Mexico weekly ledger., 1876-12-28

screws, and getting into every bodg's
way. .1sd s12i an5Isdt lsr
When the church-party return to
sprig Of mistletoe from his pocket, and
tempts the boys to kiss their little cous-
ins under, itT1a a. proceeding which az
forded both the boys and old gentlemen
unlimited satisfaction, but rather. out
rages grand ma NINA sideas of dccorum,
until grandpapa says that when he was
just thirteen years and three months
cid, he kissed grandmamma, under a
mistletoe, too, on which the children
clap their hands, and laugh very heart,
ily, as doa Aunt GeQrgeu and Uncle
George = sahdFT grand mamma looks
pleased, 15ana says withssa benevolent
smile, that grandpapa was an simpudent
young dog, on which the children laugh
very heartily again, and igrandpapa
more heartily than any. of them.
But all these diversions are nothing
to- the subse4nent exeitelnent when
grandma ANNA in a high cap, and slate
colored sill gown ;and grandpapa with
a Beautifully plated shirt-frili. and
whitep kerehief, seat themselves Q on
one SIDE ofsthe drawing-rpom fire, with
uncle Georges children, and little
cousins innun1 era BILE, seated in front,
waiting the arrival of the expected Wis
itors Suddenly hackney coach is
heard to stop, and Uncle. George, who
has been looking out of the window,
exclaims: "Here's Jane!'' on which
the children rush to the door, and he'll
.ter-skelter down stairs and Uncle Rob-
1ert and Aunt Jane, and the dear little
baby and the nurse, and the whole
party, are ushered up stairs amidst tu-
multuous shouts of f"Oh, my!" "frem the
children, and frequently repeated warn
ings not to hurt Hthes baby from the
nurse. And grandpa pa takes the child,
and grandmamnla Kisses her daughter,1
and the confusion OF this first entry has
scarcely suosided, when some other
aunts and uncles with more cousins ar
rive, and the grown up cousins fiirt
with each Other. and so do the little
cousins too, for that matter, and moth
ingsis to be heard but a confused din
of talking, laughter, and merriment.
A .hesitating double knock at the
street-door, heard during momentary
pause in the conversation, excites a
general inquiry of "Who's that?' and
two or three children, who have been
standing at the window, annouce in a
low voice, that it's "poor Aunt Marga-
ret Upon which Aunt George leaves
the room to welcome the new conner;
and grandmamma draws herself up,
rather stiff and stately; for Margaret
married a poor man without her con-
sent, and, poverty not beingia sufficient
ly ysweighty punishment for her offense,
has een discarded@ by her friends, and
debsFfed the Society OF her dearest
relatives. But Christmas has come
round, and the unkind feelings that
have struggled against better DISPOSE
tons during the year have melted away
before its genial influence, like half.
formed ice beneath the morning sum
It is not difficult ia "a mofaent]
of angry feeling for tal
parent ITO denot,nce a disobedienta
child; hut, to Danish her at neriod ofa
general goodwill and ~hilarity fro ID
the hearth round which she has sat on
SO many anniversaries of the same day,
expanding by slow degrees from infancy
to girlhood, and then bursting, alnaost
imperceptibly, into a woman, is widely
different. fhe air of conscious retti-
tude, and cold forgiveness, which the
old lady has assumed, sits ill upon her;
and when.the poor girl is led in by her
sister, pale in looks and broken in, hope,
not from poverty, for that she could
beAf, but from the consciousness of un-
deserved neglect, and unmerited un-
is easy to see how much of
it is assumed. A momentary pause
succee.ls; the girl breaks suddenly from
her sister and throws herself, sobbing, ]
on her mothers neck. The father steps |
hastily forward, and takes sher hus-
bands hand. Friends crowd around to
offer their hearty congratulations, and |
happiness and harmony again prevail. |
AS to the dinner, it's perfectly de-
lightful-nothing goes wrong, and eve
ry body is in the very best of spirits, ,and
disposed to please and be pleased.
Grandpapa relates a circumstantial ac-
count of the purchase of the turkey,
with slight depression relative to the
purchase of previous turkeys, on former |
Christmas days, which grandmamma |
corroborates in the minutest particular. I
Uncle George tells stories, and carVes
poultry, and takes wine, and jokes with
the children at the side table, and winks
ut the cousins that are making love, or |
being made love to, and exhilarates I
svery body@with hiss good -humor and |
and when, at last, a stout |
servant staggers in with a gigantic
Dudding, with o sprig of holly in
he top there is such a laughing
md shouting, and elapping of little
chubby hands, and kicking up of fat
iumpy legs, as can only be equaled by
he, applause with which the astonish-
ng feat of pouring lighted brandy into
nince pies, is received by the younger
Then the desscrt!-and the
vine !-and the fun! Such beautiful
peeches, and such songs, from Aunt
husband, who turns out to
'e such nice man, and so attentive to
Even grandpapa not
My sings his annual song with unpre-
edented vigor, but on being honored
With an unanimous encore, according
o annual custom, actually comes out