Summary: How does one get a crusty old man to have a change of heart about life? Ask Hoss.<\/p>\n
Rating: G, Word Count: 1992<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Service of Love<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thirteen-year-old Hoss loved Christmas. It wasn\u2019t the presents he loved. It was the time to be with family and friends. There was one person he wanted to try and be friends with. His name was Ebenezer Barnabas. He was around his father\u2019s age but he was always angry and mean. He lived a ways from them. Everyone called him a grinch because he never talked to anyone and if he did he snapped at them. Hoss knew that he was could be a kind man and wanted to show people that. Hoss had tried to get him to go to church but Mr. Barnabas would yell at him to \u201cgo away\u201d and slam the door. Hoss stopped for a while but he thought Mr. Barnabas needed a friend. This year he\u2019d try to be friends with him again.<\/p>\n Ebenezer hated Christmas. He thought it was a stupid holiday where people pretended to be happy and show Christmas cheer. His wife and son had been killed by renegade Indians on Christmas day three years before. He had been in the barn that morning when his son and wife were in the house. They burned the house with them in it. They rode off without checking the barn and Ebenezer tried in vain to save his family but the flames engulfed the house. Everyone around had helped him rebuild his house but he still shut them out. Even young Hoss Cartwright. He was the same age as Tim. He didn\u2019t want to see Hoss because he and Tim had been friends. It hurt Ebenezer to see Hoss. He knew the townspeople gossiped about him. Many were new and didn\u2019t know his story. They only knew him as a scrooge, mean, a grinch. He didn\u2019t care. Let them talk. They\u2019d never listen to his story if he gave them the time of day. Grumbling, he went to his barn and milked his cow.<\/p>\n Back on the Ponderosa Hoss sighed as he cleaned the barn. Adam looked over at him and stopped brushing Sport.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Adam asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Mr. Barnabas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about him?\u201d Adam walked over to one of the stalls and leaned against the pillar crossing his arms.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to do something for him for Christmas. I know he hates Christmas because of what happened to his wife and Tim. He needs a family. He won\u2019t even go to church with us and slams the door in my face. I know he hates me because I remind him of the times Tim and I would play,\u201d Hoss said sadly.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss, he doesn\u2019t hate you. It\u2019s sad for him to see you because he thinks of you both. Memories are hard at times,\u201d Adam explained.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make it happy for him again. He should have a family again. We should be his family,\u201d Hoss said with a light in his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cHow are you going to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019ll think of something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot many people would want him to be a part of a family because he\u2019s so mean. But I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll find a way,\u201d Adam replied smiling.<\/p>\n That night, Hoss sat in bed still trying to think of what to do. He\u2019d clean Mr. Barnabas\u2019 barn and milk his cow. Maybe through that he could get the older man to join them for Christmas Eve or Christmas day. He went to bed happy. He got up early the next morning and rode to Mr. Barnabas\u2019 house. He quietly went into the barn and lit the lamp in the barn and began to work. He tried not to be loud so as to not arouse Mr. Barnabas and ruin the surprise.<\/p>\n Ebenezer got up and went out to the barn. He was surprised to see the barn was cleaned. He went to milk the cow but found she had already been milked. He checked the milk can and saw it was filled with milk. Who would have done that, he wondered. He turned to do some wood carving. It had been a hobby of his and he enjoyed it. Ebenezer had always made something for his wife and son for Christmas through the years. He didn\u2019t know what to do with himself the past few Christmas\u2019 so he kept doing his wood working to pass time.<\/p>\n For the next few weeks, Hoss got up early and went to Mr. Barnabas\u2019 house and did chores. He hoped to not be caught because he knew he\u2019d get yelled at. He had felt good helping Mr. Barnabas. He also had kept the service a secret from his family because he was afraid they might tell if they found out. Especially Little Joe. He was seven and would tell people anything if they\u2019d listen. After he finished, he\u2019d go home and have breakfast then go to school. After school, Hoss would pick up the mail and would see Mr. Barnabas at times. One day he had called out and waved to Mr. Barnabas.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, Mr. Barnabas!\u201d Hoss called out.<\/p>\n Ebenezer looked up from hitching his horse to the post and look at Hoss then walk away.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you talk to him? He\u2019s the meanest man in town,\u201d Hoss\u2019 friend Garth said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is not. He\u2019s a good man. He needs a friend and it\u2019s nice to say hello to someone,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n Ebenezer had heard Hoss\u2019 reply to his friend. He was surprised that Hoss would still think Ebenezer a good man after all the times he yelled at Hoss to go away after Tim died. \u201cHello, Mr. Barnabas. I\u2019ll get your order right away,\u201d Mr. Larson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you.\u201d Barnabas said gruffly. He looked around and saw a few women look at him then quickly turn away. They spoke in low voices. He turned away. Let them talk. He didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be a dollar twenty-five,\u201d Mr. Larson said.<\/p>\n Barnabas handed him he money, took the items and left. He walked to his horse without looking at anyone. He wanted to go home and fast.<\/p>\n The week of Christmas came and Hoss had to get up the courage to invite Mr. Barnabas to the Christmas Eve party. He had spoken to his father about it earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cPa, are we having a party Christmas Eve?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, we are,\u201d Ben replied.<\/p>\n \u201cMay I invite a friend?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course. Who are you thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Barnabas.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben, Adam and Joe looked at Hoss in surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy would you want to invite him? He\u2019s mean. He\u2019s make everyone go home by yelling at them. He hates Christmas. I heard him yell that to someone on the street,\u201d Joe replied.