. V; iC&'iiS -^i' s®a^s if ••>.< W be glad and lor* you. •he wiU." The man had ceased eating and Jtt motionless with his head bowed on his breast until Mary approached and curtly asked if he were "done eatin'." "Yes," he answered absently, and, looking wistfully at the child, he reached for his hat. "Is you goin' to see your mamma*" questioned Donald, eagerly. "Yes. my little man," cable the ail* ewer, in a clear, ringing voice that made Mary jump and drop a basin. "That's just where I am going. But first, tell me your n^me." 'I'm little Donald Robert Tracy, and n>y papa's big Donald Robert!" "Good-by, little preacher. You're the best one I've ever heard." and Adjust brushing the golden head with his lips, the tramp passed out of the door and went down the street, not with the slouching, hang-dog air with which he had approached the house, but with head erect and shoulders squared, he swung along with long, easy strideaS "Of all the ungrateful wretches!" exclaimed Mary, angrily, to Mrs. Tracy, who had slipped in through the half-open door. "He never even said 'thank you.'" Her mistress did not seem to hear, but, with shining eyes, gathered her little son up in her arms, tyad. as she pressed blm closely to her, she whispered brokenly, "And a little child shall lead them." • * * A year passed, and little Donald'® " "talning" the tramp was forgotten "Well, I'll show you the pictures and read you 'bout 'em. This one," and Donald slid along the table as near to the man as the dishes would al low. "this on^ is about 'Biue Boy." I'll read 'bout him," and, in a chanting, high-pitched voice, he repeated the rhyme of "Little Boy Blue." "Did you ever sleep under . hay- piow?" he asked, suddenly, at the con-One star burned low within the darkened .And from a stable door an answering ' elusion of his recitation, light <Crept faintly forth, where through full hours of night Ul. woman watched. The sounds of day had ceased, .And save the gentle tread of restless beast There dwelt a hush profound. The moth er's sight- Co holden by her Babe took no afTright "When shadows of the beams, that caught the least Of light, seemed shapened to a lengthen ing cross; fihe only saw a crown made by a fleece '<)f golden hair. Naught presaged pain or loss-- To her. the pivot of the swinging sphere Lay sheltered in her arms so warm and near; ..... A. mother's heart proclaimed Him "Prince of Peace!" --Edna A. Foster. The man frowned slightly at the childish query, bit his lip and nodded his head. "Was it nice*1"- went on his inter rogator. "Did your mamma let you?" The man's lower lip was pressed cruelly by his teeth at this question, but a surly shake of his head was liis only reply. "Oh, was you naughty and runned away?" the boy asked, slowly. Had Mary been an observing girl, sh^ would have seen, under the scrubby beard and grime on the hag gard face, a dull red flush spread to the roots of his shaggy, neglected hair. "Didn't your mamma come to look for you?" continued the little tor mentor. "She didn't know where I was," the tramp answered, in a strange, muffled voice. "Then you hided from her!" ex claimed the child, with blue eyqes wide open. The man was looking out of the window now, forgetful of bis good that Christmas \ breakfast % e was such an un kempt, sad looking creature when he presented himself at the back door mornfng asking for something to eat that Mary was more tbpn half in clined to disobey the rule of the (Tracy household, which stood good :at all seasons of the year as well as at Yuletide, and refuse his re quest. Before she could do so, how ever, Mrs. Tracy herself came into the kitchen, and, with scant show of hos pitality. Mary allowed the tramp to enter. Sue had always secretly grumbled because Mrs.' Tracy wou.d allow no one to be turned away hungry, and to day there was no excuse, for the fam- ly had just finished breakfast and there was plenty of food left to give the man a substantial meal. "Goin' to come and rob the house to-night, like's nut.'^was Mary's in ward comm^Ht^as-she put the coffee pot or. the stove, and she watched the man narrowly to see if he were mak ing a mental plan of the house, but her suspected burglar did not once look up from the floor as he sat ner vously twirling his hat. "He's young and able to work." Mary soUJoquized, as she bustled to and fro putting eatables on one end of the kitchen table. „^M4ght be tol erable good lockin', too, if he was shaved and dressed up--and--washed." "There!" she snapped, setting a cup of coffee down on the table with as much force as she could without spill ing its contents. "Your vituals set. ' The man, scarcely raising his eyes, dropped his hat and hitched his chair siear the table. Just as he eagerly clutched