The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

! It was like an ' _"0h, that's all right." j with herself "Good night; and a Merry Christ- b all . a mas and a full stocking to you." 'the . "Same to you." and "Oh, yes, I'm sure to have la "full 1 And then to the maple- maple^.! tree after the boys had gone--"Those the- old- brogans that Mr. Pratt ..always by brings me will fill., 'em up all right." It was à" shabby overworked .little , old horse which tfie boys left. Blind as Mrs. Day would j a batj with no tail to speak of, and one - ear pricking, toward heaven alert- further service. It certainly object for the. tender ministra- . her trembling, exciting mystery stc as the heroine. She hundred times;- the twenty-fourth would stormy; it would be blowy weather; j stocking, the bare boughs of the little f x tree by .the alley would whine, in bitter-wind. She, washing dishes the kitchen sink, would hèar Mr. and Mrs. : Pratt quarreling in the dining- ; oh Mr. and over, perhaps to quarrel with lone . Then, suddenly, a dark figure ly f, dragging something bulky back where was the alley reabhed Pine Avenue, and a tions AFTER ALL. Showing That Sometimes Wishes Are Houses.* ' -By F. Roney Weir. ' I F IT had not been for' .tittle* lame leaving the fifty-dent piece on the Denny Grogan who lived next door, grass in plain sight. , ., Zandra might have considered her | Zandra skipped down V! whicM all children are : entitled-he mom left alivèxin the world. Denny had a ! should, for once have something love- drnnken father, a sick stepmother, a | & bought with hts own fathersmoney half-brother--about a foot and s i x and passed off as a gift from Santa inches long--two step-grandmothers, ! Claus as othg: J raént and oh, step, step, and step-cousins " n g y °L" n ^ e ™" lf that would have ' (that was herself) dragging the same ' But 0 f a ll the Steeds which champ- till you couldn't count em; and yet ^ n dishonest but if Mr. Grogan something along the alljjy and up over e( j their bits under the maple-tree that ^andra was as sorry for Denny as she ag ge ^ s ^ enough to "drink the Grogan's back/yard to the door. And n ; g ht (there were twelVe of them) could be. „ , ! clothes off the family's back," and the Grogan dog bow-Wowing- in the Za ndra regarded this one with the She was so sorry for him that she c - areless enough to sow money on the basement, and she gliding mysterious- most f avor . Thes'gift had "so muifii. was in the habit of tellipg him long street Zandra decided to use her own f ly baçk and plunging into the dish- me aning. . The boys had not merely stories VI about writing to Santa j u d g mentdn the mattér. It was as ! washing again without the Pratts or told the driver of their car to "taka Claus for what you wanted fqr Christ- c i ear as mud that .Providence had en- .the Days being a thought the wiser, that •♦.old hobby-horse to so-and-so." mas and being -sure'of getting it., She tangled that half-dollar in Grogan's It was glorious! „ They had been obliged to tug' it them- would tell him how little boys, who dirty handkerchief and then seen-to it 1 And then Christmas morning--and ( selves> talking! as they did so of the had been good all the year, used to that it dropped noiselessly on the Denny with the card in his hand, slow- "little lame feller." get pencil and paper and tell old Santa grass> i n place of clattering on. - the ly spelling put "From Santa Claus to The horses were .all safely snorting just what they wanted, then their big ceme nt walk with a ringing warning Denny Grogan for being d* good boÿ | n a "row at Grogans' Back -door 'and sisters would help them address the Q rogan 0 f his loss. | and minding baby, Merry Christmas" Zandra was innocently sitting "wait- envelope and find a stamp. Last of . - The at question" now was what ! --and his pop-eyes fairly, hanging out i n g up" when the Pratts got'back from all, big sister would take little bro- 1 ^ U y j? or Denny. she wished heart- ' on his cheeks like black apples ; and the movies. She listened in a sort of ther out to the mail-box, lift himy up that she had never urged Denny to he so completely dumfounded that. he happy daze while Mrs.