the
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: other deer folk. All seemed to be grazing, moving along
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: slowly as they grazed, tuk To became drowsy. Once or
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: twice she nodded, and the wonder was that she didn't
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: slip from Whitefoot's back. And all about here there was
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: the gentle click click click click of moving feet, and
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: now and then the soft intake of breath, and the
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: gentle sniff of grazing deer. End of Chap five read
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: by Gray Older, Chapter six of The Christmas Reindeer. This
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: LibriVox dot Org. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess,
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: Chapter six, The Awakening of tuck To. Unafraid, Tucktu wrote
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: in the midst of the great herd, how long it
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: was before she had a chance to slip from Whitefoot's back.
• 31:35
  Speaker 3: She had no idea, but presently from sundry sounds, dull
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: but unmistakable, which reached her through the fog, she knew
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: that the deer were betting down. They were lying down
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: to chew the cud, as you have so often seen
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: cattle do. Whitefoot stopped. Tuktu slipped from his back. A
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: moment later, Whitefoot laid down. Tukto snuggled up against his back.
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: Despite the dampness of the fog, she was conscious of
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: a pleasant warmth. In a few minutes she was asleep,
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: Tuktoo was awakened by the sound of a bell. She
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: knew it was a bell because she had once heard
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: a bell on a ship which had come in close
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: to the shore when they were camped there. But this
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: bell was sweeter far than had been the bell on
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: the ship, though that had seen the most wonderful sound
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: that she and Oclock had ever heard. Slowly she opened
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: her eyes abruptly, she sat upright and rubbed both eyes
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: with her knuckles. Her first thought was that she could
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: steal in the fog, but when she looked up, she
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: saw there was neither fog nor cloud. It was only
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: when she looked below that she saw a fog. And
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: this fog was not like any fog she had ever known.
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: It was a mist of many colors that shimmered and
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: blended and parted and flashed, as she had so often
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: seen the northern lights or Aurora do in the winter.
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: And somehow hidden by that wondrous colored mist was that
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: silver bell. Do you wonder that Tuktu rubbed her eyes?
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: She was on the slope of a great hill. All
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: about her contentedly chewing their cuds, with the dear people
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: as far as she could see in either direction, and
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: across on the sides of the opposite hill, the deer lay.
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: She knew that not only was Kuto's heard here, but
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: also many other herds. Never had she seen such rich pasture,
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: never had she seen such flowers, And there were great
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: masses of reindeer, moss lichens showing the season's growth. No
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: wonder the deer people sought the hillsides of this wondrous valley.
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: She caught her breath and had come to her where
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: she was. She knew that she was with the herd
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: on one of the slopes of the Valley of the
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: Good Spirit. It was just as she had heard it
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: described around the winter firepots, only far more beautiful. Tucked
• 33:31
  Speaker 3: rubbed her eyes and rubbed her eyes. Perhaps this was
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: only a dream. She put out her hand. There was Whitefoot,
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: contentedly chewing his cud. And Whitefoot was no dream. He
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: was real, for even as she touched him, he bent
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: his head and gently scratched one of Zantler's with the
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: point of a hind hoof. Again she heard the soft, clear,
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: silvery notes of that hidden bell. Then clearly, though faintly,
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: she heard many other sounds. There was the blowing of trumpets,
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: the beating of drum's fairy music coming from the heart
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: of that wonderful man below her, and the mist itself.
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: Never had she seen anything so beautiful. All the colors
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: of the rainbow, all the wondrous colors of the sunset,
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: all the shooting, flashing fires of the aurora seemed mingled there. Tugtoo,
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: knew that she ought to be afraid. Had not her
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: father said that only from a distance had any man
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: looked into that wondrous valley? Had she not seen fear
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: in his eyes at the mere mention of the Valley
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: of the Good Spirit, He who was not afraid to
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: meet Nanok the Polar Bear single handed? Had she not
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: heard the herders speaking whispers when they told of the
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: Valley of the Good Spirit. Of a certainty, she should
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: be afraid, But somehow she wasn't She knew she ought
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: to be, for she knew that she was where not
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: even the boldest man in all the great Northland would
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: dare to put his foot. Yet she was not afraid.
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: It must be that the Good Spirit means no harm
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: to little children, thought Tuck too. It must be that
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: the Good Spirit, who loves the dear folk, loves also
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: little children, or he would not have allowed Whitefoot to
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: bring me here. I wonder what is going on below
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: that wonderful mist. I wonder, Oh how I wonder. But
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: if it were meant that I should know, or that
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: anyone should know, that myst would not be there. I
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: guess that is all right to wonder, But it would
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: be all wrong to try to find out that dear
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: people are satisfied to stay on these hills, so I
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: will be satisfied. But there must be something very wonderful
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: and very beautiful down there. I wish Aclock were here.
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: He will not believe me when I tell him that
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: I have looked into the Valley of the Good Spirit.
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: My father will not believe me. No one will believe me.
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: Only the dear folk will know. I talk to him
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: looking down in the Valley of the Good Spirit, and
• 35:34
  Speaker 3: no harm has come to me. I think it must
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: be because the spirit of love is here. The deer
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: are rising. I wonder what that means. I must hold
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: fast to Whitefoot, for he must take me home. Whitefoot
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: already had scrambled to his feet once more, tucktoo climbed
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: on his back. Then Whitefoot began to move toward the
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: upper end of the valley, and Tucktoo saw that all
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: the other dear people on both sides were moving in
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: the same direction. End of chapter six read by Gray Older.
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: Chapter seven of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 36:15
  Speaker 3: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot Org. The
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess, Chapter seven, The Great Mill.
• 36:26
  Speaker 3: Never had Tuktu seen so many deer together behind her,
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: on both sides in front of her, all along that hillside,
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: the deer were moving. On the farther hillside, countless numbers
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: also were moving toward the head of the valley. They
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: were moving slowly but steadily, as with a purpose. As
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: they drew near the upper end of the valley, Tucktu
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: saw that there was a level plain surrounded by the hills.
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: Out into the middle of this plain moved the great
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: herd of deer. Then it was that Tuktu discovered that
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: young deer and the mothers with the fawns were gradually
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: being pushed to the center. She knew that it was meant.
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: She knew that presently that great herd would be milling
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: on that plain. Many times had tucked watched the deer mill.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: She had seen them mill in the great corrals into
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: which they were driven for the yearly counting and ear marking.
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: She had seen the mill when they were grazing, But
• 37:14
  Speaker 3: never had she seen such a mill as this one. Presently,
• 37:17
  Speaker 3: Whitefoot began to trot. He had joined the ring of
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: deer circling the outer edge of the great herd. There
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: was a constant shifting, and Tuctoo saw that gradually the
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: biggest and finest of the bucks were working to the
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: outer edge of the herd. From Whitefoot's back, she looked
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: over what was like a forest of dead tree branches,
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: all clashing and tossing as if in a wind. They
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: were the newly grown antlers of the deer, not yet
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: wholly out of the velvet strips of the brown skin,
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: fluttering from them like pennants. Only the fawns were without antlers.
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: For the dose among the reindeer have antlers, just as
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: do the bucks. It is only in the Cariboo tribe
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: that this happens in the deer family. Faster and faster
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: trotted that outside ring. More and more quiet became the
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: great mass within them. Presently all were still, and only
• 38:03
  Speaker 3: the outer deer were moving. Whitefoot was a splendid animal.
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: That is why he had been chosen for a pack deer.
• 38:09
  Speaker 3: So he continued to trod in the outer circle. Click click, click, click,
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: click sounded the feet of the trotting deer. There is
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: no sound like it in all the animal world. It
• 38:19
  Speaker 3: comes from within the foot as the deer steps. Sometimes
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: it is when the weight is put on the foot,
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: and sometimes when it is lifted from the foot. Is
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: not made by the snapping together of the two parts
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: of the hoof, as long was supposed, even by the
• 38:31
  Speaker 3: herders themselves. The sound comes from within the foot, and
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: just its purpose no one knows. Click click click, click click.
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: Never had tucked to seen the deer trott in a
• 38:42
  Speaker 3: mill as they were now trotting. It seemed as if
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: each was trying to show his best pace, and each
• 38:47
  Speaker 3: was trying to look his best. They had had plenty
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: of food, and their new coats for the coming winter
• 38:53
  Speaker 3: had grown. All the old hair had fallen, giving way
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: to the new hair. Suddenly the deer stopped. They stopped,
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: and still motionless. A moment later they started trotting again.
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: Tuktu had been on the far side, at the upper
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: end of the plain, farthest from the curtain of beautiful mist.
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: Now when she came around, she saw that standing just
• 39:12
  Speaker 3: outside the edge of that many colored curtain was a
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: magnificent reindeer. He stood motionless, his head held proudly to
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: show the best advantage his wide spreading antlers with many points.
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: Once more, the herd began to mill. Presently it stopped
• 39:26
  Speaker 3: as abruptly as before, this time when Whitefoot brought tuk
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: to around where she could see, there were two deers
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: standing motionless, one behind the other at the edge of
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: the beautiful mist. So it went on until seven deer
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: were standing there. Tuktu knew what this meant. She knew
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: that she was looking at the chosen deer of the
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: good Spirit. She knew that one more was to be chosen.
• 39:48
  Speaker 3: So far she had not seen the choosing each time
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: she had been on the far side of the herd
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: when it had so abruptly stopped. Perhaps you can guess
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: how her heart was beating with excitement as once more
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: the outer ring of deer took up that fast clicking trot.
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: Would the eighth and last year be chosen? While she
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: was on the far side and could not see. Round
• 40:07
  Speaker 3: and round the deer trotted once more. Tuktu was coming
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: inside of the seven chosen deer. It seemed to tuk too,
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: as if from that colored mist there shot out a
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: flash of light. The deer stopped motionless. They stood as
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: if frozen in their tracks. Tucktoo held her breath. She
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: saw that the head of every deer was turned toward
• 40:25
  Speaker 3: that shining curtain of colored mist. A ray of light
• 40:28
  Speaker 3: shot out from it. It touched a splendid deer two
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: places ahead of Whitefoot. At its touch, he stepped out
• 40:34
  Speaker 3: from the circle and slowly took his place with the
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: seven standing deer. It was Speedfoot, the finest deer in
• 40:40
  Speaker 3: Kutok's heard. The sound of a silver whistle was heard,
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: and the eighth deer began to move forward. Slowly, proudly
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: they walked. The leader disappeared in the wonderful mist, The
• 40:52
  Speaker 3: second followed, and so on until the last one had vanished.
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: Then once more the other deer of the great herd
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: began to mill. Tuck two saw that no longer were
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: the dozen fawns standing motionless within that milling circle. They
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: were all headed in one direction, and that was toward
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: a low place in the hills leading out of the valley,
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: a pass out to the great wide prairie. The time
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: had come for the herd to leave the valley of
• 41:14
  Speaker 3: the Good Spirit. Would Whitefoot insist on going on with him?
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: Or when they had left the valley. Would he take
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: her back to the camp. He was once more bringing
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: her around to the point nearest the cloud of mist,
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: wherein the eight Chosen deer had disappeared. Tucktoo looked eagerly
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: to see if, by any chance she might get one
• 41:31
  Speaker 3: more glimpse of them. And even as she looked, that
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: ray of light shot out once more, and this time
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: it touched Whitefoot. Whitefoot stepped out from the herd and
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: stood motionless. End of chapter seven, read by Gray Older.
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: Chapter eight of The Christmas Reindeer. This is the lub
• 41:57
  Speaker 4: Rox recording. Olliver Rox recordings are in the public. For
• 42:01
  Speaker 4: information or to volunteer, pleaseist LibriVox dot org read by
• 42:05
  Speaker 4: Victoria Alice Bell. The Good Spirit by Thornton Doubly Burgess motionless,
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: facing the curtain of Glorie's mist. Whitewood stood on his back,
• 42:13
  Speaker 4: as motionless sat tucked to once more, the clicking of
• 42:17
  Speaker 4: many feet had begun. The great herd was moving. Tuctoo
• 42:21
  Speaker 4: did not turn to look. She was not exactly frightened,
• 42:24
  Speaker 4: but she was filled with a great awe. She felt
• 42:27
  Speaker 4: as if she could not take her eyes from that
• 42:29
  Speaker 4: curtain of mist, even if she would The clicking back
• 42:32
  Speaker 4: of her grew fainter, then it ceased altogether. Still, whitefoot
• 42:36
  Speaker 4: stood motionless directly in front of Tuktu. The mists began
• 42:41
  Speaker 4: to glow, first faintly pink, then a beautiful rose, and
• 42:45
  Speaker 4: finally a rich, warm red. Tuttu drew a long breath
• 42:49
  Speaker 4: enclosed to her eyes. When she opened them again, there
• 42:52
  Speaker 4: stood before her one such as she had never seen before.
• 42:55
  Speaker 4: He was short and jolly, and round and fat, with
• 42:57
  Speaker 4: a fur trimmed coat and a fur trimmed hat. He
• 43:00
  Speaker 4: was dressed all in red. His hair was white, and
• 43:02
  Speaker 4: he wore a long white beard. Never had tuck Too
• 43:05
  Speaker 4: seen such a beard before. Eskimoas have beards that are
• 43:08
  Speaker 4: straggly in black. His eyes twinkled like the twinkling of
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: the stars on a frosty night. Around them were many
• 43:15
  Speaker 4: fine wrinkles. They were laugh wrinkles. He was laughing now.
