;
IN THE CHRISTMAS MORN.
In the rush of early morning ,
When the rod burns through the gray ,
And the wintry world lies waiting
For the gloryof the day ;
Then we hear a fitful rustling *
Just without upon the stair ,
See two small white phantoms coming ,
Catch the gleam ot sunny hair.
Are they Christmas fairies stealing
Hows of little socks to fill ?
Are they angels floating hither
With their message of good-will ?
What gre.it spells are these elves weaving ,
As like larks they chirp and sing ?
Are these pnlms of peace from heaven
That the lovely spirits bring ?
Rosy feet upon the threshold.
ij Eager faces peeping through ,
ijr With the first red rays of sunshine ,
Chanting cherubs come inflow ;
Mistletoe and gleaming holly ,
Symbols of a blessed day ,
In their chubby hands they carry.
Streaming all along the way.
"Well wo know them , never weary
Of their innocent surprise ;
Waiting , watching , listening always
With full hearts and tender eyes.
While our little household angels ,
White and golden in the sun ,
Greet us with the sweet old welcome
"Merry Christmas , every one I"
A TALK WITH SANTA CLAUS.
One Christmas eve Joel Baker was in a
most unhappy mood. He was lonesome and
miserable ; the chimes making
merry Christmas music out-
.eide disturbed rather than
soothed him , the jingle of the
Bleigh bells fretted him , and
the shrill whistling of the
wind around the corners of
the house and up and down
the chimney seemed to grate
harshly on his ears.
"Humph , " said Joel , wear
ily , "Christmas is nothin' to
me ; there was a time when it
meant u great deal , but that
was long ago fifty years is a
long stretch to look back
over. There is nothin' in
Christmas now , nothin' for
me at least ; it is so long since
Santa Glaus remembered me
that I venture to say he has
forgotten that there ever was
such a person as Joel Baker
in all the world. It used to
be different ; Santa Claus used
to think a great deal of me
when I was a boy. Ah ! Christ
mas nowadays ain't what it
was in the good old time no ,
not what it used to be. "
As Joel was absorbed in his
distressing thoughts he be
came aware very suddenly
that somebody was entering
or try.ng to enter the room.
First came a draft of cold air ,
then a scraping , grating sound ,
then a strange shuffling , and
then yes. then all at once ,
Joel saw a pair of fat legs and
a still latterbody dangle down
the chimney , followed pres
ently by a long white beard ,
above which appeared a jolly
red nose and two bright twink
ling eyes , while over the head
and forehead was drawn a fur
cap , white with snowflakes.
"Ha , ha , " chuckled the fat ,
jolly stranger , emerging from
the chimney and standing
well to one side of the hearth
stone ; "ha , ha , they don't
have the big , wide chimneys
they used to build , but they
can't keep Santa Claus out
no , they can't keep Santa
Glaus out ! Ha , ha , ha.
Though the chimney were no
bigger than a gas pipe Santa
Glaus would slide down it ! "
It didn't require a second
glance to assure Joel that the
new-comer was indeed Santa
Glaus. Joel knew the good
old saint oh , yes and he
had Been him once before and ,
although that was when Joel
was a little boy , he had never
forgotten how Santa Claus
looked.
'Nor had Santa Claus for
gotten Joel , although Joel
thought he had ; for now Santa
Claus looked kindly at Joel
and smiled and said : "Merry
Christmas to you , Joe- !
"Thank you , old Santa
Claus , " replied Joel , "but I
don't believe it's goin' to be a
very merry Christmas. It's
been BO long since I've had a
merry Christmas that I don't
believe I'd know how to act if
I had one. "
"Let's see , " said Santa
Claus , "it must be going on
fifty yearasincel saw you last
yes , you were 8 years old
the last time I slipped down
the chimney of the old home
stead and filledyour.stocking.
Do you remember it ? "
"I remember it well , " said
Joel. "I had made up my
mind to lie awake and see
Santa Glaus ; I'd heard tell of
you , but I'd never seen you ,
and Brother Otis and I con
cluded we'd lie awake and
watch for you to come. "
Santa Claus shook his head
reproachfully.
"That was very wrong , "
said he , "for I'm BO scarey
that if I'd known you boys
were awake I'd never have come down the
chimney at all , and then you'd have had no
presents. " *
"But Otis couldn't keep awake , " ex
plained Joel. "We talked about everything
we could think of , till father called out to us
that if we didn't stop talkin' he'd have to
send one of us up into the attic to sleep with
the hired man. So in less than five minutes
Otis was Bound asleep and no pinching could
wake him up. But I was bound to pee Santa
Claus and I don't believe anything would
have'put me to sleep. I heard the big clock
in the sitting room strike 11 , and I had be
gun wonderin' if you never were going to
come , when all of a sudden I heard the tinkle
of the bells around your reindeers' necks.
