I hurt my fingers some opening the scuttle, but kept right on. It was snowing hard and I stood and let myself get pretty well covered with flakes. Then I crawled over to the chimney that went down into our room and climbed up on top of it. I had brought my bicycle lantern with me and I lighted it so as Tommy could see me when I came down the chimney into the room. There did not seem to be any places inside the chimney where I could hold on by my feet, but the ceiling in our room was not very high and I had often jumped most as far, so I jes' let her go, and I suppose I went down. Anyway, I did not know about anything for a long time. Then I woke up all in the dark with my head feeling queer, and when I tried to turn over in bed I found I wasn't in bed at all, and then my arms and legs began to hurt terrible, mostly one arm that was doubled up. I tried to get up but I couldn't because my bones hurt so and I was terrible cold and there was nothing to stand on. I was jes' stuck. Then I began to cry, and pretty soon I heard mamma's voice saying to papa: "Those must be sparrers that are making that noise in the chimney. Jes' touch a match to the wood in the boys' fireplace." I heard papa strike a light and then the wood began to crackle. Then, by jinks! it began to get hot and smoky and I screamed: "Help! Murder! Put out that fire lest you want to burn me up!" Then I heard papa stamping on the wood and mamma calling out: "Where's Billy? Where is my chile?" Next Tommy woke up and began to cry and everything was terrible, specially the pains all over me. Then papa called out very stern: "William, if you are in that chimney come down at once!" and I answered, cryin', that I would if I could, but I was stuck and couldn't. Then I heard papa gettin' dressed, and pretty soon he and John from the stable went up on the roof and let down ropes what I put around me and they hauled me up. It was jes' daylight and I was all black and sooty and scratched and my arm was broken. Everybody scolded me excep' mamma. I had spoiled my sister's white rug and broken all of Tommy's toys, and the snow what went in through the scuttle melted and marked the parlor ceiling, besides I guess it cost papa a good deal to get my arm mended. Nobody would believe that I had jes' meant to make some fun for Tommy, and my arm and all my bruised places hurt me awful for a long time. If I live to be a million I am never goin' to play Santa Claus ag'in. CHRISTMAS IN POGANUC. BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. THE FIRST CHRISTMAS.