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THE THREE NORTHMEN

The summer and autumn passed away, and the winter came on. Rollo was having a new great-coat made. He had grown too big for the old one, and so his mother had laid it aside, waiting for Nathan to grow up to it.

When Rollo’s coat was done, he went out to show it to Jonas. It was thick and warm, with large cuffs, and there was a good warm collar to come up about his ears.

“And see,” said Rollo, throwing the coat back, and slipping one of his arms out, “see how easy it comes off and on!”

“Yes,” said Jonas, “and that is a great convenience in a great-coat. It is a very fine great-coat, indeed. I think, with that on, you will be able to make your stand against all three of the Northmen.”

“All three of the Northmen!” repeated Rollo. “Who are the Northmen?”

“Don’t you know who the three famous Northmen are,” said Jonas, “who do so much mischief?”

“No,” said Rollo, “I never heard of them before.”

“Well,” said Jonas, “I will tell you some time, but now I must go away with the cart.”

Jonas had been harnessing the horse into the cart, in the yard, while Rollo had been talking with him, and now was about ready to go away. Rollo determined to ask his mother to let him go with him.

“Where are you going, Jonas?” said he.

“Down into the woods,” said Jonas.

“Wait a minute for me.”

So away Rollo ran to ask his mother. She said, yes; and he accordingly came out and took his seat, by the side of Jonas, upon a board which was placed across the cart, from one side to the other.

Jonas was going down into the woods to bring up a load of wood which he had obtained from the trimmings of the trees. It was a cold, frosty morning, and the winter was near; and Jonas wished to get the wood in before the snow should come and cover it up. Rollo was so much interested in driving the cart down, and then in loading it with wood, that he forgot to ask Jonas about the three famous Northmen.

About a month after this, there were a few very cold mornings. The ice froze very hard in a tub of water before the pump, and Jonas had to cut a hole in it with the axe, for the horse to drink.

Rollo saw him through the kitchen window, and he opened the door and ran out a moment to see him. Jonas was cutting away very carefully all around the sides of the tub, so as to get the whole mass of ice out together. Rollo stood looking on, shivering. He had no hat on, and only slippers upon his feet. He stood leaning a little forward, his arms hanging off from his sides as if they were driven off by electric repulsion.

“A’n’t you cold?” said Rollo to Jonas.

“No,” said Jonas, “not at all.”

“I am; and I can’t stay out here any longer, I am so cold.”

“You are not prepared for it; that is the difficulty. Go and put on your boots, and your cap, and your mittens, and button up your jacket, and come out here and go to work with me, and you won’t be cold.”

Rollo ran in and got his boots; and after warming them by the kitchen fire, he put them on. He also buttoned his jacket up to his chin, and drew on his mittens, and put on his cap. He then went out again to find Jonas.

He found him in the barn, pitching down hay.

“Now,” said Rollo, as he came up the stairs, “what shall I do?”

“Ah, you have come out to work, have you?” said Jonas. “Well, take this pitchfork, and mount up upon the loft there, and pitch me down some hay.”

Rollo found it very hard to get up upon the loft. There were only some pegs, driven into a post, to climb up by. However, with Jonas’s help, he got up, and then clambered over upon the hay; and Jonas threw the pitchfork up after him.

“Now work moderately,” said Jonas, “and I’ll insure that the Northmen can’t touch you.”

“O, there!” said Rollo, “you have never told me about the Northmen.”

“Well,” said Jonas, “I will tell you now, when you come down.”

After pitching the hay down a little while, Rollo descended, though it was not necessary for Jonas to help him, for he jumped down upon the heap of hay which he had made. They then went together, attending to Jonas’s work about the barn, while Rollo stopped occasionally to look out the open door or window, where the sun was shining in very pleasantly. Rollo began to think it was a warm, pleasant morning.

“There is one of the Northmen,” said Jonas, “that you are somewhat acquainted with already.”

“What is his name?” said Rollo.

“Captain Jack Frost,” replied Jonas.

“O, yes,” said Rollo, with a smile, “I have heard of that gentleman before.”

“Yes,” said Jonas, “he is pretty well known. He is a great mischief-maker. He lives in an ice castle at the North, and in the fall of the year he comes creeping along in the still nights, and early in the mornings. He builds bridges over the ponds, and brooks, and plants little gardens of hoar frost; and where he sees a stone in the ground, he stamps his foot upon it, and crowds it down a little way. Then it is his great delight to go about pinching boys’ toes and noses. He is a sly rogue.”

“And who are the other Northmen?” said Rollo.

“The next is General Boreas,” said Jonas.

“General Boreas!” repeated Rollo; “and who is he?”

“O! he is a terrible fellow,” replied Jonas. “He comes roaring and thundering along the tops of the forests at midnight, in snowstorms and hail. He buries up the whole country, he breaks down the trees, and sometimes unroofs the houses. Then, if he finds any poor traveller out, he whistles and roars about his ears, and tries to frighten him; and he throws snow into his face, and heaps it up all about him in order to bury him up if he can.

“Then, besides,” continued Jonas, “the old stormer has another way of making mischief. After he has got the valleys and streams covered and filled with ice and snow, he brings on a tempest of wind and rain, and fills the land with torrents, which raise the streams, and tear up the ice, and carry it down in vast, broken, and jamming blocks, which break down the bridges, and carry away dams, and spread all over the meadows, frightening a good many families out of their beds at midnight.”

“Is that the way that General Boreas acts?” said Rollo.

“Yes,” replied Jonas, “that’s the way.”

“And who is the third Northman?” said Rollo.

“His name is Old Zero,” replied Jonas. “He is more than threescore years and ten, a great deal; his head is hoary, and his beard is long and gray. He creeps softly along after General Boreas has worked himself out of breath, and gone away. He curtains over all the windows with frost work in the night. He likes the night, when it is calm and still, and the stars are shining bright and cold all over the sky. And he kills more people than Boreas does.”

“Kills them?” said Rollo.

“Yes,” replied Jonas. “He makes no blustering, but he stings bitterly, and the poor traveller has his ears, and hands, and feet frozen before he knows what a cruel enemy is around him. Captain Jack Frost you may laugh at,—but as to Old Zero, you had better beware of him.”

Rollo laughed a good deal at Jonas’s account of the three Northmen, and Jonas told him that they sometimes made some splendid curiosities, which would be beautiful for a shelf in his museum, if they would only keep.

“What are the curiosities?” said Rollo.

“O, all kinds of stars, and spangles, and snow-flakes, of a great many beautiful forms,—and icicles, and frost work. But they will not keep very long, unless you make a cabinet expressly for them.”

“I can’t make a cabinet,” said Rollo.

“O, yes, you can,—a frost-cabinet,” said Jonas.

“How?” asked Rollo.

“Why, you must go down near the brook, in the middle of the winter, and make a little room of snow. Then you must get a large piece of thin, clear ice from a still place in the brook, and fix it in for a window. You must also get some sheets of white ice, or snow crust, for shelves, and put your frost curiosities upon them. If you make it in a cold place, they will keep for some time.”

“I will make a frost museum,” said Rollo. “I mean to go down to-day and look out a place.”

“Yes,” said Jonas, “and you can keep it a secret until it is done, and then take your father and mother down to see it, and surprise them.”

“Yes,” said Rollo, clapping his hands, “so I will.”