Then I heard the reindeers prancin' on the
roof and the Bound of your sleigh runners
cuttin' through the crust and slippin' over
the shingles. I was kind o" scared and I cov
ered my head up with the sheet and quilts
only I left a little hole BO I could peek out
and see what was going on. As soon as I
saw you I got over bein' scared for you
were jolly and sinilin' like , and you chuckled
as you went around to each stockin' and
led it up. "
"Yes , I can remember the night , " said
SantaClauB. "Ibroughtyouasled.didn'tl ? "
"Yes , and you brought Otis one , too , " re
plied Joel. "Mine was red and had 'Yan
kee Doodle' painted in black letters on the
aide ; Otis's was black and had 'Snow Queen'
in gilt letters. "
"I remember thobe sleds distinctly , " said
Santa Glaus , "for I made them specially for
'you boya. "
"You set the sledn up against the wall , "
continued Joel , "and then you filled the
Btockin's. "
"There were six of 'em , as I recollect ? "
said Santa Clans.
"Let me see , " queried Joel. "Th'ere was
mine , and Otis's , and Elvira's , and Thanlc-
ful's , and Susan Prickett's Susan was our
help , you know. No , there were only five ,
and , as I remember , they were the biggest
we could beg or borrer of Aunt Dorcas , who
weighed nigh onto 200 pounds. Otis and I
didn't like Susan Frickett and we were
hopin' you'd put a cold potato into her
stockin' . "
"But Susan was a good girl"remonstrated
Santa Cluus. "You know I put cold pota
toes in the stockin's of boys and girls only
who are bad and don't believe in Santa
Glaus. "
"At any rate , " said Joel , "you filled all
the stockin's with candy and pop corn and
nuts and raisins , and I can remember you
flaid you were afraid you'd run out of pop
corn balls before you got around. Then you
left each of us a book. Elvira got the best
one , which was 'The Garland of Friendship , '
and had poems in it about the bleeding of
there wasn't buckwheat cakes enough in the
township to keep us indoors that mornin' ;
buckwheat cakes don't size up much 'long-
side of a red sled with 'Yankee Doodle'
painted on it in red , and a black sled . .imed
'Snow Bird , " an' I didn't care how cold it
was. it was all the better for slidin' down
the hill. We all had new sleds Lafe Pike ,
Will WestBrook , Gum Adams , Rube Play-
ford , Leai der Merrick , Ezra Purple all on
'em had new sleds except Martin Beavey ,
and he said ho calculated Santa Claus had
skipped him this year 'cause his father had
broken his kg haulin' logs from the Pelham
woods and had been kept indoors six weeks.
But Martin had his old sled , and he didn't
hev to ask any odds of any of us , neither. "
"I brought Martin a new sled the next
Christmas , " said Santa Cluus. .
"Like's not but did you ever slide down
hill , Santa Claus ? I don't mean such hills
as they hev out here in this new country ,
but one of them old-fashioned New England
Hills that was made specially for boys to
slide down full of an'
, bumpers thank-ye-
marms , and about ten times longer comin'
up than it is goin' down ! The wind blew in
our faces an' almost took our breath away.
'Merfy Chris'mas to ye , little boys ! ' it seemed
to Bay , and it untied our mufflers an' whirled
the snow in our faces , just as if it was a boy ,
too , an' wanted to play with us. An ol'
crow came flappin' over us from the corn-
BRINGING HOME THE CHRISTMAS TREE.
hearts , and so forth. Father wasn't expect-
in' anything , but you left him a new pair of
mittens , and mother got a new fur boa to
wear to meetin' . "
"Of course , " said Santa Claus , "I never
forgot father and mother. "
"Well , it was as much ns I could do to lay
still , " continued Joel , "for I'd been longin'
for a sled an' the sight of that red sled with
'Yankee Doodle' painted on it just made me
wild. But , somehow or other , I began to
get powerful sleepy all at once and I couldn't
keep my eyes open. The next thing I knew
Otis was nugin' me in the ribs. 'Git up ,
Joel , ' says he ; 'it's Christmas nn' Santa
Claushas been here.1 'Merry Chris'mas ! Mer
ry Chris'masl' we cried as we tumbled out of
bed. Then Elvira and Thankful came in ,
not more than half dressed , and Susan came
in , too , an' we just made Rome howl with
'Merry Chris'mas ! Merry Chris'mas ! ' to each
other. 'Ef you children don't make less
noise in there , ' cried father , 'I'll hev to send
you all back to bed ! ' The idea of askin'
boys an' girls to keep quiet on Cliris'mas
mornin' when they've got new sleds an'
'Garlands of Friendship ! "
Santa Glaus chuckled ; his rosy cheeks
fairly beamed joy.