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, that\u2019s not nice to say,\u201d Ben said sternly.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Pa, I\u2019m only telling what I heard when I was in town with Adam the other day,\u201d Joe said innocently.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s true, Pa, we did hear him,\u201d Adam confirmed.<\/p>\n \u201cEven so, it\u2019s not nice to say he\u2019s mean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut he is,\u201d Joe said.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, that\u2019s enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe kept quiet.<\/p>\n Ben turned back to his middle son. \u201cYou can try and invite him. If he says no, don\u2019t go pestering him. Leave him alone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t. Thanks, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n The next day, Hoss went to Mr. Barnabas\u2019 house and knocked on the door and Ebenezer came to the door.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d he snapped.<\/p>\n \u201cI..I was wondering if you\u2019d like to come to our Christmas Eve party at our house,\u201d Hoss stuttered.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy should I go to a party?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause everyone will be there and I want you to be there,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n Ebenezer looked at the boy.<\/p>\n \u201cNo. Now leave me alone,\u201d Ebenezer snapped and slammed the door.<\/p>\n Hoss slumped and left.<\/p>\n Hoss still went to clean Mr. Barnabas\u2019 barn and milk his cow. Ebenezer had finally got up early to catch the person doing his chores. He crept to the barn and heard a voice. At first it sounded like Tim\u2019s but he peered in and was surprised to see Hoss milking his cow. It had been Hoss all this time?<\/p>\n \u201cHoss Cartwright,\u201d Ebenezer said gruffly.<\/p>\n Hoss looked over with surprise on his face.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you doing? Are you doing this because you want me to go to the party?\u201d He asked angrily.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first I did but now I just want to do it,\u201d Hoss replied, looking like he was ready to cry.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it won\u2019t work. I could have you arrested for trespassing.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss looked scared. \u201cPlease don\u2019t. I just wanted to help you. I wanted to show you I wanted to be friends. You need a friend. You need a family and I wanted you to be apart of our family,\u201d<\/p>\n Ebenezer tried not to show his surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t tell the Sheriff. But after this you do not come here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, sir,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n Ebenezer walked out and into the house. Hoss finished the milking and left.<\/p>\n Tears streamed down Hoss\u2019 face as he rode home. He had been caught and yelled at. He wanted to show love to Mr. Barnabas. This was the only way Hoss knew how. He felt like he had failed. Mr. Barnabas really didn\u2019t want a family. When Hoss got home, he tied Chubb to the hitching post, dried his tears and went inside to face his family. Adam was the first to notice something was wrong with Hoss. He ate but said nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll ride along with you to school, Hoss,\u201d Adam offered.<\/p>\n Hoss nodded. They finished eating and then left for school.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Adam asked after a while.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Barnabas caught me milking his cow. He yelled at me and said that I was doing it to get him to come to our party. I told him I did at first but then wanted to help him. He said that he wouldn\u2019t call the sheriff and to never come back. Adam, I just feel awful. He\u2019ll never be friends with us. It\u2019s all my fault,\u201d Hoss said sadly.<\/p>\n Adam looked at Hoss.<\/p>\n \u201cYou did a good deed, Hoss. That counts for something. Nobody else would ever do something like that for him. I commend you for serving him like that. That\u2019s what Christmas is about, helping our fellow man. He\u2019ll come around. Just give it time,\u201d Adam advised.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess,\u201d Hoss replied.<\/p>\n That night, Ebenezer was sitting in his chair reading the Bible. He read of the birth of the Christ Child and His life. He sat and contemplated. Christ served His fellow man. Hoss had served Ebenezer. Hoss said he wanted him to be a part of the Cartwright family. He realized that Hoss wanted him to have a family and to be happy again. Perhaps this Christmas, Ebenezer could join the Cartwrights for Christmas.<\/p>\n The Cartwrights\u2019 friends danced in the front room at the Cartwright home. Hoss watched from the stairs glumly. He had hoped Mr. Barnabas would come. He had stayed away from him the whole week. Hoss got up to go to bed and heard the door open. He turned in anticipation that it was Mr. Barnabas. More friends filed in followed by Mr. Barnabas. A smile spread on Hoss\u2019 face and he ran down the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Barnabas, you came!\u201d Hoss said excitedly.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I did. Let\u2019s go talk in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n The two went into the kitchen.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss, I thought of what you said about you wanting me to be apart of your family. I think you\u2019re right. I do need a family again. You melted my cold heart and made it bigger. Christmas is about family. I lost that and you gave it back to me. I have something for you,\u201d he said pulling something from his coat pocket.<\/p>\n It was a wooden horse.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you!\u201d Hoss said taking the wooden horse.<\/p>\n He hugged Mr. Barnabas. They went back out to the party.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From the Brandsters.\u00a0 The story was originally written and published on the Bonanza Trail Riders site.\u00a0 Brand is happy to offer this story a new home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: How does one get a crusty old man to have a change of heart about life? Ask Hoss.
\nEbenezer walked into the store and gave his list to the man working behind the counter.<\/p>\n
\nRating: K, Word Count: 1992<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12475,"featured_media":62121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,1006],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-hoss-cartwright","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-1006-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTR.png?fit=442%2C255&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}