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A Visit from St. Nicholas.
BY CLEMENT C. MOORE.
the night before Christmas, when all
through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with
care.
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their
heads;
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap—
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window 1 flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below —
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick !
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! now Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen —
To the top of the porch, to . he top of the wall!
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So. up to the house-top the coux-scrs they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys—and St. Nicholas too.
And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes how they twinkled ! his dimples how merry !
His cheeks were like i-oses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his cbm was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth.
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath ;
He had a broad face, and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
Ho was chubby and plump—a right jolly old elf—
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a 'word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with 9. jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle ;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“ Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night 1”
A good man —a real Christian—seldom
sees adefect in his neighbor. A pure lake
reflects the beautiful sky, the clouds, and
the overhanging trees, but when it is ruf
fled it reflects nothing that is pure. A
bad man—a real scoundrel—seldom sees
a good trait in the character of his neigh
bor. An imperfect glass reflects nothing
correctly, but shows its own deficiency.
A perfect mirror reflects nothing but
bright and pure images.
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
MAROONER’S ISLAND ;
OR,
Dr. Gordon in Search of His Children.
BY REV. F. R. GOULDING,
Author of “ The Young Marooners.”
CHAPTER XVII.
SIGNS OF A TEXAN NORTHER PALMETTO
TENT SING UL A R FACTS ATTENDING
STORMS —SEVERE GALE —PREPARING FOR
A GLOOMY MARCH —EXPLORING UNDER
DIFFICULTIES —NARROW ESCAPE —“HELP !
MURDER !”
HE afternoon was spent
in sailing leisurely along
y J||ffamong the multitude of
small islands which dot-
ted the coast, of which
jUjpi there was not one, however, which
My was eligible as a place of sojourn for
the night, or even for a few hours
rest; and when the sun began to
decline, there were some apprehensions
expressed lest they should be compelled
to seek their next stopping place upon
the main, which they preferred to avoid
on account of possible hostilities from the
Indians.
More delightful weather for their ex
cursion could scarcely have been desired
than they had had, and were still having,
and yet about three o’clock in the after
noon, Wheeler, who had been observed to
look repeatedly at the rigging, and also
at the sk} r in their rear, was heard to say
anxiously:
“ If we were in Texas, or even in Nor
thern Louisiana, I should say that we are
about to have what the people out there
call a norther.”
“ What makes you think so?” inquired
Dr. Gordon.
“Yon cobwebs,” he replied, pointing to
something like gossamer that could occa
sionally be seen floating in the air and
caught upon the rigging. “I never ex
pected to see it so far east as this, and
across the Gulf, too, and therefore I do
not know exactly how to calculate upon
it, but in Texas I should have no doubt.”
“No doubt of what?” asked Tomkins
rather abruptly.
“That we ought to make for shore at
an early hour, and prepare for rough
times to-night,” Wheeler quietly answer
ed.
“ I never neglect warnings of that kind,”
said Dr. Gordon, “and you have my con
sent to land at the first place that prom
ises safety. But do inform me, as you
seem to know, what are the smns and
circumstances of a Texan norther?”
“One of their worst signs,” Wheeler
returned, “is that they have no signs at
all, but come upon you with all their
force before you know it. At this season
of the year, and after a spell of just such
weather as wo have been having, and
when men have been wearing their sum
mer clothes, all of a sudden comes a cold
dry wind, (not always dry,) from the
Rocky Mountains, and in less than three
hours, often in less than half an hour, it
is so cold that you can hardly get clothes
or fire warm enough to keep you from
freezing. It may be expected any time
from October to April, and it lasts usual
ly from one to four days, though I knew
one once in the Gulf that lasted nine
days.”
“No one, to look at the brightsky over
head, would prophecy rain or change of
weather soon,” said Magruder, “ but I
have an old bone in my back that gener
ally gives warning of bad weather, and
since we have been talking I heard it
very plainly say, 1 Look out!”
“ Then we will look out,” added Dr.
Gordon, “for bright as the skies are, it
would be folly in us to neglect such signs
as these, especially at this time of the
year, and of spring-tide on the coast,”
It was fully an hour by sun when
Wheeler turned the bow of the barge into
a snug little bay made by a tongue of
land, (whether island or not they could
not determine,) which promised a safe
protection in its smooth water against
any violence from seaward. The bluff,
too, was unusually high for that part of
the coast, and there was a convenient
level just below its highest part, where
they could encamp for the night, with the
advantage of having their sleeping place
protected in a measure from wind, and
the light of their fire concealed from ob
servers on the main. Here the barge
was at first moored, and the flukes ot the
anchor were sunk amid the roots of a
stump high upon the beach. The tar
paulin of the boat was rigged up as a tent
for Dr. Gordon, and while some of the
men looked rather rueful at the prospect
of spending a night exposed to the cold
predicted by Wheeler, and the rain pre
dicted by Magruder’s “old bone,” Wild
cat said cheerily to them:
“ Make house —make Injin house. Pal
metto plenty.”
The suggestion was valuable, for pal
metto booths are easily made, and when
properly constructed are as impervious to
rain as the roof of a house. By Sergeant
Tomkins’ order, the men immediately dis
persed to obtain the materials necessai)
for this purpose, consisting of poles, silk
grass, and the fan-like leaves ot the pal
metto, and long before dark they had the
comfort of seeing a substantial shelter foi