the cup of fragrant coffee, a door opened, a pair of merry blue eyes peered into the kitchen and a shrill little voice piped «<ut, "Hello, man, merry Christmas!" The "man" started, shifted uneasily In his chair, but made no reply. Un daunted by his chilling reception, the door was burst open, and a golden- Laired little boy burst into the room. With the unquestioning confidence ot childhood, he walked up to the stranger and said gravely, "I said merry Christmas." "Run into the other room. Donald," I 14: ry put in hastily. ' I The man shot a half-defiant glance At her, but did not look at the child. "I don't want to," the little fellow replied. "He's company, and mamma eaid I could 'tain him. 1 bringed the new Mother Doose book dat I dot from Santa Claus to show he," and, push ing a chair close to the table, from it be mounted the end of the table pposite the man, and sat there like a sweet, rosy cherub observing some dark spirit. The tramp, who Beemed almost famished, paused just long enough to look wonderingly at his strange little companion, and then gave his full at tention to the meaL "Don't you want to talk?" Donald demanded. "I'm not fit--that is, 'er, I don't know how to talk to such a little kid," the man answered. "All right, 1 guess you want to eat," the child observed, graciously. "I guess I'll read to you," opening the book he was holding in his arms. "You know Mother Goose, don't you?" The man shook his head, t|ut some thing like a smile flitted across his •ullen feature*. "I was naughty once and runned away," Donald prattled on, "and when my mamma found me she was just awful glad, but she cried, too--wasn't that funny? And she said mothers was always glad when they got their boys back, »even when they was big and runned awful far off. 'strayed into the paths'--I forget just what that part was, but she said I must always come back to ber--an --an'--I don't 'member any more, but I guess if you'd go back to your mamma she d forget the naughty and be glad. Do you think she'd cry?" The man cast one fierce'•look over his shabby person. "Cry!" he ex claimed, bitterly. "Oh " he drew his breath hard between his teeth as the sight of the baby face choked back the oath that nearly escaped him. "Isn't you goin' to eat any more?' chirped the little fellow, with awak ened hospitality, noticing that his guest, sitting with his head on his hand, seemed to have lost ^is appe tite. The child's voice ro^ed him from his thoughts, and. Seeing that Mary had paused in her work and was watching him curiously, he asked humbly "Can I have some coffee?" Meanwhile Donald was turning the pages of his book "Here's a funny picture." he announced, pointing with his fat little finger, "but it's 'bout a dreadful naughty bov. I'll read 'bout him," and. in a very solemn and im pressive tone, he repeated the tale of "Tom. Tom. the Piper's Son." "It's dreadful bad to steal, you know," he commented, gravely. "My mamma says so, and, of course, she knows--mammas know most every thing, don't they? Once--what do you think?- I stole! I didn't steal a pig like Tom, but I stole some little cakes, n "YOU KNOW MOTHER GOOSE, DON'T YOU?" by all save Mrs. Tracy. She often won dered what fruit the good seed sown by the innocent child last Christmas morning had borne. That he had been God's chosen instrument for working out some great end, her gentle heart never doubted. It was, therefore, a great pleasure and satisfaction to her to receive a long letter from the "man." It was written from his home in a far eastern city, and told, in a simple, straight forward manner, the story of his down fall and how, moved by Donald's child ish prattle, he had worked his way bUck home, resolved to begin life anew; how kind friends had helped him and encouraged him, and how he was doing well at his old trade of bookbinding "I was going from bad to worse," the letter ran. "and nothing is easier for a young follow to do, and the road down to being a 'common tramp' is a «hort or.e when one gets started. When I came to your house that Christmas morning I was bitter, hard and des perate. No one living could have touched my heart as did that little blue-eyed boy. His little sermon, with its text taken from 'Mother Goose, snatched this poor brand from the burning. Tell the little chap that I found my mamma, and she was glad as he said." Accompanying the letter was a pack age of Christmas gifts, addressed to Donald. Among other things it con tained a book--a copy of "Mother Goose" exactly like the one from which he had "read" to the man to " 'tain him," exquisitely bound in white vellum. On the cover in gold letters was Donald's name, and below it, "From his grateful Blue Boy. Christmas--189--." Christinas a Century Ago. A