In the Yule-Log Glow, Book I

mations as "Dave Dubbs can't be beat at a ballad!" Oh, the long, long time ago! But to proceed. As David Dubbs met the ambushed winds that leaped upon him at the corner of the court, he also met the

le body was ill-assorted with plenty of any kind, and the wealth of curls mocked the poverty of her clothes. A patched shawl affected to protect her poor little shoulders, and a calico dre

her and holding it there with an affectionate hug, he said, "Come, come, little daughter, it's too bleak for a little body like you to

s Christmas Eve, father,

Scout, winter and summer, rain and shine, morning

terns of streets, between lofty stone banks-as stern almost as their governing boards, for, although boards are chiefly wooden, a supplication will quickly petrify them; through rows of illuminated stores like walls of Arabian Night visions, with traceries of frost on their windows richer in design than the gems within them; through clustering crowds that entered or left continually the swingi

t in the uncertain light-jutted a weather-beaten crane, with a long disused pulley dangling at its point, cracked, and rusted, and abandoned, and no less cracked and abandoned, shot out from the second floor a moss-covered platform that had been intended for the reception of bales of stuffs that had never arrived. The mortar had, here and there, been wrenche

tleman in the carpentering line. This gentleman, Mr. Jacob Tripple by name, occupied the ground floor, and all around it were scattered evidences, in the shape of windo

bleak angles the cheery voice of David's Little Scout, and revived-as some old men do under the charm of gentle words-to a more respectable opinion of itself. So immediately it seemed refreshed, that if it were

rom him to have the door open when he plodded up to it. "On

d was keen and drew water to his eyes again, and again he brushed it away.) "

oor above, had called in, "Here's father!" then ra

being of an annual nature, but whether he did or not, or whether his ignorance was also traditional, he gave

ad of a little white spread table. On its right hand sat, in the position of an honored and seldom present guest, a juicy-complexioned, but not corpulent beefsteak; opposite to

tened, a brace of mealy potatoes was emptied on the two plates that awaited them, and at last a ruddy slice of beefsteak was deposited beside and oozed through them its savoriness. This

ed, and excursions to the other end of the room for things that were wanted; when the chairs were drawn up; when the grateful old man and his little daughter, with those tender hands over their mouths to stifle the gratitude they struggled to utter, were duly seated at the table, and

imagination, and, indeed, how can anything so buxom and comely, even if the plainest in dress, be expected to be? It is, therefore, needless to say that the twin daughters of David, nam

diseases essential to youth. Why, in their quandary which to begin on, they almost missed the twins altogether as it was. Consider the complexity of young lovers who should pour into the ears of Polly passionate adjectives inte

the twins, who had supped, for economic reasons, earlier in the evening,

g around a picture of General Washington in the act of crossing a dark, green river Delaware in a court dress of red and breeches of yellow, surround

ning up the gen'ral so Chr

twise it was Polly's

twinkle in his eye that had seen better days but none kindlier. "It

lly's shoulder with a punch which was intended as punishment for the giggles her sister struggled to confine in her mout

all, and I hate his loafy,

o, not good Jake Tripple?

He came in just before leaving for the day, and asked for you-what, made him think you were home

gh, for her own quiet little face was too pale and too pinched to invite such freebooters. "Come, come, Little Scout," she said. "Is she warm now, and were the rations good, and did she meet Kriss Kingle on his cold journey (with a caress of her pale little cheeks) wit

e audibly for him, and rising from the

father?" asked th

" said David, not

gain from the chorus,

p in the cupboard, where his overcoat hung, and as his voice was a little more muff

om

groped through his old coat, and had successively dropped the knife

knife and fork in one hand and a letter in the other. "Here it is. He'll be home to-morrow, he says, God willin', and eat

it reaches for the letter, opens and reads it aloud-Dol

ort of fandango, and turn up the rag carpet, and rattle the dishes on the dresser, and lift Dolly high i

y said David; then he exclaimed, as the noise increased, "Hey dey! Why, you'll spill the coffee

ven to the dance, which brought the twins holding Dolly

ood? He don't say so in the letter," asked Do

ming home for good, I hope; but I'm fearful he'll

y eyes, "he's had a weary life of it

es, and we'll be as cheerful as we can be and are now, thanks to my good girls," and here he arose from the table, and, seating himself at the fire, opened a morning paper that he had found in the

ancient clock on the shelf over the stove and under the motley General Washington ticks loud enough to be heard above the clinking dishes and simmering kettle; and while the table, divested of its cloth and exhibiting a stained and blistered old back, is glad enough to avoid attention by being stowed away in the corner; while the pleasant spirits of domesticity that come only at the call of good men, and good wives, and good so