you would carry the holly into the din- 

 ing-room and arrange it; be sure to se- 

 lect the choicest bit for the pudding." 



Mabel carried the holly into the din- 

 ing-room, where she carefully looked it 

 over, and chose a nice piece for the 

 Christmas pudding. 



''There, I think you are the very nicest 

 piece — not the biggest, but the best. 

 How pretty you are with your dark 

 green, glossy leaves and scarlet berries. 

 You'll look fine on the pudding." 



*T'm glad you chose me ; I've been 

 hoping all the time that you would." 

 seemed to come from the holly. 



''Well, I declare," said Mabel, as she 

 pricked her finger on the holly leaves in 

 her surprise. "I — really — I never ex- 

 pected a voice to come from you. Why 

 you're only a little thing — a part of a 

 tree." 



"Large enough to have a spirit. Oh ! 

 you need not start ! Do you flatter your- 

 self that you mortals are the only part 

 of God's creation gifted with a soul?" 



"No, indeed. I know that a great 

 number of great and good men believed 

 that trees especially had souls. Then 

 what does Shakespeare say : 



"And this one life, exempt from public 



haunt, 

 Finds tongues in trees, books in running 



brooks, 

 Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 



and again who is it says : 



"There is a tongue in every leaf, 



A voice in every rill — 

 A voice that speaketh everywhere, 



In flood and fire, through earth and air ; 

 A tongue that's never still !" 



Wordsworth claims : 



"the meanest flower that blows can give 

 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for 

 tears." 



"Now, I'm going to sit down in this 

 easy chair, beside the glowing fire this 

 evening, when I've helped mother all I 

 can, and you must talk to me." 



"That's right ; help your mother all 

 that you can, and in the meantime I'll 

 think of some legends to tell you." 



"Well," said Mabel, some hours later, 

 "they've all gone up town to see Santa 

 Claus, so Holly, tell me those legends." 



"Have you ever heard of the Holly 

 called 'Aunt Mary's Tree?'" 



"No, I have not." 



"Well, that is not strange, for very 

 few people who have not been born in 

 Cornwall, England, have. The Cornish- 

 born people regard themselves as a race 

 apart from those who settle within their 

 borders, and are very loath to impart 

 their convictions or superstitions to the 

 strangers within their gates. 



"The truth is, the Cornish Catholics 

 call the Blessed Virgin by the familiar 

 name of Aunt Mary, and always im- 

 agine that the holly is under her special 

 protection. One of their ancient carols 

 refers to the holly thus: 



"Now of all the trees by the king's highway 



Which do ye love the best? 



Oh ! the one that's green on Christmas day ; 



The bush with the bleeding breast ; 



The holly with drops of blood for me, 



For that is our dear Aunt Mary's tree." 



"That is rather a quaint carol." 



"Still another belief in regard to us in 

 many parts of England is, that all Holly 

 used in church decoration is gifted with 

 certain peculiar powers. For this rea- 

 son it is carefully preserved, and sprigs 

 of it are hung in the porch as well as the 

 rooms of the house, for it not only 

 brings good luck, but has also the power 

 to avert fire and ward off lightning. 

 This does not apply to that used in do- 

 mestic decorations, which is termed An- 

 athema, and must be buried when taken 

 down." 



"Well, I'm not going to bury any of 

 mine," said Mabel, as she tenderly 

 touched the scarlet berries. "Please tell 

 me something more. Holly." 



"The boughs of the prickly Holly are 

 often called 'he-holly,' while the smooth 

 is called 'she-hollv.' Here is the leg- 

 end connected with it: The Holly must 

 not be brought indoors until Christmas 

 eve, then if the prickly variety comes in 

 first, the man of the house will rule a,nd 

 have his way during the following year ; 

 but if the smooth-leaved twigs appear 

 first, the woman will dominate." 



"That is odd ; but I never knew there 

 was any difiference. Why is it that some 

 are smooth and others prickly?" 



"Well the theory is that of protection. 

 Cattle are very fond of young holly, so 