^Pratt describ- and let him drop the precious letter ; ^; t e to Santa Claus; then he would '-couldn't utter .a word--and she saying, éd the" different murders she had seen in, so that it would surely reach that have been satisfied, even delighted, "Ah ha! What did I tell^you?" at the show, but her thoughts were mysterious home where Santa lived. , ,j with the handkerchiefs, the mug, or When Zandra^ got to this part of "the all on Grogans* and the next morn- 0nee Denny had asked her just the air-gun, or any one of a hundred picture, if it was^after she had gone- ing. where Santa Claus lived, and for a other things which fifty cents would *° bed at night, she would sit up an ' She was sorry not to be able to get minute Zandra was frustrated, but buy. But "a harse," as Denny called- hug her knees and have\hard work to to 'Grogans' in time to 'see the stag- finally she told him he lived up in a it--oh, sugar! They cost as much as keep from squealing right out. with gering surprise of Denny when he first I . "Peggy Armstrong, you can't do ; it! Even you can't do. it! You 1 eld ime yourself that you would have only thirty-seven cents after the h( me ^things were bought,"and I have fotty- two. I wouldn't mind the girls so much, but to think of-the left-out ones ---old -Mrs. Barry j and Vesta Coulter, and Callie Rideout! And the children! O Peggy, it can't seem Christmas without the children!" "I have done it," Peggy answered. She tried to say it calmly, as one to whom the doing of miraçles was an everyday matter ; but the triumph was too much for her, and she put her ! arms about her knees' and rocked exultantly. exultantly. " "Peggy Armstrong! I don't believe "And you're in it as deep as I am. I'll own up I wôrked over it most of one night, but you just listen! Mrs. ! Barry is to get a Christmas letter, tied up wi£h red ribbon and a bit of holly --you can do that much even on thirty-seven cents--telling her that she is to have a visit from one of us every single week, .and she shall hear all about the minister's sermon, and who is sick, and who has a new hat, and every bit of news we can get hold of. Vesta Coulter is to have another letter telling her she is to have a story brought her from the library every week. Callie Rideout did bother me, since she doesn't care for reading, but I.did it! She is to have the loan of a picture, photograph, vase, something something pretty, for that bare little room every month. We coùld spare one thing, either of us, Tess." Tess- nodded. "Go on!" she commanded. commanded. "For the girls! Well, for Ethel Das- kam I aha • going to make a private anthology of the twenty or so poems she loves ^best, and you're going to decorate covers for them--you know they're scattered through a . dozen •books. And for Grace Alford, we can stay with her mother twice a month, so that Grace can go to the Monday Evening Club--you know she wanted to join* last year, but could not leave her mother. And Belle Dilloway--" "I can do'Belle myself--I do have an occasional idea," Tess interrupted. "But the children, Peggy. Of course ~ Of the gay and festive season that at last, at last is here; Never resting, never -stopping in our mad career of shopping, x Searching over the ideal, not too cheap and not- too dear; Crushed and elbowed in the reeking crowds, thaï - Ii£e ourselves are seeking Just the very thirig of all things that their loved ones most desired. Limp and draggled theti emerging from the pushing, struggling, surging Mob, with parcels ^overladen, reaching home at last, dog tired. ~ Those experiences-may be best described as "most all-fired." Now we find sweet, compensation. /Sjpy, .. A-y listening to the Christmas chime, ? V * W 1 ' -\ of ] \_A •Whose clear cadence, soft and mellow, seems to whisper to a fellow That tberrwbret Ts nearly over, that we ' soon breathe again, Soon may find Sùrcease of sorrow, and that, mAybe-by- tomorrow 1 Or the next day, may be lifted something of this mental strain, That a blessed sense of-rest-may soothe the tissues - of our brain. 