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: He laughed ha ha, and he laughed ho ho, Hello,
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: little girl, he cried, hello, what are you doing alone?
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: A beer?
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: Have you come in search of your string? Dear poor Tuctoo,
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: she couldn't find her tongue. She knew who this must be.
• 43:36
  Speaker 4: She knew that this must be the Good Spirit, the
• 43:38
  Speaker 4: Good Spirit, whom no one had ever seen. She felt
• 43:41
  Speaker 4: that she ought to slip from Whitefoot's back and bow
• 43:44
  Speaker 4: herself at the Good Spirit's feet. But she couldn't move, No, sir,
• 43:49
  Speaker 4: she couldn't move. When at last she could find her tongue,
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: all she could do was to whisper, are you the
• 43:55
  Speaker 4: Good Spirit? Those eyes, looking at her in such kindly
• 44:00
  Speaker 4: way twinkled more than ever, and all the little laugh
• 44:03
  Speaker 4: wrinkles around them grew deeper. He began to shake all over.
• 44:06
  Speaker 4: He shook and shook, and he laughed so merrily that
• 44:09
  Speaker 4: presently tuckt herself began to laugh. She couldn't help it.
• 44:12
  Speaker 4: It was catching, yes, sir, it was catching ho ho,
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: said he, my dear tuck to And maybe I am
• 44:20
  Speaker 4: that to you, I hope I am. It seems to
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: me that nothing could much nicer be. But everywhere else,
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: all the great worlds round wherever there are children found,
• 44:30
  Speaker 4: I'm known as Santa Claus, my dear, or else, perchance
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: of me, you hear as old Saint Nicholas, who once
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: a year with pack and sleigh and wondrous dear to
• 44:39
  Speaker 4: little folks who have been good and done those things
• 44:43
  Speaker 4: that children should brings Christmas Day, the books and toys
• 44:46
  Speaker 4: that always gladden girls and boys. But when the Christmas
• 44:49
  Speaker 4: season ends, I hasten here to wear my friends. The fairies,
• 44:52
  Speaker 4: elves and busy nomes for countless years have made their homes. Oh, ho, ho,
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: you are, my dear, the first to ever venture to
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: It was such a jolly voice, and those eyes twinkled
• 45:03
  Speaker 4: so and he shook all over so when he laughed,
• 45:07
  Speaker 4: the Tuctuo no longer had the slightest fear. If you please, good,
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: Santa said she, I have never heard of Christmas? What
• 45:13
  Speaker 4: is Christmas? Santa's face sobered. No longer was the twinkle
• 45:17
  Speaker 4: in his eyes, nor the laugh and the wrinkles around
• 45:19
  Speaker 4: them of the line softened from his face and became
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: very beautiful, Simply so the Tuktu could fully understand. He
• 45:27
  Speaker 4: explained that Christmas is the season of loving thought. It
• 45:31
  Speaker 4: is the season when self is forgotten, and the dec
• 45:34
  Speaker 4: of eaches to make others happy. It was a wonderful story,
• 45:37
  Speaker 4: he told her, a wonderful story of how all through
• 45:40
  Speaker 4: the long years he had carried Christmas joy to the
• 45:44
  Speaker 4: boys and girls of all the great world. He told
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: her how all the year through. The fairies and elves,
• 45:50
  Speaker 4: and trolls and gnomes were busy down in this valley,
• 45:53
  Speaker 4: hidden by the wondrous many colored mists, making things which
• 45:58
  Speaker 4: he was to take on his yearly journey to make
• 46:01
  Speaker 4: glad the hearts of little children. He explained how it
• 46:04
  Speaker 4: grieved him when sometimes he could leave nothing because a
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: little girl or a little boy had not been good.
• 46:11
  Speaker 4: He told her how the spirit of love was abroad
• 46:13
  Speaker 4: throughout all the great world in the Christmas season, and
• 46:16
  Speaker 4: how those who do for and give to others are
• 46:20
  Speaker 4: the ones whom the Christmas spirit lives all the year through,
• 46:24
  Speaker 4: and who thus finds the great happiness. It is not
• 46:27
  Speaker 4: in receiving, my dear, said he, but in giving and
• 46:31
  Speaker 4: love you will find to be that fullness of joy,
• 46:35
  Speaker 4: in that sweet content for the beautiful Christmas season meant aunt,
• 46:40
  Speaker 4: does no one give to you kind? Santa Tugty asked
• 46:43
  Speaker 4: a little breathlessly. You should have heard Santa Klaus laugh, then,
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: indeed you should have heard him laugh. You should have
• 46:50
  Speaker 4: seen his eyes twinkle. Every year I received the greatest
• 46:54
  Speaker 4: gift in all the great world, said he. And what
• 46:57
  Speaker 4: is that whisper tuctive love of little children, replied Santa Claus,
• 47:02
  Speaker 4: on all the great world, is there any gift to
• 47:05
  Speaker 4: compare with the love of little children? And it is mine,
• 47:08
  Speaker 4: all mine, every Christmas. End of chapter eight.
• 47:17
  Speaker 5: Chapter nine of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 47:22
  Speaker 5: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 47:26
  Speaker 5: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 47:31
  Speaker 5: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess. The chosen dear Ducto
• 47:38
  Speaker 5: still sat on the back of Whitefoot. As Santa Claus talked,
• 47:42
  Speaker 5: he came over to Whitefoot and gently stroked his face.
• 47:46
  Speaker 5: Whitefoot stood without motion. It was the more surprising because
• 47:50
  Speaker 5: Whitefoot had always been rather unruly. He never had been
• 47:54
  Speaker 5: one to willingly acknowledge a master. Only Tuktu had been
• 47:58
  Speaker 5: able to handle him without trouble. Santa looked up straight
• 48:02
  Speaker 5: into the eyes of tutto tell me, my dear said he,
• 48:06
  Speaker 5: how you came to venture into this valley? Did you
• 48:09
  Speaker 5: not know that only the dear folk come here? Yes?
• 48:13
  Speaker 5: I knew, replied Tuctoo in a low voice. I knew, good, Santa,
• 48:18
  Speaker 5: and I would not have thought of coming myself. It
• 48:21
  Speaker 5: was Whitefoot who brought me here. He brought me here,
• 48:24
  Speaker 5: and I didn't know where he was bringing me. Then
• 48:27
  Speaker 5: she told how she had been lost in the fog,
• 48:30
  Speaker 5: and how when she had awakened from her nap in
• 48:32
  Speaker 5: the midst of the Great Herd, she had discovered where
• 48:35
  Speaker 5: she was. She told how she would have left even then,
• 48:39
  Speaker 5: but could not, and her lips trembled a little as
• 48:42
  Speaker 5: she talked, for she was fearful that the Good Spirit
• 48:44
  Speaker 5: might think that she had done wrong. And why do
• 48:48
  Speaker 5: you think that the dear folk come here every year,
• 48:50
  Speaker 5: inquired Santa Claus. That the blessed eight may be chosen,
• 48:54
  Speaker 5: said Tuttu. And what, my dear, do you mean by
• 48:58
  Speaker 5: the blessed eight? Santa Claus inquired. Then Tucto told him
• 49:02
  Speaker 5: of the tales she'd heard around the winter fire pots,
• 49:06
  Speaker 5: and how it had been long known that every year
• 49:09
  Speaker 5: eight deer were chosen from the Great Herd in the
• 49:11
  Speaker 5: Valley of the Good Spirit, and how the following year
• 49:15
  Speaker 5: these deer always returned to their owners, and were the
• 49:18
  Speaker 5: finest sled deer in all the north, so that the
• 49:22
  Speaker 5: owner of one of these was considered blessed above his fellows.
• 49:25
  Speaker 5: Santa Claus sighed, they ought to be good sled deer,
• 49:29
  Speaker 5: said he, I spend enough time in training them. For
• 49:33
  Speaker 5: what purpose, my dear, do you think these deer are
• 49:35
  Speaker 5: chosen each year? Tuktoo shook her head, that said she
• 49:41
  Speaker 5: No one knows. All that is known is that each
• 49:44
  Speaker 5: year the eighth deer are chosen, and the following year
• 49:47
  Speaker 5: they are returned to bless their owners. That is enough.
• 49:52
  Speaker 5: The good spirit has some wise purpose, or the deer
• 49:54
  Speaker 5: would not be taken and returned. Do you know, said Santa,
• 49:59
  Speaker 5: that the deer are among the oldest of all the
• 50:02
  Speaker 5: peoples of the earth. It is so it has been
• 50:06
  Speaker 5: said that man was created to look after the reindeer,
• 50:09
  Speaker 5: and the reindeer were created to look after man. Almost
• 50:13
  Speaker 5: since man was the reindeer have furnished him with food
• 50:17
  Speaker 5: and clothing, and have carried him or drawn him wherever
• 50:20
  Speaker 5: he wished to go. Have you driven deer to the sled?
• 50:24
  Speaker 5: Have you ever sat behind a running reindeer and felt
• 50:27
  Speaker 5: the rush of the cutting wind, and felt now and
• 50:30
  Speaker 5: then the sting of the snow thrown from his flying feet?
• 50:35
  Speaker 5: Took Two's eyes shone, and she clapped her hands softly.
• 50:40
  Speaker 5: Don't you love it? She cried. Santa Claus nodded and
• 50:43
  Speaker 5: he chuckled. That is why the eighth deer are chosen
• 50:47
  Speaker 5: each year, said he. When I made my first Christmas journey,
• 50:51
  Speaker 5: it was a reindeer who drew my sledge. My pack
• 50:55
  Speaker 5: was small, and my journey was short, and a single
• 50:58
  Speaker 5: deer was all I needed. But as the Christmas spirit
• 51:02
  Speaker 5: swept farther and farther throughout the great world, and more
• 51:06
  Speaker 5: and more children looked for my coming, my pack became larger,
• 51:10
  Speaker 5: and I had to travel much faster. So then I
• 51:13
  Speaker 5: used two deer, and then three, four, five, and till
• 51:17
  Speaker 5: now eight are needed. Eight of the finest deer to
• 51:21
  Speaker 5: be found in all the herds. They must have speed
• 51:24
  Speaker 5: and strength, for they must take me fast and carry
• 51:27
  Speaker 5: me far. They must have beauty, with antlers of many points.
• 51:32
  Speaker 5: They must be stout of heart and full of courage.
• 51:35
  Speaker 5: They must be gentle. So it is that each year
• 51:38
  Speaker 5: I must get a new team. And so each year
• 51:41
  Speaker 5: the reindeer, the finest in all the Great Northland, feed
• 51:45
  Speaker 5: for a while in Kringle Valley. Then when the time comes,
• 51:48
  Speaker 5: as it came to day, they passed before me at
• 51:51
  Speaker 5: their best, that I may choose those for my next
• 51:54
  Speaker 5: Christmas journey into the great world. Those you saw vanish
• 51:58
  Speaker 5: in the colored mist are the eight who will take
• 52:00
  Speaker 5: me next Christmas to carry joy to little folk in
• 52:04
  Speaker 5: all that great herd you saw. There's none other the
• 52:08
  Speaker 5: equal of those chosen, and all the dear folk know it.
• 52:12
  Speaker 5: Just once will they make that wonderful journey. For only
• 52:16
  Speaker 5: for that one time will they be at their very best.
• 52:19
  Speaker 5: At the next Christmas. There will be eight others to
• 52:21
  Speaker 5: take their places, But always the eight bear the same names.
• 52:26
  Speaker 5: Would you like to hear them? Tucto shyly tukto nodded,
• 52:32
  Speaker 5: if you please, She said, My how the eyes of
• 52:36
  Speaker 5: old Santa Claus twinkled. They are donder and Blitzen, dancer
• 52:44
  Speaker 5: and prencer dasher and vixen, comet and Cupid said he.
• 52:51
  Speaker 5: I couldn't drive deer by any other names. They're magic names,
• 52:56
  Speaker 5: and those deer will become magic deer when they start
• 52:59
  Speaker 5: on their Christmas turn. Now, my dear whitefoot will take
• 53:03
  Speaker 5: you straight back to the place from which he brought you.
• 53:06
  Speaker 5: You've seen that which you may never see again, the
• 53:09
  Speaker 5: choosing of the deer. But always you will remember that
• 53:13
  Speaker 5: in the Valley of the Good Spirit, love dwells, and
• 53:16
  Speaker 5: that love may be carried throughout the world. The Blessed
• 53:20
  Speaker 5: Reindeer chosen each year. End of chapter nine, read by
• 53:26
  Speaker 5: Sandra Near, Montreal, twenty twenty two.
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: Chapter ten of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess. Tuktu's happy thought, donder
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: and Blitzen Dasher, and Vixen dancer and Pratzer comet and
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: Cupid repeated Tuctoo to herself, and her eyes were like stars.
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: Do the children out in the great world love them?
• 54:12
  Speaker 2: You should have seen Santa's eyes twinkle then, and you
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: should have seen all the laugh wrinkles around his eyes.
• 54:19
  Speaker 2: I suspect they do, he said, he, I suspect they do,
• 54:23
  Speaker 2: for they love me, and they must love the ones
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: who bring me to them each year. But they have
• 54:29
  Speaker 2: never seen my reindeer, so I really don't know. And
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: then you should have seen Tuktoo's eyes open. Do you mean?
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: She asked, that they never never have seen your dear.
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: Santa Claus nodded, That's what I mean, he said. He
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: you see, the night before Christmas, when I make that
• 54:52
  Speaker 2: magic trip, I must go so far, and I must
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: go so fast that there is no time, not even
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: one wee minute to waste, and so no one sees me.
