The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-12-31
pretty. self-important squirmings and her animated conversationf

pretty. self-important squirmings and her animated conversationr
 Gone.
 And In their place e touching seve- rie. She could not be awakened from her somber sadness. What Is the matter, in Gods name. now tell mev' Nothing" More wine2" NO, thank you Have a boudin?"
 ''No." the young man answered.; q can't eat much boudin, but 1t is the proper thing to order" Proper thing to order!' She spoke with a scorn that had no limits, Look around you!' The American looked around and saw dealsof champagne and pink lobster.
 It was ended. The blind saw and the deaf heard. The bloom was off the peach. And they walked silently and sadly homeward. It was nothing that they could have had champagne and lobster for the same price, almost. Champagne costs only eight francs down at Mulier's, and the establish ment expects to make so much from every table, whether you buy boudin or whatever. There was no question of his generosity. He had done worse. He had offended an ideal
 The church-going is very eNtraordi- nary. There is no midnight mass at Notre Dame; but all the other churches are so crowded that you. enter them with difficulty, as early as eleven o'clock at night. Such churches as the Madeleine and Saint-Eustache, be- cause of thef music, are besieged. Be- sides the music and the solemn func- ton, special Christmas feature Is un- covered in the churches.
 This is the Creche de Noel, the Beth lehem" of Catholic churches in Ameri- ca. In one corner of the church. usu- ally on the altar of side-chapel, some kind of representation of the Christ child lying in the manager is attempted. The figures are usually in wax, and when only three persons are represent ed-the infant, the virgin mother and St. Joseph-they are sometimes of con- siderable size. The real day for the Bethlehems Is Christmas; Christmas morning, when ali. well brought up children make the tour of many a church and lay their oranges and ap- pies in the holy garden, as gift. The fruits are gathered up from time to time and sent to children's hospitals.
 The Bethlehems are Of every kind, and they are seen in every church in France. Unless the figures are ex- tremely large ones, there are regularly more than three, even in the humblest churches In order of importance come first. among the supplementary figures of the creche, the three Wise Men, the Magi Kings, Gaspard, Mel choir and BelthaZar-your old friends of Ben Hur." As an actual fact, their bones are now reposing in the Cathe- dral of Cologne, locked up in gold trunk, whose antique decoration of pre- cious stones makes 1t. worth several million francs. Then come the shep- herds, never less than three, an old one with white beard: a young one, car ryfng lamb, and a third, in middle life, who is seen playing a musical in- strument. The richer Bethlehems m tiply the number of the shepher bringing their f1ocks with them, v crowd the OK and the ass, and
 themselves against the pillars of
 holy stable. There are other sl herds, bringing eggs, pigeons, and so on. Other churches have
 photographic panoramas of the ac
 scenes of Bethlehem.