1 We have-done with hast© and flurry, no occasion-'now to worry, Lest some sensitive relation may have been quite overlooked. All the lists of names are checked and all the 1 " walls With green are deck* Now within a few short hours the Christmas dinner will be cooked Hail to Christmas! happy season! There is some substantial {reason The Shepherds, The shepherds watched their flocks by \ night, And peace was over them, And oyer all thé little world That bordered Bethlehem. EenS-V ■• W* " • no ionser will ne running to con- jrwiCr/- __ceal those things with cunning, And we'll lose our wonted air of I having something up-our sleeve. There will be a deuced litter, when the gewgaws gleam and glitter, Of waste paper, string and cotton, from the kitchen to the hall; ' But, with consciences elastic, we will grow enthusiastic And "wonder how they guessed," as on the donors' necks we fall Looking blissful over dewdads that we didn't want at all. ' Ah, this blessed thing of giving! It is half the joy of living To watch the looks of gratitude and pleasure and surprise That, at least to outward seeming, are upon loved faces beaming As the loved one opens his parcel and digs out his gaudy ties. And the gentle wife and mother her emotion tries to smother" "When conducted by her husband, to some secret corner, where As a proof of fônd affection, he has hid $rom her detection, * His gift to her, a cozy, costly, well-upholstered chair (Of whose comforts, In the future, you may bet he'll get his share). Now this Christmas-spirit moves us to f > va « sense that it behoves us I f J f To keep Poverty's bare platter, and f\ \ t=~~ fill Destitution's cup: , ^ Bring txlrk and pie and gladness to " the homes of empty sadness ! To help out sweet Christmas char- * " l * rr ity who would not loosen^up? '***^~ But it's highly aggravating not to say exasperating, When we've given most nobly and without thought of stint, To find- out, as we expected, that the modest are neglected And our princely benefaction hasn't found its way to print. And one among them was a lad Who did his father's part, A little lad with shining eyes That spoke his eager heart. The hush of midnight held the plain Where flocks and shepherd's were; The little lad with shining eyes Beheld no thing astir. for something--something small," cautioned cautioned Zandra. "How would two new handkerchiefs do?" Denny drew his sleeve across his turned-up nose. "I don't nade thim," he drawled, "I want a harse." He shifted the baby back up on the bad leg again to rest the good one. "Wouldn't it be fine to have a lovely lovely mug to drink your milk out of?" coaxed Zandra) "You could get--I mean you could write for one with the picture of a horse painted on it " Denny shook his head. "Or an air- rifle " "A harse wid rockers to it," persisted persisted Denny, and Zandra went away home much disturbed. Zandra had been christened Alexandria, Alexandria, but that name was found to be a misfit for a little kitchen girl ■frho j -4: worked for cheap families. The \ Pratts boarded and clothed her after j a fashion and--because the law com- I pelled--sent her to school. In return | .for this she made beds, swept_cham- ! bers, did the plain çooking, washed on j Saturday forenoons, and went to mar- ! ket 'afternoons. "While she was rest- ing, she patched and darned stockings j in the Winter and kept the lawn mow- ! ed in Summer. She was fourteen and | it was right and proper z that she should do something toward earning her keep. Zandra had a secret. She was the possessor of a sum of money. No matter how she came by it-^-or, well--_ perhaps it had better be explained here and now; she had seen Grogan rake it out of his pocket one morning together with his jack-knifS, car tickets, tickets, dirty bandanna handkerchief, and pipe, as he stock talking with Father Cassidy on the walk in front of-Pratt's steps. He was telling Father Cassidy how sick he had been. How hé had been "sèein' things." Zandra had When lo! about them: and above There glowed a wondrous light A glory flowed across the plain, And swept away the night. MISTLETOE SUPERSTITIONS such a horse, if only one knew where! I Down she flew to the alley, the back If only one had time enough to go , door key in one hand and the card in around and knock at doors until one : the other. There it was, standing stiff found the right house, and then go in . ànd warlike and snorting upright un- and tell the family all about how poor ; der the maple-tree. The, corner street- lame Denny Grogan had written Santa i ^S^t did not disclose the slightest Claus for "a harse"--and because of damage. It must have been- brand- the stories told him away~back. on the new right out of the storè. First of July by a wicked girl who Zandra attached her card, grasped thought he would forget before Christ- k ar connected the rockers mas--because of them, really expect- ^ ^ ront » an< * skidded Denny s harse ing to get "a harse" iir-his stocking-- through the alley and up to the^Gro- And then it was that the inspiration *? ans back door with the strength and struck Zandra. Market-day to-mor- dexterity of any Santa Claus on earth, row! She would take a chance and The Grogans' dog barked like-mad as use the fifty cents in advertising in Zandra went jumping and skipping the Sunday paper for a horse! f own length of the yard to ihe al- She wrote the notice up in -Jier } e y. Sounds-like that were unusual room-before she. went to bed that m b ^ ck ^ oT Grogans' home, . and the dog knew that it was not the nig * > uncertain- steps of old 'man Grogan Poor little lame boy wants second- reeling home. Visitors were few and hand rocking-horse. If you have _ far between, but Zandra quieted him one to give him, please leave it at-- with a pat on the back, and he crawl- 1420, corner of Pine Avenue and ed back iiito his shed. Seventeenth Street, on rear of lot, It was wonderful! The charitable àfter dark, December 24. family had seen her appeal, had owned " -, the" horse^ had brought, it, and it was . This production took Zandra such a safe at Denny's door, all tagged and long time to perfect that she overslept everything!. Wh--what was that? in the morning, and -was soundly There under tlie maple- stood the horse scolded by the irate Mr. Pratt. . just as if she had not just deposited it "What makes you so late?" he de- safe at the Grogans' back door! manded angrily, gulping down the hot Then she realized that there had coffee. ~ \ been two charitable families in the "I didn't sléep well first part of city, each owning an outgrown Tock- the night," apologized Zandra humbly, ing-horse. Well, well! Denny should "I guess I had the nightmare." have a span. "You eat too much!" snarled Mr. She seized the horse and started for Pratt, as he heaved, into Ms overcoat Grogans' as a pair of glaring eyes arid flashed*fior tbe car! He - was floor- paused at the alley entrance. Some- wàlker in a ten-cent store and had Body grunted arid exclaimed under his some #xcuse for his unpleasant dis- breath as he lifted out à bulky object position. and carried it to the maple-tree. Then ' The advertisement was too late for he drove away ^nd Zandra hurled It was just a rearing one--pure Mistletoe has been regarded as a sacred plant from the very earliest times. The Druids had a great reverence reverence for the number 3, and were convinced convinced of the sacredness of the mistletoe mistletoe by the fact that its leaves and ber- ri'es grow in threes. Cutting the mistletoe at the beginning beginning of the year was the chief Druidi- cal rite. Five days after the new moon the. Arch-Druid, dressed in white, climbed a mistletoe-bearing oak anfl cut the mistletoe with a golden knife or axe. Inferior priests stood beneath with a white cloth, into which the mistletoe fell--for if it touched the ground it was an omen of misfortune to the land. The mistletoe was then dipped in water and distributed among the people, who kept it as an antidote to poison, witchcraft, and various diseases. diseases. There is still a custom in Northern Europe of wearing rings and amulets made of mistletoe-wood as a charm against sickness. The " Greeks also revered it fqr its medicinal qualities, and Ovid and Virgil speak of its magic powers. Shakespeare only mentions mistletoe mistletoe once in his writings, and then refers refers to it as "baleful," because it kills the tree to which it fastens itself. Tradition Tradition has it that the Cross at the Crucifixion was made of wood from the mistletoertree, and. ever afterwards afterwards the tree was cursed aryl became a parasite.. The custom of kissing beneath the mistletoe is believed to have originated originated in Yorkshire, England, where it formed part of the ceremony of dedicating dedicating the tifistletoe on the high altar of the cathedral at York. The kissing, though, would not be the frivolous, laughing scramble it has degenerated into Ao-day., ' ' ' _ . The shepherds all were sore afraid. "What can it mean?" they cried. . And as the wonder filled their hearts A voice that thrilled replied: "Behold, 'tis not a time for fear! The tidings that we bring Shall fill the hearts of men with joy, List! Hear the angels sing!" And then from out-the flaming sky, ; As from a mighty throng, x There rolled the song the angels saflg, - A glad,-triumphant song; A song of praise unto the Jfing Who ruleth land and sea; A song of peace that, shall prevail Wherever man shall be. Lut away with