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: Then sometimes little boys and girls hide and watch for
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: me and for my dear, but they never see us.
• 55:11
  Speaker 2: And those little boys and girls do not always find
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: all the things they hoped I would bring them. A
• 55:17
  Speaker 2: dreamy look had come into Tuctu's eyes, a very far
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: away look. Do they have as fine deer out there
• 55:25
  Speaker 2: in the great world as we have here? She asked?
• 55:30
  Speaker 2: The laugh wrinkles wrinkled up more than ever, and Santa
• 55:33
  Speaker 2: Claus laughed right out. They have no deer at all,
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: little one, said he. That is, they have no reindeer.
• 55:42
  Speaker 2: Most of them would not know a reindeer if they
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: saw one. No reindeer, cried Tuktu, and such a look
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: of astonishment as spread over her face. How can they
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: live without the wonderful deer? Oh, I am so sorry
• 55:58
  Speaker 2: for those children. I wish Tucto paused, what do you wish? Child?
• 56:05
  Speaker 2: Santa Claus asked, in his kindly voice, tell me what
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: you wish for. You know it is my business to
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: make the wishes of children come true. Tucto hesitated. She
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: dropped her eyes shyly. I wish, she said, very softly,
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: that I could send them some reindeer. Santa Claus looked
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: at her sharply. He could read her thoughts, and there
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: was not one single little thought of self there. She
• 56:34
  Speaker 2: was thinking of the children who had never seen the reindeer,
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: and how wonderful it would be if only they could
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: see the blessed eight. When she looked up and saw
• 56:44
  Speaker 2: Santa's kindly eyes studying her, she spoke impulsively. Kind Santa
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: Claus said, she speaking hurriedly, so hurriedly that the words
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: tripped over each other. Couldn't you go down early some
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: year with your blessed dear, so that the children of
• 57:00
  Speaker 2: the great world might see them. I know they would
• 57:03
  Speaker 2: love them just as I do. Santa Claus sighed. I
• 57:09
  Speaker 2: am afraid, said he. There isn't time, you know. It
• 57:14
  Speaker 2: takes time to train deer, and there are no deer
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: in all the great Northlands so well trained as those
• 57:20
  Speaker 2: which take me out into the great world every Christmas,
• 57:24
  Speaker 2: you saw the eight chosen to day. It will take
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: me most of my time from now until Christmas to
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: get them properly trained for that magic journey. If the
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: deer were better trained when I got them, I might
• 57:36
  Speaker 2: be able to do it. You know, I do not
• 57:38
  Speaker 2: even have to have reins. They are so perfectly trained.
• 57:42
  Speaker 2: That is why when I am through with them, they
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: are the finest sled deer in all the world. They
• 57:48
  Speaker 2: are no longer magic deer, but they are wonderful sled deer.
• 57:53
  Speaker 2: So you think the children of the great world would
• 57:56
  Speaker 2: like to see the deer? Perhaps they would, Perhaps they would.
• 58:01
  Speaker 2: I shall have to think it over, my dear, I
• 58:04
  Speaker 2: certainly shall have to think it over. Oh if only
• 58:09
  Speaker 2: you would, cried tukto her dark eyes, shining with excitement.
• 58:13
  Speaker 2: I I wish I could help. I am so sorry
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: for children who have never seen the beautiful deer. Down
• 58:21
  Speaker 2: somewhere in the midst of the wonderful mist, a silver
• 58:25
  Speaker 2: bell rang. It was so clear, so sweet, that Tucto
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: turned her head to listen. When she looked back, Santa
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: Claus had disappeared. The bell rang again, and from out
• 58:37
  Speaker 2: the curtain of mist came Santa's voice once more, good bye,
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: little girl, said he. The great herd moves, and you
• 58:46
  Speaker 2: must leave the valley. But remember this, my dear, that
• 58:50
  Speaker 2: whenever you think of others, others will think of you.
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: And to those who love is love given in return.
• 58:58
  Speaker 2: That is why Christmas is Remember that, my dear, and
• 59:02
  Speaker 2: always your Christmas will be merry. Better than that, it
• 59:06
  Speaker 2: will be happy. Abruptly, Whitefoot turned had began to move away.
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: End of chapter ten. Read by Ted Perkins Coallte Saint Luke, Canada,
• 59:19
  Speaker 2: July twenty twenty two. Chapter eleven of The Christmas Reindeer.
• 59:30
  Speaker 2: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: visit LibriVox dot org. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W.
• 59:43
  Speaker 2: Burgess took to tells her story with his long swinging trot.
• 59:51
  Speaker 2: Whitefoot rapidly made his way out of the Valley of
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: the Good Spirit. Only once did took to look back
• 59:57
  Speaker 2: at the cloud of shimmering, many colored mist. At one
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 2: point it glowed a rich, deep red, and as she looked,
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 2: this turned to rose, and finally to a faint pink.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 2: And then vanished. Nowhere was the Good Spirit to be seen.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 2: Out of the valley. Over the hill, climbed whitefoot and
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 2: took too, turned him in the direction of the camp.
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: There presently she fastened him where Aclock had put him
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 2: to graze. Her father and brother had not returned, as
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 2: in a dream. She looked back to the hills around
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: the valley of the Good Spirit. Could it be that
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: she had been there? Was it not all a dream?
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 2: But if it were a dream, it had been a
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 2: wonderful dream, the most beautiful of all dreams. She knew
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: that Kutok and Aclach would not believe the story she
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 2: had to tell. They would say that she had been
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 2: asleep and the dream spirits had visited her. She looked
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 2: across to the distant hills above the valley, and with
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 2: the suddenness that startled her, she realized that not a
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 2: deer was to be seen. Of course, not had she
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 2: not seen them move out of the upper end of
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 2: the valley. There was the proof. With the realization of this,
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 2: all thought of anything else was driven from the mind
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: of Tuktu, even the wonderful experience she had been through.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 2: The Great Herd was moving, and there were no herders,
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 2: she must get word back to the herders on the coast.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 2: She would take the other pack deer, for Whitefoot must
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 2: be tired. Perhaps she would meet her father and brother
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: on the way. She had just prepared to start when
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 2: in the distance she saw Kutok and Haclock approaching. When
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 2: they reached her, they were in high spirits. They had
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: had good hunting, and they brought with them plenty to eat.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: They have moved, cried Tuktu. The deer have left the
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 2: valley of the good Spirit. Kutok threw down his load
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 2: and hurried to the right eyes of ground, from which
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 2: he had been accustomed to watch the deer on the
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 2: distant hills. Long he looked, searching every bit of ground
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 2: within range of his eyes. Not a deer was to
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 2: be seen. It is so little, Tuktu, said he. On
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 2: his return. The herd has started for the winter grazing grounds.
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 2: It is time that we also should move. Oclock shall
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 2: go back to carry word to the herders, while you
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 2: and I will follow the deer. They will move slowly,
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 2: so there is no hurry. But it is well that
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 2: we should catch up with them soon, lest the wolves attack.
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 2: Finding them unguarded, so Oclock started back to the summer
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 2: camp to send up the herders and to help break
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 2: the camp and move toward the winter home. Tuktu and
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 2: her father, with a small skin igloo or tent wrein
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 2: to sleep and food enough for their immediate needs, started
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 2: at once to catch up with the great herd. Through
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 2: years of experience, Kutok knew in what direction the deer
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 2: would travel and the shortest way to reach them. They
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 2: traveled too fast for much talking, took too longed to
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 2: tell her father what she had seen in the Valley
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 2: of the Good Spirit, but somehow she couldn't. He will
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 2: laugh at me, she thought. He will not believe, and
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 2: he will laugh at me, and I do not want
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 2: to be laughed at. So she said nothing, but all
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 2: the time there was a song in her heart. It
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 2: was not until Oclock had rejoined them that she told
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 2: of her adventure in the Valley of the Good Spirit.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 2: At first, Oclock laughed, as she had known he would.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 2: It was a dream took too, he cried. It was
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 2: a dream. You must have slept through that fog while
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 2: father and I were hunting, and the dream spirits took
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 2: you with them. No one ever has seen the Good Spirit,
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 2: and no one ever will. But took too stubbornly, and
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 2: so that it was not a dream, until at last
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 2: even Oclock began to believe that it might be. So
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 2: you would have laughed to hear him ply her with questions,
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 2: all the time, pretending that he didn't believe a word
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 2: of it. But Tuktu caught him looking at her with
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 2: a respect in his black eyes, which was new in
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 2: her experience. And she noticed too that he no longer
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 2: teased her, and that now he was never selfish. The
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 2: biggest share of anything was always hers. Never had he
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 2: been so gentle and thoughtful. Yet never once could she
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 2: get him to say that he believed her story of
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 2: the Valley of the Good Spirit. Now there was one
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 2: thing that Tuktu did not tell Aclock. It was that
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 2: the last dear chosen was from their father's own herd.
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 2: Never had Kutok had a dear chosen by the Good
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 2: Spirit from his herd until now. Tuktu had known that
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 2: it was her father's dear because she had been near
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 2: enough to see the ear mark. Besides, there was no
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 2: other deer in the herd to compare with it. Sometimes
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 2: Oclock insisted that it was all a dream. She would
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 2: be almost persuaded that he was right. Then she would
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 2: remember that it was her father's finest deer, Speedfoot, which
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 2: had been chosen. If she would say to herself, we
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 2: cannot find Speedfoot in the round up, I shall know
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 2: for a certainty that I did not dream. It will
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 2: be the proof. Thereafter she spent many hours wandering in
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 2: and out through the great herd, looking for this particular deer,
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 2: and rejoicing that she could not find it. End of
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 2: chapter eleven. Read by Ted Perkins, Cote, Saint Luke, Canada,
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 2: August twenty twenty two.
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 6: Chapter twelve of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a libribox recording.
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 6: All LibriVox recordings or in the public domain. For more
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 6: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 6: by Karen Hunt. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess.
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 6: The deer people winter had come. The deer were on
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 6: their winter feeding grounds. Could you have been there? You would,
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 6: until you had watched them a while, have wondered where
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 6: they could find anything to eat, as far as could
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 6: be seen, and far far beyond that there was nothing
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 6: but snow. But the deer people minded this not at all.
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 6: They knew that the snow was but a blanket to
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 6: protect and keep in splendid condition. The food they loved best,
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 6: the reindeer moss, as it is called, which carpeted the ground,
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 6: the lichens, which nature had provided especially for the reindeer
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 6: and caribou. Tuck too, like to go out and watch
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 6: them pad down through the snow. See, Oclock, she cried,
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 6: They know just where they will find the best food.
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 6: Do you suppose they never make mistakes? The deer are
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 6: wise with the wisdom not given us, replied Oclock. Perhaps
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 6: they make mistakes sometimes, but it is not often.
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 7: I heard such a queer thing the other day. It
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 7: makes me laugh every time I think of it. Tell me,
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 7: for I want to laugh too, cried tuk too, What
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 7: was it, Oclock. Oclock chuckled, You remember the visitors that
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 7: came in great ships last summer, said he tuk To
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 7: nodded well. One of them, who never had seen reindeer before,
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 7: asked if the deer used their horns to shovel away
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 7: the snow in winter. He said that he had been
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 7: told this, and that many people believed it to be. So,
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 7: it is a lucky thing. It isn't so, or those
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 7: big old bucks would go hungry now that they have
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 7: dropped their horns. But just look at the way they
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 7: are pawing up that moss over there. I guess it
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 7: is a good thing they haven't their horns, or they
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 7: would be so greedy and selfish that they would get
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 7: all the best of the food.
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 6: See Tuktu, see that young spike horn over there, driving
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 6: away the old buck from that moss he has uncovered.
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 6: Sure enough, a youngster with only two sharp spikes for
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 6: horns was butting a big old buck who had just
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 6: pawed away the snow from a bed of reindeer moss.
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 6: Those spikes were sharp, and they made the old buck grunt.
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 6: Having no horns himself, he could not fight back except
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 6: by striking with his fore feet, and these the youngster
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 6: took care to avoid. So finally the old fellow gave
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 6: up and went to look for a new supply of food,
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 6: while the youngster ate undisturbed. I have wondered a great
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 6: many times, said Tuttu, why it is that the old
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 6: bucks dropped their wonderful antlers so long before the mother
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 6: deer and the young spike horns do. But I guess
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 6: I know now. It is because they are the strongest,
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 6: and so they are made to look after the weaker ones,
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 6: whether they want to or not.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 7: Ocluck nodded. That's it, I guess, said he. By and
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 7: by those little spikes will drop, then the only ones
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 7: to have horns will be the mothers. Theirs will not
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 7: drop until after the fawns are born. Do you know
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 7: why the reindeer always face the wind when they are feeding,
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 7: so that the wind may bring them the scent of
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 7: any enemies that may be ahead of them, replied tucktoo promptly.
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 7: Aclock nodded. That is one reason, but it isn't the
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 7: only reason.
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 6: Said he. The wind keeps their eyes clear of drifting snow,
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 6: so they always face the wind, no matter how bitter
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 6: it may be. They are a wise people, the dear people.
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 6: They know how to take care of themselves. They cannot
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 6: see as well as some other animals, but they can
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 6: smell and hear better than most their wild cousins. The
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 6: caribou are the same way. When we are hunting them,
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 6: we have to take the greatest care that they neither
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 6: hear nor smell us. The children were standing on the
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 6: outer edge of the herd. As always, Tuktu was watching
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 6: for a glimpse of Speedfoot, the splendid deer. She felt
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 6: sure the good Spirit had chosen. Now, for the first
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 6: time she mentioned it to Akla. He knew the deer.
