Classic Christmas Stories by Frank Galgay Page A

associations and boyish delights; memories of early friends,
     now scattered by the relentless hand of time; some, like myself, finding a home
     under a foreign sky, and others silently resting beneath the snow-covered sods
     of lonely Belvidere.
    With my mind filled with such pictures, I fall asleep and dream. Once again I
     have passed through the sheltering gates which guard the entrance to our dear
     old town, and stand upon “the sacred soil of Home.” Oh! How my heart pulsates
     with a new-found joy, as it is Christmas time; the shops are in a blaze of
     glory, with windows filled with toys and gifts of almost every description;
     miniature pyramids and mountains of the most tempting delicacies, festooned with
     wreaths of evergreen, holly and mistletoe; Christmas cakes of extraordinary size
     and sugar workmanship; Christmas geese, each one as fat and tempting as ever
     Mrs. Cratche’s was; Christmas turkeys, larger and fatter than Scrooge’s all
     signalize the presence of that greatest of Christian festivities. But best of
     all are the hearty Christmas greetings amongst the jovial, happy crowds, as they
     stagger along under the weight of a mighty goose or a load of presents for the
     expectant little ones at home.
    Each face I see is beaming with happiness and good will. Within doors all is
     bustle and preparation, and many of the scenes are worthy of a touch from the
     magic brush of that great master, whose Christmas portraits we all know and love
     so well. A huge fire burns in the open grate, shedding a cheerful glow over the
     room, and sending the sparks crackling and roaring up the chimney, bidding
     defiance to all the powers of Jack Frost. Seated in an old-fashioned rocker
     before the fire, calmly enjoying his pipe, and taking an occasional sip from a
     glass of something hot, sweet and strong, is the master of the house, a picture
     of enviable contentment. The good wife, with her sleeves rolled up on her bare,
     honest arms, is busily stuffing the morrow’s goose, whilst gathered around the
     table, which is generously laden with all the constituents necessary for
     Christmas dinner, are the younger members of the household, interestedly
     watchingthe delightful preparations, and, when opportunity
     offers, purloining some of the contents of the well-filled plates. When at last
     the final stitch is put in the goose, and the pudding, with its bloated, jolly
     face, is sewed in its immaculate white cloth, the youngers are led away to bed,
     to dream of the well-filled stockings hanging in the chimney corner.
    Now the table is set with jugs, glasses, and decanters, and plates of “sweet
     bread, ” apples and oranges, and old friends and neighbours drop in with “A
     Merry Christmas, ” to sit up the night. They gather round the table and the
     fire—a happy, healthy crowd—and, as I look into their ruddy, smiling faces, it
     seems as if the angel of peace had touched all present with his magic wand,
     smoothing out the furrows of care from the brows of the aged, and driving from
     every heart the germs of selfishness and ill-will. Every new arrival is greeted
     with “A Merry Christmas” and a hearty shake of the hand. Toasts are drunk, in
     steaming glasses of home-brewed punch, to the memories of the old times and
     old-time friends, and when the dead are mentioned, a pious “God Rest His Soul, ”
     with the answering “Amen, ” is heard from all present. Soon tongues are
     loosened, and the conversation becomes animated with native humour, which is
     never a very low order. The old folks “swap” reminiscences and become young
     again, as they regale each other with yarns of old sealing days, and bewail the
     changes which have come over the good old times, when a trip to the ice-fields
     brought rich returns that amply repaid for the hardships endured.
    A fiddler of local renown is one of the company, and after several