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Chapter 8

Multiple Choice

1. The study of the shape of the Earth’s physical landform features and how they change over
time is known as:
A) Geography
B) Geomorphology
C) Geology
D) Meteorology

Ans: B
Section Ref: The Changing Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe the geologic timescale

2. Using the figure below, where would you find the densest material on Earth?

A) within the Earth’s crust

B) within the Earth’s mantle.
C) within the Earth’s outer core
D) within the Earth’s inner core
E) within the Earth’s atmosphere

Ans: D
Section Ref: Structure of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Contrast the inner and outer core.

3. Using changes in seismic wave velocities, we know that the Earth’s inner core is stable in
what phase?
A) liquid
B) solid
C) gas
D) plasma

Ans: B
Section Ref: Structure of the Earth
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Contrast the inner and outer core.

4. The continents and ocean basins are located in the:

A) crust
B) mantle
C) core
D) asthenosphere

Ans: A
Section Ref: Structure of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Contrast the inner and outer core.

5. The oceanic crust is __________ and __________ than continental crust.

A) thicker; denser
B) thinner; denser
C) thicker; less dense
D) thinner; less dense

Ans: B
Section Ref: Structure of the Earth
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Contrast the inner and outer core.
6. Which of the following elements are abundant in the crust?
A) titanium
B) gold
C) oxygen
D) nitrogen

Ans: C
Section Ref: Rocks and Minerals of the Earth's Crust
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Contrast the inner and outer core.

7. The photos below show four common materials. Which material is not considered a mineral
because it forms by organic processes? .

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Describe the relationship of the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.

8. Which element is the most abundant in Earth's crust?

A) silicon
B) iron
C) calcium
D) oxygen
Ans: D
Section Ref: Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe the relationship of the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.

9. Which of the following rocks form as a result of solidification from a melt?

A) sedimentary
B) igneous
C) metamorphic
D) none of these
E) all of these

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

10. Which sample is an example of an igneous rock?

A) sample A
B) sample B
C) sample C
D) none of these

Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.
11. Which rock sample is formed from cooling and solidifying magma?

A) sample A
B) sample B
C) sample C
D) none of these

Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

12. A rock that is dark-colored and heavy is most likely composed of:
A) felsic minerals
B) mafic minerals
C) organic compounds
D) none of these
E) all of these

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

13. Felsic minerals tend to be:

A) light-colored and silica-rich
B) dark-colored and silica-poor
C) light-colored and silica-rich
D) dark-colored and silica-poor
Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

14. Igneous rocks that cool slowly, and hence solidify below the earth’s surface are known as
which type?
A) clastic
B) intrusive
C) stratified
D) extrusive

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

15. Which of the following is classified as an igneous rock?

A) sandstone
B) gneiss
C) basalt
D) shale

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

16. Which rock sample is held together by naturally forming cement?

A) sample A
B) sample B
C) sample C
D) none of these

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

17. When small pieces of rock are weathered, transported, deposited, and cemented, which of the
following can be created?
A) igneous rock
B) meteorites
C) clastic sedimentary rocks
D) volcanoes

Ans: C
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

18. Sediments are generally deposited by wind and water in layers called:
A) layers
B) strata
C) intrusive
D) magma

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

19. Intrusive igneous rock, formed deep below the Earth’s surface, cools to form plutons, in
which the largest of those are called:
A) giant plutons
B) magma
C) batholiths
D) granite

Ans: C
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.
20. Which of the following is a class of sedimentary rock?
A) extrusive
B) clastic
C) intrusive
D) layered

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

21. Which sample is an example of sedimentary rock?

A) sample A
B) sample B
C) sample C
D) none of these

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

22. Which of the following clast sizes would be most likely transported in very slow moving
water?
A) boulders
B) cobbles
C) sand
D) silt
E) all of these

Ans: D
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

23. Which of the following clast sizes would be most likely transported in very fast moving
water?

A) boulders
B) cobbles
C) sand
D) silt
E) all of these

Ans: E
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

24. Hydrocarbon deposits are classified as:

A) organic sediments
B) chemical precipitation
C) clastic sediments
D) lava flows

Ans: A
Section Ref: R Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks.
25. The process of rock metamorphism affects which of the following?
A) sedimentary rocks
B) igneous rocks
C) metamorphic rocks
D) all of these
E) none of these

Ans: D
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks.

