and exposition; nevertheless, it has their simplicity and dignity.
It reminds us of certain of the great Biblical narratives, such as
the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal and the
victory of Daniel over the jealous presidents and princes of
Darius. In "The First Christmas Tree," as in many others of these
stories, a third person is the narrator. But the hero may tell his
own adventures. "I did this. I did that. Thus I felt at the
conclusion." Instances are Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and
Stevenson's "Kidnapped." But whether in the first or third person,
the story holds us by the magic of adventure.




THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE

[Footnote: From "The First Christmas Tree," by Henry Van Dyke.
Copyright, 1897, by Charles Scribner's Sons.]


I

THE CALL OF THE WOODSMAN


The day before Christmas, in the year of our Lord 722.

Broad snow-meadows glistening white along the banks of the river
Moselle; pallid hill-sides blooming with mystic roses where the
glow of the setting sun still lingered upon them; an arch of