"FROM LIFE." BY J. ERNEST BECHDOLT, AGE 17. (GOLD BADGE.] ALMIRA, LOUISA, AND MARY JANE KENT. BY MILDRED ELIZABETH JOHNSTON (AGE 12). THE father and mother had gone off to Boston, Being twenty-five miles by the way which they went, And leaving at home their three little daughters, Almira, Louisa, and Mary Jane Kent. The children performed all their small household duties; Then, with laughter and singing and sighs of content, They went out of doors and sat on the green grass, Almira, Louisa, and Mary Jane Kent. And then in the distance a yell smote the still air; A horseman appeared, on his flying steed bent; "The Indians! The Indians are coming!" he shouted. Run, Almira, Louisa, and Mary Jane Kent!" The children stood stock-still, bereft of their senses; Those terrible moments they came and they went; Then all of a sudden their senses came to them. "To the hall! to the passage!" cried Mary Jane Kent. They opened the trap-door,-it creaked on its hinges, And down the dark steps of the passage they went, With a prayer in each heart for God to deliver Almira, Louisa, and Mary Jane Kent. The Indians came on with dancing and singing; They burned the old house, and to ashes it went; But the children escaped through an underground passage Almira, Louisa, and Mary Jane Kent. In the Catholic countries, Spain, France, Italy, and Austria, Christmas is solemnly celebrated in the churches. In some Austrian towns they have a custom of placing lighted candles in their windows to give light for the Christ Child. In Holland, on the eve of December 6 (St. Nicholas Day), the children used to fill their shoes with grain for the horse St. Nicholas was supposed to ride, and place them by the fireside. In the mornning the shoes were found full of sweetmeats and toys. The nearness together of the gift-days St. Nicholas Day and Christmas "WHO IS IT?" THE ROBIN'S CHRISTMAS. BY MARGUERITE ASPINWALL (AGE 13). THE snow had been falling all night, and in the morning the sun had come out, making everything sparkle brilliantly. All the people in the houses came to the windows. "What a beautiful Christmas!" they would say, and later they would appear muffled in furs and buffalo robes and go for long sleigh-rides, returning with red noses and ears, to hurry into the house exclaiming, How bitterly cold it is to-day!" Now all this was very well for people who had buffalo robes and warm houses, but for the poor little cold and hungry robin on the lawn the case was very different. He had quite despaired of finding a worm, for he had been hunting all morning without success. But worms do not love the snow; and yet he was so hungry! The cold increased. The robin settled down on a dead twig outside the window of a large house. Inside he could see a blazing fire, and in one corner of the room a fir-tree twinkled with candles and toys. Every one was warm and happy in there. They had plenty to eat, and need not mind the cold. He left his perch and hopped upon the window-ledge, and huddled in a corner, shivering. Suddenly the window opened and a pretty little girl looked out. Oh, you poor, cold, hungry robin!" she cried pityingly; "BRINGING IN THE SADDLE HERD." BY EDWARD A. and taking him gently in her hands, she carried him into the room, and shut the window. She took him to the fire, and gave him a nice meal of bread-crumbs, and then let him fly about. He was very friendly and grateful, and after flying around the room he alighted where do you think?-on the topmost branch of the Christmas tree, where he remained very happily all day, looking gravely about him. He stayed in the house for two days, until the snow had gone, and all With ST. NICK for the while he lived in the ChristDecember. mas tree, nor could anything persuade him to leave it until the snow had entirely disappeared. Then he flew regretfully away. "A GOOD TACKLE." BY WALTER I. DOTHARD, AGE 16. A LIST of those whose work has been found worthy Pleasaunce Baker of honorable mention and encouragement. VERSE. Janet Percy Dana Florence Cochran Turner Adele Gutman Helen C. Coombs Joseph Walker Jeanette C. Klauder Margaret Beirer Agnes Churchill Lacey Benjamin F. McGuckin Helen T. Sawyer Irene N. Mack Aloise Gebhardt Charlotte E. L. Hudnut May H. Ryan Otto Freund Anna E. Holman Margaret Prall Eleanor Alberta Alexander Sara D. Burge A. Marguerite Dye Beulah H. Ridgeway Nellie Littell McCulloch Lorraine Roosevelt Harlow F. Pease Helen Esler Howard P. Rockey David MacGregor Cheyney James Carey Thomas Isabel Robinson Denison H. Clift Alf Macbeth Harry G. Salziger Henry Goldman Mary E. Scheinman Charlotte P. Dodge Rudolph Benson Margaret G. Hart Mary Childs Gertrude Fisher Louise Richards Anna R. Cole Blanche B. Baltzer Ruth M. Peters Julia F. Kinney Margaret Hamilton Gladys Knight Earl VanDeman Agnes Dew Lowe Ruth Pasko Ruth C. Sharp Halle Schaffner H. Frederica Buckley Eleanor Wright Anna Dutton Margaret O. Guerber Ethel Rispin Annie Wagner Helen W. Smith Dorothy Averill Dorothy Heroy Michelle C. Ticknor