CHRISTMAS LEGENDS

New Zealand Tablet, 22 December 1910, Page 13 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS LEGENDS

Christmas morn, the legends say, Even the cattle kneel to pray; Even the beasts of wood and field Homage to Christ the Saviour yield. Horse and cow and woolly sheep, Wake themselves from their heavy sleep, Bending heads and knees to Him, Who came to earth in a stable dim. Far away in the forest dark Creatures timidly wake and hark; Feathered bird and furry beast Turn their eyes to the mystic East. Loud at the dawning, Chanticleer Sounds his note, the rest of the year ; But Christmas Eve the whole night long, Honoring Christ he sings his song. Christmas morn, the legends say, Even the cattle kneel to pray; Even the wildest beast afar Knows the light of the Saviour's star. And shall we, for whom He came, Be by the cattle put to shame? Shall we not do so much at least, As the patient ox or the forest beast? Christmas morn, oh, let us sing Honor and praise to Christ the King; Sheltered first in a lowly shed, And cradled there where the cattle fed.

the mention of a story Tom's eyes glistened. He looked around the group of expectant listeners, and probably revolved in his mind that each of us had a good distance oi lonely road to cover in order to reach our homes. ' No,' he said, as if regretfully, ' I won't tell you the story of the adventure I had one Christmas Eve night in * the Australian bush. Most of you would be afraid to venture out of the house to-night if I did.' If Tom really meant to withhold the story, he took the very worst plan of doing so that he could possibly have adopted, but probably lie only meant to sharpen our curiosity by this preamble. At j any rate, we coaxed, pleaded, and insisted by turns, until i in the end he relented. Before commencing, however, he | advised any of us who were timorous when travelling by night to take our departure at once. Some of the younger visitors who lived far away along the lonely road through 'the moss' looked at one another, but no one stirred. Tom's story was indeed weird and awe-inspiring. When lie finished you could have heard a pin drop in the cottage. Some of the audience shifted uneasily on their chairs, and glanced furtively at the old ' wag-o'-the-wall,' which now pointed to 11.30. I fancy that most of them were sorry that they had not made an excuse to take their departure . before Tom commenced his story. The lull that followed was broken by Jim Bryan, who had spent a few years in America, and since his return had affected a superior air and a Yankee accent. ' I guess it must have been a hyena or wandering kangaroo,' he drawled, ' and you imagined it was a ghost be- ! cause you were frightened.' Tom looked across the hearth at Jim with a contempl tuous pitying smile. The rest of us also looked at Jim, i~~t >. ~.. ...