"Otis an' I didn't wan't any breakfast , "
. said Joel. "We made up our minds that a
Btockin' full of candy an' pop corn an' rai
sins would stay us for awhile. I do believe
field beyond the meauow. He said : 'Caw ,
caw , " when he saw my new sled I s'posehe'd
never seen a red one before. Otis had a
hard time with his sled the black one an"
he wondered why it wouldn't go as fast as
mine would. 'Hev you scraped the paint
off'n the runners ? ' asked Wralsey Goodnow.
'Course I hev , ' Baid Otis : 'broke my own '
knife an' Lute Ingraham's a-doiii' it , but it j
don't seem to make any diff'rence the |
dnrned ol'thing won't go ! ' Then , what did .
Simon Buzzell eny but that , like's not , it j
was because Otis's sled's name was 'Snow ,
Queen. ' 'Never did see a girl sled that was j
worth a cent , anyway , eez Simon. Well ,
now , that jest about broke Otis up in busi
ness. 'It ain't a cirl sled , ' sez he , 'an' its
nnme ain't Snow Queen ! I'm n-goin to call
it Dan'l Webster , or Ol'ver Optic , or Sheriff
Robbins , or after some other big man ! ' An'
the boys plagued him so much about that
pesky girl sled that he scratched off the
name , an1 as I remember , it did go better
after that ! "
"About the only thing , " continued Joel ,
"that marred the harmony ol the occasion ,
ns the editor of the Hampshire County j
Phoenix used to Bay , whs the ashes that |
Deacon Morris Frisbie sprinkled out in front .
of his house. HP said he wasn't going to |
have folks breakin' their necks jest on ac- j
count of a lot of frivolous boys that was j
goin' to the gallows as fas' as they could ! ,
Oh , how we hated him ! and we'd've snow
balled him , too , if we hadn't been afraid of
the constable that lived next door. But the
ashes didn't bother us much and every time
we slid side saddle we'd give the ashes a
kick , and that sort o' scattered 'em. "
The bare thought of this made Santa
Glaus laugh.
"Goin' on 'bout 9 o'clock , " said Joel , "the
girls come along Sister Elvira and Thank
ful , Prudencft Tucker , Belle Yocum , Sophro-
ne Holbrook , Sis Hubbard an' Marthy
Sawyer. Marthy's brother. Increase , wanted
her to ride on his sled , but Marthy allowed
that a red sled was her choice every time. 'I
don't see how I'm goin' to hold on , ' said
Marthy. 'Seems as If I would hev my ban's
full keepin' my things from blowin' away. '
'Don't worry about yourself , Marthy. ' sez I.
'for if you look after your things , 1 kind o'
calc'late I'll manage not to lose you on the
way. " Dear Marthy seems as if I could
see you now , with your tangled hair blowin'
in the wind , your eyes all bright an' spark-
lin' an' your cheeks as red as apples. Seems ,
too , as if I could hear you lauf-hin'an'callin'
jist as you did as I toiled up the old New
England hill that Cliris'mus mornin' a
callin' : "Joel , Joel ain't you ever comin' ,
Joel. " But the hill in Ion. : and steep. Marthy ,
an' Joel ain't the boy he used to be ; he's old ,
an' gray , an' feeble , but there's lo\e an' faith
in his heart an" they kind o' keep him tot-
terin' to'rds the voice he hears a callin"
'Joel ! Joel ! Joel ! ' "
'I know it I.see it all , " murmured Santa
Claus , very softly.
"Oh , that was so long ago , " sighed Joel ;
"BO very long ago. And I've had no Chris'-
mas since only once , when our little one
Marthy's an * mine you remember him ,
Santa Claus ? . "
"Yes , " said Santa Claus , "a toddling little
boy with blue eyes "
"Like his mother , " interrupted Joel , "an'
he was like her. too so gentle an' lovin' ,
only we called him Joel , for that was my
father's name an' it kind o' run in the fam
ily. He wan't more'n 3 years old when you
came with your Chris'mas presents for him ,
Santa Glaus. We had told him about you ,
and he used to go to the chimney corner
every night and make a little prayer about
what he wanted you to bring him. And
you brought 'em , too a stick-horse an' a
picture-book , an' some blocks , nn' a drum
they're on the shelf in the closet there , an'
his little Chria'mas stockin' with "em I've
saved 'em all , an" I've taken 'em down an"
held 'em in my hands , oh , so many times. "
"But when I came again , " said Santa
Claus
"His little bed was empty , an' I was alone.
It killed his mother Marthy was so tender
hearted ; she kind o' drooped an' pined after
that. So now they've been asleep side by
Bide in the buryin' ground these thirty years. J t
"That'a why I'm so sad-Iike whenever
CTiris'mas comes , " said Joel after a pause.
"The thinkin' of long ago makes mo bitter t
almost. It's so different now from what it
used to be. "
"No , Joel , oh , no , " said Santa Glaus.
