The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1889-12-20

1.-THE devil If is" roared Uncle Billy,
springing to his feet, with face as black as
a thundercloud. Take him away; don't
want ter see him."
"Hold on minute" shouted clear, strong
voice in the doorway. 1t was the son-in-law
who had spoken, and who stepped into the
room, his figure erect and eyes blazing with
anger. Hold on minute, / say" he con-
tinued II want a word Bill Botsworth, /
can buy and sell you. am q rich man, but
you don't have TO own me for a son-in-law
on that account As for me, | can get along
without you. But Mary here wanted to
come back and see her mother and all of you
once more, and l said she should; and, more
than that, said you should treat her and
baby right, or I'd make you; and, by thun-
der, I'll do it! Understand me, ask no fav-
ors for myself but for this poor girl here,
that you've treated so mean, and who still
loves you, but who wants to come home
only for little while, will speak for, and
fight for, too, if necessary" Even while he
was talking, mother and daughter were
weeping in each others embrace, and Grand
ma Botsworth, rising with difficulty from
her seat, laid her hand on her sons shoulder.
"William," she said, "now's as good a time
to give in as yell ever have. If Mary aA
how you can help fergivin' them. Come
now, son. do right"
For an instant he stood struggling with his
passion, then love conquered. Extending his
hand to his son-in-law, he said: "Billy, l
knock under; I've made n mistake an am
sorry for it, Daughter, come here"
With glad cry Mary put her arms about
his neck and kissed him again and again.
There, there, child" the old fellow MUIR
INJURED, in voice husky with emotion, tits
all forgot now, am
But he did not finish the sentence And, .
while Mary was kissing grandma and all were
silently crying for joy, he began to hustle
round and get on his boots to go out and ''see
about the horses" But, as viii and Mary
had come to the station, only two miles dis
tant, by rail- and had there hired man and
team to bring them over, his services in this
direction were not needed.
He did, however, build up such fire in the
old fireplace as it had not seen for many
day. and, ms they all sat around it and talked
until long after the stroke of twelve it was
indeed to them happy Chrstmas.-Ed. R.
Pritchard in The Arkansaw Traveller.
Christmas Trees.
To Germany the civilized world is indebted
for one Of the most enjoyable of all Christ
mas delights, the Christmas tree, says an old
issue Of The New York Post. This custom
was little known in England before the mar
riage Of Queen Victoria, and was, we believe,
introduced by the late prince consort. We +
call it gift from Germany, and yet behind
the quaint figure of Kris Kringle, coming
from the snowy woods, with the tree rising
high above his genial shoulders, laden with
gifts and glittering with lanterns, as he sud-
denly invades the lOwly German cottage on
kindly errand bent, we SEQ the yet more
ancient toy pine tree, hung with oscilla, \
which boys and girls in ancient Rome
looked for on the sixth and seventh
days of the Saturnaa But we who are not X
antiquaries are content to accept these pretty
customs come whence they may, and to i'm
prove on them if we can. A wide gulf is fixed
between the purtanic days when Christmas
was frOwned upon as a remnant of evil super
stition, and today, when nothing is too rare
or good for the making of our homes bright
and our sanctuaries beautiful in honor of the Z
Author of the Christian feast. Wherever
civilized man is found there in one form or
another we find the tokens of alteration and {
gratitude.
Another newspaper says: The most popu-
lar tree for Christmas celebration is the \
balsam. This tree attains perfection at the K
age of 20 years. After this it begins to wither (
at the top and gradually dies. The large
balsam trees are cut in great numbers for
churches and Sunday schools. The branches
are strong and thickly covered with blush 4
green leaves. They are cut as young as 81
years. They are merely bushes then, how
ever, and are used mainly by private families.
Next to the basam in popularity comes the
spruce. This tree, although it attains a
greater height than the balsam, has a scroggy
appearance 1t is cut when it is about ten
years old The color is not so good, being
yellowish green, which withers very soon.
The cedar trees are only cut by special order,
as the demand for them is very limited. But
they are the most fragrant smelling tree of
the lot. White pine trees are used by the
grocery and butcher shops to decorate with.
They have deep green color and last longer
than any Of the others.
Christmas Proverbs and Predictions.
a green Christmas makes full graveyard
A white Christmas, n lean graveyard.
Other sayings connect Christmas with
Easter:
A green Christmas indicates white Easter
A warm Christmas, cold Easter.
Easter in snow, Christmas in mud
Christmas in snow, Easter in mud.
Its influence on the crops during the ensu
ing year is set forth in other proverbs:
II windy on Christmas day, trees will bringI
forth much fruit.
If it SHOWS on Christmas night We expect
good hop crop next year.
Christmas wet gives empty granary and)
barrel.
'If on Christmas night" says GermanL
proverb, "the wine ferments heavily in theI
barrels, good wine year is to follow"
Somewhat uncertain is the prediction that
follows:
Ii at Christmas ice hangs on the willow,
clover may be cut at Easter
The proverb that follows is somewhat OBJ
scure:
If Christmas finds bridge, he'll break it Il
if he finds none, he'll make one.
Nor is this one very clearly expressed!
Wet causes more damage than frost before
than after Christmas.
An English proverb tells us: II ice will
bear n man before Christmas it will not bear
q mouse afterwards.
a German saying declares that: The shep-l
herd would rather sec his wife enter the,
stable on Christmas day than the sun.-Ex-
change.