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 6: She meant. He had hoped that some day he might
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 6: have it for his own. So now when Taktu told
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 6: him that she was sure it had been chosen by
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 6: the good Spirit, and that she had been unable to
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 6: find it anywhere in the herd, he straightway began keeping
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 6: watch himself. Together they passed back and forth through the
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 6: grazing herd. They are gentle people, these reindeer folk. The
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 6: children could quite safely go about among them as freely
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 6: as they pleased. There was nothing to fear. Long they searched,
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 6: but in the end Aklak had to admit that Speedfoot
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 6: was missing. It may be that Amarak the wolf has
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 6: gotten him, said he. Or it may be that he
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 6: has strayed into one of the other herds. We cannot
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 6: know until the deer are driven into the corrals and haunted.
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 6: Tuttu merely smiled. I know, said she, Amarak has never
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 6: set tooth in him, and he has not strayed to
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 6: another herd. He is one of the chosen of the
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 6: Good Spirit. You shall see Aclach that I am right
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 6: when the count comes. But not even the Count will
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 6: tell us if Amorak has killed him, said he. There
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 6: was a far away look in Taktuo's eyes, and a
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 6: half smile hovering around her lips. You will find him
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 6: next summer when we move over near the valley of
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 6: the Good Spirit, said she. Then will you know that
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 6: I speak truly. He is of the Chosen eight, the
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 6: blessed dear of the Good Spirit. End of chapter twelve,
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 6: Chapter thirteen of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 6: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 6: information or to volunteer, please visit libervox dot org. Read
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 6: by Karen Hunt. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess.
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 6: The wilful young deer. Of all the young deer in
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 6: the great herd, and there were many, Little Spot was
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 6: the most wilful. He was called Little Spot because he
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 6: was marked exactly like his mother, who was known as
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 6: Big Spot. Each had a white spot between the eyes. Now,
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 6: Big Spot was one of the wisest leaders among all
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 6: the reindeer people. She was wise in the ways of
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 6: the wolf and the bear, and she was wise in
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 6: the ways of men. Under her leadership, the herd thrived
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 6: and increased and was seldom troubled. But with all her wisdom,
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 6: Big Spot was a poor mother. You see. She was
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 6: just like a great many other mothers. She spoiled her children.
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 6: So little Spot, who was so like his mother, had
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 6: never been taught to mind. Almost from the day of
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 6: his birth, which had been in the spring before the
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 6: snow had melted, he had been headstrong and wilful. He
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 6: had been a handsome baby, as reindeer babies go, and
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 6: his mother had been very proud of him. Perhaps that
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 6: is why she spoiled him. Anyway, he went where he
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 6: pleased and did what he pleased, and was forever in
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 6: trouble of some sort. When he got his first horns,
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 6: two sharp spikes, he made such a nuisance of himself
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 6: that he soon became known as the worst young deer
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 6: in the whole herd. Other young deer would have nothing
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 6: to do with him because he was so overbearing. He
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 6: was a little bigger and a little stronger than any
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 6: others of his own age, and this, together with the
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 6: fact that he had been allowed to have his own way,
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 6: had quite spoiled him. My son, said his mother, when
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 6: she found him with a small band of cariboo which
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 6: he had run away to join. Follow me to the
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 6: top of yonder hill. I want to talk to you.
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 6: I you don't want to be talked to, said little
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 6: Spot with an angry toss of his head. I know
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 6: what you want. You want me to go back with
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 6: the herd. I'm not going. I'm going to stay with
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 6: my wild cousins to Cariboo. I don't want to go
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 6: back to the herd. I won't go back to the herd.
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 6: He stamped his feet in the naughtiest way. Very well,
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 6: said his mother. You may stay with your cousins to Cariboo,
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 6: but remember that if you need me, you will find
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 6: me on the top of that hill over there. Little
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 6: Spot tossed his head. He sniffed. You see. He didn't
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 6: like it at all that his mother should think that
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 6: he had any need of her. Had he not horns already?
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 6: He felt quite equal to taking care of himself. So
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 6: he tossed his head and sniffed, then went over to
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 6: join some of the young cariboo about his own age.
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 6: His mother said nothing more, but slowly walked away in
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 6: the direction of the hill. When she reached the top,
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 6: she stood motionless for a long time, looking up. Little
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 6: Spot could see her against the sky, and he, being
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 6: a foolish young deer, became very angry. He felt that
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 6: she was keeping watch over him, so he pretended not
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 6: to see her, And when presently the small band of
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 6: cariboo started to move away briskly, he trotted along with them.
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 6: They were glad to have him, At least, they made
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 6: no objections. The farther he got from that hill where
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 6: his mother still stood, the bigger and more important he felt.
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 6: He was out in the great world. Now he was
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 6: master of his own movements. There was no one to
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 6: make him do this or do that. He held his
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 6: head high, and he stepped high. You see, he was
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 6: trying to look as important as he felt. Without warning,
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 6: four great gray wolves swept out from behind some willow
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 6: trees to cut off the young Cariboo from the remainder
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 6: of the band. Such terror as there was, then, each
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 6: young cariboo started in a different direction. It was well
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 6: for Little Spot that he was swifter afoot than any
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 6: of the others. At the first glimpse of the treaded wolves,
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 6: he had whirled and started back for that hill where
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 6: his mother was. They were the first wolves he had
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 6: ever seen, but he knew what they were. Not once
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 6: did he look behind to see what was happening to
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 6: the young cariboo forgotten was all his pride. He wanted
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 6: his mother, and he wanted her as he had never
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 6: wanted her before. Was she not the wisest of all
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 6: the mothers of the big herd? She would know what
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 6: to do, She would know how to care for him.
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 6: He looked over to the top of that little hill.
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 6: For a moment, it seemed as if his heart stopped beating.
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 6: He could not see Big Spot anywhere. Had she left
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 6: him after all? Had she started off on that long,
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 6: swift trot of hers to get back to the herd.
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 6: The mere thought that he might never see her again
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 6: gave added speed to Little Spot. Never had he run
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 6: as he was running now. But it was not good running.
• 1:16:48
  Speaker 6: It was unwise running, for it was taking his wind
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 6: and his strength. He was panting hard when he came
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 6: over the top of the hill. There in a little
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 6: hollow just beyond stood his mother there. What is it,
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 6: my son, said she, as Little Spot crowded against her,
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 6: panting as if he could never get his breath again.
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 6: What is it, my son? I thought you wanted to
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 6: go out into the great world. Wolves, panted Little Spot. Wolves,
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 6: we must run. His mother merely walked up to the
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 6: brow of the hill and looked back. Truly, my son,
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 6: they are wolves, said she, and returned to him, as
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 6: if wolves were the most commonplace things in the world.
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 6: End of chapter thirteen.
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 8: Chapter fourteen of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 8: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 8: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 8: Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess. When the world was young,
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 8: Little Spot, the wilful young reindeer, trembled as he crowded
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 8: up to his mother. He couldn't get close enough to her.
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 8: He no longer wanted to be out in the great
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 8: world by himself. He wondered that his mother did not run.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 8: Every moment or two he looked back to see if
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 8: those wolves were coming up over the hill, But Big
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 8: Spot seemed in no hurry at all. You see, she
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 8: was wise, with the wisdom of experience. She didn't want
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 8: Little Spot to get over his fright so soon that he
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 8: would forget the lesson he had learned. Then too, she
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 8: wanted him to get rested a little and get his
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 8: wind back. At last, she quieted Little Spot's fears. Those
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 8: wolves did not chase you, my son, she said. They
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 8: chased the young Cariboo, and it is very fortunate for
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 8: you that they did. I'm sure I could run faster
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 8: than those wolves, said little Spot boastfully. Yes you could,
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 8: replied his mother. You could run faster than they could
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 8: for a while. But you do not know the patience
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 8: of wolves, My dear. You would have run so hard
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 8: and so fast that presently you would have tired yourself out,
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 8: so that the wolves would have had no trouble in
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 8: catching you. Ever since you were a little fawn, I
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 8: have told you about the wolves and that they are
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 8: our worst enemies, but I don't think you ever have
• 1:19:48
  Speaker 8: believed it. Now you have seen them and you know
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 8: what they are like. The wolves are very smart people.
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 8: They watch for a deer to stray away, then they
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 8: get between the herd and that deer. When this happens,
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 8: that deer will not live long. Have the deer always
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 8: been afraid of the wolves, asked the little Spot, Ever
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 8: since the days when the world was young, replied his mother,
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 8: Tell me about the days when the world was young,
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 8: begged Little Spot. For a few moments, his mother said nothing.
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 8: Gradually into her big dark eyes there crept a far
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 8: away look. Once upon a time she began. At last,
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 8: the world was mostly water, like the salt water that
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 8: you saw in the summer. But where do the deer live? Then,
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 8: interrupted Little Spot. There were no deer, then, said his mother.
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 8: There were no deer, and there were no wolves, and
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 8: there were none of those two legged creatures called men.
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 8: You see, Old Mother Nature had not made them yet,
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 8: for there was no land for them to live on.
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 8: But by and by there was land. And then for
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 8: a very long time, Old Mother Nature was very very
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 8: busy making the different kinds of people to live on
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 8: the land. Some of these people she made to live
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 8: where it was summer all the year round. You should
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 8: have seen Little Spot's big ears prick up at that.
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 8: Is there such a place? He cried? His mother nodded, yes,
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 8: said she, I am told, there is a land where
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 8: it is summer all the time. How do you think
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 8: you would like that? Little spot thought it over for
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 8: a moment. I shouldn't like it, he decided. Why if
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 8: it is summer all the time, there can be no snow.
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 8: What a queer land it must be without the beautiful snow.
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 8: I shouldn't like it. His mother again nodded her head approvingly.
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 8: Neither should I, my son, said she. But it seems
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 8: that in those days, when the world was young, all
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 8: the people big and little, wanted to live where it
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 8: was summer. So after a while it became difficult for
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 8: all the people to get food enough. It was then
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 8: that the hard times began, and some of the big
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 8: people began to hunt the little people for food. Now
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 8: it happened that mister and missus Cariboo, the first of
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 8: all the Cariboo, had wandered beyond the land where it
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 8: was so all the time. They had come to the
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 8: land where it was summer for half the year and
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 8: winter for the other half. When the winter came, they
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 8: moved back, because you see, they were not fitted to
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 8: make their living when snow covered the ground, and they
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 8: were not clothed warmly enough to stand the bitter winds,
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 8: but they always stayed as long as they could before
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 8: moving south, where they loved the Northland. Then, too, they
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 8: felt safer there, for there were fewer to hunt them.
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 8: It was on the edge of the north Land that
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 8: Old Mother Nature found mister and Missus Caribou looking longingly
• 1:23:49
  Speaker 8: at the land. They must leave because of the coming
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 8: of the snow and ice. How would you like to
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 8: live in the north Land all of the time, asked Olature.
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 8: Mister Cariboo looked at Missus Cariboo, and Missus Cariboo looked
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 8: at mister Cariboo, and then both looked at Old Mother Nature.
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 8: Mister Cariboo spoke rather hesitatingly. We could not eat when
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 8: all the ground is covered with snow, said he. There
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 8: is always plenty of food beneath the snow, replied Old
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 8: Mother Nature. You could dig away the snow with your
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 8: feet and find plenty. But we should freeze, protested Missus Cariboo,
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 8: and shivered, for in those days the coats of the
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 8: cariboo were thin. But supposing I gave you warm coats
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 8: and fitted you to live in the Northland, would you
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 8: do it? Old Mother Nature asked again. Mister Cariboo looked
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 8: at Missus Cariboo, and Missus Cariboo looked at mister Cariboo.
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 8: Then both nodded. So Mother Nature gave them warm coats.
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 8: She gave them each a thick mantle of long hair
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 8: on the neck, so that it hung down and the
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 8: wind could not get through it. She fashioned their feet
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 8: so that they were different from the feet of any
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 8: other of the deer family, and they could walk in
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 8: snow and on soft ground where others could not go.
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 8: Then she sent them into the Northland, and there the
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 8: Caribou had been ever since. But what about the reindeer,
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 8: cried little spot, I am coming to that, replied his mother,
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 8: end of chapter fourteen. Chapter fifteen of The Christmas Reindeer.
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 8: This is LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 8: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 8: LibriVox dot org. Read by Tom Merritt. The Christmas Reindeer
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 8: by Thornton W. Burgess, The first Reindeer. Mister and Missus
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 8: Cariboo were the first of all the Cariboo to make
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 8: their home in the far North, and they loved it.
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 8: Old mother Nature had told them truly that they would
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 8: find plenty of food. So they and their children and
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 8: their children's children took possession of all the great land
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 8: where the snow lay most of the year. They found
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 8: the moss, which you liked so well, my son, said
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 8: his mother. They found the mosque, and they found that
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 8: it was best in winter. It isn't true moss, you know,
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 8: but this is called reindeer moss by everybody. In the summer,
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 8: they lived on grass and other plants, just as we do.
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 8: So in time there became very many caribou, and they
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 8: lived in peace, for it was long before others came
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 8: to live in the land of snow. But there came
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 8: a time when these two legged creatures called men appeared.
• 1:27:29
  Speaker 8: They were hunters, and they hunted the cariboo. They needed
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 8: the meat for food, and the skins for clothing and
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 8: to make their tents, so the cariboo became necessary to men.
