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Page 5
BERTEL. _'Tis_ like the forest.
HOLGER. And when the organ plays that's like a storm gathering in the
mountains.
BERTEL. A storm?--Aye!--"The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in
the storm and the clouds are the dust of His feet!"--Why should He not
do a wonder as of old? Perhaps the great miracle will come again!
HOLGER. Oh, which, Uncle?--There are so many in the Bible!
STEEN. Yes, which?--Would there be a whale now to swallow a priest?
BERTEL. Thou goosey! This was no Bible miracle,--it happened there,
_there_, where we see the lights,--hundreds of years ago. (BERTEL
_has followed_ HOLGER _to the window and_ STEEN _joins them.
As he speaks_ BERTEL _slips his arms affectionately round both
children and the three stand looking out. At this moment something stirs
in the dim shadows that shroud the corner up above the fire-place.
Suddenly out of the dark the_ OLD WOMAN _emerges. A tall figure,
if she were not so bent, wrapped in a black cloak. There is nothing
grotesque or sinister in her appearance, she might have stood for a
statue of old age, impressive in its pathos. As she sits on the stool
near the fire she throws back the cloak disclosing the plain straight
dress of gray beneath. The light of the fire reveals her crouched,
swaying back and forth praying silently, her face still shaded by the
heavy hood of her cloak. The others gazing intently out at the church
do 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!_
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