every now and then darting back to catch at
least one of the children, until the house-door
is violently slammed, and the poor tremblers
are left to the enjoyment of his gifts.

After St. Nicolas, comes the "Krippel,"
so called because a manger, with the child
Jesus in wax in it, forms the centre of a
group, which represents the adoration of the
Three Kings, with Mary and Joseph standing
on one side of the group, and an ox and an
ass on the other, with the inscription in very
heterodox Latin:——

"Cognovit bos et asinus   Asinus
Te magnus mundi Dominus   Dominus.
                            Allelujah!"

To which is also added a German
translation:——

" Das Oechselein und das Eselein
Erkannte Gott den Herren sein."

"The little ox, and the ass so slow,
Their God and Heavenly Lord doth know."

How I used to stare at the Latin words, which
filled me with an indescribable awe, and at the
plump cheeks and tiny hands of the waxen
figure in the manger! And the little "Krippel"
grotto, which are shown to a child's maid and
child, for the consideration of four Gute
Groschen, with an additional Groschen for
every additional child, seemed to me the most
splendid thing of all the most splendid things
on the face of the earth. It was an illusion!
But the reminiscence of that reverence and
admiration is still vivid in my heart, as well
as the recollection of the terrors which befel
me when the "Krippel" receded, as if by
magic, and, vanishing amidst the folds of a
tattered blue curtain, made way for another
set of decorations, representing a narrow
valley, surrounded by a row of very steep
and ominous-looking rocks. For another
great feature of interest in this Christmas-
show was the battle of Waterloo, which, as
all the world knows, was fought in a narrow
defile of the Alps or Pyrenees. How I used
to shudder when the stage darkened, and a
low threatening music announced the onward
progress of the combatant armies! But, no;
they were not armies which marched along;
for the British forces, represented by four
red-coated grenadiers and one brass gun, were
stationary on the highest ledge of the rock;
and as the French soldiers filed past below, the
artillery opened upon them, and each shot
made the nursery-maids scream and the
children tremble; for so terrific was the effect
of the discharge, that it swept the whole of
the French atmy from the fore-ground into
the back-ground, where they lay dead until
the gun was reloaded. This done, they
proceeded round the back of the stage, and
reappeared, "to march again, and be again undone."

The glare of the powder, the stunning
explosion, and the sulphurous smell which
pervaded the narrow crowded room, filled me
with indescribable awe. It was all so grand,
terrible, and mysterious!

But the haunted season is not yet over.
Close after Nicolas comes the child Jesus,
"das Christkindchen." It is a wonderful
child in white robes, with a wreath of gold
leaves round its head, riding on a white pony.
The pony is laden with bags, containing
presents rich and rare for all the good
children in Christendom, and its mane and tail
are heavy with snow and ice; for the
"Christkinchen" travels over high snow-capped
mountains, through the domains of "Frau Holle,"
the great fairy, who keeps all the snow in the
mattress and pillows of her bed. And the
Christkindchen's pony has a silver bell tied to
its neck, that it may have music wherever it
goes. Its ways are mysterious. A few weeks
before Christmas, the best room in the house
is devoted to its use, and locked against the
children, who must not be seen in its vicinity.
As the time draws near, the visits of the
grown members of the establishment to the
sacred room become more frequent. Almost
all their evenings are spent in it, while the
children, confined to the nursery, sit with
beating hearts, listening for every noise, and
eager to catch the footfall of the Christkindchen's
pony, or the faint tinkling of its
silver bell; for in these long winter evenings,
the Christkindchen collects its stores, and
consults with the parents on the respective
merits of the children, and the gifts which are
to be awarded to each. Dark hints are sometimes
thrown out as to the Christkindchen's
opinion of such or such a transaction of the
past year; questions are asked over and over
again respecting its appearance and supply of
"fine things;" and entreaties are made, and
promises given, that certain very atrocious
instances of disobedience and laziness shall be
concealed from the heavenly guest.

Christmas Eve is an evening of the most
anxious expectation. Another night, and the
sun will rise upon the only glad day which a
German child knows in the year. It is
impossible to go to sleep with all the giddy
hopes and bright anticipations of the morrow.
There is a short slumber, perhaps, but it is
broken at twelve o'clock, when the peal of
bells, the "Bayern," from the old church
steeple, announces the first, hour of the great
festival. From that hour until four in the
morning each child is wide awake, for the
bells go on ringing. At four o'clock, there is
getting up by lamp-light, and dressing, and
wiping off the snow and ice from the window-
frames, to look out upou the cold winter
landscape and the distant church, with its
windows and steeple-holes lighted up for the
morning service. Candles are given to every
child, to be lighted at the church-door, and at
five precisely the church is filled with children
and lights. Never, at any time of the year,
did those old Saxon halls look so bright,
festive, and radiant, as on such a Christmas
morning, when they are filled with light, and