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Show i jar Boys and Girls... ' EDITED EY AUNT BUSY. -m. department Is conducted solely m the inter. nf our s!rl and boy readers. I i,mt Busy ,s ,ad to har an "m frow the , , nnd nephews who read this page, and to give t 1,1 the advice and help In her power. wrt'p on one side of the paper only. ' not nave letters too long-. j r-nal stories and verses will be gladly received ? a eaiefnlly edited. ! The manuscripts of contributions not accepted win I returned. Address all ietteTs to Aunt Busy. Intel-mountain S CthoMc gait Lake City. 1 THE DAY OF THE CHILD. I jho Tree shines with the candle-glow, The Trinkets glitter jewel-wise, . Ami we would that our souk might know The joy told in the children's eyes. Such sheer delight as this of theirs A wondrous happiness it is! Aiki" every word the message bears: This is the children's day and His! j(t us eome, as the Wise Men came " Those nineteen centuries agone, ' Led ly the Star's eternal flame ; ' That hade them rise and hasten on. Tbey brought rare frankincense and myrrh, they brought rich gems and graven gold, " They knelt, adoring, near to Her, And all their marvellings they told. Aye. as those Men of long ago, Today we, too, see the Star, liny eee its mystic heavenly glow Flash o'er Childland fair and far; ! And from our hands now fall the gifts And we know the wise men smiled ; With gratefulness; and each heart lifts Its chant of worship of the Child. Wilbur B. Xesbit. A LONELY MAN'S CHRISTMAS. A Story for the Little Folks, Written for the New World by Mary J. Lupton. Tiiele Joe" they called him. Of course he had ; mother name, but nobody ever asked him what it was. To grown people and children alike he was ) plain T'lx le Joe." That's what he signed to his j newspaper stories and poems and that's what the groctr and the butcher and the laundryman called him. Writing stories for newspapers is not the most lucrative employment in th.-? world; but with 65 years rounded out to his credit and no friends left m care what became of him, Uncle Joe was glad he still could weave a tale and rhyme a line or two, : however poor or tardy the pay. To one or two charitable editors who knew him in his younger j days he was indebted for the acceptance of his contributions, con-tributions, and when, at intervals of perhaps three or four months, the mail man would bring him an 'important'' letter, the old fellow's face would take dn a happy expression which never seemed to leave it till the substantial contents of the letter would le all spent. Uncle Joe lived in a little room on the top floor ! cf a large tenement house. Here, surrounded by his i hooks and papers, he spent a quiet, lonely life, undisturbed un-disturbed save by little Milly, his 10-year-old neighbor neigh-bor of the floor below, who stole upstairs nearly every day to see if there were anything she could do for the old man. To talk to him, and, once in ! a while, to hear some of his wonderful stories, more than recompensed Milly for her time and patience. On Thanksgiving day there was a party at Milly's house and in the excitement and pleasure the little lit-tle girl almost forgot her usual visit to Uncle Joe. It was nearly S o'clock when she knocked timidly at his door to ask him if he needed anything. "Come in. honey," he called, feebly. "Ive been looking out for you all day. I'm feeling lonely, somehow, and my rheumatism is getting worse and worse.'' "That's too bad. Uncle Joe. I suppose it is the weather. I'll shake up the fire and light thegas and pull down the shades, and your room will be more cosy." She set about like a little woman to straighten up things. The old man looked on from his seat at the window and chatted with her as she moved about. "Had you a nice party today, Milly V "e. Uncle Joe; all my aunts and uncles and l"'! of little cousins were over with us for lunch and dinner. We had a turkey and then we had games and singing and oh. a real good time. Did you po any place, Uncle Joe ?" "No, child ; I am getting too old to go anywhere. The grower's boy brought me my dinner and I ate " here sl 11 alone. I had no turkey, either." Milly stopped in her work. She was thinking. It Kji a happy thought she was thinking, too, for she turned it over in her mind a few times - ie clapped her hands with joy ai:d jumped around the room in glee until Uncle Joe -lo-ht she would Nircly bronk every bit of funiiiur the place. "What is it all about. Milly, (.V : What's tak-"" tak-"" -( -;0ii of you? Have you lost your senses?" Oh. no. no! l've just got a plan in my head and it must be kept a secret. I can't even tell you, Uncle J"-. and you'd never be able to guess. Good night. i'('v. und don't forget to turn off the gas." . 1 he li'xt day and the next, and every day for "r v'" Uncle Joe tried to get Milly's secret from Lr'r. y.n ihat brave little heart refused to divulge it. 'hnTmas ,:,y arrived with the first fall of snow ' 1 T'.10 .var. From his window seat, where his rheumatism rheu-matism now kept him a constant prisoner, Uncle w could see the roofs of the-houses across the H'X- ""t very inspiring landscape, you will 'et. like Santa Claus, Uncle Joe made many a Journey rnvn tje chimneys cf those houses, and " hn imagination talked with the happy or un-JiPP.v un-JiPP.v people be found below. 