t get into Elysium after all. I had
been catching moonbeams, and running after notes of music. Despair was
my only convenient refuge; no chance remained, unless something should
drop from the clouds. In this last particular I was not disappointed;
for, on looking up, I perceived a heavy shower of snow, yet I was
obliged to venture forth; for being supposed to dine out, I could not of
course remain at home. Where to go I knew not: I was like my first
father--"the world was all before me." I flung my coat round me, and
hurried forth with the feelings of a bandit longing for a stiletto. At
the foot of the stairs, I staggered against two or three smiling
rascals, priding themselves upon their punctuality. They had just
arrived--to make the tour of Turkey. How I hated them!--As I rushed by
the parlor, a single glance disclosed to me a blazing fire, with Lucy
and several lovely creatures in a semi-circle. Fancy, too, gave me a
glimpse of a sprig of mistletoe--I vanished from the house, like a
spectre at day-break.

How long I wandered about is doubtful. At last I happened to look
through a kitchen window, with an area in front, and saw a villain with
a fork in his hand, throwing himself back in his chair choked with
ecstasy. Another was feasting with a graver air; he seemed to be
swallowing a bit of Paradise, and criticising its flavor. This was too
much for mortality--my appetite fastened upon me like an alligator. I
darted from the spot; and only a few yards further discerned a house
with rather an elegant exterior, and with some ham in the window that
looked perfectly sublime. There was no time for consideration--to
hesitate was to perish. I entered; it was indeed "a banquet-hall
deserted." The very waiters had gone home to their friends. There,
however, I found a fire; and there--to sum up all my folly and felicity
in a single word--I DINED.

THE POOR TRAVELER.

BY CHARLES DICKENS.

[Dickens' introduction to this story describes his going to
Rochester on Christmas Eve and seeing there a quaint old charity,
which provided for the entertainment of "six poor travelers who not
being rogues or proctors might receive gratis for one night
lodging, entertainment and fourpence each." In honor of the day a
special meal is provided for the travelers then in the charity.
After the meal, when the travelers have gathered around the fire,
their entertainer gives them the reason for the