Meenie's wooden shoes clattered upon it like a pair of castanets.

Watching the star and their own footsteps by turns, they made their way through the wood to the highroad; there the wind, having no trees to break its force, came howling down upon them and made Meenie whimper with cold. Otto chafed her fingers in his own cold little hands, and ran with her, to warm themselves; but the road was so slippery, packed hard by wagons and sleighs, that they were afraid of falling, and soon walked again. Whenever they looked up at the star, it beamed back at them, clear and steady.

"We are following it," said Otto, and Meenie nodded hopefully.

It was a long, bleak, dark tramp for two little children; a wearisome walk, even for grown people. Sometimes a sleigh would go jingling by, and once a man, spying the two small figures in the gloom, offered them a ride, but they did not understand, and were only frightened, and he drove on. Sometimes the road led through woods, sometimes it was uphill, sometimes downhill, and sometimes level; then came a sharp turn by an old quarry-oh, so dreary! And then they saw the lights of a village sparkling in the hollow below them.

"Here are houses!" cried Otto-"a great many houses watch where the star stops!"

They looked up at their guide, but a fleecy cloud, one of many drifting from the horizon, had hidden it from sight. "It is gone!" said Meenie in dismay. "It has fallen to the ground," said Otto; "let us see where it is shining." They looked eagerly at all the lights before them. One building seemed brighter than the rest; it was nearer to them, but that was not the reason, it was really more full of light, which its many long windows let out in a flood upon the snow. "It must be there," said Otto; "come, Meenie." Holding fast to each other, they half ran, half slid down the hill, until they reached the open gate. There were steps to mount, a long flagged walk between the evergreens, more steps, and then a

And while Meenie was "understanding it," he had an earnest talk, first with Belle, and then with an old lady, who came bustling up to them, and the result was that the two children presently found themselves tucked under buffalo robes in a soft-cushioned sleigh, being whisked along over the icy road, and next in a big room before a blazing fire, where the old gentleman fed them with all sorts of goodies, sweet and savory, until Belle and the old lady interfered out of regard for the children's lives; then they were again put in the sleigh, with the old gentleman, the young lady, the black driver, and quite a number of baskets and bundles.

Here the little wanderers fell asleep, and so they never noticed the long dark road over which they had so wearily journeyed before, nor the big soft star now disentangled from the cloud and shining clearly upon them again.

Dazed by the light, the warmth, the music, and the tree with its stars, the two little Germans clung to each other, and stared at everything, half-frightened, all-bewildered. It was so strange and beautiful, the voices rising and falling softly, the air fragrant with the smell of pine and cedar, and the wonderful tree gleaming in the distance. The music stopped, and some one began speaking near the tree; then there was a ripple in the sea of children, and a wave of little girls went up the room to the speaker, returning to their places with various bright-colored parcels. This was repeated with wave after wave, until Otto and Meenie became used to it, and almost ceased wondering at it; then they began to remember why they had taken the journey, and Meenie whispered: "Where is the Christ child?" "I don't know. I am looking," answered Otto, again, all unconscious of his children's absence; and peering anxiously about the room.

At the sound of their voices, an old gentleman, at whose heels they had been standing all the time, looked down at them through his big goldrimmed spectacles, and said: "Hallo! Where did you come from, you queer little people?"

Otto could not understand, but felt that he was being questioned about something, and so explained why they had come out that evening. The old gentleman, in his turn, could not understand; he looked puzzled for a minute, then touched the shoulder of a young lady who was just in front of him, and said: "Belle, here's a chance for you to try your German."

The young lady turned with a rustle of silk. "Oh, you dear little things!" she cried, kneeling down by the children and looking at them with eyes as brown and soft as her own seal-skin muff; then she said something to them in German, in which there seemed to be a great many "kins," and Otto eagerly responded.

"What is it, Belle?" questioned the old gentleman. Belle in a few quick words told him of the sick father, the empty cupboard, and the long cold journey to find the Christ child.

" said

"Poor little things; poor little things! the old gentleman. "Here, Belle, I say, where 's the candy or something? Here," seizing a gilded horn that dangled from her hand, "now little sloshkin, or whatever they call you, take this; I think you can understand that.”

The black driver, who knew the way by more than one route, took a turn where there was a clearing in the woods, and so drove the sleigh almost up to the door of the "little Dutch house," as he called it.

The father had been dozing, waking, and dozing

now he became suddenly wide-awake, to find the
room aglow with fire-light and candles, and a num-
ber of people bustling about; after one
"ach!" of
astonishment, he lay back, placidly staring at
them in that big baby sort of content so peculiarly
German, and at the loaves of bread, the plump
hams, the pies, and the endless parcels that were
being heaped on the table; at the old gentleman
who felt his pulse, and gave him a powder to swallow;
at the black man who filled one corner of the room
with a pile of wood nearly half as high as himself;
and finally at his own two little children, now fast
asleep beside him, under the thick soft blankets
which the young lady spread over them all, while
she spoke words of kindness in his own tongue.
Then his big blue eyes grew piteous instead of
placid, and the tears came trickling down his hol-
low checks, whereupon the old gentleman immedi-
ately began to feed him with soup, and scold Belle
for crying, as if the tears were not running down
his own dear old face.

It was not until everything was placed so that Otto would have no trouble, the fire safely banked, and the father sleeping soundly, that the old gentleman and his party left the "little Dutch house."

The stars were gleaming frostily in the Christmas morning sky as they drove home, and as Belle looked up at the largest and brightest of them all, she promised herself that the little German boy and girl should never regret their long journey in search of the Christ child.

THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, AND THE CAPITOL.

THE city of Washington, as the seat of our Federal Government, is of interest to all patriotic Americans. It is styled the City of Palaces, and the term is just; yet its architectural features do not surpass in beauty its natural loveliness, and it is called also the City of Magnificent Distances. Let us not end our record until we have noted a few of its attractions.

I shall imagine that I have encountered a young and sturdy tourist standing in the center of Judiciary Square, with a guide-book in his hand, not knowing which is north or which is south, or in what direction he ought to go. The first thing I do is to turn his face toward the west, so that

courts of justice; upon his right, the large brick Pension Building.

Leaving the park, we walk but the length of two short blocks, when we reach the marble headquarters of the Postmaster-General, occupy

he may "get his bearings," as the saying is. ing an entire square,- a building interesting from Upon his left is the City Hall, with its local the outside, and equally interesting within, because Copyright, 1884, by Edmund Alton. All rights reserved.