1 am a lonely old man." he would often sav, "hut llJf rc ,,t hers worse off than I. . j.- wn"t? a holiday story today," he mused. t iirivin,jis and nobody is likely to come in I Hipposc eyen Milly will forget me today." . i'"k jjs pPilci and paper and jotted down V'1' "Miis story: "A Lonely Christmas." He JeI(!VPt any fur,ner however, for his thoughts " "ii-trai ted by the sound of approaching foot--'l'-- 1 here seemed to be a great many feet climb-l climb-l : he tair ! Probably it was visitors going to the itud 1 il(T"ss. 1'ie nal11 IIe 'as interested now, aii,l ''"' .''is pencil down and sat back to listen 0,,'snh' '"'."''"pate as much as he might in the wel-,'m' wel-,'m' which was sure to be accorded them when bached the door. (,(iUj'j n( V eame. They were nearing the top. He lie;ir suppressed voices now. They were young, mas? y""os- Of course, why not! It was Christ-tlmui Christ-tlmui " Sflason of hope and good cheer! The )MiieU S('!'nu a mockery to him. He took up his ktioel i't"al.n 1o begin bis story, when he heard a t :lt n's door, not at the door across the hall. 'Ji't surely be a mistake, he thought. iwrru S,nmb1''1 to tlie door' slatI eveu of tlie op" -j)f I1it-V t0 look upon his neighbor's friends. hjj'11. '"'.opened it, the sight almost overpowered HpjLr ,'r1I 'fcod as though all the children in the cry 1f"'1'""" were standing outside his door. A ' "Alerry Christmas, merry. Christmas. Uncla ' i, . UP from about twenty lusty throats, while Milly tried to make a speech as head of the delegation. "Dear Uncle Joe, we did not want you to spend a lonely Christmas, so we decided to bring a turkey and other good things to your room and we wiil set the table and eat dinner with you. We wish you a merry Christmas." The word was contagious and "merrv Christinas' Christ-inas' upon "merry Christmas" was wished until the old man pleaded for mercy and allowed himself to be literally carried back to his seat near the window. win-dow. There the little army swarmed around him, some on his knees, some on the back of his chair and some on the floor. One little bit of a mite actually ac-tually found his way to the top of the table and sat there with open eyes and mouth, eager for anything any-thing that was to follow. i Ae'.t0ry' Uncle Doe " said a curly-haired little girl. She had visited the old man before with Milly kx- knew he was a "maker of stories." Xot yet, Uncle Joe," begged Milly, who was busying herself about the room. We have a regular regu-lar program. We will have dinner first and you will carve the turkey." "Hurrah," broke in a half dozen voices. "Then we will recite our pieces and sing songs I and play games." "Hurrah," acclaimed the audience. "And then you will tell a story." Continued "hurrahs" followed the last announcement, announce-ment, and Uncle Joe had difficulty in keeping himself him-self from being hugged to death. He was indeed a hero to his subjects. Milly's "program" was carried out to the letter. When every vestige of the turkey, except the bones, had disappeared down waiting throats and the cranberries and mince pies had gone the same way, Milly ventured to tell Uncle Joe that her secret was now "out." This party was her secret. For a month, ever since Thanksgiving, when he spent such a lonely day, she and her little friends had saved their pennies and some even put in their Christmas money, to give a "merry Christmas" to dear Uncle Joe. Don't you think they succeeded? You would feel sure of it if you saw the old man's face when that little invasion of uninvited but welcome guests left for their homes. He took up his pencil and paper, anxious to write his Christmas story. The title he had written in the morning confronted him. "Xo," he said, striking out the word "lonely," "I shall not write that. It will be the story of a 'Merry 'Mer-ry Christmas." JOCULAR GEOGRAPHY. In Austro-Hungary? Let her have Of Turkey quite a piece ; And serve it with some Barbary jell, And not too much of Greece. Perchance a Mesopotamia Would Sweden on her smiles ; If not let Madagascar if She'll some Sandwich Isles. Is Chili-sauce? Let her pause, Or she Malacca friend Some day when her X"ew Zealand strength Peru-ses its sad end. For Equador may then be closed, While Chili, with a groan, See Paraguay and Uruguay And leave her all alone. Who knows just what the Tunis that The Portuguese all sing? And do the Michiganders try The air while on the wing? The way in which Vespucci planned To get the laugh on us And tie his name to this fair land, Proved him Americus. " Xixon Waterman. STAR IN THE EAST. One day, long ago, a party of strangers on camels cam-els passed through the -streets of Jerusalem. They, were noble looking men and were richly dressed. They were Wise Men from the East. They told a strange story. Months before, while studying the heavens, they had seen a new star of great brightness shine forth suddenly in the sky. They knew that the whole world was expecting a Deliverer. They had read in the holy books of the Jews that a star should arise out of Jacob. This, they thought, must be the star of the great King, sent to call them to His feet. They must go and offer Him their homage. And so