is a curious thing, that when this stage is reached, your nose
invariably begins to itch, and you forget the condition of your
fingers, and--well, the result is anything but becoming! It is so
comfortable, too, walking about the vestry, isn't it? The holly grows
so affectionate to your ankles, and at every step squash goes a berry,
and all its middle oozes out and sticks to the sole of your boot. When
you go home, you find you are at least an inch taller by reason of the
many corpses of berries you have collected!

Yes, Christmas decorations are delightful altogether. And so the
clergymen think, when they become excited in their sermons, and bring
their fists down sharply on some charming arrangement of holly round
the pulpit. They do not actually swear then, but their faces express
sufficiently all they would like to say; it rather spoils the effect
of the discourse, especially if the text be on the virtue of patience.

As I said before, everybody is prickly at Christmas time, especially
one's relations. And so, to make the season as festive as possible,
we, in our sensible way, collect as many of these cheerful, sociable
beings together as we can; and, in short, make a delightful family
party. Holly? it is an insult to the tree to compare it in any way.
No, I think the whole gathering resembles a hedgehog more than
anything else. It is one _mass_ of prickles. Ah, these happy family
parties! Is there ever one member that agrees with another, I wonder?

There is the crabbed old maiden aunt, always on the defensive, never
without the idea that someone is waging war against her. Yet she has
to be treated civilly, and humored. Has she not that which some people
term "filthy lucre," but never really think so? Have these old ladies
ever had any youth? Have they ever danced and enjoyed themselves like