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 8: Then one day the hunters surrounded a band of cariboo
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 8: and captured alive all the fawns and young cariboo. These
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 8: they kept watch over and protected from the wolves and
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 8: the bears, which had by the time come to live
• 1:28:01
  Speaker 8: in the Northland. And because they were no wise old
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 8: deer to protect these young deer, the young deer did
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 8: not try to run away. They were content to graze
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 8: near the homes of the hunters. In time they grew
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 8: and had fawns of their own, and these grew and
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 8: the herd increased. And these my son, were the first reindeer.
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 8: They were necessary to man if he would live in
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 8: the far north. And they found that man was necessary
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 8: to them. They furnished Man with food and clothing from
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 8: their antlers. He made tools. Man furnished them protection, and
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 8: found the best feeding grounds for them, so that they
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 8: lived better and more contentedly than their cousins, the wild caribou,
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 8: for the latter had always by day and night to
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 8: be on the watch for enemies. Then one day a
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 8: boy fastened a halter to a pet deer and fastened
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 8: him so that he could not stray away. In time,
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 8: that deer became used to the halter and to being fastened.
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 8: Then the boy built a sled. It wasn't such a
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 8: nice sled as the sleds of today, because you know,
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 8: this was the first sled of its kind. Then he
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 8: fastened the deer to the sled, and with a long
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 8: line fastened to the halter on each side of the
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 8: deer's head, so that he might guide him, the boy
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 8: climbed on the sled. Of course, that deer was frightened,
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 8: and he ran by and bye the sled upset, but
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 8: the boy still held the reins. Was the first reindeer
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 8: to be driven by man. The boy's father had seen
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 8: all that happen. He built a better sled, and he
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 8: and the boy trained that deer and other deer. Then
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 8: with these deer they made long journeys. So it was
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 8: that the reindeer became of still more use to man.
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 8: But I don't want to be harnessed and driven and
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 8: have to drag a sled, said little Spot. That shows
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 8: your lack of wisdom, My son replied his mother. The
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 8: deer who best draw the sleds, or the deer that
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 8: are cared for best and will live longest. Other deer
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 8: are killed for food and for their skin, but not
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 8: the deer who draw the sleds. Those are the deer
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 8: that are thought most of. And it is my hope
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 8: that you will be one day the finest sled deer
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 8: in all the herd. Who knows perhaps you may be
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 8: chosen in the Valley of the Good Spirit to be
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 8: one of the eight deer who, once in the early
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 8: winter of each year, carry the Good Spirit on a
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 8: wonderful journey out into the great world, that he may
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 8: spread love and happiness. Do you remember, my son, how
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 8: on the day we left the Valley of the Good Spirit,
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 8: all we mother deer, and all you youngsters stood while
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 8: the finest bucks and all the herd mild around us.
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 8: And how every once in a while they stopped, little
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 8: Spot bobbed his head. I remember, said he each time
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 8: they stopped, replied his mother. The Good Spirit chose one
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 8: of their number to be added to his team. Or
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 8: that wonderful journey out into the great world. They become
• 1:32:18
  Speaker 8: magic deer, just for a little while at a time
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 8: that man in folk call Christmas. They become magic dear,
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 8: and all the children of the great world love them,
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 8: though they never have seen them. So, my son, be
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 8: wise in the wisdom of the deer folk. Be not
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 8: unruly should it be that you are chosen to draw
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 8: the sled of a man. For it is only the
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 8: best sled deer that are chosen by the Good Spirit
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 8: and become the Christmas dear for that magic journey into
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 8: the great world. Now we must be getting back to
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 8: the hurt, or those wolves may get upon our trail.
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 8: Little Spot trotted beside his mother, Big Spot, over the
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 8: snow covered prairie, And as he trotted he thought deeply
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 8: of all his mother had told him. And as he thought,
• 1:33:29
  Speaker 8: his eyes were opened, so that by the time they
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 8: reached the big herd, Little Spot was no longer wilful
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 8: young deer. He no longer thought that he knew all
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 8: there was to know, but he did his very best
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 8: to try to learn all there was for a wise
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 8: deer to know. And you know, when one tries to learn,
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 8: it is surprisingly easy. So from being the most wilful
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 8: and unruly of all the young deer, Little Spot became
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 8: the most obedient and the best mannered. End of chapter fifteen.
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 8: Chapter sixteen of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 8: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 8: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
• 1:34:37
  Speaker 8: by Tom Merritt, The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess,
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 8: Little Spot and tuckt Dream Do you ever have day dreams.
• 1:34:51
  Speaker 8: If you do, you know that they are made up
• 1:34:54
  Speaker 8: partly of wishes, partly of plans, and partly of the
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 8: the same sort of stuff that sleep dreams are made of.
• 1:35:04
  Speaker 8: Tuk To was very busy these winter days. She was
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 8: very busy, indeed, as were all the Eskimo girls and
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 8: their mothers. What do you think she was doing? You
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 8: never would guess. She was chewing, Yes, sir, she was chewing.
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 8: And it wasn't gum that she was chewing, either, although
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 8: she dearly loved to chew gum when she got the chance.
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 8: She was chewing skins. What's that you think I am fooling?
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 8: I'm not. Tuk To was chewing skins. Tuktu was making
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 8: boots for her brother and her father. They were made
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 8: of skin, and tuk To was chewing this in order
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 8: to soften it and make it workable. But as she chewed,
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 8: and later as she so making the skin clothing for
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 8: herself and for her brother and father, she did a
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 8: great deal of dreaming. Perhaps you can guess what she
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 8: dreamed of. It was Santa Claus. She didn't call him
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 8: Santa Claus, even to herself. She still called him the
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 8: good Spirit I think myself, that is rather a beautiful
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 8: name for Santa Claus. And it wasn't things that she
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 8: wanted Santa Claus to bring her that tuck To dreamed.
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 8: It was of helping Santa Claus. It seemed to her
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 8: that nothing in all the great world would be so
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 8: good or make her so happy as to help the
• 1:36:46
  Speaker 8: Good Spirit spread the message of love and good cheer
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 8: and happiness to all the little children less fortunate than she. Now,
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 8: this is going to surprise you. Talk to actually thought
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 8: that she lived in the finest part of all the
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 8: great world, and she was sorry for little boys and
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 8: girls who lived where there were no reindeer, and where
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 8: snow and ice were seldom found. She was sorry for
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 8: boys and girls who had never ridden behind a fast
• 1:37:20
  Speaker 8: trotting deer. Yes, Tuktu thought that she lived in the
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 8: very best part of all the great world, and she
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 8: loved it, and she wished somehow that she could help
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 8: Santa the Good Spirit when he carried happiness and joy
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 8: to all the great world. Sometimes, when she dreamed, she
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 8: would forget to chew the skin that she was at
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 8: work on, and her mother would gently remind her that
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 8: the boots were needed she wondered if she could make
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 8: a pair of boots for the Good Spirit, And then
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 8: her face grew warm with shame at her bold How
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 8: could anyone even think of doing anything for the Good Spirit?
• 1:38:07
  Speaker 8: For could not the Good Spirit have all things he desired?
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 8: And then she remembered something. She remembered that the Good
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 8: Spirit had said that those chosen deer ought to be
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 8: good sled deer because of the time he spent training them.
• 1:38:27
  Speaker 8: Supposing she and Acklock could get the deer trained so
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 8: well beforehand that the Good Spirit would not have to
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 8: spend time in training them. Perhaps then he could start earlier.
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 8: Then she sighed, for how could she be sure the
• 1:38:45
  Speaker 8: Good Spirit would choose the deer she and Aclock trained.
• 1:38:51
  Speaker 8: And while tuck To dreamed her daydreams as she worked,
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 8: Little Spot, the finest young deer in all the herd,
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 8: was dreaming day dreams. And the queer part of it
• 1:39:04
  Speaker 8: is his dreams were very like the dreams of talk To.
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 8: He dreamed of being a magic dear. He dreamed of
• 1:39:15
  Speaker 8: being one of that team of magic deer with which
• 1:39:19
  Speaker 8: the Good Spirit made his wonderful journey out into the
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 8: great world each Christmas. And because he remembered what his
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 8: mother had said. He tried very hard to be what
• 1:39:33
  Speaker 8: a young deer should be, for he hoped that in
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 8: time he would be chosen for a sled deer. Perchance,
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 8: if he were chosen for a sled deer and became
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 8: the best sled deer in all the great herd, he
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 8: might some day be chosen in the valley of the
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 8: Good Spirit. So he did his best to grow strong
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 8: and handsome, and to be the swiftest footing where he
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 8: had discovered that it was the strongest, handsomest and swiftest
• 1:40:06
  Speaker 8: deer that were chosen to draw the sleds of the herders.
• 1:40:11
  Speaker 8: But there was one big difference in the dreaming of
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 8: these two young dreamers. Tuktu had no thought of self,
• 1:40:19
  Speaker 8: whereas Little Spot was thinking chiefly of his own glory.
• 1:40:26
  Speaker 8: He had no thought of others, but only great ambition
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 8: for himself. There are many people like little Spot in
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 8: the great world. Now, I don't want you to think
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 8: that Tuttu spent all her time chewing and sewing skins.
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 8: That was work which could be done when the great
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 8: storms and the bitter cold kept her indoors. She had
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 8: her playtime as well, as her working time, and there
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 8: were many happy hours spent with Aclock helping him herd
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 8: the deer, for she dearly loved the dear people, and
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 8: they loved her. Even the wildest of them, and the
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 8: most unruly, would allow Tuktu to approach and even to
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 8: pet them. Aclock was growing to be a very fine herder.
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 8: His father Kutok said that Aclock would one day be
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 8: the best herder in all the Northland. But not even
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 8: Aclock understood the deer, as did Tuktu. End of chapter.
• 1:41:39
  Speaker 5: Sixteen, Chapter seventeen of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 5: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 5: For more information or to volunteer, please visit librifox dot org.
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 5: The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess. Tucto and Uklak
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 5: have a secret. It was while Tuktu was watching Uclak
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 5: training a young deer to the slud the great idea
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 5: came to her. It just happened that the young deer
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 5: was none other than a little Spot, And because he
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 5: wanted to be a sled deer, and because he was
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 5: very proud over having been chosen, Little Spot was making
• 1:42:30
  Speaker 5: no trouble at all. He was not yet old enough
• 1:42:33
  Speaker 5: to be a real sled deer, and Aglak had started
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 5: to train him just for fun. He was looking forward
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 5: to the day when little Spot should be fully grown.
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 5: He wanted to see if he would be a better
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 5: sled deer for having begun his training early. Uglock cried, Tucto,
• 1:42:50
  Speaker 5: I know you don't really believe that I saw the
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 5: Good Spirit, but you know that the dear visit the
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 5: valley of the Good Spirit every year. And you know
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 5: that every year summer chosen and do not return with
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 5: the herd, but are found the next year. Aclock nodded, yes,
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 5: said he I know all that. Then listen to me.
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 5: Aclock said, Tuctoo, those deer are chosen because they are
• 1:43:16
  Speaker 5: the finest in all the great herd. They are chosen
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 5: to be the sled deer of the Good Spirit when
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 5: he makes his great journey to carry the message of
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 5: love and happiness to the children of the great world.
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 5: Why couldn't we train those dear for the Good Spirit
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 5: that he may not have to do it himself? Boylike,
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 5: Aclock laughed how he demanded, can we train the deer
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 5: when we do not know which dear the Good Spirit
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 5: will choose. You say that this year he's chosen one
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 5: from our own herd, but it is the first time
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 5: it has happened. Even if it be true, the other
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 5: deer were chosen from other herds.
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 1: So how can we know.
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 5: What dear the Good Spirit may choose? We cannot know,
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 5: replied Tuktoo. That is, we cannot know for a certainty.
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 5: But we can do this, aclock. We can pick out
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 5: the finest and the handsomest, the swiftest and the strongest
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 5: of the deer in our herd, and we can train them.
• 1:44:11
  Speaker 5: I mean, you can train them, o'clock, and perhaps I
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 5: can help a little. Then perhaps when the herd visits
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 5: the Valley of the Good Spirit next summer, he will
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 5: discover that these deer are already trained. I just know
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 5: that he will know. Just think, aclock, how wonderful it
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 5: would be to hope Santa the Good Spirit.
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 5: Tuktoo's thought was all of helping the Good Spirit. But o'clock,
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 5: though he thought of this, was more selfish in his thoughts.
• 1:44:41
  Speaker 5: Though he said nothing to Tukto. To himself, he thought,
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 5: if Tuktoo should be right and the Good Spirit should
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 5: choose the deer I've trained. It would be the first
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 5: time that all the magic deer have been chosen from
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 5: one herd. If the owner of one or two chosen
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 5: by the good spirit is blessed, how much greater would
• 1:44:59
  Speaker 5: the blessing be if the eight deer should be chosen
• 1:45:02
  Speaker 5: from one heard. The more Oclock thought overtook to his plan,
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 5: the better it seemed to him. So a few days later,
• 1:45:10
  Speaker 5: when they were out together, he promised to try it.
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 5: But we must keep the secret, said he. No one
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 5: must know what we are doing, for the herders would
• 1:45:19
  Speaker 5: laugh at us and make fun of us. They will
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 5: see me training the deer, but they will not suspect
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 5: that they're being trained for a special purpose. Let us
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 5: go out now and pick out those to be trained now.
