The wild waves reach their hands for it,
The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,
As up and down the beach we flit,-
One little sandpiper and I.

Above our heads the sullen clouds
Scud black and swift across the sky;
Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds
Stand out the white lighthouses high.

Almost as far as eye can reach
I see the close-reefed vessels fly,
As fast we flit along the beach,
One little sandpiper and I.

I watch him as he skims along
Uttering his sweet and mournful cry;
He starts not at my fitful song,
Nor flash of fluttering drapery.

He has no thought of any wrong;

He scans me with a fearless eye;
Stanch friends are we, well tried and strong,
The little sandpiper and I.

Comrade, where wilt thou be to-night
When the loosed storm breaks furiously?
My driftwood fire will burn so bright!
To what warm shelter canst thou fly?

I do not fear for thee, though wroth
The tempest rushes through the sky;
For are we not God's children both,
Thou, little sandpiper, and I?

-CELIA THAXTER.

CHRISTMAS IN OTHER LANDS

IT is more than nineteen hundred years since there lay in the manger, at Bethlehem, the Child whose birthday is the day of days to the children of Christendom. Every year the message flies around the world, "Peace on earth, good will to men."

Christmas is a joyous season to children everywhere. Not only in our own land, but in lands beyond the sea, little voices swell the chorus until the great round earth seems to be filled with joy and gladness.

The day before Christmas in Norway is a busy one. Out of doors the men are preparing the Yule wood which must be perfectly dry, cut into even smooth sticks, and placed under the bench that extends the whole length of the living room. After this has been done, the men go up on the mountain side and cut down a load of fir trees. The branches, except a tuft of them at the top, are stripped off. These trees are then set up all around the low

house. A pretty sight they make, especially if the snow falls upon them in the night.

Scour

In the house the women are flying about ing, and decorating floor, furniture, and walls. They suspend from the ceiling a crown of straw, from which dangle shreds of bright-colored cloth of green, red, and blue. The gable end of the room is hung with cloth on which Scriptural scenes are pictured. The floor is covered with wisps of rye straw, in memory of the stable in which Christ was born. Polished copper and pewter vessels are neatly arranged on the shelves, and the best clothes hung in regular order on a long pole where the Yule fire may shine upon them. Great oblong loaves of Yule bread are browning in the oven with the round cakes of rye bread.

And the children! What are they doing? Oh, they are everywhere, their eyes glistening with excitement, hands and feet not still a moment. They must bring in the straw, help polish the cups, gather up the branches cut off from the trees-help here and help there.

Then they have some special work of their own to do. Every gable and post must bear its Christmas sheaf to-morrow for the birds that are already chattering about the feast to come. They will be here in large flocks in the morning, and will waken these little boys and girls with their Christmas carol.

The children have gleaned the grain from the harvest fields long before. How they enjoy climbing about to fasten the sheaves to gable and post! How they laugh to see the eager birds nod from their perches!

Now it is growing dark, and the children must go with the women to the cow house. They give

the cattle their best forage, and say to each one, as they put a new collar on her neck, "This is Christmas Eve, little one."

Then they proceed to the stable where they give the horses their choicest hay. The fowls are re

membered with bits of food, and the watch dog is set free on this one night of the year. For these good folks say, "All creatures should have cause to rejoice on Christmas Eve."

Soon the fires are lighted, the Bible is read, and the merriment begins. The children keep running to the door as if they expected some one, and clap their hands with delight when they hear a bell ring just outside. They spring to throw open the door and welcome an old man and an old woman, a queerlooking couple.

These old people are grotesquely dressed, but they are most beautiful to the children, whose great round eyes sparkle with delight. The woman carries a large basket of sealed packages. She hands out each package to the one whose name it bears, and when her basket is empty, disappears to return with a new supply. The name of the giver is not attached to the presents, and there is great fun guessing and questioning one another. The gifts themselves are usually very simple.

Music, dancing, and games follow, and supper at ten o'clock. Before supper grace is said and the meal closes with a psalm. All the family must sleep under the same roof, and the children on rye straw. The candles and fire must burn until morning, and the remains be kept until the next Christmas.