jimmieboy is the proud possessor of a small brother, who, to use one of jimmieboy's own expressions, is getting to be a good deal of a man. that is to say, he is old enough to go out driving all by himself, being eleven months of age, and quite capable of managing the fiery untamed nurse that pushes his carriage along the street. of course, if the nurse had not been warranted kind and gentle when the baby's mamma went to find her in the beginning, little russ would have had to have somebody go along with him when he went driving—somebody like jimmieboy, for instance, to frighten off big dogs and policemen, and to see that the nurse didn't shy or run away—but as it was, the baby had developed[pg 157] force of character and self-reliance enough to go out unattended, and, except on one occasion, he got back again safe and sound.
this one occasion was early in december, when nature, having observed that the great big boys had got through playing football and were beginning to think of snow-balls, sent word to the arctic cold weather company that she desired to have delivered at once five days of low temperature for general distribution among her friends, which days were sent through by special messenger, arriving late on the night of december 1st, giving great satisfaction to everybody, particularly to those who deal in ice, ear-tabs, and skates. at first jimmieboy's mamma thought that nature was perhaps a little too generous with her frosty weather, and for two days she kept her two sons, jimmieboy and russ, cooped up in the house, laying in a supply of furnace and log-fire heat sufficiently large to keep them warm until the third day, when she thought that they might safely go out.
upon the third day jimmieboy's papa said that he imagined the boys were warm enough to venture out-of-doors, so they were bundled up in leggings, fur-lined coats, flannel bands, scarfs, silk handkerchiefs, lamb's-wool rugs, and[pg 158] "arctics," the door was opened, and out they went. jimmieboy staid out seven minutes, and then came in again to see if he could find out why his nose had suddenly changed its color, first from pink to red, and then from red to blue. he also wished to come in, he said, because the solid iron driver of his red express wagon had been "freezed stiff," and he was afraid if he staid out much longer he'd never thaw out again. little russ, on the contrary, lying luxuriously in his carriage, with no part of him visible save the tip end of his chin, which was so fat that the coverings would slip off, no matter how[pg 159] hard mamma and the nurse tried to make them stay on, remained out-of-doors for two hours, apparently very comfortable. his great blue eyes shone mirthfully when he came in, and until six o'clock that evening all went well with him, and then he began to whimper.
"what's the matter with my baby?" asked jimmieboy.
little russ made no reply other than a grimace, which made jimmieboy laugh, at which the baby opened his mouth as wide as he could and shrieked with wrath.
"i'm inclined to think," said the nurse, as she sought vainly to find where a possible pin might be creating a disturbance to the baby's discomfiture—"i'm inclined to think that perhaps he's got a pain somewhere."
and then the youthful russ blinked his eyes, gave another shriek, and attempted to pout. now it is a singular way little russ has of pouting.[pg 160] he gets it from his mamma, who used to pout in just the same way when she was a little girl—so grandma says—and it consists entirely of sticking his chin out as far as he can, while concealing his lower lip as much as possible beneath the cherry-colored cupid's bow that acts as his upper lip. a proceeding of this sort always results in making that chin the most conspicuous thing in the room, so that it is not surprising that when little russ pouted every one in the room should at once notice that there was a great red spot upon it.
"why, the poor little soul has been frost-bitten!" cried mamma, running for the cold cream—queer thing that, by-the-way, jimmieboy thought. he would have put warm cream on a cold sore like that.
"so he is!" ejaculated papa, with an indignant glance at the chin, which only caused that fat little feature to pout the more. "hadn't i better send for the doctor?"
"does dogs frost-bite?" queried jimmieboy, looking around the room for a stick with which to beat the dog that had done the biting, if perchance it was a dog that was responsible.
"no, indeed," said papa. "it wasn't a dog;[pg 161] it was jack frost, and nobody else. he ought to be muzzled."
"who is jack frost, papa?" jimmieboy asked, so much interested in jack that he for a moment forgot his suffering small brother.
"jack? why, jack is a man named frost, who deals in cold, and he goes around in winter biting people. he's a sort of ice-man, only he's retired from trade, and gives things away, to people who don't want 'em. it would be better if he'd go into business, and sell his favors to people who do want 'em."
"well, he's a naughty man," said jimmieboy.
"yes, indeed, he is," said papa. "why, he's the man who withered all your mamma's plants, and painted our nice green lawn white; and then, when we wanted to dig holes for the fence posts, he came along and made the ground so hard it took all the edge off the spade, and made the hired man so tired that he overslept himself that night and let the furnace go out."
"can't somebody catch him, and put him into prism?" asked jimmieboy.
"oh, he's been in prism lots of times," said papa, with a laugh at jimmieboy's droll word; "but he manages to get out again."
"where does he live, papa?" asked the boy.
[pg 162]
"all around in winter. in summer he goes north for his health."
"and can't anybody ever get rid of him?"
