In The Yule-Log Glow--Book 3 | Page 8

_afore_,--
David and Perry'd quarr'l'd
about
Some tom-fool argyment, you know,
And pap told him to
"Jes git out
O' there, and not to come no more,
And, when he went,
to _shet the door!_"
And as he passed the winder, we
Saw Perry,
white as white could be,
March past, onhitch his hoss, and light
A
_see_-gyar, and lope out o' sight.
Then Lide she come to me and cried.

And I said nothin'--was no need.
And yit, you know, that man jes
got
Right out o' there's ef he'd be'n shot--
P'tendin' he must go and
feed
The stock er somepin'. Then I tried
To git the pore girl
pacified.
But gittin' back to--where was we?--
Oh, yes--where David lectered
me
All way to meetin', high and low,
Last Christmas was a year ago.

Fer all the awful cold, they was
A fair attendunce; mostly, though,

The crowd was 'round the stoves, you see,
Thawin' their heels and
scrougin' us.
Ef't 'adn't be'n fer the old Squire
Givin' his seat to us,
as in
We stompted, a-fairly perishin',
And David could 'a' got no
fire,
He'd jes 'a' drapped there in his tracks.
And Squire, as I was

tryin' to yit
Make room fer him, says, "No; the facks
Is I got to git
up and git
'Ithout no preachin'. Jes got word--
Trial fer life--can't be
deferred!"
And out he put. And all way through
The sermont--and a
long one, too--
I couldn't he'p but think o' Squire
And us changed
round so, and admire
His gintle ways--to give his warm
Bench up,
and have to face the storm.
And when I noticed David he
Was
needin' jabbin', I thought best
To kind o' sort o' let him rest--

'Peared like he slep' so peacefully!
And then I thought o' home, and
how
And what the girls was doin' now,
And kind o' prayed, 'way in
my breast,
And breshed away a tear er two
As David waked, and
church was through.
By time we'd "howdyed" round, and shuck
Hands with the neighbors,
must 'a' tuck
A half-hour longer: ever' one
A-sayin'
"Christmas-gift!" afore
David er me--so we got none.
But David
warmed up, more and more,
And got so jokey-like, and had
His
sperits up, and 'peared so glad,
I whispered to him, "S'pose you ast

A passel of 'em come and eat
Their dinners with us.--Girls 's got
A
full-and-plenty fer the lot
And all their kin." So David passed
The
invite round. And ever' seat
In ever' wagon-bed and sleigh
Was jes
_packed_, as we rode away--
The young folks, mild er so along,

A-strikin' up a sleighin' song.
Tel David laughed and yelled, you
know,
And jes whirped up and sent the snow
And gravel flyin' thick
and fast--
Last Christmas was a year ago.

W'y, that-air seven-mild
ja'nt we come--
Jes seven mild scant from church to home--
It didn't
'pear, that day, to be
Much furder railly 'n 'bout three.
But I was purty squeamish by
The time home hove in sight and I

See two _ve_hickles standin' there
Already. So says I, "Prepare!"

All to myse'f. And presently
David he sobered; and says he,
"Hain't
that-air Squire Hanch's old
Buggy," he says, "and claybank mare?"

Says I, "Le's git in out the cold--
Your company's nigh 'bout froze."
He says,
"Whose sleigh's that-air a-standin' there?"
Says I, "It's no

odds whose--you jes
Drive to the house and let us out,
'Cause we're
jes freezin', nigh about."
Well, David swung up to the door
And out
we piled. At first I heerd
Jane's voice; then _Lide's_--I thought afore

I reached that girl I'd jes die, shore;
And _when_ I reached her,
wouldn't keered
Much ef I had, I was so glad,
A-kissin' her through
my green veil,
And jes excitin' her so bad
'At _she_ broke down,
_herse'f_--and Jane
_She_ cried--and we all hugged again.
And
David--David jes turned pale!--
Looked at the girls and then at me,

Then at the open door--and then
"Is old Squire Hanch in there?" says
he.
The old Squire suddently stood in
The doorway, with a sneakin'
grin.
"Is Perry Anders in there, too?"
Says David, limberin' all
through,
As Lide and me both grabbed him, and
Perry stepped out
and waved his hand
And says, "Yes, pap." And David jes
Stooped
and kissed Lide, and says, "I guess
Your mother's much to blame as
you.
Ef _she_ kin resk him, _I kin_ too."
The dinner we had then hain't no
Bit better'n the one to-day
'At
we'll have fer 'em. Hear some sleigh
A-jinglin' now.--David, fer _me_,

I wish you'd jes go out and see
Ef they're in sight yit. It jes does

Me good to think, in times like these,
Lide's done so well. And David
he's
More tractabler 'n what he was
Last Christmas was a year ago.
_James Whitcomb Riley._
_As It Fell Upon A Day._
"A handsome hostess, merry host,
A pot of ale and now a toast,

Tobacco, and a good coal-fire,
Are things this season doth require."
_Poor Robin._
[Illustration: Ready for the Feast]
A CHRISTMAS "NOW."

So, now is come our joyful'st feast,
Let every man be jolly;
Each
room with ivy-leaves is drest,
And every post with holly.
Though
some churls at our mirth repine,
Round your foreheads garlands twine;

Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,
And let us all be merry.
Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke,
And Christmas logs are
burning;
Their ovens they with baked meats choke,
And all their
spits are turning.
Without the door let