Gilpin observer., 1905-12-21
AS SEEN BY AUTHORS.

Mr.. Wrinkle kissed the young lady |
with the black eyes, Mr. Snodgrass
kissed Emily, and Mr.. Weller, not be-
ing particular about the form of being |
under the mistletoe, kissed Emma and
the other female servants just as he
caught them. Wardle stood with his
back to the fire surveying the whole
scene with the utmost satisfaction,
and the fat boy took the opportunity
of appropriating to his own use and
summarily devouring a particularly
fine mince-pie that had been carefully
put by for somebody else.
"Then after the dancing and the
fun, Fill up! cried Mr.. Wardle. 1t
will be two hours good before you see
the bottom of the bowl through the
deep red color of the wassail! Fill up
all round! And now for the song!"
Surely no writer ever caught the
spirit of Christmas joviality and made
even cold type glow with it as clever
ly as Charles Dickens. in whose in
spired pages you can see the punch
bowls steam, smell the grateful in
cense of savory meats. hear the chorus
swell and shake the rafters. listen to
the bells Ginning through the crisp
morning air, the ring of the skates on
the ice, and the peals of merry laugh
ter.
What rollicking Christmas. too.
was that which Du Maurier pictured
with his genial pen in ''Trilby." After
the Laird and Trilby had rescued the
long-delayed hamper and brought it
home in triumph in cab, and the
jovial guests had streamed in with it.
the three big lamps and the Chinese
lantern were lit in the studio. which
at once became a scene of the noisi-
est, busiest, and cheerfulest animation.
The pieces de resistance and the pud-
gions, and every one was pressed into
preparations for the banquet"
And then the chatter and laughter,
the wild fun and frolic that followed.
Dodor and Z0uzou stood up ard exc.
cuted fantastic dance with Trilby;
then they played at cock-fighting. with
their wrists tied across their shins
and broomstick thrust in between.
until the fun became so boisterous
that sergent de vile walked in and
requested them not to make so much
noise, they were disturbing the whole
QUARTER So they made him tipsy.
and also another policeman who came
to look after his comrade, and yet an
other, and these guardians of the
peace were trussed and made to play
at cock-fighting. Never surely was
there such high time" even in the
Quarter Latin.
Did ever Christmas dawn more
beautifully in any printed page than
that which Bret Harte thus pictures in
How Santa Claus came to Simpsons
Bar: "The Christmas dawn came
slowly, after touching the remoter
peaks with the rosy warmth of in
effable love. And it looked so tender
ly on Simpsons Bar that the whole
mountain, as if caught in generous
action. blushed to the skies"
But Christmas is not all gaiety and
beauty, either in fiction or in real life.
The note of tragedy is touched in that
sermon by Cyril Maitland. in Maxwell
text. Keep innocency. and take heed
to the thing that is right, for that
shall bring man peace at the last"
And when the preacher painted in hot,
eloquent words the tortures of a guilty
conscience. which all unknown to his
hearers was his, many n man trem-
bled, some women sobbed, and poor
Ben Lee uttered stified groan." Long
did the little congregation remember
that scene-the hush of attention bro
ken by sobs. the shadows deepening
in the church. the upraised, awestruck
faces; "and up above them, from the
heart Of the mysterious darkness, the
one beautiful, impassioned face in the
lonely radiance. and the mighty, mu-
steal voice pealing forth the unutter-
able anguish Of sim"
1t is relief to turn from this pic.
ture, with the tragedy lurking behind
II, even to that Christmas day of 1G6S
which Pepys spent with his wife,
ITO dinner alone with my wife, who,
poor wretch! sat undressed all day till
ten at night, altering and lacing OF n
noble pettlcoat; while /, by her, ma
king the boy read to me the Life of
julius Caesar and Descartes' book of
music; or even to that other Christ.
mas which Robinson Crusoe epito-
mized in three words--"Rained all
day"