26. Marble forms as a metamorphic product of what original rock?

A) shale
B) slate
C) limestone
D) sandstone

Ans: C
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks.

27. Because of the extreme heat and pressure required, metamorphic rocks are generated most
often:
A) deep below the surface of the Earth
B) at the Earth’s surface
C) in lake beds
D) within volcanoes

Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks.

28. Which of the following is classified as a metamorphic rock?

A) limestone
B) schist
C) diorite
D) basalt

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks.

29. The strongest rocks, in terms of their propensity to wear down, tend to be found in what type
of locations?
A) under valleys
B) along the ocean
C) under ridges, hills, and uplands
D) under plains and flat lands

Ans: C
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe the major relief features of the continents.

30. Through the rock cycle, if a metamorphic rock goes through heating and then melts to
become magma, it will eventually cool and turn into:
A) Igneous rock
B) Sedimentary rock
C) another Metamorphic Rock
D) none of the above

Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks.

31. The idea proposed by Alfred Wegener to explain the continental shapes and positions is
known as:
A) continental shifting
B) plate tectonics
C) continental drift
D) rift valley
E) sea floor spreading

Ans: C
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.
32. What evidence did Wegner use to support the existence of Pangaea?
A) plant and animal fossils
B) coastline orientations
C) mountain ranges
D) all of these
E) none of these

Ans: D
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

33. In the figure below, what is the approximate age of the sea floor off the north coast of Spain?

A) younger than 9.6 million years

B) 9.6 – 33.0 million years
C) 33.0 – 83.0 million years
D) 83.0 – 141.9 million years
E) older than 141.9 million years

Ans: D
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Explain the ocean basin’s major relief features
34. Which of the following terms best describes the rocky outer layer of the Earth?
A) asthenosphere
B) biosphere
C) atmosphere
D) lithosphere
E) hydrosphere

Ans: D
Section Ref: The Structure of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe the major relief features of the continents.

35. What is the depth of the newly forming Hawaiian island, Loihi?

A) about 1000m
B) about 2000m
C) about 3000m
D) about 4000m
E) it is at the surface

Ans: A
Section Ref: The Changing Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.
36. ___________ divides most ocean basins roughly in half.
A) abyssal plain
B) continental shelf
C) oceanic trench
D) midoceanic ridge
E) island chains

Ans: D
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

37. Landforms that are found in narrow zones and usually along the margins of lithsopheric
plates are:
A) Alpine chains
B) Exposed shields
C) Plains
D) Continental shields.

Ans: A
Section Ref: The Changing Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

38. Regions of low-lying igneous and metamorphic rocks resistant to weathering

and form the basis for continent building since ancient times are known as:
A) Alpine chains
B) Continental shields
C) Oceanic trenches
D) Volcanoes

Ans: B
Section Ref: The Changing Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

39. The name of the single super-continent that Wegener suggested eventually broke apart and
drifted into different directions creating the earth’s continents that exist today was known as:
A) Pangea
B) Eurasia
C) Lithosphere
D) none of the above

Ans: A
Section Ref: The Changing Earth
.Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

True / False

40. The three types of rocks are igneous, sedimentary, and extrusive.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe the relationship of the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.

41. Any one of the three types of rocks can be changed into any other class.

Ans: True
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Describe the relationship of the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.

42. Rocks are classified according to how they are formed.

Ans: True
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

43. Sedimentary rock is the parent rock for all rock types.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.
.

44. Metamorphic rock may form from preexisting metamorphic rock.

Ans: True
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Explain the formation of metamorphic rocks.

45. Silicon is one of the most abundant element in Earth's crust.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

46. Pangea is the name of the supercontinent proposed by Harry Hess.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

47. The deepest portion of an ocean basin is always in the middle.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Explain the ocean basin’s major relief features

48. South America and Africa was the only example that Wegener used for continental fit.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

49. Oceanic crust is generally much older than continental crust.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

50. The area of the Earth's interior where rocks start to melt, when subducted, is known as the
asthenosphere.

Ans: True
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

51. . Rocks closer to the spreading centers in the oceans (see Figure below) are older than the
rocks farther away from the spreading center.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.
52. Wegener used plant and animal fossil evidence to help build the theory of continental drift.

