At sunset on Christmas day, after a service in the church, they march to
the community-house, where the dinner is waiting. The men sit on one
side of the table and the women on the other. At the head sits an old
man called the elder, who begins the meal by saying grace, after which
each one in turn gets up and, lifting the right hand, says in a solemn
voice, "God is love." The dinner is eaten in perfect silence. Not a
voice is heard until the meal comes to an end. Then the men and women
rise and sing, standing in their places at the table. As the singing
proceeds they mark time with their hands and feet. Then their bodies
begin to sway from side to side in the peculiar manner that has given
this sect its name of Shakers.

When the singing comes to an end, the elder chants a prayer, after which
the men and women silently file out and leave the building.


=AMONG THE PENNSYLVANIA GERMANS=

"You'd better look out, or Pelznickel will catch you!" This is the dire
threat held over naughty boys and girls at Christmas-time in some of the
country settlements of the Pennsylvania Germans, or Pennsylvania Dutch,
as they are often called.

Pelznickel is another name for Santa Claus. But he is not altogether the
same old Santa that we welcome so gladly. On Christmas eve some one in
the neighborhood impersonates Pelznickel by dressing up as an old man
with a long white beard. Arming himself with a switch and carrying a bag
of toys over his shoulder, he goes from house to house, where the
children are expecting him.