ll,
Shod with a strength that cannot fail,
Strong with a fierce o'ermastering will.

Where shattered homes and ruins be
She fights through dark and desperate days;
Beside the watchers on the sea
She guards the Channel's narrow ways.

Through iron hail and shattering shell,
Where the dull earth is stained with red,
Fearless she fronts the gates of Hell
And shields the unforgotten dead.

So stands she, with her all at stake,
And battles for her own dear life,
That by one victory she may make
For evermore an end of strife.

* * * * *

Illustration: THE CHRISTMAS GHOST, 1914.

_The Spectral Duke_ (_to guest in haunted room_). "HA, HA! BEHOLD, I AM
HERE!"

_Guest._ "YES, YES--SO I SEE. BUT I'M AWFULLY BUSY JUST NOW. GIVE US A
LOOK UP NEXT YEAR."

* * * * *

SANTA CLAUS AT THE FRONT.

SEASONABLE GIFTS FOR OFFICERS.

BY AUNT PARKER.

As Christmas draws nearer, the problem of what gifts to send to our
brave men at the Front becomes more acute. For of course they must all
have presents, no matter what decision is come to as to the manner of
spending the dear old festival at home.

As an aid to the generous there is nothing like a walk down Bongent
Street, where will be found many ingenious novelties designed especially
for the mirthful anniversary which will so soon be on us with all its
associations of peace and goodwill to men.

It is no part of my duty to recommend shops and their wares, but it is a
pleasure to put on record some of the things on which my roving eyes
settled as I traversed London's most luxurious thoroughfare. Every taste
is there considered, but for the moment my interest is solely in gifts
for our brave officers--and privates too, if they have wealthy enough
friends.

At Messrs. Baskerville's, for example, I perceived a host of captivating
articles calculated to make glad the heart of any fighting man. In one
window was a Service Smoker's Companion which cannot be too highly
extolled, especially as this War is, as everyone knows, being waged very
largely on the beneficent Indian weed. The equipment consists of four
delightful gold-mounted pipes, each guaranteed to be made of briar over
eighty years old; a gold-mounted pencil; a gold cigar-case and fifty
cigars; a gold cigarette-case and 1,000 cigarettes; a gold cigar-cutter;
a gold mechanical lighter; a gold and amber cigar-holder