Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1893-12-22

RO0 V4OA0 W Utk0
woods for running cedar or ground
pine, for spruce and fir trees, for
branches of hemlock, cedar and pine.
In some lucky neighborhoods the holly
grows, and sometimes the mistletoe,
with its mystic, poetical associations,
is to be found. Often the little church
must be adorned for the great feast
day, and this cannot be done, as in the
city, by hands of paid professional dec.
orators. In the country it must be q
labor of love, and busy hands must
work early and late to make the trim.
ming of the church attractive.
Then, too, the day before Christmas
the Christmas tree, chosen and marked
long before, must be cut and carried
home with almost as much enthusiasm
as attended, in old times, the bringing
in of the Yule log. 1t is not only in
the decoration department that there
arc great labors on foot the day before
Christmas. The kitchen is a veritable
hive OF industry. The mince meat has
been prepared days ago and has been
ripening in great stone crock in the
cellar; but today the pies are to be
made-pies of many kinds, as. befits an
American household. Crullers and
doughnuts are to be mixed and fried,
cranberry sauce to be compounded, the
materials for the plum pudding to be
prepared, cakes, iellies. blancmanges,
tarts and other goodies brought to a
state of perfection.
Outside of the kitchen there is an
air of subdued mystery. There have
been restrictions laid upon nearly every
member OF the family concerning his or
her free access to some part of the
house. The eldest boy, whose chief
desire for months has been bicycle,
is warned to give the woodshed wide,
berth. The closet in the guest cham-l
ber is forbidden ground to the mother.
while none of the children are allowed
to go near the linen-closet, where
mamma has stored her gifts.
Everything in the house is in q state
OF shining cleanliness by the time the
day falls. The house is fragrant with
odors of spruce and pine and looks
very bower OF greenery by the time
that the tinkle Of the sleigh bells or
more probably the rattle of the wheels
does not always come for Christmas
announces the arrival of the guests.
From the city come the scattered
members of the flock, who would travel
any distance rather than miss assem-
ling for Christmas under the home
roof tree. They come with laden arms
and gay greetings, bringing in rush
of cold air and a fresh influx of the
Christmas spirit. They are full of
stories about the trip in the train, of
the country people and their parcels,
of the children going home to grand
fathers for Christmas, of the parties of
young people eager for days skating
or coasting, of the crowds Of vehicles
awaiting the travellers at the stations.
of the merry greetings, of the spirit of
love and goodwill that seemed to
brood over everything and ever!
body. After dinner comes the
great event of the day-the
event for which the children
fondly believed Christmas eve was first,
devised-hanging the stockings. Them
there is the repetition of the never-oid
night before Christmas" This is fol-
lowed by anxious conjectures as to how
Santa Claus will manage his sleigh
and reindeer if there is no snow on the
ground, and then the little cnes are
tucked away and left, while visions
of sugar-plums dance through their
heads"
With the first break of dawn on
Christmas morning there is a rustic
Of excitement through the house.
Ghostly forms fit through the halls
and happy voices shout Merry Christ
mas" from door to door. Then come
the hurried dressing, the jolly break
fast, the exchange of gifts and all the
dear delights Of the day of days.
There is no sound outside to distract
the attention from these joys. The
solemn silence of the country in winter
surrounds them on every side and
makes sweeter the mirth and cheer
within.