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 5: Aclock was a splendid judge of deer. He knew all
• 1:45:35
  Speaker 5: the fine points, for he had been well taught by
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 5: his father. So it was that often when Tuk two
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 5: would point out what seemed to her a particularly fine animal,
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 5: Aclock would shake his head and would point out to
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 5: her that it was not as fine as it seemed.
• 1:45:50
  Speaker 5: There would be some little blemish now, and then he
• 1:45:53
  Speaker 5: would find a deer that suited him. Sometimes the deer
• 1:45:56
  Speaker 5: would be wild and difficult to approach. Then took to
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 5: would help. Sometimes the deer would struggle after it had
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 5: been roped, and every time that Agloc came nearer, would
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 5: strike with its fore feet as only a reindeer can.
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 5: Then took two would pet it and soothe it, until
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 5: in a few days it would be gentle and easy
• 1:46:15
  Speaker 5: to handle. At first, Agloc would only look among his
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 5: father's deer. He wanted those eight deer to be from
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 5: his father's herd, and so he would not look at
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 5: some of the finest deer of the great herd, which
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 5: his father did not own, but of which he had charge.
• 1:46:32
  Speaker 5: That was the selfishness in Acloc. But when Tucto refused
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 5: to have anything to do with these deer because there
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 5: were finer ones in the great herd, he admitted after
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 5: a while that she was right. He didn't want to
• 1:46:45
  Speaker 5: admit it, but he was honest. He knew that Tuktu
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 5: was right. He knew that the good spirit would not
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 5: choose less than the best. All that winter, Acloc worked
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 5: with his eight deer. Every day he drove one or
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 5: another of them the other herders began to take notice,
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 5: and some of them became envious. But he was the
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 5: son of Gutok, the chief herder, and there was nothing
• 1:47:09
  Speaker 5: they could do about it. As for Gutok, he became
• 1:47:12
  Speaker 5: very proud, said I not that Oclach would one day
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 5: become a great herder. He would demand as he watched
• 1:47:18
  Speaker 5: the boy driving a deer, as none of the other
• 1:47:20
  Speaker 5: herders could drive it. And all that winter took to
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 5: and Aclach kept their secret. End of chapter seventeen, read
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 5: by Sandra. Chapter eighteen of The Christmas Reindeer. This is
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 5: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 1:47:46
  Speaker 5: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 5: The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess. The round up
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 5: spring came and before the snow was gone, the fawns
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 5: were born. It was a cold, cold world that those
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 5: baby deer came into, but they did not seem to
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 5: mind it. Those were busy days for Tuktu and Klak,
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 5: for they spent much time looking up the mother deer
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 5: to see that their babies were properly taken care of.
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 5: Now and then they would find a fawn that had
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 5: lost its mother, and then would begin a search for
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 5: the mother. Little by little, the snow disappeared and a
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 5: big herd began to move toward the sea. It was
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 5: heading toward the summer range. Tuk To and Aglach looked
• 1:48:33
  Speaker 5: forward eagerly to the summer visit to the coast. Aklak
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 5: for the hunting and fishing, and took to for the
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 5: delight of watching the sea fowl and hunting for their eggs.
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 5: Then there was the great round up that was always exciting.
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 5: Tuktu took no part in it, but Aglak was big
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 5: enough now to help. The round up would occur soon
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 5: after the herd reached the coast. Some of the herders
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 5: had already gone ahead to prepare the great corral. This
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 5: was simply a huge pen of brush and sticks with
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 5: wings to it, so that as the grazing herd came on,
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 5: he got between these wings without knowing it at first,
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 5: and then kept on going until the whole herd was
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 5: in the great pen called the corral. The herders would
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 5: follow and shut them in. The Families of the herders
• 1:49:21
  Speaker 5: who had gone ahead were taken with them, so that
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 5: the camp was made and everything ready before the arrival
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 5: of the deer. The latter had not been driven, but
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 5: had been allowed to take their own time, grazing as
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 5: they went. But they were too eager to get to
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 5: the shore, and so they had moved forward quite rapidly.
• 1:49:39
  Speaker 5: One morning, Aclac came hurrying in with word that the
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 5: great herd was approaching. Everybody went out to see the
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 5: round up and to help by seeing that none of
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 5: the deer were allowed to get outside of the wings
• 1:49:50
  Speaker 5: of the corral. The leaders of the big herd unsuspiciously
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 5: came up over the brow of a little hill. It
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 5: was beyond this hill that the Great Corral had been
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 5: buil so that the deer would not see it until
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 5: they were over the hill. At first, the herd was
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 5: widely spread, but as they came within the wings of
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 5: the Great corral, the fences forced them nearer together, until
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 5: as they entered the corral they were closely packed. Once inside,
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 5: they began a mill, which is, as you know, to
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 5: go round and round. It was a wonderful sight. It
• 1:50:21
  Speaker 5: would have been still more wonderful had they had their antlers,
• 1:50:25
  Speaker 5: but these had been shed and the new ones had
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 5: but just started. On the farther side of the corral
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 5: was a gateway opening into a very narrow passage which
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 5: grew narrower and narrower until it was just wide enough
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 5: for one deer to pass through. Into this the herders
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 5: turned the milling animals as fast as they could be handled.
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 5: As the deer came through this narrow passage, they were
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 5: counted and the ear marks were noted. Of course, there
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 5: were the ear marks of several owners in that great herd,
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 5: and each kept a record of the deer bearing his
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 5: ear mark as they came through this narrow passage called
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 5: the shute. The fawns going through with their mothers were
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 5: roped as they came out of the chute and ear marked,
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 5: each one being given the ear mark of its mother.
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 5: It was very exciting.
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 5: Could you have sat on the corral fence and seen
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 5: that great herd of animals milling within the corral, I'm
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 5: sure you would have held tight to your seat. You
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 5: would have been quite sure that no one would go
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 5: down inside without being trampled to death. But the deer
• 1:51:23
  Speaker 5: people are a gentle people. More than once took to
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 5: or Oclock, wishing to be on the other side of
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 5: the corral walked right through the herd, the deer making
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 5: way for them as they walked. Perhaps you can guess
• 1:51:34
  Speaker 5: how eagerly took to watch to see if Speedfoot, that
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 5: deer of her father's which she was sure the Good
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 5: Spirit had chosen, would appear in the herd. She was
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 5: sure he wouldn't, but there would be no convincing Aclock
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 5: until the last deer had passed through the chute.
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 2: Aclock was so.
• 1:51:52
  Speaker 5: Busy helping in the marking of the unmarked deer that
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 5: he could not watch all the deer that passed through,
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 5: But you may be sure he kept as good a
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 5: watch as he could. At last, the round up was
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 5: over all the fonds had been ear marked. Each owner
• 1:52:06
  Speaker 5: had counted his deer and knew just how much his
• 1:52:08
  Speaker 5: herd had increased. As soon as there was a chance,
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 5: took to whisper to Acclack's ear I told you that
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 5: Speedfoot was not in the herd. Weat now till the
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 5: herd moves up to the valley of the Good Spirit,
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 5: and you will find him there. Of course, Kutok had
• 1:52:24
  Speaker 5: been waiting for that particular deer. It had been the
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 5: pride of his heart the year before, and its disappearance
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 5: had worried him. He had thought that somehow it might
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 5: have been overlooked on the winter grazing grounds. But when
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 5: the round up was over, he knew that the animal
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 5: was not in the herd. Then he was torn between
• 1:52:43
  Speaker 5: fear and hope. His fear was that the animal had
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 5: strayed from the herd and been killed by wolves. His
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 5: hope was, I do not have to tell you what
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 5: his hope was. It was that this summer they would
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 5: find Speedfoot bearing the ear marks of the Good Spirit
• 1:53:00
  Speaker 5: to Kutok and to o'clock. It was merely a hope,
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 5: but to took to it was a certainty. She hadn't
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 5: the least shadow of doubt, and her heart sang for joy.
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 5: End of chapter eighteen. Read by Sandra Near, Montreal, twenty
• 1:53:16
  Speaker 5: twenty two.
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 7: Chapter nineteen of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 7: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 7: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 7: by Karen Hunt. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess.
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 7: The Christmas Story that was a never to be forgotten
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 7: summer to talk to an o'clock. A ship came in
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 7: the harbor near which they were camped, and they had
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 7: a chance to see how the white men lived on
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 7: the ship and all the wonders that the ship contained.
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 7: One of the white men spent much time at their camp,
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 7: asking through one of the herders who could speak his language,
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 7: all sorts of questions, questions that made Tuktu and Aklach
• 1:54:07
  Speaker 7: think that he knew very little. But then when they,
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 7: in their turn, began asking questions, he told them such
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 7: wonderful things that they began to think that they knew
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 7: very little. One day, as he sat watching Tuktu and
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 7: her mother, Navelok making a coat with a hood attached,
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 7: trimmed with a fringe of wolverine fur around the edge,
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 7: he told them stories. And the story that he told
• 1:54:33
  Speaker 7: of Christmas was the story that Tuktu liked best of all.
• 1:54:38
  Speaker 7: She told it to Aklak. What do you think, Oclock,
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 7: She said, The children outside of our beautiful Northland have
• 1:54:45
  Speaker 7: no reindeer. Most of them have never seen a reindeer.
• 1:54:50
  Speaker 7: What drags their sleds? Then dogs, demanded the practical Oclock, No,
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 7: replied Tuktu. They have other animals called horses, but they
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 7: cannot be beautiful like our deer, for they have no antlers.
• 1:55:04
  Speaker 7: But all those children have heard of our reindeer, Oclock.
• 1:55:07
  Speaker 7: And there is a certain time in the winter called Christmas,
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 7: when in the night, after everyone is asleep, there comes
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 7: the children Saint and visits each home, and Oclock he
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 7: comes with reindeer. Oclock looked up quickly the good spirit,
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 7: he cried. Tuktu's eyes were shining as she nodded. It
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 7: must be, she said, for who else would have reindeer?
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 7: And listen, Oclock. He is short and round and shakes
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 7: when he laughs, and he has a white beard and
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 7: a fur trimmed coat and a fur trimmed hat. And
• 1:55:41
  Speaker 7: his reindeer take him right up on the roofs of
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 7: the houses, and then he takes a pack on his
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 7: back and goes right down the chimney, and he leaves
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 7: gifts for little children while they are asleep. And if
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 7: any little boy or little girl lies awake and peeps
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 7: and tries to see him, he doesn't leave any presents
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 7: for that little girl or that little boy, and they
• 1:56:03
  Speaker 7: never do see him. When he has made his visit.
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 7: He goes right up the chimney again and jumps in
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 7: his sleigh and calls to his reindeer, and away he
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 7: goes to the next stopping place. And he makes all
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 7: those visits in one night. No wonder he wants reindeer,
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 7: No wonder, he wants the very best reindeer. But if
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 7: no one ever sees him, how do they know what
• 1:56:26
  Speaker 7: he looks like? Demanded practical o'clock, Oh, replied Tuktu. It
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 7: is only on the night before Christmas that he never
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 7: is seen. I mean he is never seen coming down
• 1:56:37
  Speaker 7: the chimney and putting the gifts for the children where
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 7: they will find them. But he is seen often going
• 1:56:42
  Speaker 7: about before Christmas, for he has to find out who
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 7: have been good and that they may receive presents. And
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 7: the children give him letters and tell him what they want,
• 1:56:52
  Speaker 7: and if they have been good, he tries to give
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 7: them what they want. So he leaves the Northland early
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 7: some time for Christmas and goes out into the great world.
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 7: Then he returns for the gifts, and the night before
• 1:57:06
  Speaker 7: Christmas makes that wonderful flying trip with the deer. He
• 1:57:10
  Speaker 7: loves reindeer, of course, he loves the reindeer, Oclock interrupted,
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 7: how could he help loving the reindeer. Aren't they the
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 7: most important animals in all the great world? That is
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 7: what I said. But the man said that horses are
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 7: more important down there. I asked him if they ate
• 1:57:28
  Speaker 7: the meat of the horses, and he said no. And
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 7: I asked him if they made clothing from the skins
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 7: of the horses, and he said no. He said they
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 7: were important because they worked for men. Oclock shrugged his shoulders.
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 7: The reindeer work for men also. They carry us where
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 7: we want to go. We do not have to carry
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 7: food for them, for they find it for themselves. They
• 1:57:52
  Speaker 7: furnish us with food and clothing and our tents. I
• 1:57:56
  Speaker 7: would not for the world live down there where there
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 7: are no reindeer. The man tell you anything else. Tuktu's
• 1:58:02
  Speaker 7: eyes were like stars, yes, said she. He said that
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 7: all over the land at Christmas time they have beautiful
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 7: green trees covered with lights at night, and many shining things.
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 7: And sometimes these trees are hung with presents for the
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 7: boys and girls. And sometimes the good Saint appears at
• 1:58:22
  Speaker 7: one of these trees, and with his own hands gives
• 1:58:25
  Speaker 7: the gifts to the children. But the very day after Christmas,
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 7: he disappears, and he is seen no more until the
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 7: Christmas season comes again, and no one knows where he is.
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 7: All the children wonder and wonder where he is all
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 7: through the year, but they have never been able to
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 7: find out. Did you tell the man that we know,
• 1:58:45
  Speaker 7: Oclock asked Tuttu shook her head. He wouldn't believe, said she,
• 1:58:51
  Speaker 7: But we do know, acloc for that children's saint is
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 7: the Good Spirit, who lives in the Valley of the
• 1:58:56
  Speaker 7: Good Spirit, Oh Oclock, wouldn't it be too wonderful if
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 7: he would choose our dear for that marvelous Christmas journey?
