“Now comes the young lady，” said those in the carriage; and out stepped a youngdame， delicate， proud， and pretty. It was Mistress JUNE， in whose service people becomelazy and fond of sleeping for hours. She gives a feast on the longest day of the year， thatthere may be time for her guests to partake of the numerous dishes at her table. Indeed， shekeeps her own carriage; but still she travelled by the mail， with the rest， because she wishedto show that she was not high-minded. But she was not without a protector; her youngerbrother， JULY， was with her. He was a plump young fellow， clad in summer garments andwearing a straw hat. He had but very little luggage with him， because it was so cumbersomein the GREat heat; he had， however， swimming-trousers with him， which are nothing tocarry. Then came the mother herself， in crinoline， Madame AUGUST， a wholesale dealer infruit， proprietress of a large number of fish ponds and a land cultivator. She was fat andheated， yet she could use her hands well， and would herself carry out beer to the laborers inthe field. “In the sweat of the face shalt thou eat bread，” said she; “it is written in the Bible.”After work， came the recreations， dancing and playing in the greenwood， and the “harvesthomes.” She was a thorough housewife.
After her a man came out of the coach， who is a painter; he is the GREat master ofcolors， and is named SEPTEMBER. The forest， on his arrival， had to change its colors whenhe wished it; and how beautiful are the colors he chooses! The woods glow with hues of redand gold and brown. This great master painter could whistle like a blackbird. He was quick inhis work， and soon entwined the tendrils of the hop plant around his beer jug. This was anornament to the jug， and he has a great love for ornament. There he stood with his colorpot in his hand， and that was the whole of his luggage. A land-owner followed， who in themonth for sowing seed attended to the ploughing and was fond of field sports. SquireOCTOBER brought his dog and his gun with him， and had nuts in his game bag. “Crack，crack.” He had a great deal of luggage， even an English plough. He spoke of farming， butwhat he said could scarcely be heard for the coughing and gasping of his neighbor. It wasNOVEMBER， who coughed violently as he got out. He had a cold， which caused him to usehis pocket-handkerchief continually; and yet he said he was obliged to accompany servantgirls to their new places， and initiate them into their winter service. He said he thought hiscold would never leave him when he went out woodcutting， for he was a master sawyer， andhad to supply wood to the whole parish. He spent his evenings preparing wooden soles forskates， for he knew， he said， that in a few weeks these shoes would be wanted for theamusement of skating. At length the last passenger made her appearance，—old MotherDECEMBER， with her fire-stool. The dame was very old， but her eyes glistened like two stars.She carried on her arm a flower-pot， in which a little fir-tree was growing. “This tree I shallguard and cherish，” she said， “that it may grow large by Christmas Eve， and reach from theground to the ceiling， to be covered and adorned with flaming candles， golden apples， andlittle figures. The fire-stool will be as warm as a stove， and I shall then bring a story book outof my pocket， and read aloud till all the children in the room are quite quiet. Then the littlefigures on the tree will become lively， and the little waxen angel at the top spread out hiswings of gold-leaf， and fly down from his green perch. He will kiss every one in the room，great and small; yes， even the poor children who stand in the passage， or out in the streetsinging a carol about the 'Star of Bethlehem.'”
“Well， now the coach may drive away，” said the sentry; “we have the whole twelve. Letthe horses be put up.”
“First， let all the twelve come to me，” said the captain on duty， “one after another. Thepassports I will keep here. Each of them is available for one month; when that has passed， Ishall write the behavior of each on his passport. Mr. JANUARY， have the goodness to comehere.” And Mr. January stepped forward.
When a year has passed， I think I shall be able to tell you what the twelve passengershave brought to you， to me， and to all of us. Now I do not know， and probably even theydon't know themselves， for we live in strange times.