Ans: True
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

53. The Mid-Ocean Ridge is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean.

Ans: False
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

54. In the northern part of Pangaea, mountain ranges tend to match up in North America and
Europe.

Ans: True
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

Fill-In-The-Blank

55. To be considered a mineral, a naturally occurring inorganic solid must have a specific
chemical composition and a characteristic ______ structure.

Ans: crystal
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

56. _____ and silicon are the two most common elements in Earth's crust.
Ans: Oxygen
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change D
ifficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

57. Based on their origins, rocks can be divided into three distinct families: _______,
sedimentary and metamorphic.

Ans: igneous
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

58. Sample _____ is of a rock whose original sedimentary or igneous form and mineral
assemblage have been changed as a result of exposure to high temperature, high pressure or both.
This type of rock is referred to as a metamorphic rock.

Ans: C
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous
rocks.

59. Sample (A, B, or C) _____ is a rock formed when mineral and rock particles are transported
by water, wind, or ice and then deposited in a given location. Such rocks are classified as
sedimentary rocks.

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the
three classes of sedimentary rocks.

60. Igneous rocks form from the cooling and solidification of magma. Sample (A, B, or C) _____
has formed by this process.

Ans: A
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous
rocks.

61. In the photograph of rock samples and outcrops, shown below, sample (A, B, or C) _____ is
the rock held together by naturally occurring cement.

Ans: B
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the
three classes of sedimentary rocks.

62. According to the figure below, the Caledonides in Scotland and Scandinavia are also part of
the _______ in North America.
Ans: Appalachians
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

63. The deep, flat sections of ocean floor on either side of the midocean ridge, as shown below,
are known as the _______.

Ans: abyssal plains

Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.
64. The rocky, outermost part of the Earth, comprising the upper part of the mantle and the crust,
is known as the _______.

Ans: lithosphere
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Contrast the inner and outer core..

65. Wegener proposed that based on all evidence, Pangea existed intact as early as _______.

Ans: 300 million years ago

Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

66. The process in which the sea floor separates and moves in opposite directions is known as
_______.

Ans: sea floor spreading

Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate
motion.

Essay

67. What are the four requirements necessary to classify a solid material as a mineral?

Ans: To be classified as a mineral, a substance must be a naturally occurring solid, formed by

inorganic processes, with a characteristic crystal structure and specific chemical composition.
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

68. Two chemical elements make up 70 percent of Earth's crust by weight. What are the two
elements and what family of minerals do they form?

Ans: Oxygen and silicon; they form the silicate minerals.

Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

69. The photographs below show an outcrop and close-up view of a particular kind of rock. What
type of rock is it and what holds this type of rock together? Also explain how such a rock might
form.

Ans: The photographs are of an igneous rock (specifically granite). This type of rock is held
together by interlocking silicate-minerals. Igneous rocks form when molten rock (magma) cools
and crystallizes.
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

70. What's the difference between a rock and a mineral?

Ans: A rock is an aggregate of mineral grains or possibly non-mineral matter. A rock may
consist of many grains of different kinds of minerals mixed together.
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

71. What are the three families of rocks? How does each of these families differ?

Ans: Rocks come in three families: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are
formed by the solidification of magma, either slowly beneath Earth's surface or rapidly at the
surface. Sedimentary rocks are formed at or near the surface by the deposition of many layers of
sediment. Metamorphic rocks start as either igneous or sedimentary rocks, but change their form
as a result of high temperature, high pressure, or both.
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

72. What holds rocks together?

Ans: Igneous and metamorphic rocks are held together by the interlocking of their grains. The
loose particles of sedimentary rocks are held together either by compaction, during which the
mineral grains are held together by the pressure of overlying sediment, cementing of open spaces
within a rock, or recrystallization, a process that occurs when growing grains interlock because
of increasing pressure and heat.
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Outline the steps of the cycle of rock change.

73. Why do most extrusive igneous rocks have small mineral crystals?

Ans: Extrusive igneous rocks form at the Earth’s surface, where atmospheric conditions cool the
molten material extremely quickly. The rapid cooling time is inadequate to grow large crystals.
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty:
Learning Objective: Discuss the formation and properties of igneous rocks.

74. How is clastic sedimentary rock formed?

Ans: Climatic factors weather bedrock into smaller pieces, which can then be transported, by
wind, water, and/or gravity. These particles called clasts are then transported to a low relief area
where they accumulate and begin to compact. Through compaction, water is forced out and
minerals like calcium carbonate or silica begin to precipitate along clast edges, effectively
cementing them together into a single rock unit.
Section Ref: Earth Materials and the Cycle of Rock Change
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Compare the formation and properties of the three classes of sedimentary
rocks.

