Christmas Tales and Christmas Verse | Page 8

sez I, 'for if you'll
look after your things, I kind o' calc'late I'll manage not to lose you on
the way.' Dear Marthy--seems as if I could see you now, with your
tangled hair a-blowin' in the wind, your eyes all bright and sparklin', an'
your cheeks as red as apples. Seems, too, as if I could hear you laughin'
and callin', jist as you did as I toiled up the old New England hill that
Chris'mas mornin'--a-callin': 'Joel, Joel, Joel--ain't ye ever comin',
Joel?' But the hill is long and steep, Marthy, an' Joel ain't the boy he
used to be; he's old, an' gray, an' feeble, but there's love an' faith in his
heart, an' they kind o' keep him totterin' tow'rd the voice he hears
a-callin': 'Joel, Joel, Joel!'"
"I know--I see it all," murmured Santa Claus very softly.
"Oh, that was so long ago," sighed Joel; "so very long ago! And I've
had no Chris'mas since--only once, when our little one--Marthy's an'
mine--you remember him, Santa Claus?"
"Yes," said Santa Claus, "a toddling little boy with blue eyes--"
"Like his mother," interrupted Joel; "an' he was like her, too--so gentle

an' lovin', only we called him Joel, for that was my father's name and it
kind o' run in the fam'ly. He wa'n't more'n three years old when you
came with your Chris'mas presents for him, Santa Claus. We had told
him about you, and he used to go to the chimney every night and make
a little prayer about what he wanted you to bring him. And you brought
'em, too--a stick-horse, an' a picture-book, an' some blocks, an' a
drum--they're on the shelf in the closet there, and his little Chris'mas
stockin' with 'em--I've saved 'em all, an' I've taken 'em down an' held
'em in my hands, oh, so many times!"
"But when I came again," said Santa Claus--
"His little bed was empty, an' I was alone. It killed his

mother--Marthy was so tender-hearted; she kind o' drooped an' pined
after that. So now they've been asleep side by side in the

buryin'-ground these thirty years.
"That's why I'm so sad-like whenever Chris'mas comes," said Joel, after
a pause. "The thinkin' of long ago makes me bitter almost. It's so
different now from what it used to be."
"No, Joel, oh, no," said Santa Claus. "'Tis the same world, and human
nature is the same and always will be. But Christmas is for the little
folks, and you, who are old and grizzled now, must know it and love it
only through the gladness it brings the little ones."
"True," groaned Joel; "but how may I know and feel this gladness when
I have no little stocking hanging in my chimney corner--no child to
please me with his prattle? See, I am alone."
"No, you're not alone, Joel," said Santa Claus. "There are children in
this great city who would love and bless you for your goodness if you
but touched their hearts. Make them happy, Joel; send by me this night
some gift to the little boy in the old house yonder--he is poor and sick;
a simple toy will fill his Christmas with gladness."
"His little sister, too--take her some presents," said Joel; "make them
happy for me, Santa Claus--you are right--make them happy for me."

How sweetly Joel slept! When he awoke, the sunlight streamed in
through the window and seemed to bid him a merry Christmas. How
contented and happy Joel felt! It must have been the talk with Santa
Claus that did it all; he had never known a sweeter sense of peace. A
little girl came out of the house over the way. She had a new doll in her
arms, and she sang a merry little song and she laughed with joy as she
skipped along the street. Ay, and at the window sat the little sick boy,
and the toy Santa Claus left him seemed to have brought him strength
and health, for his eyes sparkled and his cheeks glowed, and it was
plain to see his heart was full of happiness.
And, oh! how the chimes did ring out, and how joyfully they sang their
Christmas carol that morning! They sang of Bethlehem and the manger
and the Babe; they sang of love and charity, till all the Christmas air
seemed full of angel voices.
Carol of the Christmas morn--
Carol of the Christ-child born--

Carol to the list'ning sky
Till it echoes back again
"Glory be to God
on high,
Peace on earth, good will tow'rd men!"
So all this music--the carol of the chimes, the sound of children's voices,
the smile of the poor little boy over the way--all this sweet music crept
into Joel's heart that Christmas morning; yes, and with these sweet,
holy influences came others so