was--with no one so much as thinking of saying "Merry Christmas."
Everything is so completely overshadowed by the war, that had it not
been for the children, we should have let it go unnoticed.

Yesterday evening there was a dinner at the Legation--Bicknell, Rose and
James, the Hoovers and Frederick Palmer. Although there was a bunch of
mistletoe over the table, it did not seem a bit Christmasy, but just an
ordinary good dinner with much interesting talk.

Immediately after lunch we climbed into the big car and went out to
Lewis Richards' Christmas tree. He has a big house at the edge of town,
with grounds which were fairy-like in the heavy white frost. He had
undertaken to look after 660 children, and he did it to the Queen's
taste. They were brought in by their mothers in bunches of one hundred,
and marched around the house, collecting things as they went. In one
room each youngster was given a complete outfit of warm clothes. In
another, some sort of a toy which he was allowed to choose. In another,
a big bag of cakes and candies, and, finally, they were herded into the
big dining-room, where they were filled with all sorts of Xmas food.
There was a big tree in the hall, so that the children, in their
triumphal progress, merely walked around the tree. Stevens had painted
all the figures and the background of an exquisite _creche_, with an
electric light behind it, to make the stars shine. The children were
speechless with happiness, and many of the mothers were crying as they
came by.

Since the question of food for children became acute here, Richards has
been supplying rations to the babies in his neighbourhood. The number
has been steadily increasing, and for some time he has been feeding over
two hundred youngsters a day. He has been very quiet about it, and
hardly anyone has known what he was doing.

It is cheering to see a man who does so much to comfort others; not so
much because he weighs the responsibility of his position and fortune,
but because he has a great-hearted sympathy and instinctively reaches
out to help those in distress. Otherwise the day was pretty black, but
it did warm the cockles of my heart to find this simple American putting
some real meaning into Christmas for these hundreds of wretched people.
He also gave it a deeper meaning for the rest of us.

* * * * *

_Brussels, December 31, 1914_--Here is the end of the vile old year. We
c