Charlotte Morrison L. Blanche Phillips Eleanor Bliss Southworth DRAWINGS. Bessie Barnes Clare S. Currier James H. Daugherty Margaret C. Bradshaw Lucile Christina Mellen Harriet S. Smith Virginia Lyman Laurence M. Simmonds Eunice Hussey Theodora Kimball Mary Eleanor George Mary M. Alexander PHOTOGRAPHS. William Ives Washburn, Jr. Campbell Townsend Edward Hooker Taylor Frances T. Parker CHAPTERS. OWING to the great number of contributions received this month, and the many good ones selected for use, we have been obliged to condense our chapter report. All the chapters are prospering, and many new ones are forming. These will be reported as rapidly as possible. A FEW OF THE NEW CHAPTERS. No. 361. "Valentine Chapter." Anna White, Secretary; eight members. Address, Box 174, Lansdowne, Pa. No. 362. "Merry Six." Anna Smith, President: Marjory Marsh, Secretary; six members. Address, Decorah, Ia. No. 363. "Cyclone City Club." Mary Sanders, President; Mazie Regan, Secretary; eight members. Address, Southwest St., Grinnell, Ia. No. 364. "Jolly Six." Alice Rogers, President; Beatrice Weeks, Secretary; six members. Address, Grove St., Barre, Mass. No. 365. "Clover Leaf." Three members. Address, 892 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, N. Y. No. 366. Louisa Hodge, President; Charlotte Hodge, Secretary; three members. Address, 316 W. 108th St., New York City. No. 367. "Family Chapter." Eva Neill, President; James Neill, Secretary; four members. Address, La Grande, Ore. No. 368. W. Barclay Doron, President; John Ross, Secretary; six members. Address, 312 E. 14th St., Davenport, Ia. No. 369. "The Beavers.' Florence Turner, President; Helen Conolly, Secretary; five members. Address, Brockville, Ont., Can. " PRIZE COMPETITION No. 27. THE St. Nicholas League awards gold and silver badges each month for the best poems, stories, drawings, photographs, puzzles, and puzzle-answers. A SPECIAL CASH PRIZE. To any League member who has won a gold badge for any of the above-named achievements, and shall again win first place, a cash prize of five dollars will be awarded, instead of another gold badge. Competition No. 27 will close December 15 (for foreign members December 20). The awards will be announced and prize contributions published in ST. NICHOLAS for March. be VERSE. To contain not more than twenty-four lines, and may illustrated, if desired, with not more than two drawings or photographs by the author. Subject to contain the word "hope" or hopes." PROSE. Story, article, or play of not more than four hundred words. It may be illustrated, if desired, with not more than two drawings by the author. Subject, "My Narrow Escape," and must be a true story. May be humorous or serious. PHOTOGRAPH. Any size, mounted or unmounted, but no blue prints or negatives. Subject, "Chilly Days." DRAWING. India ink, very black writing-ink, or wash (not color). Subject, "Sketched from Life." May be landscape or interior, with or without figures. PUZZLE. Any sort, the answer to contain some word or words relating to the March season. To complete set of an Best, neatest, and most swers to puzzles in this issue of ST. NICHOLAS. WILD-ANIMAL OR BIRD PHOTOGRAPH. encourage the pursuing of game with a camera instead of a gun. For the best photograph of a wild animal or bird, taken in its natural home: First Prize, five dollars and League gold badge. Second Prise, three dollars and League gold badge. Third Prize, League gold badge. ADVERTISING COMPETITION No. 9. A REPORT of this competition with a list of prize-winners will be found on advertising page 9. RULES FOR ALL COMPETITIONS. EVERY contribution of whatever kind must bear the name, age, and address of the sender, and beindorsed as "original" by parent, teacher, or guardian, who must be convinced beyond doubt that the contribu tion is not copied, but wholly the work of the sender. If prose, the number of words should also be added. These things must not be on a separate sheet, but on the contribution itself-if a manuscript, on the upper margin; if a picture, on the margin or back. Write or draw on one side of the paper only. A contributor may send but one contribution a month -not one of each kind, but one only. Members are not obliged to contribute every month. dress all communications: Ad THE ST. NICHOLAS LEAGUE, Union Square, New York. THE LETTER-BOX. BERKELEY, CAL. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I would like to tell you about the Cozy Nook Club. Last summer some of us boys decided to have a club-house in a tree. The boys in the club were Russell, Roland, Pier, John, Marshall, Sheldon, Lair, and Stephen (myself). We chose a tree to build the house in, and gathered up some lumber. Then we began building. First we put some beams across the branches, and laid the floor on them. John had some pieces of a shed-roof that he gave us, and we pulled them up into the tree by ropes, and we had a hard time doing it, too. We bought some shingles, and soon had the roof shingled to keep the rain out. our lumber was used up, and we had no money to buy some more; so we had a circus and made two dollars on it, and bought enough lumber to finish the house, and we are working on it now. The house is seventeen feet long, and six or seven feet wide. This is the kind of flag we have: Then STEPHEN FIELD CHRISTY. P. S. I will write some more in a few months about the Cozy Nook Club. I got ST. NICHOLAS last Christmas, and I was very much pleased. Roland is my chum, and Russell is my cousin. FORT GRANT, Arizona. