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Our Boys and Girls
KRISS KRINGLE.
Just as the moon was fading
Amid her misty rings,
And every stocking was stuffed
With childhood's precious things,
?
Old Kriss Kringle looked round.
And saw on the elm-tree bough,
High-hung, an oriole's nest,
Silent and empty now.
"Quite like a stocking" he laughed,
"Pinned up there on the tree!
Little I thought the birds
Expected a present from me!"
Then Old Kriss Kringle, who loves
A joke as well as the best
Dropped a handful of flakes
In the oriole's empty nest.
? Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
HOW WILL IT LOOK?
A New Year Story.
It was the last hour of the old year. Five
girl friends were gathered around the grate
fire in one of the girls' homes. The proposal
to hold a "watch meeting" had been made
earlier in the day, and the evening had been a
merry one, helped on by freshly made fudge.
The frolicsome mood had passed now, and the
room was growing cold. They drew nearer
to the fire and talked in low subdued tones,
glancing from time to time at a bronze clock on
the bookcase, with its warning uplifted hands.
"It's been a beautiful ' year, " one of theiji
said, evidently thinking of the twelve-month
past. ' ' It seems like parting with an old friend
you've tried and proved, and ? taking on one
you know nothing about."
"If we could only know that the new yeai
would be as happy and pleasant for all of us
as the old one has been," another girl observed
and there was a little sighing catch in her
voice.. "But that's just what we can't do.
Sometimes it makes me tremble all over to
think what dreadful things might lie hidden
hardly a step ahead, and we going on, laugh
ing and talking, and never suspecting it.
That's how it was with Julia Marsden ? don't
you remember?"
There was a momentary lull in the talk.
Then one of the girls said:
"That's merely borrowing trouble. We
must take things as they come. Ten to one,
they'll never come." ?
The voice in the next girl who spoke was low
and thoughtful. "I got up this morning, girls,
before it was fairly light. I had a troubled
dream, and it left me wide awake. The lawn
was so beautiful under the new-fallen snow!
Nobody was astir, and there wasn't a footprint
to break the pure whiteness. When I went to
bed I couldn 't bear to look at it, all soiled, and
trampled and smudged up. And it came to me
since we've been talking, girls, that the blank
page of the new year is something like the
snowy lawn was early this morning. We
haven 't tried to write a word, or make a mark,
or even take the pen in our hands. I've been
wondering how the page will look a year from
now."
"We shall have to wpit till time tells the
story," one of her companions said. "To do
otherwise would be another case of what Laura
just, called 'borrowing trouble.' "
"No." The low. thoughtful voice was posi
tive.' "This is something that's in our own
hands, Marcia, and what happens to us isn't.
If we're ever going to think how the new page
will look, in our own eyes, and in the eyes of
God, now is the time ? before we've touched
pen or paper. If we use care tomorrow morn
ing, and every morning after, and every hour
of every day, the record will be neat and clean,
when the year is done. There may be tear
stains 011 it, but there won't be unsightly
blots."
The bronze elock chimed twelve. "Let's try,
girls," Marcia said softly. The others nodded
assent. ? Selected.
HAPPY NEW YEAR.
"Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year!" responded little Mary
Ann, as she placed her basket of laundry on the
sidewalk and looked up into the cheery face of
the elderly lady who had greeted her and re
ceived a pleasant smile.
"Happy Now Year!" she said a minute later,
as Tim Graham ran by her.
"Humph," responded Tim, stopping quickly
and turning around. "Aren't you putting on
airs, Mary Ann?"
"They're not airs, Tim," said Mary Ann;
"they're jnst things to pass along. Before I
came out this morning, mother said: 'If you
get anything good whiie you're out, just pass
it along.' T got a real pleasant 'Happy New
Year' from the white-haired lady you just met,
so I'm passing it along to you. It's your turn
now."
"Mebbe," said Tim as he turned away and
pushed his bare hands deeper into his torn
pockets. "But,' he added to himself, "I won
der who'd care for my Happy New Year ; guess
I'll try it, though."
"Happy New Year!" he said in a half bash
ful way a minute afterward, as he met an of
ficer of the law.
