News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-01-04

/ ~ "4iy Vhlh5 IIIAo y Sdl dS SuC LAS DOCA
| heretofore.
Don't be alarmed, my little man, the
/ infant Jesus will not forget yoU-yet if
you continue to complain, he may send
with other things birch-rod to punish
such children, who think that Jesus will
forget them, and he was heard by BogJi-
mil and his sisters to mutter to himself :
! "Who has ever heard that Christ is
neglectful of the deserving poor? Why,
to them he delights most in bringing
into their homes his beautiful rays OF
sunshine and hope"
The children looked more cheerful,
wiping away their tears, when the old
man arose, aud they followed him as he
shouldered his long bag, after having
opened the mouth of it and filled it so
that it seemed as if it could hold no
more. After a little while when they
came to a road the old stranger with a
smile said:
"Now, dear children, here is the road
which will take you to your village and
home. Come give me each q kiss and
shake hands with me as we part, for
must go in another direction. Here take
each Of you girls sugar doll, and you,
my boy, take this book, from which you
can learn to be wise man if you study
| it, and in few years will be able to sup
port your mother and sisters. Don't
| open it till tomorrow morning. We
will see each other again, and [ want
| you to remember me, for it is not every
boy and girl who has the good fortune to
see me in such good humor. [ am
known to the bad boys and girls as Bo-
ruta, or the bad man, who takes them
away in his large bag, and to the good
children as Swienty Nikolai.
Upon this he turned and walked away,
and it seemed to the children when they
looked after him that he had on magic
boots, for every step was mile long.
When he had entirely gone out of
| sight the girls looked at their sugar
dolls and they represented beautiful
angels, with wings ON their shoulders.
''You must keep them, said Bogumil,
''fOr it would be pity to eat them, al
though we are so hungry, as they will look
very nice on yonder evergreen which Swi-
enty Nikolaj winked at me L might take. -
Upon which they shook the snow from
it and Bogumil shouldering it, they
walked slowly to their home, which they
reached shivering with the cold and
hunger, as well as much fatigued.
When their mother saw them they told
her what had happened to them. Upon
which she replied: Nonsense, it must
have been some forester who made fun of
you, it could not have been Swienty Nix
olaf. No one has ever seen him. Here,
my darling, whilst you were gone found
in the cellar three turnips; / did not
know that they were left over from the
last time we had them for dinner, it is all
I can give you, it will still your hunger
for a little while. l will go to the vii
lage and see if | cannot earn something.
Do not be afraid if it should be very dark
while I am away and late before Ireturn;
you can both lock and bolt the door, But
he good and pray to God and the infant
Jesus that I may bring back something
wherewith we may all be happy at least
tonight and tomorrow.
In spite of the snow-storm, which at
that time came on heavily, the mother
went into the village. In her absence
the children put mp in the best way they
were able the Christmas tree, although
they knew that they had nothing with
which to adorn it except the two sugar
dolls, nor had they any candles to place
upon it. Yet they felt happy that they
were not to be without something. All
three children were in great glee when
they saw it standing erect with its limbs
in all directions, for it had |
cost them considerable labor. As even
ing came ON they placed themselves at
the window to enjoy as long as they
could the last ray of day, for there was
nothing in the house which could tighten
the darkness Of the approaching evening
and night, they enjoyed also the falling
of the snow which now came in large
flakes. Bogumil said TO his sisters that
they ought to he thankful that in their
great poverty they had at least a roof
over their head, and were not compelled |
to wander about in the snow, as he had |
heard that poor widow and her babe |
lied only few days ago, not having
ny-a11 q homo To chal+o,. +bar,
The youngest of the children wished
only to have had the pleasure to go with
ler mother to the village to be able to
OOk in the windows of the stores and |
houses and to see the decorations and
nice Christmas gifts. " Not that I want |
to have them, " she said, g for am salts
led with our own, but only to enjoy the
sight, and to see how happy other chill
lren may be when the candles are all
burning and the tree laden with pres
ents.''
"Oh," said Bogumil, cit must GER
tainly be beautiful to see house after
house all illuminated and every face |
happy. If we could have OURS lit up, | |
could even fancy that 1 saw the infant
Jesus IN the arms of his mother beside |
the manager, Joseph the carpenter stand |
ing by, and the three wise men from the |
East bowling down-just such picture |
as [ have often seen in papa's Bible"
One of the girls, the elder, with tears
in her eyes, said, Eyes, if papa were
alive now we too would have onr house
Illuminated like the rest of the village
people and we would have just as many
nice presents as other children"
Upon the mention of their father,
Bogumil and the younger sister began to
cry, but the brother quickly wiped away
his tears, saying:
81 know what I'll do have not been
idle of late, but have carved several
small pieces of wood into toys, represent
ing both animals and plants, and laid
them away. need not be ashamed of
my workmanship. I, too, will 90 into |
the village and see if 1 cannot find q
purchaser, and should [ succeed there |
I'll bring home lot of wax candles and !
place them upon the tree; also will [ get |
some thing nice for mother and you to /
eat
As Bogumil was about to open the |
door and his sisters turnedt to beg of him /
not to leave them alone, they saw sud |
denly a peculiar ray of light stream |
Al.