The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads,
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap;
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash,
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name:

66

Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer! now, Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Dunder and Blixen!

To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall,
Now dash away! dash away ! dash away, all!"
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky,
So up to the house top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each tiny hoof;
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys was flung on his back,

And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes, how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; ·
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all his stockings, then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle ;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

LXXIV.-TIT FOR TAT.

A LAW there is, of ancient fame,
By nature's self in every land implanted;
Lex Talionis is its Latin name;

But if an English term be wanted,

Give our next neighbor but a pat,

He'll give you back as good, and tell you," Tit for tat.”

This tit for tat, it seems, not men alone,
But elephants for legal justice own;
In proof of this, a story I shall tell ye,
Imported from the famous town of Delhi.†

A mighty elephant, that swelled the state
Of Aurengzebe the Great,

* The literal meaning of these two words is, the law of retaliation.

+ Delhi is a city in India, on the River Jumna, containing about two hundred thousand inhabitants.

Aurengzebe was a powerful monarch, who reigned over the Mogul empire in Hindostan. He was born in 1618, and died in 1707.

One day was taken by his driver
To drink and cool him in the river. ·
The driver on his neck was seated,
And as he rode along,

By some acquaintance in the throng,
With a ripe cocoa nut was treated.

A cocoa nut's a pretty fruit enough,
But guarded by a shell both hard and tough.
The fellow tried, and tried, and tried,
Working and fretting

To find out its inside,

And pick the kernel for his eating.

At length, quite out of patience grown,
"Who'll reach me up," he cries, “a stone
To break this plaguy shell?
But stay; I've here a solid bone
May do perhaps as well."

So half in earnest, half in jest,

He banged it on the forehead of his beast.

An elephant, they say, has human feeling,
And full as well as we he knows
The difference between words and blows,
Between horse play and civil dealing.
Use him but well, he'll do his best,

And serve you faithfully and truly;

But insults unprovoked he can't digest;

He studies o'er them, and repays them duly.

"To make my head an anvil," thought the creature,

"Was never, certainly, the will of nature;

So, master of mine, you may repent."

Then, shaking his broad ears, away he went.

The driver took him to the water,

And thought no more about the matter.

But elephant within his memory hid it;
He felt the wrong- the other only did it.

A week or two elapsed: one market day
Again the beast and driver took their way;
Through rows of shops and booths they passed
With eatables and trinkets stored,

Till to a gardener's stall they came at last,
Where cocoa nuts lay piled upon the board.
"Ha!" thought the elephant, "'tis now my turn
To show this method of nut breaking;

My friend above will like to learn,
Though at the cost of a head-aching.

Then in his curling trunk he took a heap,
And waved it o'er his neck with sudden sweep,
And on the hapless driver's sconce

He laid a blow so hard and full,

That cracked the nuts at once,

But with them cracked his skull.

Young folks, whene'er you feel inclined
To rompish sports and freedoms rough,
Bear tit for tat in mind,
Nor give an elephant a cuff
To be repaid in kind.

LXXV. THE SEA EAGLE.

EARLY in 1848,, a white-tailed sea eagle was brought to London in a Scotch steamer, cooped up in a crib used for wine bottles, and presenting a most melancholy and forlorn appearance. A kind-hearted gentleman, seeing him in this woful plight, took pity on him, purchased him, and took him to

Oxford. Here the bird soon regained his natural noble aspect, delighting especially to dip and wash in a pan of water, then sitting on his perch, with his magnificent wings expanded to their full extent, basking in the sun, his head always turned towards that luminary, whose glare he did not mind."

A few nights after his arrival at his new abode, the whole house was aroused by cries as of a child in mortal agony. The night was intensely dark; but at length the boldest of the family ventured out to see what was the matter. In the middle of the grass plot was the eagle, that had evidently a victim over which he was cowering with outspread wings, croaking a hoarse defiance to the intruder upon his nocturnal banquet. On lights being brought, he hopped off with his prey in one claw to a dark corner, where he was left to enjoy it in peace, as it was evidently not an infant rustic from the neighboring village, as was at first feared.

The mystery, however, was not cleared up for some time, when it was ascertained that he had devoured a hedgehog. He had, doubtless, caught the unlucky animal when on his rounds in search of food, and, in spite of his formidable armor of bristles, had managed to uncoil him with his sharp bill, and devour him. How the prickles found their way down his throat is best known to himself; but it must have been rather a stimulating feast.

The eagle was, with good reason, the terror of all the other pets in the house. On one occasion, he pursued a little black and tan terrier, hopping with fearful jumps, assisted by his wings, which, happily for the affrighted dog, had been recently clipped. To this the little favorite owed his life, as he crept through a hedge which his assailant could not fly over; but it was a narrow escape, for, if the dog's tail had not been between his legs, it would certainly have been seized by the claw which was thrust after him just as he bolted through the briers.

Less fortunate was a beautiful little kitten, the pet of the nursery; a few tufts of hair alone remained to tell what her fate had been. Several guinea pigs and sundry hungry cats