But they are suddenly startled by a sound which does not proceed
from them. They all look up at the ceiling; and as they see nothing
there, they all look at one another again and begin to laugh. A
great rushing sound is heard,--the rustle of wings as they brush
against the walls and strike the ceiling. Had they been blind,
they might have believed that all the doves from all the dovecots
in the universe had gotten into the parlor. But they saw nothing;
that is, no wings, absolutely none. What they did see, however,
was phenomenal and inexplicable enough in itself. All the figures
of the Bethlehem manger began to move; they were all very quietly
being changed around. The tram-car made an ascension to the very
pinnacle of the mountain; and the Magi walked straight into the
river on all fours. The turkeys passed under the arch and entered
the stable without saying by your leave; and Saint Joseph stepped
out in a state of perplexity, trying to make out what could be the
cause of such extraordinary confusion. Then a number of figures were
very coolly tumbled off on the floor. At first they had been moved
about very carefully, but suddenly there was a great stir, then a
perfect hurly-burly, in which a hundred thousand busy hands seemed
eager to turn every thing topsy-turvy. It was a miniature of the
universal cataclysm. Its secular cement giving way, the mountain was
levelled; the river changed its course; and scattering the broken
bits of mirror from its bed, it overflowed the plain disastrously.
The very roofs of the cottages were sunken in the sand. The Roman
arch trembled as though it were beaten by fierce winds; and as a
number of little lights went out, the sun was obscured, and so were
the luminaries of the night. In the midst of the general stupor that
such a phenomenon naturally produced, some of the little ones laughed
wildly, while others cried. A superstitious old lady said, "Don't you
know who is doing all this? Why, the dead children who are in heaven
and whom Father God permits to come down on Christmas Eve and play
with the Bethlehem mangers."
After a little it was all over; the rushing sound of beating wings
grew fainter and fainter. Many of those who were present proceeded to
investigate the damages. One gentleman said,--
"Why, the table has been broken down and all the figures have been
upset?" Then everybody began to pick up the figures and put them in
their places. After counting them over and identifying them, it was
found that some were missing. They looked everywhere, and looked
again, but to no effect. There were two figures wanting,--the Mule
and the Ox.