were put upon the table and a shovelful of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one. Then Bob exclaimed :

"A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!" Which all the family reëchoed.

"God bless us, every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all. Then Bob Cratchit told them how he had a situation in his eye for Master Peter, which would bring in, if obtained, full five and sixpence weekly. The two young Cratchits laughed tremendously at the idea of Peter's being a man of business; and Peter himself looked thoughtfully at the fire from between his collars, as if he were deliberating what particular investments he should favor when he came into the receipt of that bewildering income.

Martha, who was a poor apprentice at a milliner's, then told them what kind of work she had to do, and how many hours she worked at a stretch, and how she meant to lie in bed to-morrow morning for a good long rest, to-morrow being a holiday she passed at home. Also how she had seen a countess and a lord some days before, and how the lord "was about as tall as Peter;" at which Peter pulled up his collars so high that you couldn't have seen his head if you had been there. All this time the chestnuts and the apples went round and round, and by and by they had a song, about a lost child traveling in the snow, from Tiny Tim, who had a plaintive little voice, and sang it very well indeed.

After a while they played at forfeits and then at blindman's buff, and if you had only seen Bob scramble about that kitchen, knocking down the fire irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping up against the cupboard, you would have shouted with laughter as did the two young Cratchits. Then there was a game of "Yes and No," where Peter had to think of something and the rest must find out what, he only answering to their questions yes or no as the case was. Peter must have thought of something exceedingly funny, for at every fresh question that was put to him, he burst into a roar of laughter and was so inexpressibly tickled that he was obliged to get up from his chair and stamp.

There was nothing of high mark in all this. They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being waterproof; their clothes were scanty. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another and contented with their lot. They knew how to keep Christmas well, and may that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one!

From" The Christmas Carol."

CHARLES DICKENS

"A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows,' said St. Francis, he who hailed the sun with delight and who laid upon his followers the duty of cheerfulness."

THE THREE KINGS

HREE Kings came riding from far away,
Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar ;

Three Wise Men out of the East were they,
And they traveled by night and they slept by day,
For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.

The star was so beautiful, large and clear,
That all the other stars of the sky
Became a white mist in the atmosphere;

And by this they knew that the coming was near
Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.

Three caskets they bore on their saddlebows,
Three caskets of gold with golden keys;
Their robes were of crimson silk, with rows
Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,

Their turbans like blossoming almond trees.

And so the Three Kings rode into the West,

Through the dusk of night over hills and dells, And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast, And sometimes they talked, as they paused to rest, With the people they met at the wayside wells.

"Of the Child that is born," said Baltasar,
"Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;
For we in the East have seen His star,
And have ridden fast and have ridden far,

To find and worship the King of the Jews."

And the people answered, "You ask in vain;
We know of no king but Herod the Great!”
They thought the Wise Men were men insane,
As they spurred their horses across the plain
Like riders in haste who cannot wait.

And when they came to Jerusalem,

Herod the Great, who had heard this thing, Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them; And said, "Go down unto Bethlehem,

And bring me tidings of this new king."

So they rode away, and the star stood still,
The only one in the gray of morn;

Yes, it stopped, it stood still of its own free will,
Right over Bethlehem on the hill,

The city of David where Christ was born.

And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard, Through the silent street, till their horses turned,

And neighed as they entered the great inn yard;

But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred, And only a light in the stable burned.

And cradled there in the scented hay,

In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,

The little child in the manger lay,

The Child that would be King one day

Of a kingdom not human, but divine.

His mother, Mary of Nazareth,

Sat watching beside this place of rest, Watching the even flow of His breath, For the joy of life and the terror of death Were mingled together in her breast.