75. Why is the area where the ocean meets the land not necessarily the edge of the continent?
Ans: The true edge of the continent is where continental crust meets the oceanic crust. This area
is usually covered with sediments, so the contact is not clear. Also, depending on sea level, there
may be large amounts of continental crust submerged.
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: Describe the major relief features of the continents.

76. How did the presence of certain fossils support Wegener's idea of continental drift?

Ans: The distribution of certain specific fossils in today's southern continent seems sporadic and
random, however, when rearranging the plates to form Pangaea, the fossil distribution patterns
make more sense.
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

77. What is an oceanic plate and how does it relate to a continental plate?

Ans: A plate is a large slice of the lithosphere that is torsionally rigid. The slice of lithosphere
floats on the hotter asthenosphere. Some portions of the plate have a very mafic composition and
because they are thin and dense, sit low on the Earth’s surface. These are the oceanic potions of
plates and are covered in water. Other portions of plates are more felsic and are therefore thicker
and less dense than their oceanic counterparts. Due to their composition and thickness, they
generally sit above sea-level on the Earth’s surface and are described as continental plates.
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Medium
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

78. What hypothesis is Alfred Wegener known for, and what evidence supported his hypothesis?

Ans: The idea of “continental drift” was first proposed by Alfred Wegner, which served as an
important component to the more recent plate tectonic theory. Wegner presented, fossil,
cartographic, glacial, and structural evidence of past plate relationships and movement.
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Easy
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.

79. Describe the evidence Wegener used to reconstruct Pangaea.

Ans: Wegener used four pieces of evidence to aid in his reconstruction of Pangaea. He used the
“jigsaw puzzle” idea, which is the fact that some of the continents actually look like they fit
together. Wegener also used fossil evidences, primarily the presence of Mesosaurus and
Glossopteris. The ranges of these organisms make sense when the plates are reconstructed:
glacial evidence was also used. Carboniferous rocks with glacial grooves and striations, when
reconstructed, pointed to a common origin for the ice over what was then the South Pole. Finally,
Wegener used rock structures, primarily mountain ranges and the Karoo Beds in the southern
hemisphere to reconstruct Pangaea.
Section Ref: Topography of the Earth
Difficulty: Hard
Learning Objective: Outline the development of the theory of plate motion.
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of A journey in
search of Christmas
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Title: A journey in search of Christmas

Author: Owen Wister

Illustrator: Frederic Remington

Release date: September 2, 2023 [eBook #71547]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: Harper & Brothers, 1904

Credits: Richard Tonsing, Charlene Taylor, and the Online

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(This file was produced from images generously made
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY

IN SEARCH OF CHRISTMAS ***
Transcriber’s Note:
New original cover art included with this eBook is
granted to the public domain.

Lin McLean
 A JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF CHRISTMAS

BY

OWEN WISTER
AUTHOR OF “LIN MCLEAN” “RED MEN AND WHITE” “THE JIMMYJOHN
BOSS” ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY
FREDERIC REMINGTON

NEW YORK AND LONDON

HARPER & BROTHERS
PUBLISHERS MCMV
Copyright, 1904, by Harper & Brothers.

All rights reserved.

Published October, 1904.

 CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE
I. Lin’s Money Talks Joy 1
II. Lin’s Money is Dumb 13
III. A Transaction in Boot-Blacking 37
IV. Turkey and Responsibility 50
V. Santa Claus Lin 75
 ILLUSTRATIONS

Lin McLean Frontispiece

“Lin walked in their charge, they Facing 52
leading the way” p.
“‘This is Mister Billy Lusk’” „ 90
 A JOURNEY IN SEARCH
OF CHRISTMAS

