Christmas Stories And Legends | Page 6

birthday'."
The words went through her like an electric shock, and with a start she
awoke, and sat upright in her chair; and, lo, it was all a dream!
Marcia looked around the room, shook herself a little, stirred the fire,
and put on fresh coal. She laughed at the remembrance of her dream,
and its absurdity! How glad she was that it was only a dream! But was
it only a dream? Was it not a reality? Was not this the way she had kept
the Lord's birthday? When she had opened her Christmas treasure, how
much had been given Him and for love of Him? How large a place had
she given Him in the season's activity? Had she ever made room for
Him as the central figure of it all; or had he been crowded out, and His
rightful place given to Santa Claus and the world's merry-making?
In the light of the Spirit she saw that the Star of Bethlehem always
leads to the cross of Calvary. She had never liked to think about the
cross before, but now it was all illumined with the glory of the love
which gave to us God's best, his only begotten Son. She remembered
how the Lord Jesus had said: "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto
Me." She saw that it is as we see Christ on the cross for us that we are
drawn to Him.

In that still hour, on her knees, at the foot of the cross, Marcia with
great gladness made her first "White Gift" unto her Lord--she gave
HERSELF to Him.
[*] By permission of the author and the publisher, Pittsburgh Christian
Advocate.

THE FIR TREE[*]
Adapted by J. H. Stickney
Far away in the forest, where the warm sun and the fresh air made a
sweet resting place, grew a pretty little fir tree. The situation was all
that could be desired; and yet it was not happy, it wished so much to be
like its tall companions, the pines and firs which grew around it.
The sun shone, and the soft air fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant
children passed by, prattling merrily; but the fir tree did not heed them.
Sometimes the children would bring a large basket of raspberries or
strawberries, wreathed in straws, and seat themselves near the fir tree,
and say, "Is it not a pretty little tree?" which made it feel even more
unhappy than before.
And yet all this while the tree grew a notch or joint taller every year;
for by the number of joints in the stem of a fir tree we can discover its
age.
Still, as it grew, it complained: "Oh! how I wish I were as tall as the
other trees; then I would spread out my branches on every side, and my
crown would overlook the wide world around. I should have the birds
building their nests on my boughs, and when the wind blew, I should
bow with stately dignity, like my tall companions."
So discontented was the tree, that it took no pleasure in the warm
sunshine, the birds, or the rosy clouds that floated over it morning and
evening.

Sometimes in winter, when the snow lay white and glittering on the
ground, there was a little hare that would come springing along, and
jump right over the little tree's head; then how mortified it would feel.
Two winters passed; and when the third arrived, the tree had grown so
tall that the hare was obliged to run round it. Yet it remained
unsatisfied, and would exclaim, "Oh! to grow, to grow; if I could but
keep on growing tall and old! There is nothing else worth caring for in
the world."
In the autumn the woodcutters came, as usual, and cut down several of
the tallest trees; and the young fir, which was now grown to its full
height, shuddered as the noble trees fell to the earth with a crash.
After the branches were lopped off, the trunks looked so slender and
bare that they could scarcely be recognized. Then they were placed, one
upon another, upon wagons, and drawn by horses out of the forest.
"Where could they be going? What would become of them?" The
young fir tree wished very much to know.
So in the spring, when the swallows and the storks came, it asked, "Do
you know where those trees were taken? Did you meet them?"
The swallows knew nothing; but the stork, after a little reflection,
nodded his head, and said, "Yes, I think I do. As I flew from Egypt, I
saw several new ships, and they had fine masts that smelt like fir.
These must have been the trees; and I assure you they