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am an army girl and I travel around a great deal. Year before last I was in Cuba, and I stayed there a year and a half. Often we would have a cloud-burst. Last year papa was ordered away to Fort Grant, Arizona. There is an Apache Indian camp a half a mile from the post, and I see a great many Indians. They make some of the most beautiful baskets and ollas I ever saw. We have a great many Navajo rugs that we sent to Fort Wingate, New Mexico, for. They are made by the Navajo Indians. The post is situated at the foot of the Graham Mountains. Sincerely, MARGUERITE COLE. MANCHESTER. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: As an English reader of your magazine I am interested in the letters concerning the Cromwell monuments. I believe that until last year the statue in Manchester was the only monument to Cromwell in England. Your correspondent in the July number gave a splendid description of the statue, but there was a slight mistake as to the name of the nearest station. There are two stations quite near, Victoria and Exchange; but Oxford Road is almost on the outskirts of the city. In the early part of last year a statue was put up in London. It is near the Houses of Parliament, in front of the old Westminster Hall. Cromwell is represented with a scroll in his hand, and wearing a costume similar to that of the statue in Manchester. He stands upon a granite pedestal, at the foot of which is carved a recumbent lion. The statue faces Westminster Abbey. I have never written to you before, but I thought that your readers would perhaps like to hear about the Cromwell monuments from one who has seen them both. I take a great interest in ST. NICHOLAS, and enjoy the stories very much indeed. I think that the serial "A Boy of a Thousand Years Ago" was splendid, and I am very fond of all historical tales. Wishing you every success, I am, Yours very truly, A "MANCHESTRIAN." DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: My sisters have taken you for years and liked you very much. Now they are grown up, and I am taking you, and I enjoy all the stories very much. I especially liked "Quicksilver Sue," "Betty," and "Trinity Bells." I like the continued stories best. My home is in Cleveland, Ohio, but we are all spending the winter in Paris. We have seen many interesting things. We have seen Napoleon's tomb, the Panthéon, Notre Dame, and many other places, but I like the little Church of St.-Étienne the best. The other day we saw "Robinson Crusoe" given as a French play. It was very different from the real story. In the play, Robinson Crusoe was married and had a little boy. His little boy was fishing one day, and found in the mouth of one fish a piece of paper which Robinson Crusoe had written on the island, telling where he was and asking for help. Then Mrs. Crusoe sent an expedition which found him. Robinson Crusoe looked just as he does in pictures, with his big umbrella and funny fur cap, and his leggings made of skin. had a real parrot, a sheep, and a dog on the stage. Christmas Eve he went to sleep in his hut and dreamed of his home, and the scene changed and you could see what he was dreaming about. On Christmas Eve here in Paris we went to midnight mass at St.-Sulpice. The church is very old and large. It was very crowded. We went an hour beforehand and only got seats near the back of the church. church was lighted with a great many candles, and just before twelve a large star of red and pale yellow lights came out over the altar. At twelve o'clock the bells rang and the two organs began to play, first one and then the other, and the choir-boys sang Christmas carols. We all enjoyed it very much. I am going to a French school here, where the children speak only French. We play in the Luxembourg gardens for an hour every day. The children here play mostly with green tops, which they hit with a stick to make go. I have one, but cannot make it go well. The boys here wear funny little black aprons, and some wear wooden shoes; they make a great noise. I have been down the Seine in a little boat, and have seen the Exposition buildings which are on both sides of the river and are very beautiful, but were not half finished then. Our French cook's husband worked on the roof of the United States Building. I enjoy the ST. NICHOLAS more than ever, here in Paris, because I have no other English books to read. From your twelve-year-old reader, EDITH L. CUTTER. |