I
Lin’s Money Talks Joy

The Governor
descended the steps of
the Capitol slowly and
with pauses, lifting a
list frequently to his
eye. He had
intermittently pencilled
it between stages of the
forenoon’s public
business, and his gait
grew absent as he
recurred now to his jottings in their
accumulation, with a slight pain at their number, and the definite
fear that they would be more in seasons to come. They were the
names of his friends’ children to whom his excellent heart moved
him to give Christmas presents. He had put off this regenerating evil
until the latest day, as was his custom, and now he was setting forth
to do the whole thing at a blow, entirely planless among the guns and
rocking-horses that would presently surround him. As he reached
the highway he heard himself familiarly addressed from a distance,
and, turning, saw four sons of the alkali jogging into town from the
plain. One who had shouted to him galloped out from the others,
rounded the Capitol’s enclosure, and, approaching with radiant
countenance, leaned to reach the hand of the Governor, and once
again greeted him with a hilarious “Hello, Doc!”
Governor Barker, M.D., seeing Mr. McLean
unexpectedly after several years, hailed the
horseman with frank and lively pleasure, and,
inquiring who might be the other riders
behind, was told that they were Shorty,
Chalkeye, and Dollar Bill, come for Christmas.
“And dandies to hit town with,” Mr. McLean
added. “Redhot.”
“I am acquainted with them,” assented his
Excellency.
“We’ve been ridin’ trail for twelve weeks,”
the cow-puncher continued, “and the money
in our pants is talkin’ joy to us right out loud.”
Then Mr. McLean overflowed with talk and pungent confidences,
for the holidays already rioted in his spirit, and his tongue was loosed
over their coming rites.
“We’ve soured on scenery,” he finished, in
his drastic idiom. “We’re heeled for a big
time.”
“Call on me,” remarked the Governor,
cheerily, “when you’re ready for bromides and
sulphates.”
“I ain’t box-headed no more,” protested Mr.
McLean; “I’ve got maturity, Doc, since I seen
yu’ at the rain-making, and I’m a heap older
than them hospital days when I bust my leg on
yu’. Three or four glasses and quit. That’s my
rule.”
“That your rule, too?” inquired the Governor of Shorty, Chalkeye,
and Dollar Bill. These gentlemen of the saddle were sitting quite
expressionless upon their horses.
 “We ain’t talkin’, we’re waitin’,” observed Chalkeye; and the three
cynics smiled amiably.
“Well, Doc, see yu’ again,” said Mr. McLean.
He turned to accompany his brother cow-
punchers, but in that particular moment Fate
descended, or came up, from whatever place
she dwells in, and entered the body of the
unsuspecting Governor.
“What’s your hurry?” said Fate, speaking in
the official’s hearty manner. “Come along with
me.”
“Can’t do it. Where’re yu’ goin’?”
“Christmasing,” replied Fate.
“Well, I’ve got to feed my horse.
Christmasing, yu’ say?”
“Yes; I’m buying toys.”
“Toys! You? What for?”
“Oh, some kids.”
“Yourn?” screeched Lin, precipitately.
His Excellency the jovial Governor opened
his teeth in pleasure at this, for he was a
bachelor, and there were fifteen upon his list,
which he held up for the edification of the
hasty McLean. “Not mine, I’m happy to say.
My friends keep marrying and settling, and
their kids call me uncle, and climb around and
bother, and I forget their names, and think it’s
a girl, and the mother gets mad. Why, if I
didn’t remember these little folks at Christmas
they’d be wondering—not the kids, they just
break your toys and don’t notice; but the
mother would wonder—‘What’s the matter with Dr. Barker? Has
Governor Barker gone back on us?’—that’s where the strain comes!”
he broke off, facing Mr. McLean with another spacious laugh.
But the cow-puncher had ceased to smile, and now, while Barker
ran on exuberantly McLean’s wide-open eyes rested upon him,
