t goods, pretty toys, a great variety of sweetmeats, and
tastefully trimmed Christmas trees, for that wonderful tree is fast
spreading over Europe, especially wherever the Anglo-Saxon and
Teutonic races have settled.

Confectioners offer a tempting supply of _naulets_--little delicate
cakes--with a sugar figure of Christ on top, pretty boxes made of
chocolate containing candy in the form of fruits, vegetables, musical
instruments, and even boots and shoes, and all manner of quaint,
artistic sugared devices, to be used as gifts or table decorations.

Early in December, wooden booths and open-air stands are erected
throughout the shopping districts for the sale of Christmas goods. At
night they are lighted, and through the day and evening they are gay
with shoppers. Many of the booths contain evergreens and fresh green
boughs for making the _arbre de Nau._ This is a hoop tied with bunches
of green, interspersed with rosy apples, nuts, and highly colored,
gaily ornamented eggshells that have been carefully blown for the
purpose. The hoops are hung in sitting-rooms or kitchens, but are used
more in the country than in the cities.

Although the cities are filled with Yule-tide shoppers and lovely
wares, in order to enjoy a veritable Merry Christmas one must seek
some retired town and if possible gain access to a home of ancient
date, where the family keep the customs of their ancestors. There he
will find the day devoutly and solemnly observed, and legend and
superstitions concerning every observance of the day. He will find
that great anxiety is evinced regarding the weather during the twelve
days preceding Christmas, as that portends the state of the weather
for the ensuing twelve months.

He will notice that unlike the Yule-logs of other countries, those of
France are _not to be sat on_, for if by any chance a person sits on a
Yule-log he will experience such pain as will prevent his partaking of
the Christmas dinner. He will also find that the log has benevolent
powers, and if his shoe is left beside it during the night it will be
filled with peppermints or candy. The ashes of the log are believed to
be a protection against lightning and bad luck, so some will be stored
away beneath the bed of the master of the house as a means of
procuring good-fortune and other blessings during the coming year, and
if he chance to fall sick, some of the ashes will probably be infused
into his medicine and given to him.

If the lo