CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA. 15

The next day, a wonderfully mild Christmas in that region,
grandfather, Miss Van Buren, and myself, went up the high
hill to get a view of the moun-

  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
   

tains. The sharp peaks of
Chocorua seemed to cut the
air, and grandfather told Miss
Van Buren as we slowly went
along the awful story of Choco-
rua’s curse. Had I not known.
the true explanation to the pullet story,
this story of the old Conway farms would
~ have chilled me, for the Conway farmers
believe that Chocorua’s curse causes
the cattle to die. The air was very still,
only a low
murmur at
times in the
tops of the
pines.
There
were hunt-
ers in the
woods _ be-
low us, and
from time to time the crack of a rifle would cause us to stop
to listen to the echoes. As we returned, I hurried ahead of
grandfather and Miss Van Buren, and gained the highway some
minutes before them.

A wagon was passing, full of hunters and game. Out of one
of the game bags hung the head of anoble bird; my eyes recog-
nized it with astonishment, — it was Parson Pool’s Christmas
pullet.