they set out, three of them, toward Jerusalem, where they supposed sup-posed He would be found. "Where, then," they asked, "is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star, in the East and are come to adore Him." The news of their coming soon reached the palace pal-ace of Herod. In great alarm he summoned the chief priests and scribes of Jerusalem and inquired of them where Christ should be born. They answered as with one voice: "In Bethlehem Bethle-hem of Juda, for so it is written by the prophet: And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda, for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule My people Israel." The strangers were then invited to visit Herod, who promised to do all that he could to help them in their search. He asked many questions about the star : "What was it like ? When and where had they first seen it ? How long had they been on their journey?" They were much pleased to find him so much interested, and they told him the whole story. Then he advised them to go to Bethlehem, a few miles south of Jerusalem. It was a little place, and they could not fail to find the Child there. "Go," he said, "and diligently inquire after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again that I also may come and adore Him." The Wise Men thanked him, and set off without delay. As they went on their way, suddenly the 9tar they had seen in the East appeared again. It went before them and stood over the place where the young Child was. And they, seeing the star, rejoiced with exceeding exceed-ing great joy. And entering into the place, they found the, Child with Mary His Mother, and, falling fall-ing down, they adored Him. Tbey spread a carpet at His feet, as was the custom cus-tom in the East. They humbly knelt before Him, and offered Him gifts. We are especially told that they found the Child "with Mary His Mother." It was by Mary that our Blessed Lord came to us. In the Holy Bible the Son and the Mother appear side by side; and in the Catholic Church they are never separated. How glad we ought to be that when He came to this cold and sinful world, where there was no room for Him, He had His Mother's arms to fold Him, and her immaculate heart on which to rest His head. Mother Mary Leyola (Adapted). FOR SWEET CHARITY. A beggar musician stood at the corner of the streets in a crowded city, across the seas, playing on his violin. . He was a very indifferent player, and the crowd surged by, not caring to listen to him, and few indeed in-deed were the coins he received. He was almost discouraged, for life was hard to him. The price of one of the costly dresses, or of the dream hats of the ladies who passed him by un- noticed would have kept him comfortably for many weeks. Still he played on. The lively jigs chorded ill with his dreary mood. Little street children danced for a moment on the pavement, as they love to do in the cities, but were swept away by the passing crowd. What did life hold for him ? It was getting late in the autumn afternoon, and he had not earned enough to pay for a supper and his poor night's lodging. A stranger came to him and said : "Let me take your violin and you hold out your hat." Mechanically, compelled by something in' his manner or his face, the poor man passed his instrument instru-ment to him. The stranger began to play. He played softly at first and then the music grew clear and sweeter. The warbling of spring birds and the joyousness of nature, soft love tones, the jubilant notes of victory, the solemn, soulful music of spiritual exaltation, and the soft sobbing of subdued sorrow were all interpreted in-terpreted by this player. A violin best voices the emotions of the soul, if played by a skillful artist who loves it most dearly. The passing multitude stopped to listen and lingered. lin-gered. A crowd gathered and the coins began now to pour into the beggar's hat. "Who can this wonderful musician be?" was asked by all. "Such music was never heard before !" This man who took a beggar's place for sweet charity was Luigi, the greatest violinist in the world. Well for the world if genius could more frequently fre-quently glorify itself by uplifting humanity, and in the beneficent spirit of altruism confer happiness upon the poor and lonely and lowly ones of this earth; then will the laurel wreath of fame become a crown of rejoicing in the hereafter. And well for us if we can lighten a little another's an-other's burden. We cannot lift the world's-weight of woe, we can only help what is next to us, even the "least of these." Helen Hale Searles. ADESTE FIDELIS. The English words of the hymn, Adeste Fidelia, are as follows: Ye faithful souls, rejoice and sing: To Bethlehem your trophies bring Before the new-born angels' King : Come let us Him adore, Come let us Him adore. True God of God, true Light of Light, Born in womb of Virgin bright ; Begot, not made; true God of migt Come let us Him adore, Come let us Him adore. Angelic choirs with joy now sing, The heavenly courts with echoes ring, Glory on high to God our King: Come let us Him adore, t Come let us Him adore. Jesus, whose life 'this day begun, The Father's co-eternal Son; Glory to Him be ever sung: Come let us Him adore, Come let us Him adore. |