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Show i 3? ? :: Christmas &herio. f :: Long Ago J;" i i THE snow flakes on the sleeping earth their down mantle fling, While clanging through the frosty air the Christmas joy bells ring. It is the hour of eventide the glowing fire barns low, And in its depths fair pictures gleam of Christmas Christ-mas long ago. I see the little cottage nestled close behind the hill; To us it was a refuge sweet from every earthly ill. The blazing logs upon the hearth give forth a ruddy sheen To tinge the frosted panes bedecked with wreaths of evergreen. I see the little stockings hung beside the ingle nook; I see the childish faces oh, how gay and bright they look While from the little trundle-beds their merry voices hum, Aj eagerly they wonder just "when Santa Claus will come." How busy were our mothers then from morn until they slept. And from the quaint old kitchen spicy odors upward crept From shelves all groaning 'neath the pies of pumpkin and of mince Such appetizing goodies have I never tasted since. Dear faces that I see tonight have gone beyond be-yond the skies, For them the joyous Christmas Day now dawns in Paradise. But they seem to hover near me in the fire light's fitful glow, Sweet spirits of the Christmas-time, dear Christmas long ago. |