Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1878-12-21
st. Nicholas.


"Ho there at the wicket, who pounds at the
door7
such din in Olympus was ne'er heard be,
would sleep-get ye gone-Tm ailing, I'm
What the deuce-there again-who is calling
Saint Nick2'
"Arouse ye arouse ye It's dawnng again
TIE star that once beamed over Bethlehem's
plain
The star of the magii, that shone on the morn
When earths blessed Savior, the Christ-child
was born !"
"Ho! no! Is it so? Then I'll up and
away
As soon as the goblins can harness my
sleigh"
Then he roared such . laugh as he sprang out
Of bed
1t startled the stars in the sky overhead,
And they winked at each other, as much as to
say,
There is something gone wrong, and old Nick
is to pay.
1t took but moment to jump in his boots,
To wrap himself up in the best Of fur suits,
To run to the closet and drag out his pack,
Which he swung with chuckle across his
broad back;
Then off to the stable he dashed through the
snow,
Where the reindeer were prsncing, all ready to
go.
He was up in jifry, and cracking his whip,
With Hi, there my heartes !" he let the
rens slip.
Straight down through the welkin they sped
like the light,
Without pause or turn to the loft or the right !;
The clouds dragged their skirts to get of Of
The winds shrank alarmed-all quite taken
aback;
Fen the moon drew in haste vail over her
face
So quick cracked the whip and SO fast was the
pace;
And he pealed out . laugh so jocund and gay
That Aurora woke up long before it was day;
Oh. never such sleigh-ride was ridden before
AS that of st. Nick, with his rich Christmas
store
Far down in the distance earth rolled fast
asleep,
Dark night having wrapped it in silence SO
deep
That the children tucked close in their snug
little beds,
Whence nothing peeped out save their cheru-
BIN heads,
We're dreaming OF fairies and frolic and fun,
And other stern facts of life just begun.
The tinkls of sleigh bells and taps of hoof
NJ tde their little hearts bound, and flashed
round the earth
smile such as welcomed the Lamb at His
birth;
But they woke not. Oh, no! Old Nick is so
He fastens paddock on each prying eye.
With Whoa, there, my pretties!" he stops
with jerk,
Lights his pipe swings his pack, then away to
Over steeples and house-tops, in windows,
down tues,
SO fleet you would think he had wings to his
shoes;
In pantries he peeps and through bedrooms he
whirls
Now kissing the babies, now pinching the girls,
Filling up all their stockings with goodies and
toys,
Nor forgetting the switch, always left for bad
boys;
Then on through the play-rooms to plant those
Which grow dollies and drums with such ex-
QulSite ease.
What jolly fat fellow 80 little and spry,
With round dimpled cheeks and fun-fashing
eve;
Hair j7weled with hailstone, and such 4 red
1t lights up the pathway wherever he goes
Then his rich, merry laugh-ah! never, l fear,
Will music so sweet again gladden. the yearl
But time flies apace. Even now faint ray
Struggles up through the east as the herald of
day;
The winds wake in protest and scatter the
snow;
Now, listen +! the signal hear the cock crow.
''Ho, no ~ cried old Nick, with his cheeri-
est warning,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all good
morning! |"
-Edpdrd O. Hancock