Oh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
      The evening shades are falling,—­
    Hush thee, my dear, dost thou not hear
      The voice of the Master calling?

    Deep lies the snow upon the earth,
      But all the sky is ringing
    With joyous song, and all night long
      The stars shall dance, with singing.

    Oh, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
      And close thine eyes in dreaming,
    And angels fair shall lead thee where
      The singing stars are beaming.

    A shepherd calls his little lambs,
      And he longeth to caress them;
    He bids them rest upon his breast,
      That his tender love may bless them.

    So, hush thee, little Dear-my-Soul,
      Whilst evening shades are falling,
    And above the song of the heavenly throng
      Thou shalt hear the Master calling.

JOEL’S TALK WITH SANTA CLAUS

One Christmas eve Joel Baker was in a most unhappy mood.  He was lonesome and miserable; the chimes making merry Christmas music outside disturbed rather than soothed him, the jingle of the sleigh-bells fretted him, and the shrill whistling of the wind around the corners of the house and up and down the chimney seemed to grate harshly on his ears.

“Humph,” said Joel, wearily, “Christmas is nothin’ to me; there was a time when it meant a great deal, but that was long ago—­fifty years is a long stretch to look back over.  There is nothin’ in Christmas now, nothin’ for me at least; it is so long since Santa Claus remembered me that I venture to say he has forgotten that there ever was such a person as Joel Baker in all the world.  It used to be different; Santa Claus used to think a great deal of me when I was a boy.  Ah!  Christmas nowadays ain’t what it was in the good old time—­no, not what it used to be.”

As Joel was absorbed in his distressing thoughts he became aware very suddenly that somebody was entering or trying to enter the room.  First came a draught of cold air, then a scraping, grating sound, then a strange shuffling, and then,—­yes, then, all at once, Joel saw a pair of fat legs and a still fatter body dangle down the chimney, followed presently by a long white beard, above which appeared a jolly red nose and two bright twinkling eyes, while over the head and forehead was drawn a fur cap, white with snowflakes.

“Ha, ha,” chuckled the fat, jolly stranger, emerging from the chimney and standing well to one side of the hearth-stone; “ha, ha, they don’t have the big, wide chimneys they used to build, but they can’t keep Santa Claus out—­no, they can’t keep Santa Claus out!  Ha, ha, ha.  Though the chimney were no bigger than a gas pipe, Santa Claus would slide down it!”

It didn’t require a second glance to assure Joel that the new-comer was indeed Santa Claus.  Joel knew the good old saint—­oh, yes—­and he had seen him once before, and, although that was when Joel was a little boy, he had never forgotten how Santa Claus looked.