hundred years ago about five mil lion Americans, free and slave, en joyed a humble Christmas without so much as a cooking stove in all the United States. This month, nearly neventy-seven millions will observe the same holiday" with almost every thing that the palate can desire, and with every means, from hot coals to electricity, for cooking it. The Ameri can of a hundred years ago undoubt edly had a better stomach and a larg er appetite than the American of to day; but all the same, we are all glad we are living in the year 1900. In no pointer contrast is the growth of this country so wonderfully shown as in the census figures. In 1800 there were, in the eight Northern States, arid in Maine, Indiana and Ohio, which were not states at that time, 2,601,521 whites, 47,154 free blacks and 35,94ti slaves; in the eight Southern States and Mississippi and the District of Co lumbia there were 1,702,980 whites, 61,- 241 free blacks and 857,095 slaves; making a total of 5.305,937. "A DOOR OPENED." and my mamma talked to me a long time, and she told me so many things so I'd grow to be a good man. Did your mamma want you to be a good man, too?" The man choked on a hasty cup of coffee, but made no reply. Donald did not seem to expect one, but chatted on. "I was fraid my mamma did not love me any more when I stole those cakes, 'cause she looked so sorry, but," with a happy little laugh, "seemed like she loved me more'n ever after. But I don't want to see her look sorry like that again. Did you ever make your mamma look sorry--out of her eyes, you know?" A smothered groan from the stranger and, with a child's intuition of "something wrong," Donald sought to cheer and console, and said, reas suringly, "Well, you just go an' tell Christmas In Holland. In Holland on Christmas Eve, the children, while indulging in various games, keep casting anxious glances at the door, as if expecting a visitor. At iength their play is hushed by a loud knock at the door and St. Nicholas, clad in his episcopal robes, enters. He evinces a wonderful knowledge of the failings and virtues of each child, scolding and praising «ach according to the merits of th«}tr family behavior. Finally, however, he bestows his bless ings on them all' and promising to give each a present on the next morn ing, he disappears. Before retiring to rest that night each 'toember of the family places one of his or her shoes on the table in the parlor. The door is then locked, but the next morning proves the truth, of Santa Claus' prom ise, for in each shoe is found a present for its owner. ST. FMK. SUM SETS lit BUNKS UnBtOto Evw Built to fc. ^ a HE BEASON WHYfe 'fjBy -AGaiyor-Lm Abo ore, vvl 3Si **I heard a story lately, which I think Is very queer!" And Robert's 'self was on my lap, his Hps were at my ear-- **A dreadful, dreadful story--" a sudden, awful pause-- "Somebody said the pther day there alnt no Santa Claus. "Would you believe It. auntie? They said 'twas all a trick About the tiny reindeer and the visits of Saint Nick, That all the chimneys were too small, the stoves were all too hot. And lots of just such stuff a» that, 1 can't remember what. "They said that years and years ago, with fire-places wide, And all the doors upon the latch in aU the countryside. Both old and young for myths and dreams had quite a pretty passion^ But now belief in Santa Claus had all' gone out of fashion. "And when I cried that I could prove 'twas all a wicked lie, They only shrugged their shoulders and said I'd better try; I never will believe It, I know it can't be true! For If I've never se«n him, say, auntie, haven't you?" Ah, yes, my little questioner, quite often in my dreams, Though when I wake I only see the cold, white, still moonbeams; Dozing I often think I hear the sound of horn and hoof, And waking find the elm-tree boughs a tapping on the roof. But I have other reasons than those plain to eye and ear For trusting in the story that we hold so true and dear; I never shall outgrow It, nor lose my faith, because The world will never get beyond a need of Santa Claus. --Youths' Companion. THE DAY OF DAYS, A ..thousand years have come and gone, And near a thousand, more, Since happier light fr6m heaven shone Than ever shone before; And in the hearts of old and young A Joy most Joyful stirred, That sent such news from tongue to tongue As ears had never heard. And we are glad, and we will sing, As in the days of yore; Come all. and hearts made ready bring. To welcome back once more The day when first on wintry earth A summer change began. And dawning" on a lonely birth, Uprose the Light of man. --T. T. Lynch. Poverty with contentment la Mtte* than wealth without happiness. our travelers who were snow-bound in a Western passenger