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 7: End of chapter nineteen.
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 6: Chapter twenty of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 6: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:59:21
  Speaker 6: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 6: by Karen Hunt. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess,
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 6: The Great Temptation. Tuck To and Oclock loved the summer
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 6: by the shore, yet both were impatient for the coming
• 1:59:42
  Speaker 6: of the time when their herds would move up to
• 1:59:45
  Speaker 6: the Valley of the Good Spirit. The Eighth Deer Oclock
• 1:59:49
  Speaker 6: had so carefully trained, had been grazing with the herd
• 1:59:52
  Speaker 6: all summer. The two children had kept their secret well,
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 6: but oh how eager they were to see if the
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 6: Good Spirit would choose any of their deer. At last,
• 2:00:04
  Speaker 6: the big herd moved, and as before, Kutok took the
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 6: two children with him to watch that the deer should
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 6: not leave the valley without knowledge of the herders. When
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 6: they got there, they found grazing near the camp speedfoot
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 6: the missing deer which Tuktu had seen chosen in the
• 2:00:23
  Speaker 6: Valley of the Good Spirit. Looking at the ears, they
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 6: found Kutok's mark, but also a new mark, the mark
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 6: of the Good Spirit, for it was unlike any other
• 2:00:34
  Speaker 6: mark in all that region. This splendid deer and seven
• 2:00:39
  Speaker 6: others were grazing near the hut, and Kutok and Aklach
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 6: promptly fastened them that they might not go back with
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 6: the herd, for were not these the blessed deer. But
• 2:00:52
  Speaker 6: the herd moved on. Looking over toward the hills around
• 2:00:55
  Speaker 6: the valley, the children could see the grazing deer in
• 2:00:58
  Speaker 6: the distance, but they were too far away to tell
• 2:01:02
  Speaker 6: one deer from another. This year Oclock spent less time
• 2:01:06
  Speaker 6: hunting than he had the previous year. He could think
• 2:01:09
  Speaker 6: of nothing but those eight deer. If the Good Spirit
• 2:01:13
  Speaker 6: chooses all of them, how wonderful it would be. I
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 6: do hope he will, said he. Tuktu hoped so too,
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 6: but she didn't say so. She merely reminded Oclock that
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 6: only one of his father's deer had been chosen the
• 2:01:27
  Speaker 6: year before. As the days slept by, Oclock was less
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 6: and less certain that his deer would be chosen. Finally,
• 2:01:36
  Speaker 6: he confessed to Tuktu that if the Good Spirit would
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 6: just take one, he would be satisfied. He will, I
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 6: know he will, replied Tuktu. One morning, when their father
• 2:01:48
  Speaker 6: was off hunting, Oclock proposed that they take the two
• 2:01:52
  Speaker 6: pack deer and go over to the edge of the
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 6: Valley of the Good Spirit, where they could look down
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 6: into it. Tuktoo shook her head and there was a
• 2:02:01
  Speaker 6: startled look in her big eyes. Oh no, Oclock, she cried,
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 6: we mustn't do that. Why not, demanded Oclach, You went
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 6: down into the valley last year, why should you be
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 6: afraid to do it again? But I didn't go of
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 6: my own will, cried Tuktu. I was taken there without
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 6: knowing I was.
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 7: Going, and that is very different. I think the Good
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 7: Spirit knew and meant for me to come. Well, anyway,
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 7: said Oklak. Let's go up on the hills where we
• 2:02:29
  Speaker 7: can look down on the curtain of beautiful mist.
• 2:02:32
  Speaker 6: That will do no harm. Besides, I want to see
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 6: if those deer I trained.
• 2:02:36
  Speaker 7: Are all right. But Tuttu would not be moved. Do
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 7: you remember the story the White Man told and that
• 2:02:43
  Speaker 7: I told you, she demanded. Oclock nodded.
• 2:02:46
  Speaker 6: What of it? Said he? Do you not remember that
• 2:02:50
  Speaker 6: the children who pique not only never see the Good
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 6: Saint when he visits them at Christmas, but get no gifts.
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 6: Oclock hung his head. Yes, he admitted, I remember. But
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 6: this is different. No, said Tuktu, it is not different.
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 6: Have we not always been told that the deer people
• 2:03:10
  Speaker 6: only may visit the valley of the Good Spirit. If
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 6: we should anger the Good Spirit, our deer would not
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 6: be chosen. Perhaps they won't be anyway, declared Aklac. Perhaps
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 6: they won't, agreed Tuktu. But I know the Good Spirit
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 6: will know that we train them for him, and even
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 6: if he does not choose them for his Christmas journey.
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 6: I think he will be pleased, Oclock. We mustn't do
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 6: anything so dreadful as even to seem to be spying
• 2:03:39
  Speaker 6: on the Good Spirit. If he wants us to visit him,
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 6: I am sure he will let us know in some way.
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 6: Aklock looked over toward the specks dotting the distant hillside,
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 6: the deer feeding above Kringle Valley. He sighed.
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 7: Of course you are right, Tuktu, he said, But oh, dear,
• 2:03:58
  Speaker 7: I should so like to look down in that valley.
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 7: His face brightened suddenly. Perhaps we will have a fog,
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 7: he exclaimed. If we have a fog, we will just
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 7: get on the two pack, dear, and perhaps they'll take
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 7: us in there. I'll write Whitefoot, because he has been
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 7: there before. We won't do anything of the kind, replied Tuktu. Decidedly.
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 6: That would be just as bad as going right up
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 6: in there ourselves. O'clock.
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 7: I feel it in my bones that the Good Spirit
• 2:04:27
  Speaker 7: is going to choose some of our dear, So let's
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 7: forget all about wanting to see into that valley.
• 2:04:35
  Speaker 6: End of chapter.
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 9: Twenty Chapter twenty one of The Christmas Reindeer. This is
• 2:04:46
  Speaker 9: a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 9: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 9: Read by Greg Garedano. Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess Attacked
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 9: by wolves. Summer this year was shorter than usual, as
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 9: if they knew that the winter would come early and
• 2:05:14
  Speaker 9: be long and hard. The deer left the Valley of
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 9: the Good Spirit earlier than ever before and began the
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 9: slow journey back toward the winter grazing grounds. At the
• 2:05:26
  Speaker 9: first movement of the herds, Aclac and Tucktu had been
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 9: sent back to the main camp to help break camp
• 2:05:34
  Speaker 9: and move to their winter home, so it was not
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 9: until the deer were back on the home pastures that
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 9: they had an opportunity to look for the deer Aclac
• 2:05:43
  Speaker 9: had so carefully trained, an unusually bold family of wolves
• 2:05:48
  Speaker 9: had attacked the herd on the way. There are no
• 2:05:51
  Speaker 9: more cunning people in all the great world than the wolves.
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 9: For days, they had followed the deer without once being
• 2:05:58
  Speaker 9: discovered by either the deer or the herders. Perhaps the
• 2:06:03
  Speaker 9: latter had grown careless, Perhaps they had allowed the deer
• 2:06:06
  Speaker 9: to scatter too widely. Anyway, the attack came when there
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 9: were no herders near enough to interfere. A wary, clever
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 9: old mother was the leader of those wolves. She knew
• 2:06:20
  Speaker 9: deer is not even the herders knew them. She knew
• 2:06:24
  Speaker 9: just how to cut out a small band of animals
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 9: from the main herd and drive them into the hills
• 2:06:31
  Speaker 9: to be killed at leisure. She knew how to do
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 9: it without stampeding the rest of the herd, and she
• 2:06:38
  Speaker 9: and her well grown children did it. It wasn't until
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 9: one of the herders found their tracks a newly fallen
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 9: snow that the presence of the wolves was suspected. Then
• 2:06:49
  Speaker 9: it didn't take long to discover what had happened. Two
• 2:06:53
  Speaker 9: of the herders, who were also noted hunters, set out
• 2:06:57
  Speaker 9: on the trail of the wolves to make sure that
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 9: the band was still hanging around. They also hoped that
• 2:07:03
  Speaker 9: they might find some of the missing deer, But those
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 9: deer had been run hard and fast, and all the
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 9: hunters found were the cleanly picked bones of several The
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 9: others had been so scattered that it was useless to
• 2:07:17
  Speaker 9: try to round them up. There was no way of
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 9: knowing whose deer the wolves had killed until the winter
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 9: round up then when the count was made, it would
• 2:07:27
  Speaker 9: be discovered whose deer were missing. But it was a
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 9: long time to wait for that winter round up, so
• 2:07:34
  Speaker 9: tuck To and Aclac spent much time going about in
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 9: the herd looking for those trained deer, and they were
• 2:07:41
  Speaker 9: not the only ones who were looking. Khotuck their father
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 9: had been very proud of those deer, and as soon
• 2:07:48
  Speaker 9: as the herd was back on the home pastures, he
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 9: asked Aclac where they were. Of course, Aclak had to
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 9: tell him that he hadn't seen them. Now, trained at
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 9: sled deer are valuable animals, and kutak At once called
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 9: the other herders to him and told them to watch
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 9: out for these particular deer. He remembered the attack of
• 2:08:11
  Speaker 9: the wolves, and he feared greatly that the ape sled
• 2:08:14
  Speaker 9: deer might have been the victims. This was the same
• 2:08:17
  Speaker 9: fear that was tugging at the hearts of Aclak and Tuktu.
• 2:08:22
  Speaker 9: There was no way for them to know whether the
• 2:08:24
  Speaker 9: good spirit had chosen those deer or whether the wolves
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 9: had killed them. There could be no way of knowing
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 9: until the return of the herds to the seashore in
• 2:08:34
  Speaker 9: the early summer. Meanwhile, Aclak was busy training more deer,
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 9: and one of these was little Spot. He was still
• 2:08:42
  Speaker 9: young for sled work, but he was such a splendid
• 2:08:45
  Speaker 9: young deer, so big and so strong and so willing.
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 9: Everybody who saw him said that in time he would
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 9: make the finest sled deer in all the north Land.
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 9: Of course, Tuktu and Aklak said nothing to their father
• 2:09:01
  Speaker 9: of their hope that the good Spirit had chosen those deer.
• 2:09:05
  Speaker 9: They suspected that should they tell, they would be laughed at. Also,
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 9: they were afraid their father would not like it. They
• 2:09:14
  Speaker 9: should have dared to think they could train deer for
• 2:09:17
  Speaker 9: the good Spirit. So when the round up came and
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 9: none of the deer were found, but it was discovered
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 9: that several others of Katuk's deer were also missing, they
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 9: pretended to think, as did all the other folk, that
• 2:09:30
  Speaker 9: Kutok had been unfortunate and that the wolves had gotten
• 2:09:34
  Speaker 9: his deer. This is what everyone believed, and it was
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 9: reported so often that Tuktu and Aclac found it difficult
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 9: at times not to believe that it was true. Had
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 9: it not been for those wolves, we should know, Tuktu
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 9: kept saying, over and over, I hate those wolves, I
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 9: do so Kutok also hated the wolves. He hated them
• 2:09:59
  Speaker 9: for the same reason the tuck Tu did. And he
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 9: hated them because he knew that if those deer were
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 9: not safe in the Valley of the Good Spirit, they
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 9: most certainly have been eaten by this time, and all
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 9: his hard work had gone for nothing. So it was
• 2:10:15
  Speaker 9: that the wolves brought worry to the home of Kutuck
• 2:10:21
  Speaker 9: and of Chapter twenty one read by Greg Giardano, Newport, Richie, Florida.
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 9: Chapter twenty two of The Christmas Reindeer. This is a
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 9: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 2:10:43
  Speaker 9: For more information or to volunteer these, visit LibriVox dot org.
• 2:10:48
  Speaker 9: Read by Greg Giardano. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess.
• 2:10:56
  Speaker 9: The Christmas Invitation. It had been known to the village
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 9: since the forming of New Ice that the ship which
• 2:11:04
  Speaker 9: they had visited in summer had not left for the
• 2:11:07
  Speaker 9: far away country from which it had come, was now
• 2:11:10
  Speaker 9: frozen in the ice, and would spend the winter in
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 9: the far north Land. So there was no surprise when
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 9: one day there arrived two white men in an Eskimo
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 9: guide who had journeyed over land by dog's sledge. One
• 2:11:24
  Speaker 9: of these men was the one who had told tuck
• 2:11:26
  Speaker 9: to the story of Christmas. As Kutok's house was the
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 9: largest and the best house in the village, the visitors
• 2:11:33
  Speaker 9: were entertained there. They remained two or three days, and
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 9: when they left to return to their ship, all the
• 2:11:40
  Speaker 9: village turned out to see them go. They had brought
• 2:11:43
  Speaker 9: things to trade, and in return for deer meat and
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 9: warm clothing of deer skin, had left things which were
• 2:11:49
  Speaker 9: of equal value to the Eskimos, and they had left
• 2:11:52
  Speaker 9: the feeling of good will, for in all their trading
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 9: they had taken the greatest care to be fair. When
• 2:11:59
  Speaker 9: they left, they had taken with them a promise that
• 2:12:02
  Speaker 9: those of the men who could be spared from their
• 2:12:04
  Speaker 9: duties in watching the deer, together with some of the
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 9: women and children from the village, would visit the ship
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 9: at a certain time, which the white men called Christmas.
