The Peace Egg and Other tales

Peace Egg and Other tales, by
Juliana Horatia Ewing

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Title: The Peace Egg and Other tales
Author: Juliana Horatia Ewing
Release Date: January 23, 2007 [EBook #20425]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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PEACE EGG AND OTHER TALES ***

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THE PEACE EGG
AND OTHER TALES.

BY
JULIANA HORATIA EWING.

LONDON:
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.
BRIGHTON: 129, NORTH STREET.
NEW YORK: E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO.
[Published under the direction of the General Literature Committee.]
* * * * *

CONTENTS.
THE PEACE EGG
A CHRISTMAS MUMMING PLAY
HINTS FOR PRIVATE THEATRICALS, I., II., III.
SNAP-DRAGONS
OLD FATHER CHRISTMAS
* * * * *

THE PEACE EGG.

THE PEACE EGG.
A CHRISTMAS TALE.
Every one ought to be happy at Christmas. But there are many things
which ought to be, and yet are not; and people are sometimes sad even
in the Christmas holidays.
The Captain and his wife were sad, though it was Christmas Eve. Sad,
though they were in the prime of life, blessed with good health, devoted
to each other and to their children, with competent means, a
comfortable house on a little freehold property of their own, and, one
might say, everything that heart could desire. Sad, though they were
good people, whose peace of mind had a firmer foundation than their
earthly goods alone; contented people, too, with plenty of occupation
for mind and body. Sad--and in the nursery this was held to be past all
reason--though the children were performing that ancient and most
entertaining Play or Christmas Mystery of Good St. George of England,
known as The Peace Egg, for their benefit and behoof alone.
The play was none the worse that most of the actors were too young to
learn parts, so that there was very little of the rather tedious dialogue,
only plenty of dress and ribbons, and of fighting with the wooden
swords. But though St. George looked bonny enough to warm any
father's heart, as he marched up and down with an air learned by
watching many a parade in barrack-square and drill-ground, and though
the Valiant Slasher did not cry in spite of falling hard and the Doctor
treading accidentally on his little finger in picking him up, still the
Captain and his wife sighed nearly as often as they smiled, and the
mother dropped tears as well as pennies into the cap which the King of
Egypt brought round after the performance.
THE CAPTAIN'S WIFE.
Many many years back the Captain's wife had been a child herself, and
had laughed to see the village mummers act the Peace Egg, and had

been quite happy on Christmas Eve. Happy, though she had no mother.
Happy, though her father was a stern man, very fond of his only child,
but with an obstinate will that not even she dared thwart. She had lived
to thwart it, and he had never forgiven her. It was when she married the
Captain. The old man had a prejudice against soldiers, which was quite
reason enough, in his opinion, for his daughter to sacrifice the
happiness of her future life by giving up the soldier she loved. At last
he gave her her choice between the Captain and his own favour and
money. She chose the Captain, and was disowned and disinherited.
The Captain bore a high character, and was a good and clever officer,
but that went for nothing against the old man's whim. He made a very
good husband too; but even this did not move his father-in-law, who
had never held any intercourse with him or his wife since the day of
their marriage, and who had never seen his own grandchildren. Though
not so bitterly prejudiced as the old father, the Captain's wife's friends
had their doubts about the marriage. The place was not a military
station, and they were quiet country folk who knew very little about
soldiers, whilst what they imagined was not altogether favourable to
"red-coats" as they called them. Soldiers are well-looking generally, it
is true (and the Captain was more than well-looking--he was
handsome); brave, of course it is their business (and the Captain had
V.C. after his name and several bits of ribbon on his patrol jacket). But
then, thought the good people, they are here to-day