singular and intent, and in their hazel depths
the last gleam of jocularity went out.
“That’s where the strain comes, you see.
Two sets of acquaintances—grateful patients
and loyal voters—and I’ve got to keep solid
with both outfits, especially the wives and
mothers. They’re the people. So it’s drums,
and dolls, and sheep on wheels, and games,
and monkeys on a stick, and the saleslady
shows you a mechanical bear, and it costs too
much, and you forget whether the Judge’s
second girl is Nellie or Susie, and—well, I’m
just in for my annual circus this afternoon! You’re in luck. Christmas
don’t trouble a chap fixed like you.”
Lin McLean prolonged the sentence like a distant echo.
“A chap fixed like you!” The cow-puncher
said it slowly to himself. “No, sure.” He
seemed to be watching Shorty, and Chalkeye,
and Dollar Bill going down the road. “That’s a
new idea—Christmas,” he murmured, for it
was one of his oldest, and he was recalling the
Christmas when he wore his first long
trousers.
“Comes once a year pretty regular,”
remarked the prosperous Governor. “Seems
often when you pay the bill.”
“I haven’t made a Christmas gift,” pursued
the cow-puncher, dreamily, “not for—for—Lord! it’s a hundred years,
I guess. I don’t know anybody that has any right to look for such a
thing from me.” This was indeed a new idea, and it did not stop the
chill that was spreading in his heart.
“Gee whiz!” said Barker, briskly, “there goes twelve o’clock. I’ve got
to make a start. Sorry you can’t come and help me. Good-bye!”
His Excellency left the rider sitting motionless, and forgot him at
once in his own preoccupation. He hastened upon his journey to the
shops with the list, not in his pocket, but held firmly, like a plank in
the imminence of shipwreck. The Nellies and Susies pervaded his
mind, and he struggled with the presentiment
that in a day or two he would recall some
omitted and wretchedly important child.
Quick hoof-beats made him look up, and Mr.
McLean passed like a wind. The Governor
absently watched him go, and saw the pony
hunch and stiffen in the check of his speed
when Lin overtook his companions. Down
there in the distance they took a side street,
and Barker rejoicingly remembered one more
name and wrote it as he walked. In a few
minutes he had come to the shops, and met
face to face with Mr. McLean.
“The boys are seein’ after my horse,” Lin
rapidly began, “and I’ve got to meet ’em sharp
at one. We’re twelve weeks shy on a square
meal, yu’ see, and this first has been a date
from ’way back. I’d like to—” Here Mr.
McLean cleared his throat, and his speech
went less smoothly. “Doc, I’d like just for a
while to watch yu’ gettin’—them monkeys, yu’
know.”
The Governor
expressed his agreeable
surprise at this change
of mind, and was glad of McLean’s company
and judgment during the impending
selections. A picture of a cow-puncher and
himself discussing a couple of dolls rose
nimbly in Barker’s mental eye, and it was with
an imperfect honesty that he said, “You’ll help
me a heap.”
And Lin, quite sincere, replied, “Thank yu’.”
So together these two went Christmasing in
the throng. Wyoming’s Chief Executive knocked elbows with the
spurred and jingling waif, one man as good as another in that raw,
hopeful, full-blooded cattle era which now the sobered West
remembers as the days of its fond youth. For one man has been as
good as another in three places—Paradise
before the Fall; the Rocky Mountains before
the wire fence; and the Declaration of
Independence. And then this Governor,
besides being young, almost as young as Lin
McLean or the Chief-Justice (who lately had
celebrated his thirty-second birthday), had in
his doctoring days at Drybone known the cow-
puncher with that familiarity which lasts a
lifetime without breeding contempt;
accordingly, he now laid a hand on Lin’s tall
shoulder and drew him among the petticoats
and toys.
 II
Lin’s Money is Dumb