"no. the only way to do that successfully would be to burn him out, and so far nobody has ever been able to do it entirely. you can put him out of your own house; but, if he wants to, he'll stay around the place and nip your plants, and freeze up your wells, and put a web of ice on your grass and sidewalks in spite of anything you can do."
by this time little russ had quieted down and gone to sleep. the cold cream, aided by a huge bottleful of the food he liked best, which warmed up his little heart and various other parts of his being, to which the world had for a little while seemed bleak and drear, had put him in a contented frame of mind, and if the smile on his lips meant anything he had forgotten his woes in dreams of sweet and lovely things.
it was not so, however, with jimmieboy, who grew more and more indignant as he thought of that great lumbering ice-man, jack frost, coming along and biting his dear little brother in that cruel fashion. it was simply cowardly, he thought. of course jimmieboy could understand how any one might wish to take a bite of something[pg 163] that was as sweet as little russ was, and when mosquitoes did it he was not disposed to quarrel with them, because it was courageous in a minute insect like a mosquito to risk his life for his sweetmeats, but with jack frost it was different. why didn't he take a man of his size like papa, for instance, or the grocer man? he was afraid to—that was it—and so he fastened upon a poor, helpless little man like russ, only eleven months old.
"he ought to be hitted on the head," said jimmieboy.
"that wouldn't do any good," said papa. "it wouldn't hurt him a bit. you couldn't kill him with a hundred ice-picks, and i don't believe even a steam-drill would lay him up more than a week. what he's afraid of is heat—only heat, and nothing else. that cracks him all up and melts him, so that he can't bite anything."
then jimmieboy had his supper and began playing with his toys until bedtime should come, but all the time his mind was on that cruel jack frost. something else in the room was thinking about it, too, only jimmieboy didn't know it. the little gas-stove that stood guard over by the fire-place was quite as angry about jack's behavior as anybody, but he kept very still until[pg 164] along about eight o'clock when he began to sputter.
jimmieboy stopped pushing his iron engine over the floor, and looked with heavy eyes at the gas-stove. this was extraordinary behavior for the stove, and jimmieboy wondered what was the matter.
"say!" whispered the stove, as jimmieboy looked at him. "let's get after that frost fellow and make him wish he never was born."
jimmieboy said nothing to this. he was too much surprised to say anything—the idea of a gas-stove speaking to him was so absurd. he only gazed steadfastly at the extraordinary thing in the fire-place, and then let his head droop down on his arms as he lay on the floor, and in a moment would have been asleep had not the stove again sputtered.
"hi! jimmieboy!" it cried. "don't go to sleep. i know where jack frost lives, and we'll get after him and punish him for what he did to little russ."
"how?" asked jimmieboy, crawling across the room on his hands and knees, and looking earnestly at this strange gas-stove.
"never mind how," returned the stove. "i'll tell you that later. the point is, will you go? if[pg 165] you will say the word i'll make all the arrangements, and we'll set off after everybody has gone to bed. it is a beautiful moonlight night. everything is just right for a successful trip. there's enough snow on the ground for the sleigh to move, and the river's all frozen over except in the middle. we can skate as far as the ice goes, and then, if there is no boat, we can put on your papa's arctics, and walk across the water to the other side. from there it's only a forty-minute skate to jack's home. he'll come in about twelve o'clock, and we'll have him just where we want him. what do you say?"
"i'll be in bed by the time you want to start," said jimmieboy. "i'd like to do it very much, but i don't know how to dress myself, and——"
"never mind that," returned the gas stove. "go as you are."
"in my night-gown? on a cold night like this?" queried the little fellow, more than ever astonished at the gas stove's peculiarities.
"why, certainly. i'll see that you are kept warm," returned the stove. "i've got warmth enough for twenty-six as it is, and if there's only two of us—why, you see how it'll be. it'll be too warm for two of us."
"that's so," said jimmieboy. "i never[pg 166] thought of it that way. i might sit on your lap if i couldn't keep warm any other way, eh?"
"i've got a better way than that," said the stove, dancing a little jig on the tiles. "i'll get you a pair of gas gloves, some gas ear-tabs, a patent nose furnace, an overcoat lined with gas-jets that can be lit so as to keep you warm without burning you, and leggings, shoes, hats, and everything you need to make you feel as happy and warm as a poached egg on toast."
"that'll be splendid," said jimmieboy. "i'll go, and we'll fix jack so that he won't bite any of our people any more, eh?"
"yes," said the gas stove, delighted at the prospect.
[pg 167]
"shall we muzzle him?" asked jimmieboy. but the gas stove only winked, for just then mamma came up stairs from dinner, and as it was jimmieboy's nurse's night out, his mamma undressed the little fellow, and put him in his crib, where he shortly dropped off to sleep.
in a little while everybody in the house had gone to bed, and when the last light had been extinguished the door of the room in which jimmieboy slept was slowly opened, and the gas stove, all his lights turned down so that nobody could see him in the darkness, tip-toed in, and climbing upon the side of jimmieboy's crib tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"all ready?" he said, in a low whisper.
"yes," answered jimmieboy, softly, as he arose and got down on the floor. "how do we go? down the stairs?"
"no," replied the gas stove. "we'll take the toy balloon up the chimney."
which they at once proceeded to do.