" "Tis the same world , and human nature is
the same and always will be. But Chriatinaa
is for the little folks , and you , who are old
and grizzled now , must know it and love it
only through the gladness it brings the little
ones. "
"True , " groaned Joel ; "but how may I
know and feel this gladness when I have no
little stocking hanging in my chimney corner
no child to please mo with his prattle ? See ,
I am alone. "
"No , you're not alone , Joel , " said Santa
Claus. "There are children in this great city
who would love and bless you for your
goodness if you but touched their hearts.
Make them happy. Joel ; send by .me this
night some gift to the little boy in the old
house yonder he is poor and sick ; a simple
toy will fill his Christmas with gladness. "
"His little sister , too take her pome pres
ent , " said Joel ; "make them happy for me ,
Santa Claus you are right make them
happy for me. "
How sweetly Joel slept ! When he awoke
the sunlight streamed in through the window
and seemed to bid him a merry Christinas.
How contented and happy
Joel felt ! It must have been
thetalk with Santa Claus that
did it all ; he had never known
a sweeter sense of peace. A
little girl came out of the
house over the way. She had
a new doll in her nrms , and
she sans a merry little song
and she Inughod with joy as
she skipped along the street.
Ay , and at the window sat
the little sick boy , and the toy
Santa Claus left him seemed
to have brought him strength
and health , for his eyes spark
led and IUH cheeks glowed , and
it was plain to see his heart
was full of happinebs.
And , oh ! how the chimes
did ring out , and how joyfully
they sang their Christmas
carol that morning ! They
sang of Bethlehem and the
manger and the Babe ; they
sang of love and charity , till
all the Christmas air seemed
full of angel voices.
Carol of the Christmas morn-
Carol of the Christ-child born-
Carol to the Hst'ning sky
'Till it echoes back again
"Glory be to God on high.
Peace on earth , good will tow'rd
men. "
So all this music the carol
of the chimes , the sound of
children's voices , the smile of
the poor little boy over the
way all this sweet music
crept into Joel's heart that
Christmas morning ; yes , and
with these sweet , holy influ
ences came others BO subtle
and divine that , in its silent
communion with them , Joel's
heart cried out amen and
amen to the glory of the
Christmas time. [ Eugene
Field , in Chicago News.
A Sad Christmas.
"Papa"said a fashionable
young lady ns she wound her
arms around the old man's
neck , "You needn't give me a
new sealskin sacque for Christ
mas as you promised. I can
make the old one do for an
other winter. I realize that
times are hard. "
It will be a sad , sad Christ
mas in that household , for
the fashionable young woman
will spend it in an asylum ,
hopelessly insane.
Anle-Chrislmas Advice to Young
Men.
Don't measure the slippers
that your best girl works for
you ; don't growl because they
have no bay windows built in
them for your favorite corns ;
don't swear because they are
three sizes too small for you.
Don't do any of these things ,
but have them mounted as
watch pockets and hung up in
your bed-room where you can
Bee and admire them as you
lie awake wondering whether
she did not put too much
putty in that delicious cake
which she had baked for you
when you last had tea with
her.
The Christmas Spirit Every
where.
Clerk ( to Mr. Isnacstein in
the back room ) "Dot shen-
tleman soys he will gif four dol
lars for dot seventeen-dollar
und a ca-vorter overcoat. "
Mr. Isaacstein "Dot vas a
habby und joyous Christmas
dime , Shacob , und ve don'd
vant to make no profid on
dose goods. Shacob , make
dot shentlemnn a Christmas
present of dot peautiful coad
vor twelve dollars und a
helluf. "
Nothing maKes a man feel the value of an
economical wife so much as when he finds
that the hundred dollars he had given her to
buy Christmas presents with has been in
vested in paying her dressmaker's bill and
buying him a corn-cob pipe.
Your presence at home on Christmas day
is preferable to no presents at all.
HAPPY NEW YEAR.
This peaceful , pleasant New Year's day
I wait a wsh to one away ,
And would with every sentence twine
A tender thought , a loving line ,
A fragrant ilowerto blossom , dear ,
Across the threshold of the year.
If only Love were strong as Fate
To make the crooked places straight ,
How should the days delighted run.
The goal be reached the laurel won ,
And fortune prosper , friendship cheer ,
And gladden each recurringyear !
If blighted hopes have shadows cast
Alonjrthe dead an 1 burled p'ast :
We look beyond them , and ton et
The sins that soil , the cai es that fret ;
And clouds that darken , disappear
Before the fair adancing year.
Above the dark days drawn between ,
Across the miles that intervene.
From barren wugtes. from dei-ert sand ,
Love reachei out annotating hands.
And breathes wi h many a tPnder tear ,
A blessing und a "Happy Year. "