"Happy New Year!" responded the big po
liceman, cheerily. "It seeips good to have a
chap like you speak up so free and honest."
"Say, will you pass it along?" asked Tim,
looking up into the face above him. "That's
what Mary Ann said to me, sir."
"That's what I'll do my boy, and be glad
to. It's a good thing."
"Happy New Year, ma'am." he said cheer
ily, as he approached an apple stand, behind
which an apple woman stood shivering.
"Happv New Year!" said the apple woman,
as Mrs. Murphy stopped to buy some apples.
"A 'Happy New Year' is it, you're giving
me?' exclaimed Mrs. Murphy. "Sure, if it's
a happy new year to the loikes of you a-shiv
ering behind the apple stand, what moight it
be to me s'ck man at home who has a good fire
and nlinty of hot gruel? I'll take that home
to him. and sure hell stop fretting because he
can't get out to work till next week." ? Ex
change.
ENGINE OR FREIGHT 0AR8?
The author of a recent book to boys, in
which he is urging jthem to stick to school, asks
whether they want to be engines or freight
cars.
The latter are things that just sit aroun'1
waiting until they are pushed or pulled here
or there by some other force. They are only
made to yarry burdens for other people. Thev
do not cost so very much or take a arrest
while to make. The workmen that make them
do not need to be especially skilled. "When
the cars are wrecked, usually they are piled
along the side of the track and burned.
On the other hand, the engines comes out of
the shop filled with power and throbbing with
energy that only waits to he directed. They
always lead and pull or push. True, they
cost more than freight cars, and it takes longer
to construct them. The workmen must be
skilled men. Only the very best materials can
be used in them. When they arc wrecked they
are carefully picked up and every part is saved
to be used again.
The parable is a good one. Not only the
youths, but their parents should consider it.
Will the boy or girl be one to be shoved hero
or there at another's will? The temptation
to the boy is to take the short cut and get
out into business life. But he is likely to be
come a burden-bearer, and nothing more. A
little more time and expense now will make a
leader of him. ? Unknown.
"JIMMY'S TEXT.
One day it was pouring rain, and Aunt Car
rie was getting short of stories. Jimmy Bates
said: "Let's play church."
There were five Bates children and two cou
sins. They put a chair for the pulpit, with
the hassock for a step to get up.
The pulpit was so fine that each wanted to
be the minister. They began to argue about
it, but Jimmy said he ought to be, because he
knew most texts, so he must be the "goodest."
"Why, Jimmy!" said Aunt Carrie.
But the others said he might, if they could
t?ke turns passing the plate.
The plate was mother's card tray. They had
buttons for money. They began by singing
a hymn with great enthusiasm.
Then Jimmy, with grandpa's spectacles 'way
down on his nose, mounted to the pulpit. How
they all envied him!
"My friends," began Jimmy.
"You should say Tjrethren,' " said Helen
softly.
, "And brethren," added Jimmy crossly, "my
text this afternoon is 'Do unto others as you
would ? ' "
"Oh, Jimmy," wailed a voice in the first
row, ."you can't have that. You know you
took my ball away from me this morning, and
I wanted it so. You can't have that text."
"Never mind," said Jimmy. "My text to
day is, 'Judge not ? ' "
"But, Jimmy," piped up another voice, "you
said you guessed Benny Green played truant
yesterday because he wasn't in school."
Jimmy swallowed very hard, and, thumping
the back of the chair with his fist, said:
"Here's another: 'It is more blessed to give
than to receive.' "
"Oh, Jimmy," howled the whole congrega
tion, "not that. You ate up all the jam at the
dolls' tea party, so we didnt have any!"
At this the poor little minister broke down
p.nd cried. Aunt Carrie said: "I know the
best text of all : ' Love one another. ' ' '
Just knowing texts isn't much use, unless
we try to live them. ? Selected.
TWO LITTLE MEN.
Two little meji stood looking: at a hill,
One was named Can't und one was named Will.
Can't said: "I never In the world can climb this
hill."
So there he is at the bottom of it still.
Will said: "-I'll get to the top because I will."
And there he is now at the top of the hill.
Two little men are living by the hill;
At the bottom is Can't, at the top is Will.
? Selected.