train on Christ mas Eve speedily became acquainted with each other, and sat about the stove at the end of the car to "talk it over." One of the men was a drummer, another a cowboy, the third a big cattleman, and the last the minis ter who tells the story. They finally fell into conversation with a poor wo man and her two children, the only re maining passengers, and found that the mother, who had tried to maintain herself by sewing since her husband's death, was giving up the unequal strug gle and going home to live with "grandma." The little threadbare children hfld been promised a joyous Christmas there, and when they found that the blockade would prevent their getting farther, for the present, they cried bitterly until, sleep quieted them. Just before they dropped off the drummer remarked: "Say, parson, we've got to give these children some Christmas." "That's what!" said the cowboy. "I'm agreed," added the cattleman. The children were told to hang up their stockings. "We alnt got none," quavered the little girl, " 'ceptin' those we've got on, and ma says It's too cold to take 'em oft." "I've got two pairs of new woolen socks," said the cattleman, eagerly. "I ain't never wore 'em, and you're wel come to "em." The children clapped their hands, but their faces fell when the elder re marked: "But Santa Claus will know they're not our stockings. He'll put in all the things for you." "Lord love you!" roared the burly cattleman. "He won't bring me noth- in\ One of us'll sit up, anyhow, and tell him it's for you." Then the children knelt down on the floor Of the car beside their Improvised beds. Instinctively the hands of the men went to their heads, and at the first Words of "Now I lay me," hats were off. The cowboy stood twirling his hat, and looking at the little kneeling fig ures. The cattleman's vision seemed dimmed, while in the eyes of the trav eling man shone a distant look--a look across snow-filled prairies to a warmly lighted home. The children were soon asleep. Then arose the question of presents. "It don't seem to me I've got any thing to give 'em," said the cowboy, mournfully, "unless the little kid might like my spurs. I'd give my gun to the little girl, though on general principles I don't like to give up a gun." "Never mind, boys," said the drum mer, "you come along with me to the baggage car." So off they trooped. He opened his trunks and spread before them such an array of trash and trinkets as took away their breath. "There," said he, "just pick out the best things and 111 donate the lot!" "No, you donrt!"' said the cowboy. "I'm going to buy what I want and "NOW I LAY ME^--" pay for it, too, or else there ain't goin' to be no Christmas round here." "That's my judgment, too," said the cattleman, and the minister agreed. So they skt down to their task of se lection. They spent hours over it hi breathless interest, and when their gifts were ready there arose the ques tion of a Christmas tree. It had stop ped snowing, and tramping out into the moonlit night, they cut down a great piece of sage-brush. i The mother adorned it with tinsel paper and the gifts were prettily disposed. Christmas dawned for two of the happiest chil dren under the sun, and a happy moth er, too, for inside the big plush album selected for her the cattleman had slipped a hundred-dollar hill. The liiV or Days. Christmas is, the day of all the year best and dearest among the time marks of out recurring calendar. It is the day for peace and harmony in every heart and at every hearthstone. We celebrate God's chiefest gift to man and discordant thoughts or contentions have no place at the joyous festival. All should ring clear and true and sweet as the Yuletime chimes. The spirit of Christmas softens evil, sor row and hopelessness with the magic touch of charity, for in charity is the embodiment of all the Christian graces. It gives to goodness a brighter luster and to resolve a nobler purpose. It is a spirit born in every heart that can know its inspiration, without regard to creed or race or station. Of all the days to which man has given special observance. Christmas alone has grown In Its power, its beauty and its value. It has been stripped of the grandly de vised liturgy and dramatic representa tions that had their root in heathen customs, dispelled by the true Chris tian spirit. After Christmas. As ^a general thing affectionate fathers and mothers rejoice in the hap piness of their children, but the rule has its exceptions. "Is Mr. Smart at all given to drink?" Inquired a merchant, anxiously, of his confidential clerk. "No, indeed!" was the decided an swer. "He never touches a drop. But what put such a suspicion into your mind?" "Why, I noticed that he has been twd hours late