The Twelve Days of Blogmas, Day Seven: Giveaway Winner & Christmas Story

     Today is the day. The winner of the giveaway announcement. Are you excited? I am! 

    Last evening, I wrote all the contestants' names on slips of paper, and folded them up, and put them in a small, elegant dish (actually, it was a candle holder....) My brother was chosen to draw out the winning name. And now, I am going to torture you. 

    For today's post, I looked up some Christmas stories. I found a really nice one by Louisa May Alcott (Who is my favorite author ever). It's called "What the Bells Saw and Said."

                    What the Bells Saw and Said

                                   by Louisa May Alcott

    No one saw the spirits of the bells up there in the old steeple at midnight on Christmas Eve. Six quaint figures, each wrapped in a shadowy cloak, and wearing a bell-shaped cap. All were gray-headed, for they were among the oldest bell-spirits of the city, and the "light of other days" shone in their thoughtful eyes. Silently they sat, looking down on the snow-covered roofs glittering in the moonlight, and the quiet streets deserted by all but the watchmen on their chilly rounds, and such poor souls as wandered shelterless in the winter night.

    Presently one of the spirits said, in a tone which, low as it was, filled the belfry with reverberating echoes--

    "Well, brothers, are your reports ready of the year that now lies dying?"

    All bowed their heads, and one of the oldest answered in a sonorous voice:--

    "My report isn't all I could wish. You. know I look down on the commercial part of our city, and have fine opportunities for seeing what goes on there. It is my business to watch the business men, and upon my word I'm heartily ashamed of them sometimes. During the war they did nobly, giving their time and money, and their sons and selves to the good cause, and I was proud of them. But now too many of them have fallen back into the old ways, and their motto seems to be, " Every one for himself, and the devil take the hindmost." Cheating, lying, and stealing are hard words, and I don't mean to apply them to all who swarm about below there like ants on an anthill-- they have other names for these things, but I'm old-fashioned, and use plain words. There's a deal too much dishonesty in the world, and business seems to have become a game of hazard in which luck, not labor wins the prize. When I was young, men were years making moderate fortunes, and were satisfied with them. They built them on sure foundations, knew how to enjoy them while they lived, and to leave a good name behind them when they died. 

Now i's anything for money; health, happiness, honor life itself, are flung down on that great gaming table, and they forget everything  else in the excitement of success, or the desperation of defeat. Nobody seems satisfied, either, for those who win have little time or taste to enjoy their prosperity, and those who lose have little courage or patience to support themselves in adversity. They don't even fail as they used to. In my day, when a merchant found himself embarrassed, he didn't ruin others in order to save himself, but honestly confessed the truth, gave up everything, and began again. But now-a-days after all manner of dishonorable shifts, there comes a grand crash; many suffer, but by some hocus-pocus, the merchant saves enough to retire upon, and gives comfortably here or abroad. It's very evident that now honor and honesty don't mean what they meant in the days of old May, Higginson and Lawrence."

Well, this story is really long, so I will be doing it in parts. And dow, I'm sure you wan to know who won the giveaway, right?

The winner is.......

Jacie T! Congrats, Jacie! Using the email form on the sidebar, please email me ASAP, with your mailing address, and how you would like you coffee (ground, whole bean, etc.). 

     Come back tomorrow for Part Two of "What the Bells Saw and Said!"

                              *Caitlyn*