sad reflection! This Is no time for dejection. Merry Christmas, happy Christmas, as we said, has come at last! AU the many tribulations, all the trials and vexations That have crowded thick upon us for the last six weeks, are past Not a protest shajl be uttered, though the house with toys is cluttered And the kids are all parading to the sound of horn and drum Lusty lung and larynx voicing; the extent qf their rejoicing' V r e will have to stand the racket now that Christmas day is come. (Later-tone our nervous system at some Sanitarium). s' ' c£~\ Thank the Giver if we're able to sit 'round a well-spread table, Where the plump white-bosomed / turkey "'sheds iTs savor through And pudding comes on smoking, and > there's no end to the joking, ' And no heart that harbors mailed . "" and no mind o'ercast with gloom Let jip be profoundly grateful that we have at least a plateful Again, again the.-chorus swelled, Anri then it dimmed and died; While back across the plain once more The midnight rolled its tide. - Yet was the midnight not the same; For in the East afar There shone a light nnseen before, A bright and Wridrous star. , Christmas- at Bethlehem. Veiling vapprs rent asxmder; ^ Clear the vast blue vault afar Over Bethlehem a wonder, Over Bethlehena a star! ^•premely thankfu^ Christmas comes ' but once & year) Silencé im the desert places "* Where the ptirple shadows throng, But down the night's ethereal^ spaces Over Bethlehem a song! X / - w Still as in those ages koary, ■ When the shining heists looked down, Oyer Bethlehem a glory, 9 Over Bethlehem a^own! in reality^ a jar---e grotesquely-fashioned grotesquely-fashioned earthenware jar, which, to prevent prevent the loss or "borrowing!* of gifts placed therein, had no other aperture than the slit \ through which a coin" could be passed; L 'These jars wej?fe carried as far back As the fifteenth cénttiry by the apprentices apprentices of London, who were invariably as poor as" chtrrch" mice, And who were allowed in consequence,, to. collect money from anybody* and ^everybody who could 6e induced to give. At an appointed time these Christmas-boxes .were openeri an ri the spoil equally divided among the apprentices. - ; If the war continues a regularly enlisted enlisted farm army will become ; an ab- solutS necessity. It may be better formed now than later. . back, white with flowing mane and tail. Up Pine Avenue she heard boys' voices clacking..along,.-and an aroused .intuition .intuition told her that they were bearing a rocking-horse. , x She got the white" steed half the Who first thought of the Christmas- box? Nobody knows.'. No doubt the originator bribed those who did know not to y tell. Maybe he launched Ms brilliant, money-for-nothing scheme, and thern when he-saw. how frightfully unpopular ij was,, arid hcçw man^ people people were looking for him. with murderous murderous intent, kept^it dark, and -Pyorrhea is an infeetton of the gums around the teeth with tiié production of- pus. It causes'* loosening of the teeth and may eventually affect the jawjtself 1f allowed to continue." The source of ' this infection ia frequently improper care of the teeth, or general general rundown conditio which allows the germs to .gain access. It was formerly- considered incurable, but it is now known that the disease may be entirely cured if taken in the early j stages. Careful treatment by a apecial- > ly qualified dentist is nesessary. ^length of the alley where she left him and went ba6k to the entrance. The $ibys were carefully depositing their little offering. y* "Good evening,", she greeted, "this is awful good of you--to^ give your little horse away., Perhaps--perhaps yoii%ate to give it up." . ^ " answered the bigger^ boy,' "We don't Want it no more. We're grown up.' We're glad to give it to the little lame feller." "" "Well, thank you ever so much!" - tried to look as though hh'hadn't done it. - ^ y ; . 1 z x -And why Christmas "box" ? It's tantalizing when . ,th* newsboy says, r "Give us a Christmas-box, pleasè, sir!" not to be able to take Mm z -at his word and give him one---on the ears. And it isn't as though there ever was an ^actual box; for the* receptacle receptacle -dubbed "Christmas-box'Xwas, December brings holly'* All gleaming janfi glowing; December is. jolly . - With sleigh bells and snowing ! The whole, world rejoices Around the red ember, And so with glad voices Sing "Hail to December!"