The Democratic advocate., 1884-12-20
Select STORY.
ROYLAMA-R.

Ring on Christmas chimes Ring out
your sweet rhymes. Fling your musical
gladness broadcast over earth. Ring of
loves rich increase. Ring Of plenty and
peace. Ring of sorrows decrease. Ring,
ring Christmas chimes.
While you weave through each strain
the dear old refrain;
"Happy Christmas
Happy Christmas!
Happy Christmas to alll'
Bring back with its echoes, to those of us
who have left our childhood in the gold
and purple distance of the 'auld lang syne,
a wreath of its immortal holly and ever
green with which to garnish the love-gifts
of to-day.
Mine, reminiscence of Maryland, my
Maryland, has crossed the continent, borne
on electric wings, and is given, with hearty
goodwill, to the story-loving boys and girls
of San Jose.
Our quaint, old-fashioned village of Ca
toctin-lying not very far from what has
since been Antietam's bloody feld-had,
to us children, two distinguished charac-
ters; the one, fun-loving, fun-making, un-
tanned, ardent, high.spirited Roy Lamar;
and the other old sea,captain Simmons.
The latter, having spent a quarter Of a
century in United States service and ad-
venture upon the high seas, had, within a
few months previous to the time of my
story, resigned his post and retired to Har-
mony Hall, the "big white stone house" on
the hill in the rear of the village.
Here, where he had been born and had
spent his boyhood, he returned to end his
DAYS; and here he lived, in solitary gran
deur, attended by dozen or more negro
slaves, who were as much part Of his es-
tate as its broad corn and tobacco fields,
and its grand old forests. The captain was
bachelor; irritable, stern and severe
people said. True, his servants seemed
fond of him, but that, we supposed, was
because they shared the old family dignity
which he represented.
The village folk, with but few of whom
he had associated, regarded him as a re-
spectacle mystery who wanted to be let
alone, and we children, who had seen him
only at distance, feared him as much as
though he was second edition of Herod
the Great.
Perhaps among those 1--WE" Roy Lamar
was an exception, for he feared nobody;
bold, bright, blooming Roy, who was at
once the torment and delight of his twin
sister Agnes, and of the lonely maiden aunt
who was trying to raise the two children,
for they were orphans.
Roy's character leave you to discover,
but his well-earned reputation was that of
an irrepressible "young one" who enjoyed
the noise of a calithumpian band far more
than the softest, sweetest strains of flute;
who had no respect for clean clothes, even
his Sunday ones; who, irreverently, pinned
the girls white handkerchiefs to the school
masters coat tails while he was setting their
'copies;" who dried wet powder in the
schoolroom stove and came near blowing it
and US into vulgar fractions; who fearlessly
climbed the tallest trees out to the slender
est twig upon which bird could build
(but not to rob its nest, and clambered up
the rough sides of the most dangerous
precipices after Springs first anemones, iii
girl wanted them.
Where was he, on this particular Christ
mas morning of my story, while his gentle
quiet sister sat in the village doctors back
Office benevolently feeding his tYo-yearold
baby on the head of gingerbread horse
Down the lane, back of the old red school
house; through the crisp stubble field into
which it opened around the low, wooded
swamp whose tangled branches of hawthorn
and whortleberry bushes, still wore, at 10
o'clock in the morning, their glittering
court dress of frostwork filagree; leading
astray cloud of boys into Captain Sim.
mons chestnut copse after one little, fat
downy, wild rabbit.
They were on forbidden ground-the
whole party knew it-and none better than
Roy himself, for had he not held the Cap
tain's horse at the blacksmith's one day
when that gentleman swore:
"By my boots and spurs" neither o.
which he was ever seen to wear, "the first
boy caught trespassing upon my coppisf
will be severely punished
"Stingy old hulk! He knows that's tn,
place where the bunnys always hide, anC
that we won't hurt his young trees as muci
as they,
So follow your leader,
Tip to toe,
] don't care whether,
We are cought or no,
Sang this defiant young Vandal as, followe'
/ hv his devoted hand he leaned the rud