for the last three mornings, and he looks for all the world as If he had been on a regular spree." "Oh, that's all right," said the clerk. "He gave his boy a drum (or Christ mas. A gift of a fancy bedecked box of candles is at all times a most welcome gift, and as bonbon candies are very ex pensive to purchase in large Quantities and are so easily made,a few recipes for Christmas goodies may be useful to our readers. Years ago peo ple believed that candy was harmful, but that notion was set aside; and it is declared really beneficial--of course, whfen eaten at the proper time, in proper quantities and made of pure materials. Home-made candies are al ways pure, the best materials are used and the cost is much less than Is paid for the same grade in the stores. It is a nice plan to make your own Christmas candies, and you can send boxes away to your friends who will prize things made for them moeh more than anything bought To send candies away they should be made to. look as dainty and pretty as possible. Fancy baskets can be cheaply bought that will be pretty after the candy is used, and lined with waxed paper over a fringed inner lln Ing or ' some delicate colored tls- Bue paper. In packing place waxed paper between the layers, and when the basket is filled wrap the edges ol the lining paper over the top so that the candies are covered, then gather the fringed tissue paper into a rosette, and tie with baby ribbon. In making peanut candy, to every half pint of shelled and blanched pea nuts use one cupful each of molasses or sugar. Boil together until the mix ture is brittle when dropped into cold water; then stir in the half pint of peanuts before taking from the fire. Pour Into buttered pans and mark off into squares or lengths before it cools. Hickory nuts, English walnuts or al monds may be used in place of pea nuts. To blanch nuts is to remove the fine skin which covers the nut under the shell. This will easily rub off in pea nuts, but other nuts require different treatment. After removing the shell cover the nuts with boiling water, and let them stand until the dark skin will easily rub off, then put them into oold water. Dry between towels. II doubt if any class of men I in the world appreciate J their holidays, so fully aa - j... iJ the jackies, writes a re tired naval officer. The life on board a warship" \is at best very confined and necessarily Etrict and severe. There is the suggestion of a prison in the steel walls and narrow quarters and the regularity of the hours and meals. The^" life of the jackies is made up almost entirely of work with very little play. We learn to enjoy our Christmases the more when at last they come round. On Christmas, for once in the year at least, all rules* of which there are so many on board a battleship, are thrown to the winds and the jackies are given the entire freedom of the ship. The order which is usually giv en them is that they can spend the day exactly as they like, and take any* lib erties they choose short of blowing up the ship. It sometimes happens when the ship is in some attractive port that the sailors prefer to spend the day on land, and they are of course always granted leave of absence. It is sel dom, however, that the ship is so de serted that the cabins are not for the time converted into a veritable pande monium. There is no formal celebra tion of the day ordered by the gov ernment. The sailors are simply giv en their liberty and they do the rest. If a chaplain chances to be on board tbe day is opened with some simple religious services and there the juris diction of the captain may be said to end. Several of what; are , claimed to bo the largest locomotives ever construct ed were received by the Chicago, Mil waukee and St. Paul road yesterday. In these days of large engines each fresh consignment received by a rail road during the past year or two h«M« had the distinction of being the lar£? est While these monster locomotives have In a way ceased to excite sur prise, those Just received by the St. Paul road are remarkable in their di mensions. For exatnple, the diameter of the driving wheels is eighty-four and one-fourth inches, or one-fourth, of an inch over seven feet. Following is a technical description of the new giants: Diameter ot driving wheels, 84^4 Inches. Diameter of compound cylinders, 26 and 15 inches. Stroke of cylinders, 28 inches. Total length of engine, 68 feet 11 Inches. Steam capacity of boiler, 200 pounds. Fire bcx, 8 feet 8 inches by 5 feet 5 inches. Number of flues in boiler, 360/ ' Heating surface, 8,215 square feet. Capacity of tender, 18,000 pounds of coal and 7,000 gallons of water. Thinks Fast Time Possible. General Passenger Agent Miller of the St. Paul is enthusiastic