Why the Chimes Rang | Page 4

not see her._ BERTEL _continues speaking_) Surely thou hast heard of the Miracle of the Chimes?
HOLGER. I've heard folks speak of it,--but I never knew just what happened.
STEEN. Oh, tell us, Uncle Bertel.
BERTEL. Aye, listen then!--You see the great tower there?--(_Both children nod emphatically_) It goes so high into the clouds that no one can see it's top!--No one even knows how high it is for the men who built it have been dead for hundreds of years.
STEEN. But what has that to do with the chimes?
HOLGER. Hush, Steen, let uncle speak!
BERTEL. The chimes are up at the top of the tower--and they are holy bells,--miraculous bells, placed there by sainted hands,--and when they rang 'twas said that angels' voices echoed through them.
STEEN. Why doesn't someone ring them _now_?
BERTEL. Ah, that is not so easy!--They are said to ring on Christmas Eve when the gifts are laid on the altar for the Christ-child,--but not every offering will ring them, it must be a perfect gift. And for all these years not one thing has been laid upon the altar good enough to make the chimes ring out.
HOLGER. Oh, that's what the priest was talking about to mother, then. He said it mustn't be just a fine gift for show but something full of love for the Christ-child.
STEEN. Oh, I want to hear them!
BERTEL. _We shall!_--The very air is full of holy mystery! The Spirit of Christ will be there in the church to-night! (To HOLGER) Thy cap, boy!
(HOLGER _stands wrapt in thought gazing out at the cathedral._)
STEEN. (Taking the cap and cloak from the peg near the door and bringing them down and piling them into HOLGER'S _arms_) Here they are, old dreamer!--(_He turns back up toward the door in such a way that he does not see the silent figure in the corner_) _And hurry!_
(BERTEL _too turns toward his left hand and does not see the woman._)
HOLGER. (_In a tone of bright happiness, roused from his dreaming_) I'm coming!--Nothing can happen to stop us now, can it? (_As he says this he wheels to his right in a way that brings the chimney corner in his line of vision. He starts, bends forward staring as the others open the door, then he speaks in a tone that is little more than a gasp_) _Steen!_
(_The others stop and stare at him, then in the direction of his look._)
STEEN. Oh!--The Old Woman!
BERTEL. (Looking to STEEN) When did she come in?
STEEN. I didn't see her!
(HOLGER _crosses timidly towards her. As he approaches the_ OLD WOMAN _turns her eyes on him and holds out her hands in pitiful appeal._)
HOLGER. What dost thou want, dame?
OLD WOMAN. (_In a voice that is harsh and broken_) Refuge--from the storm of the world!
HOLGER. Surely thou shalt rest here.
OLD WOMAN. (Half rises stiffly as HOLGER _draws nearer_) Oh, son, I am so weary and so heavy laden. (She sways and HOLGER _runs forward, catching her in his arms and supporting her on the stool. The others stand watching. She sits huddled forward in a position that suggests collapse_)
HOLGER. She's faint! (_He touches her hands_) She's so cold! Quick, Steen, build up the fire! (STEEN _goes to the fire and puts on another log, the flames blase up_. HOLGER _busies himself chafing the woman's hands and covering her with the old cloak that has dropped back from her shoulders_) She must have lost her way in the forest.
BERTEL. (_Stands watching the woman rather suspiciously, now comes to_ HOLGER _taps him on the arm and draws him a little apart, speaking in an undertone_) We have scant time to lose with that old beggar.
HOLGER. What'll I do with her?
BERTEL. Leave her and come on.
STEEN. And _come_--before it is to-morrow! (_He is back by the door, his hand on the latch_)
HOLGER. (Turns and looks at the old woman and then back to BERTEL) Oh, I--ought we to go and leave her?
STEEN. Not go?
BERTEL. Go, of course we'll go, she'll warm herself and march along.
HOLGER. But she is ill. (Turns to STEEN _with new decision in his manner_) Thou shalt go with Uncle but I--must stay with her.
BERTEL. Nonsense, Holger!
HOLGER. No, it isn't!--If we should all go now, the fire would go out and the light,--and she would wake up in the cold darkness and not know where to turn for help.
BERTEL. Na, by Saint Christopher!--Miss a miracle to keep company with a beggar!--Who held her hand before thou camest along? Send her packing and make haste, Holger.
STEEN. Oh, do, Holger!
HOLGER. If there were some place near that we could take her.
BERTEL. There isn't a place on the road,--they've all gone to town long ago. Bid her fare there also!
HOLGER. (Looks at the OLD WOMAN, then at BERTEL, then back to the OLD WOMAN, _then he shakes his head_) Mother wouldn't treat