Yazoo City herald. [volume] (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1878-1976, 1914-12-25

AhCAS was SASC, III q AoA-dNag SodAi-
try where few people have ever travel
ed, wonderful church. II stood on a
high hill in the midst of great city,
and every Sabbath, and on sacred days
like Christmas, thousands of people
climbed the hill to its great archways,
looking like lines of ants all moving
in the same direction.
When you came to the building
itself you found stone columns and
dark passageways, and a grand en-
trance leading to the main room Of the
church. This room was so long that
one standing at the doorway could
scarcely see the other end, where the
choir and the ministers sat near the
marble altar. At the furthest corner
was the organ, which was so loud that
when it began to play the people for
miles around would close their shut
ters and prepare for a storm, think
ing they heard the thunder. Alto
gether there was no such church ever
seen as this one, especially when it
was lighted up for some festival, and
crowded with people, young and old.
But the strangest thing about the
whole building was the wonderful
chime Of BELLS. There stood at one
corner Of the church a gray stone
tower, with Ivy growing over il as far
up as one could see. AS far as one
could. see, l said, for the tower was
quite great enough to fit the great
church, and it reached so far into the
sky that it was only in very fair
weather that anyone claimed to be able
to see the top, and even then there
were but few who thought it was with
in sight. Up, and up, and up climbed
the stones and the ivy, and as the
men who built the church had been
dead for hundreds of years, every one
had forgotten how high the tower was
supposed to be.
Now, all the wise people knew that
at the top Of the tower was a chime
of Christmas bells They had hung
there ever since the church was finish
ed, and were the most beautiful bells
in the world. Some thought it was be-
cause great musician had cast them
and arranged them in their place, and
others said it was because Of the great
height, reaching up to where the air
was clear and pure; however this may
be, no one who had headr the chimes
ever denied that they were the sweet
est in the world. Some describe them
as sounding like angels far up in the
sky, and others like strange winds
singing through the trees.
But the fact was no one had heard
them for years and years. There was
an old man living not far from the
church who said he remembered that
his mother had spoken of hearing
them when she was little girl, and
he was the only one who could say
as much as that. They were Christmas
chimes, said,. and were not meant to
be played by men or on common oc-
casions. On Christmas Eve all the peo-
pie of the city brought to the church
their offerings to the Christ Child, and
when the greatest and best offering
was laid on the altar there would
come sounding through the music OF
the choir the voices of the Christmas
chimes far up in the tower. Some said
the wind rang them, and others that
they were so high that the angels
could set them swinging. But for
many long years, as said before, they
had never been heard. The ministers
said that people had been growing less
careful Of their gifts for the Christ
Child, or gave them rather to make
display for their own honor than
for love Of Him, so that no offering
was brought good enough to deserve
the music Of the chimes. Still every
Christmas Eve, the rich people Of the
city crowded to the altar, each one try
ing to give some better gift than any
one else, without taking anything that
he wanted to keep for himself; and
the church was filled with those who
thought that perhaps the wonderful
bells would be heard again. But, al
though the music was sweet and the
offerings were plenty, only the roar
of the wind could be heard far up in
thesold stone tower.
Now, number Of miles from the
city, in a little country village where
nothing could be seen of the great
church save glimpses Of the tower
when the weather was fine, lived a
boy named Pedro and his little broth
er. They knew very little about the
Christmas chimes, but they had heard
Of the service in the church on Christ
mas Eve, and had secret plan that
they had ofte ntaiked over when BY
themselves. for going to the beautiful