over the new engines, alleging that they will tend to revolutionize schedules and power. He says they will be capable of hauling fourteen or fifteen heavily loaded coaches or sleepers sixty mllea an hour. Grades will be little or no obstruction to the leviathans. The locomotives will be put In ser vice on the limited trains between Chicago and Milwaukee and between Chicago and Omaha. TALKS ON ADVERTISING. Tbe best way to advertise is just to advertise. Get at it with a view to hav ing the people know what you most desire to sell, an^ incidentally letting them know that the specified items do not represent your full stock. Say in teresting things about Interesting good* and have the goods to talk. Men talk of the secret of successful advertising, but it is all very plain. Tho essentials are to offer what people want, at fair prtces, and to offer It in a way that will make readers know they want it. The art in writing an advertisement is to speak as the inter ested and well-informed merchant would speak to a prospective customer. The mere appearance of a business man's name and address in every issue of a leading newspaper will do work t» increase his trade. Every business man;, however, is able to give facts about his- establishment which will encourage people to deal with him. To state sucfc facts clearly in a newspaper is the prin cipal secret of successful advertising. Tbe idea that it takes a number of Impressions to make the average ad vertisement effective is not new. Forty years ago an English advertiser said to th& publisher of the Cornhill Maga zine: "We don't consider that an ad vertisement seen for the first time by a reader is worth much. The second time It counts for something. The third time the reader's attention is arrested; the fourth time be reads it through and1 thinks about it; the fifth makes a pur chaser of him. It takes time to soak- In." ' FLORIDA SPECfAL- Via Bif Four Koal* Chicago to Jacksonville and St. Au gustine. Effective Jan. 6, 1902, the "Big Four" will operate through Pull man sleepers from Chicago and In dianapolis to Jacksonville and St. Au gustine. via Cincinnati, Queen ft Cres cent. Sou. R y, Plant System and Fla. East Coast Ry.. leaving Chicago at 1 p. in., daily, except Sunday. Dining and observation cars. For full in formation address J. C. Tucker, Gen. Nor. Agt.. 234 Clark street, Chicago; Warren J. Lynch, G. P. ft T. A., or W. P. Deppe, A. G, P. & T. A-, Cincin nati, O. In England children hang their stockings at the foot of their beds. In America the whole family suspend their stockings from the mantelpiece of the sitting room, to save Santa Claus the trouble of ascending the stairs and entering each room to distribute his wares. On the ere of St. Nicholas day, Dec. 8, parents in France used to secretly give presents to thetr chl'dren as Nich olas had given the purses. The par ents denied that they gave the presents and said they had been left by the saint, wbc on this ntght traveled ap and down the earth and entering n»- peenanrt unheard through the window* of the bosses reward the good chil dren. THE HANDSOMEST CALENDAR of the s&Lson (in ten colors) six beau tiful heads (on six sheets, 10x12 inch es), reproductions of paintings by Moran, issued by General Passenger Department, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, will be sent on receipt of twenty-five cents. Address F. A* Miller, General Passenger Agent, Chi cago. I'ollte Sarcasm. Mr. Tightfist--'I'm always willing to help a deserving unfortunate. Here is two cents, now don't spend it for drink." Tramp--"Certainly not. If I don't buy a ticket to Florida I'll surely purchase a set of winter flan nels."--"Chelsea Gazette. "Lives of the Hunted" is the>title of a book by Ernest SetonrThompson, the first writer who has ever adequately Interpreted the nature of brutes, espe cially those to whom man appears a* a beast of prey. Seton-Thompson never fails to enlist our sympathies with the conquered beasts. The illustrations are harmonious and always suggestive of thought and feeling. Will Carleton's maga'zine, Every Where, seems to have demonstrated what, to many, seemed impossible-- that a strictly first-class magazine could be produced for fifty cents a year. Most of the articles are short, and very much to the point The "Literary Digest" is a weekly periodical which aims to sum up all periodicals into one, giving the gist of every aide of every question In con troversy with Impartiality and telling Just what Luhy people want to know. Biggs--"Do you belong to any so~ clety?" Diggs "No; but I'm going,* assist In organizing one next we^fi, Biggs--"What is to be the naty4or it?" Diggs--"It will be a #ocl|[wn the suppression of useless socle" Chicago News. ,.K& \ \