The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-01-01
ST. NICHOLAS.

"Hoi THERE at the wicket, who pounds at the
Such din in Olympus was ne'er heard be.
would sIeep-get ye gone-Tm ailing, Pm
sick,
What the deuce-there again-who is calling
Saint Nick?
Arouse ye Arouse YET It's dawning again.
The star that once beamed over Bethlehern's
plain
The star of the Maei. that shone on the morn
When earth's blessed Saviour, the Christ child
was bornP
"Ho Ho! Is It SOP Then Pn up and away
AS soon as the COLLINS can harness my
Sleigh"
Then he roared such laugh as he spranr ont
of bed,
It startled the stars in the sky overhead,
ana they winked at each other as much as to
There is something gone wrong and Old Nick
Is to pay.
It took but moment to Jump in his boots,
To wrap himself up in the best of fur suits,
10 run to the closet and drag out his pack,
winch , ne swung with a chuckie across his
Then OFF to the stable he dashed through the
snow,
Where the reindeer were prancing. all ready
He was up in jify, and cracking his whip,
With eli, therel my heartiesP' he let the
Straight down through the welkin they sped
like the light
Without pause or turn to the left or the right;
The clouds dragged their skirts to get of of
the track,
The winds shrank alarmed-all quite taken
aback;
Fen the moon drew in haste veil over her
face
So quick cracked the whip and SO fast was the
pace;
And he pealed out laugh so jocund and CAV
mat 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
Were dreaming of fairies, of frolic and fun,
And other stern facts of a life just begun.
1t was three by the clock, when out on the
roof
The tinkle Of sleigh-be and taps of a hoof
Made their little hearts bound and flashed
round the Earth
A smile such as welcomed the Lamb at its
birth;
But they woke not. Oh, no! Old Nick is so sly
he tastens paddock on each prying eye.
With Whoa, there, my pretties," he stops
Lights his pipe, swings his pack, then away to
his work
Over steeples and house-tops, in windows,
down fues,
So fleet, you would think he had wings to his
shoes,
In pantres 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 great trees
Which grow dollies and drums with such ex.
quisite ease.
What a jolly fat fellow so little and spry,
With round dimpled cheeks and a fine flash
Hair jeweied with hailstone and such red
nose,
II lights up the pathway wherever he goesi
Then his rich, merry laugh-ahi never fear
VIII music SO sweet again gladden. the year,
But time flies apace. Even now faint raw
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" cries Old Nick, with his cheeriest
warning,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good
morningl"
-Edtcard c.. Hancock