• 2:12:14
  Speaker 9: There would be much feasting and merry making, and strange
• 2:12:17
  Speaker 9: things to see on the ship. The white man who
• 2:12:20
  Speaker 9: had made friends with Tuktu had made Kutok promise that
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 9: Tuktu should come, and this her father had been the
• 2:12:27
  Speaker 9: more willing to grant because he had been given a
• 2:12:30
  Speaker 9: knife he had long wanted. So it was arranged then
• 2:12:34
  Speaker 9: lest the weather should be too bad so there could
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 9: be no traveling Aycock, Navoluk and the two children, and
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 9: perhaps some others of the village should pay a Christmas
• 2:12:45
  Speaker 9: visit to the ship. Tuktu and Aklak could think of
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 9: and talk about little else. Akhlak saw to it that
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 9: the sled deer were in the best possible condition, would
• 2:12:58
  Speaker 9: take them at least two days in one's sleep. That
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 9: sleep would be at the herder's hut near Kringle Valley.
• 2:13:05
  Speaker 9: At least that is the way that Kutuk planned to go.
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 9: There was a longer way around by way of another village,
• 2:13:12
  Speaker 9: and this would be the way that others from the
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 9: villas would go. Ghutok and Aklak. When two work on
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 9: the sleds, they must be put in the best condition
• 2:13:22
  Speaker 9: for such a long journey. They would take six one
• 2:13:25
  Speaker 9: for each of them, and two extra to carry provisions
• 2:13:30
  Speaker 9: and things for trade. It would not be necessary to
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 9: have extra drivers, for often one driver handles at least
• 2:13:37
  Speaker 9: three sleds. He rides on the first one, the deer
• 2:13:41
  Speaker 9: drawing the second one is attached to the rear of
• 2:13:43
  Speaker 9: his sled, and to the rear of that sled is
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 9: attached the third deer, so it would be a simple
• 2:13:50
  Speaker 9: matter to look out for the extra sleds. On this journey,
• 2:13:53
  Speaker 9: Kutuck was to drive speed foot, tuck To would drive
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 9: big spot, Akla would drive a little spot, and nab
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 9: A Look would drive whitefoot. While her father and brother
• 2:14:06
  Speaker 9: were busy going over the sleds and seeing to it
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 9: that they were in perfect order, tuk To and her
• 2:14:12
  Speaker 9: mother were equally busy. They had promised two pairs of
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 9: boots and two new suits for which they had taken
• 2:14:19
  Speaker 9: the measurements when their visitors were with them, and there
• 2:14:22
  Speaker 9: would be none too much time to get them ready.
• 2:14:25
  Speaker 9: As she worked, Tuktu kept thinking of all that she
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 9: had heard from the White Man about Christmas. This would
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 9: be her first Christmas, and she wondered if she would
• 2:14:35
  Speaker 9: see the wonderful Santa Claus. Then she remembered that he
• 2:14:39
  Speaker 9: would be on his journey around the great world. Besides,
• 2:14:43
  Speaker 9: had not she been told those who piqued never saw him.
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 9: But despite this, rate down in her heart, she couldn't
• 2:14:50
  Speaker 9: help hoping that she might get just a glimpse of him.
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 9: She did want to see if this aunt of the
• 2:14:56
  Speaker 9: White Man was, in very truth the good spirit whom
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 9: she had seen in Kringle Valley. The cold grew stronger,
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 9: the northern lights flashed, and the stars seemed so close
• 2:15:08
  Speaker 9: that one could almost pick them from the sky. It
• 2:15:11
  Speaker 9: was a world of white, but the snow was not
• 2:15:14
  Speaker 9: so deep but that the deer could easily paw down
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 9: through it and get their food. It was just right
• 2:15:20
  Speaker 9: for good sledding, And as the time for the start approached,
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 9: tuck To and Aclac watched anxiously lest the fierce northern
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 9: blizzard should sweep down and delay their journey. But the
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 9: blizzard did not come, and at last they were ready
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 9: to start. Each wore two suits. The inner one was
• 2:15:40
  Speaker 9: worn with the fur turned in, and the outer one
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 9: with the fur out. The inner hood was trimmed with
• 2:15:47
  Speaker 9: wolverine fur, because frost does not cling to this fur.
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 9: With any other fur, the moisture from the breath would
• 2:15:54
  Speaker 9: freeze and soon make a ring of ice around the face.
• 2:15:58
  Speaker 9: The outer hood was trimmed with wolf skin, the long
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 9: hair of which would protect the face from the bitter wind.
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 9: With their bare skin trousers and their double boots. They
• 2:16:08
  Speaker 9: had nothing to fear from the cold. So with Huttuck
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  Speaker 9: leading with the deer and one of the luggage sleds
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  Speaker 9: following act like next with the second extra deer and
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  Speaker 9: sled behind him, Na Wi Luck next and Tuck to
• 2:16:22
  Speaker 9: at the end, the little procession started for their Christmas outing.
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  Speaker 9: End of chapter twenty two. Read by Greg Giordano, Newport, Ritchie, Florida.
• 2:16:42
  Speaker 9: Chapter twenty three of The Christmas Reindeer. This is the
• 2:16:46
  Speaker 9: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 9: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 2:16:57
  Speaker 9: Read by Greg Giordano. The Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W.
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 9: Burgess The Christmas Vision. It was late when Kutok and
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  Speaker 9: his family reached the camp near the Valley of the
• 2:17:11
  Speaker 9: Good Spirit. It had been a wonderful journey. The snow
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 9: had been just right, and the reindeer had traveled steadily
• 2:17:18
  Speaker 9: and fast, for they were in splendid condition. Now they
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  Speaker 9: were fastened out, each tied by a long line to
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  Speaker 9: a hummock under the snow. There's plenty of food here,
• 2:17:29
  Speaker 9: and the deer at once began to paw down to
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  Speaker 9: get it. It was one of the advantages in traveling
• 2:17:34
  Speaker 9: with reindeer that their food does not have to be
• 2:17:37
  Speaker 9: carried for them. They will get their own food at
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 9: the end of the day's trip. Kutok and Navelok had
• 2:17:43
  Speaker 9: no thought for anything but rest after the evening meal.
• 2:17:48
  Speaker 9: But not so the two children. They could not forget
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 9: that they were in sight of the hills around the
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 9: Valley of the Good Spirit, and that it might be
• 2:17:56
  Speaker 9: that over there in that valley were they eight missing deer.
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 9: So when their father and mother were asleep, it slipped
• 2:18:04
  Speaker 9: out from the hut for a look over toward the
• 2:18:07
  Speaker 9: wonderful valley. For was it not from that valley that
• 2:18:11
  Speaker 9: the marvelous northern lights flashed up through the sky. There
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 9: was no wind, the cold was intense, but Tuktu and
• 2:18:20
  Speaker 9: Acclac were dressed for it, and they minded it not
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 9: at all. It seemed as if the stars were so
• 2:18:26
  Speaker 9: close that they could be reached. It was not moonlight,
• 2:18:30
  Speaker 9: but this was the period when the moon was not visible,
• 2:18:33
  Speaker 9: but the starlight almost made up for it. And then
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 9: as they stood there looking over toward the Valley of
• 2:18:40
  Speaker 9: the Good Spirit, a long streamer of light suddenly flashed
• 2:18:44
  Speaker 9: out and up up, up until it was quite overhead.
• 2:18:49
  Speaker 9: It quivered, almost died down, then shot up again, and
• 2:18:53
  Speaker 9: came another, and another and another. The Northern lights, the
• 2:18:59
  Speaker 9: merry dancers of the sky, dimmed the stars and made
• 2:19:02
  Speaker 9: the night almost as light as day. At first the
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 9: northern lights were simply white. Then they were shot with
• 2:19:09
  Speaker 9: yellow and red. All their lives, tuckt and act like
• 2:19:15
  Speaker 9: had been familiar with these fires of the sky, but
• 2:19:18
  Speaker 9: never had they seen them as they now saw them.
• 2:19:21
  Speaker 9: They caught their breath and held to each other with
• 2:19:24
  Speaker 9: a little bit of fear. Those fires were no longer
• 2:19:27
  Speaker 9: mere flashing, white, shimmering, dancing streamers of light. They were
• 2:19:31
  Speaker 9: yellow and red in many shades, and they appeared, as
• 2:19:36
  Speaker 9: if in varied truth, they were fires leaping high up
• 2:19:39
  Speaker 9: in the sky. And as they had so often heard
• 2:19:42
  Speaker 9: it said, those dancing, leaping lights were coming out of
• 2:19:46
  Speaker 9: the Valley of the Good Spirit. Certainly they were flashing
• 2:19:51
  Speaker 9: from directly behind the hills that shut away that valley,
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 9: so of course they must be coming from the valley.
• 2:19:59
  Speaker 9: The lights died down for a moment. There was no
• 2:20:02
  Speaker 9: light saved from the stars and from directly over the
• 2:20:06
  Speaker 9: Valley of the Good Spirit, a long streamer of white,
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 9: flickering light crept up and up, and as it crept
• 2:20:13
  Speaker 9: it broadened until it was like a broad path across
• 2:20:16
  Speaker 9: the sky. Toward the south. There was a tinkle of
• 2:20:20
  Speaker 9: silver bells. Tucked too touched Aclac. See Aclac, see the deer,
• 2:20:27
  Speaker 9: she whispered. But Aclak had already seen them. On that broad,
• 2:20:31
  Speaker 9: shining path, a pair of reindeer had appeared. He knew
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 9: them instantly. They were two of the deer he had
• 2:20:39
  Speaker 9: trained in which had disappeared out of the shimmering light.
• 2:20:43
  Speaker 9: Behind them moved two more. In these he recognized there
• 2:20:48
  Speaker 9: could be no doubt he would have known them among
• 2:20:51
  Speaker 9: ten thousand deer. They were harnessed two and two. And
• 2:20:55
  Speaker 9: as they moved forward, another pair appeared, and then another,
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 9: Clinging together breathless, round eyed, Aclac and tucktoo stared eight deer.
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 9: They counted eight dear harnessed two and two. Would there
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 9: be more? The curtain of light low above the hilltop
• 2:21:15
  Speaker 9: seemed to burst into glory of color such as made
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 9: what they had seen before seem as nothing. And out
• 2:21:22
  Speaker 9: of the midst of that glory, drawn by the eighth
• 2:21:25
  Speaker 9: deer came a sledge on it. Tuck, too, recognized instantly
• 2:21:30
  Speaker 9: Santa Claus, the Good Spirit, whom she had seen in
• 2:21:34
  Speaker 9: the valley. He was short and jolly, and round and fat,
• 2:21:39
  Speaker 9: with a fur trimmed coat and a fur trimmed hat.
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 9: He laughed ha ha, and he laughed ho ho. Hello,
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 9: little folk, he cried, Hello, the boys and girls of
• 2:21:51
  Speaker 9: the world this year will see for themselves my splendid deer.
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 9: We'll see and loved them, and surely know that the
• 2:21:59
  Speaker 9: reindeer come, though there be no snow, for their magic
• 2:22:03
  Speaker 9: dear for my magic sleigh, and we circle the world
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 9: in a single day. There is naught so faithful and
• 2:22:11
  Speaker 9: not so quick to carry the message of old Saint Nick.
• 2:22:16
  Speaker 9: By training my steeds, you have saved for me some
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 9: weeks of labor, and so you see it happens. I
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 9: am able to start this year in time for the
• 2:22:27
  Speaker 9: children to see the deer and all who see them.
• 2:22:31
  Speaker 9: I tell you true, a Christmas greeting will send to you,
• 2:22:36
  Speaker 9: as you will have given joy to all the little
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 9: folk of the great world this year, in like degree,
• 2:22:43
  Speaker 9: will your own Christmas be merry, and will happiness fill
• 2:22:47
  Speaker 9: your hearts, and now my DearS, I must away. Santa
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 9: waved a mittened hand to them, then turned to his
• 2:22:55
  Speaker 9: deer and cried, now Dasher, now dancer, No Prancer, and
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 9: Vixen on comet on, Cupid on Donder, and Blitzen on.
• 2:23:07
  Speaker 9: A shining path of light crossed the sky toward the south.
• 2:23:11
  Speaker 9: The eight deer dashed until in our breath they were
• 2:23:14
  Speaker 9: mere specks. Up from the valley, the orange and red
• 2:23:18
  Speaker 9: lights streamed higher and higher, till all the sky was
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 9: a blaze of beautiful light. When they died down, only
• 2:23:26
  Speaker 9: the stars were to be seen, twinkling so close that
• 2:23:30
  Speaker 9: it seemed as if they might be picked from the sky.
• 2:23:34
  Speaker 9: The shining eyes, Tuktu and Aclak returned to the hut.
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 9: No one will believe us if we tell it, whispered Tuktu,
• 2:23:44
  Speaker 9: they'll say we dreamed it. We'll wait, Aclak till the
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 9: blessed deer are returned to us by the Good Spirit
• 2:23:52
  Speaker 9: next summer, and we can show his ear mark, and
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 9: all will know that we speak truly. Thus it was
• 2:24:01
  Speaker 9: that it was made possible for the boys and girls
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 9: of the great world to really see Santa Claus and
• 2:24:08
  Speaker 9: his Blessed Reindeer. And thus it was that tuck To
• 2:24:12
  Speaker 9: and actle like found happiness in great content, in the
• 2:24:16
  Speaker 9: real joy of the blessed Christmas Spirit. End of Chapter
• 2:24:24
  Speaker 9: twenty three read by Greg Giardano, Newport Richey, Florida. End
• 2:24:31
  Speaker 9: of the Christmas Reindeer by Thornton W. Burgess