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Cover of Colonel Crockett's Co-operative Christmas

Colonel Crockett's Co-operative Christmas

by Rupert Hughes (1872–1956)

  • Free to read
  • 20 min read
  • 3 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"Colonel Crockett's Co-operative Christmas" by Rupert Hughes is a humorous and heartwarming novel written in the early 20th century. The story revolves around Colonel D. A. Crockett, who, feeling lonely while spending Christmas in New York away from his family, decides to organize a grand Christmas gathering at Madison Square Garden for all the other lonely souls in the city. This endeavor captures the essence of community and the festive spirit, showcasing the human desire for connection during the holiday season. The narrative follows Colonel Crockett as he grapples with his feelings of loneliness on Christmas eve in a bustling city filled with millions. After a particularly dismal first Christmas alone, he resolves to create a joyful event for others in similar situations. With a blend of determination and humor, he rents Madison Square Garden, inviting everyone to a free Christmas celebration filled with music, dancing, and refreshments. The dignified and lively event becomes a resounding success, allowing strangers to connect, reminisce, and share in the warmth of the holiday spirit. Through delightful anecdotes and rich character interactions, Hughes illustrates the importance of community and joy during the festive season, ultimately transforming loneliness into fellowship.

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  • Christmas stories
  • Epistolary fiction

Read the opening

Letter One: New York, N. Y., Dec. 26, 1904

FRIEND WIFE:

The miserablest night I ever spent in all my born days—the solitariest, with no seconds—was sure this identical Christmas night in New York City. And I've been some lonesome, too, in my time.

I've told you how, as a boy, I shipped before the mast—the wrong mast—and how the old tub bumped a reef and went down with all hands—and feet—except mine. You remember me telling how I grabbed aholt of a large wooden box and floated on to a dry spot. It knocked the wind out of my stummick considerable, but I hung on kind of unconscious till the tide went out. When I come to, I looked round to see where in Sam Hill I was at, and found I was on a little pinhead of an island about the size a freckle would be on the moon. All around was mostly sky, excepting for what was water. And me with nothing to drink it with!

I set down hard on the box and felt as blue as all the swear words ever swore. There was nothing in sight to eat, and that made me so hungry that me and the box fell over backward. As I laid there sprawled out, with my feet up on the box, I looked between my knees and read them beautiful words, "Eat Buggins' Biscuit," in plain sight before me on the end of the box.

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Contents

  1. Foreword
  2. Letter One: New York, N. Y., Dec. 26, 1904
  3. Letter Two: New York, N. Y., Dec. 28, 1905

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About this edition

This free edition of Colonel Crockett's Co-operative Christmas by Rupert Hughes comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #22696, released 2007-09-21. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Humour, Novels, American Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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