Christmas filled the

windows and
Christmas stirred in
mankind. Cheyenne,
not over-zealous in
doctrine or litanies, and
with the opinion that a
world in the hand is
worth two in the bush,
nevertheless was
flocking together,
neighbor to think of neighbor, and every one
to remember the children; a sacred assembly, after all, gathered to
rehearse unwittingly the articles of its belief, the Creed and Doctrine
of the Child. Lin saw them hurry and smile among the paper fairies;
they questioned and hesitated, crowded and made decisions, failed
utterly to find the right thing, forgot and hastened back, suffered all
the various desperations of the eleventh hour, and turned homeward,
dropping their parcels with that undimmed good-will that once a
year makes gracious the universal human face. This brotherhood
swam and beamed before the cow-puncher’s brooding eyes, and in
his ears the greeting of the season sang. Children escaped from their
mothers and ran chirping behind the counters to touch and meddle
in places forbidden. Friends dashed against each other with rabbits
and magic lanterns, greeted in haste, and were gone, amid the sound
of musical boxes.
Through this tinkle and bleating of little machinery the murmur of
the human heart drifted in and out of McLean’s hearing; fragments
of home talk, tendernesses, economies,
intimate first names, and dinner hours; and
whether it was joy or sadness, it was in
common; the world seemed knit in a single
skein of home ties. Two or three came by
whose purses must have been slender, and
whose purchases were humble and chosen
after much nice adjustment; and when one
plain man dropped a word about both ends
meeting, and the woman with him laid a hand
on his arm, saying that his children must not
feel this year was different, Lin made a step
towards them. There were hours and spots where he could readily
have descended upon them at that, played the rôle of clinking
affluence, waved thanks aside with competent blasphemy, and,
tossing off some infamous whiskey, cantered away in the full, self-
conscious strut of the frontier. But here was not the moment; the
abashed cow-puncher could make no such parade in this place. The
people brushed by him back and forth, busy upon their errands, and
aware of him scarcely more than if he had been a spirit looking on
from the helpless dead; and so, while these weaving needs and
kindnesses of man were within arm’s touch of him, he was locked
outside with his impulses. Barker had, in the natural press of
customers, long parted from him, to become immersed in choosing
and rejecting; and now, with a fair part of his mission accomplished,
he was ready to go on to the next place, and turned to beckon
McLean. He found him obliterated in a corner beside a life-sized
image of Santa Claus, standing as still as the frosty saint.
“He looks livelier than you do,” said the hearty Governor. “’Fraid
it’s been slow waiting.”
“No,” replied the cow-puncher, thoughtfully. “No, I guess not.”
This uncertainty was expressed with such gentleness that Barker
roared. “You never did lie to me,” he said, “long as I’ve known you.
Well, never mind. I’ve got some real advice to ask you now.”
At this Mr. McLean’s face grew more alert. “Say, Doc,” said he,
“what do yu’ want for Christmas that nobody’s likely to give yu’?”
“A big practice—big enough to interfere with my politics.”
 “What else? Things
and truck, I mean.”
“Oh—nothing I’ll get.
People don’t give things
much to fellows like
me.”
“Don’t they? Don’t
they?”
“Why, you and Santa
Claus weren’t putting
up any scheme on my
stocking?”
“Well—”
“I believe you’re in earnest!” cried his
Excellency. “That’s simply rich!” Here was a
thing to relish! The Frontier comes to town
“heeled for a big time,” finds that presents are
all the rage, and must immediately give
somebody something. Oh, childlike,
miscellaneous Frontier! So thought the good-
hearted Governor; and it seems a venial
misconception. “My dear fellow,” he added,
meaning as well as possible, “I don’t want you
to spend your money on me.”
“I’ve got plenty all right,” said Lin, shortly.
“Plenty’s not the point. I’ll take as many
drinks as you please with you. You didn’t
expect anything from me?”
“That ain’t—that don’t—”
“There! Of course you didn’t. Then, what
are you getting proud about? Here’s our
shop.” They stepped in from the street to new
crowds and counters. “Now,” pursued the
Governor, “this is for a very particular friend
of mine. Here they are. Now, which of those
do you like best?”
 They were sets of Tennyson in cases holding
little volumes equal in number, but the
binding various, and Mr. McLean reached his
decision after one look. “That,” said he, and
laid a large, muscular hand upon the
Laureate. The young lady behind the counter
spoke out acidly, and Lin pulled the abject
hand away. His taste, however, happened to
be sound, or, at least, it was at one with the
Governor’s; but now they learned that there
was a distressing variance in the matter of
price.
The Governor stared at the delicate article
of his choice. “I know that Tennyson is what she—is what’s wanted,”
he muttered; and, feeling himself nudged, looked around and saw
Lin’s extended fist. This gesture he took for a facetious sympathy,
and, dolorously grasping the hand, found himself holding a lump of
bills. Sheer amazement relaxed him, and the cow-puncher’s matted
wealth tumbled on the floor in sight of all people. Barker picked it up
and gave it back. “No, no, no!” he said, mirthful over his own
inclination to be annoyed; “you can’t do that. I’m just as much
obliged, Lin,” he added.
“Just as a loan. Doc—some of it. I’m grass-
bellied with spot-cash.”
A giggle behind the counter disturbed them
both, but the sharp young lady was only
dusting. The Governor at once paid haughtily
for Tennyson’s expensive works, and the cow-
puncher pushed his discountenanced savings
back into his clothes. Making haste to leave
the book department of this shop, they
regained a mutual ease, and the Governor
became waggish over Lin’s concern at being
too rich. He suggested to him the list of
delinquent taxpayers and the latest census
from which to select indigent persons. He had patients, too, whose
inveterate pennilessness he could swear cheerfully to—“since you
want to bolt from your own money,” he remarked.