The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-12-20

the Bertholfs.
There were no preparations made for tho
Christmas merry -making in their desolate
home. Their mother had all sho could do
to provide bread for her children, and it
was black bread at that. There was no use
for them to bring mistletoo boughs from
the forest, for idle Hans had no gifts to
hang upon them for his children. s ~
And the children themselves had been
kept so much in the dark side of life by the
hand of pinching poverty, that they took
little pleasure in the simple beauties Of ma
ture, such as the beautiful flowers of sum-
mer, or the green branches and clusters of
red berries of winter, which the little Ber-
tholfs so loved to gather. efs
AS the Christmas drew near of which
we write, the Bertholf children were as
busy as ever, and brought so many mistle-
toes from the wood that they might select
the finest for the Christmas tree, that the
good frau Bertholf said they had enough
green branches to build themselves Christ
mas hut.
This put new idea into the chidren's
heads, and they cleared away q patch in the
snow and set about building house Of the
green branches. 1t took them several days
w NOihHiOtC tllS wv tl1tilR, lDT
they were continually taking down what
they had done to put it up some other way.
But finally their mother warned them that
Kriss Kringle would soon be going his
rounds, and might want to rest himself in
their mistltoe cot. Then they went seri-
ously to work and the house was soon fin
ished. And very pretty it was, with its
walls Of living green, and great lunches of
scarlet berries placed above its entrance.
And when night came, the children
looked eagerly out again to see if they
could discern anything Of Kriss Kringe,
but all they got for their trouble was the
danger of freezing their little noses as they
flattened them against the window-pancs,
the weather was so very cold. For Kriss
was not to be beguiled into making his APP
pearance one whit before his appointed
time. s3 4.an Bif -
The night before Christmas Eve there
fell light snow, just enough to scatter the
beautiful, star-shaped snow-tlakes all over
the misletoc hut, and to give it the look of
a iairy's castle when the morning sun
shone upon it. ~ ~
And the children were so delighted, that
they ran over to the home Of idle Hans to
bring his children to see their Christmas
house. The poor little things, who had no
happy anticipations of a joyous Christmas
at home, went gladly with the merry Bert
hollis to view the misletoe cot, which Kriss
Kringle was fully expected to visit that
very night. The good Frau Bertholf felt
so sorry for poor little Bertha and Gottlieb
that sho kept chem all day, giving them a
nice warm dinner, and bidding them come
in the evening to share in the sports around
the Christmas tree.
And when the evening came, and the
candles were lighted and the bright fire was
burning so cheerily on the hearth, and the
little gifts were all hanging on the green
boughs of the tree, and the little Bertholfs
were dressed in their holiday attire, simple
enough, but really splendid to Gottlieb and
Bertha in their shabby, worn-out clothes
everybody was so happy that Hans poor
children felt as though they had been sud-
denly transported to some fairy land. And
after all it was only the humble cottage of
a poor, hard-working peasant.
But virtue and goodness bring their own
sunlight, whether to palace Or howell, and
peasant may enjoy as much of true happi-
ness as prince. There was Christmas
tree, so beautiful with its many little sexDn
ooudles, all lighted +; candles of red, blue,
green, yellow and many other colors. And
there were the little golden balls hanging
on the tree, which the children had made
of potatoes, cutting them in round shape
and covering them over with gold leaf, and
these glistened beautifully among the lights.
And there were presents for all, not forget
ting Gottlieb and Bertha, for the generous
Bertholfs had whispered to their parents
that they could do without some of the
gifts that their little guests might be made
happy. And they were happier in this lit
tie act Of self-denial than they would have
been had they received all the gifts them
selves.
And they felt themselves to be well re-
warded when, late in the evening, the door
udd emily flew open, and krss Kringle
h imself, all covered with snow, and with a
great basket in his hand, stood before
them. The children were almost afraid
Of the queer figure he cut, but they soon
recovered their courage when q shower of
sugar-plums from the basket greeted them.
And after the sugar-plums came various
presents, toys, and knick-nacks for the
smallest, and useful gifts for the older ones
/ and among these was pretty, warm
dress for Bertha, and pair of shoes Tor
Gottleib, which brought the tears of JOY to
! their eyes.
The basket was soon emptied Of its con-
tents, and merry old Kriss was off before
the children had fairly recovered from their
surprise at his entrance, and they were so
absorbed with the presents he had brought
them that they forgot for some time to look
out from the window to see which way he
went, and if he paid visit to the little
green hut which stood out in the snow.