ti 
Qlhe GThrtstnms fouse ^dardett 
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-aStosZ. 
:.\u&j^SHg?§ 2 h itt.$M/ 
bedroom window, staring queerly at the 
wind-beaten elms, he found himself re¬ 
peating Madge Hildreths words. “Ruddy- 
cheeked and rugged and cheerful!” — in¬ 
deed—this unforgettable Christmas eve. 
Yes—she was right. Had he not often 
heard his father say that the Christmas 
season epitomized all the rugged sympathy 
and heartiness and health of the country 
year! To-night the blazing Yule-log, his 
mother’s face — how white her hair was 
growing, thought Doctor Ralph with a sud¬ 
den tightening of his throat — all of these 
memories had strummed forgotten and 
finer chords. And darkly foiling the home¬ 
ly brightness came the picture of rushing, 
overstrung, bundle-laden city crowds, of 
shop-girls white and weary, of store-heaps 
of cedar and holly sapped by electric glare. 
Rush and strain and worry — yes — and a 
spirit of grudging! How unlike the 
Christmas peace of this white, wind-world 
outside his window! So Doctor Ralph 
went to bed with a sigh and a shrug — to 
listen while the sleety boughs tapping at 
his windows roused ghostly phantoms of 
his boyhood. Falling asleep, he dreamt 
that pretty Madge Hildreth had lightly 
waved a Christmas wand of crimson above 
his head and dispelled his weariness and 
discontent. 
IV. 
And in the morning — there was the 
royal glitter of a Christmas ice-storm to 
bring boyhood memories crowding again, 
boughs sheathed in crystal armor and the 
old barn roof aglaze with ice. Yes — 
Ralph thrilled — and there were the Christ¬ 
mas bunches of oats on the fences and 
trees and the roof of the barn — how well 
he remembered! For the old Doctor loved 
this Christmas custom too and never for¬ 
got the Christmas birds. And to-day — 
why of course — there would be double al¬ 
lowances of food for the cattle and horses, 
for old Toby the cat and Rover the dog. 
Hadn’t Ralph once performed this cher¬ 
ished Christmas task himself! 
But now, clamoring madly at his door 
was a romping swarm of youngsters eager 
to show Uncle Ralph the Christmas tree 
which, though he had helped to trim it 
the night before, he inspected in great 
surprise. And here in his chair by another 
Yule-log he found Roger, staring wide- 
eyed at the glittering tree with his thin 
little arms full of Christmas gifts. Near 
him was Sister Madge whose black eyes, 
Ralph saw with approval, were very soft 
and gentle, and beyond in the coffee- 
fragrant dining-room Aunt Ellen and old 
Annie conspired together over a mammoth 
breakfast table decked with holly. 
“Oh, John, dear." Ralph heard his 
mother say as the Doctor came in, “I’ve 
always said that Christmas is a mother’s 
day. Wasn’t the first Christmas a mother’s 
Christmas and the very first tree—a 
mother’s tree?” and then the Doctor’s 
scandalized retort. — “Now — now, now, 
see here, Mother Ellen, it’s a father’s day, 
too, don’t you forget that!” 
And so on to the Christmas twilight 
o 
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