At six years old or sometimes later doubts begin to visit the youthful mind. These doubts are carried very far by the little girl—a juvenile Saint Thomas in pantalettes—who in Mr. J. R. Shaver’s picture, meets Santa Klaus face to face, yet tells him to his face that she doesn’t believe in him.
At this period in their lives young folks of both sexes will sympathize with the spirit of inquiry that summons Saint Nicholas, as in Mr. O’Malley’s cartoon, to answer before a judge and jury of their own age the question as to whether he has any real existence.
And now turn to the last picture of all, that which Mr. Henry Hutt has kindly lent me for reproduction in this little book, and if you insist on an answer which will rob you of the bliss of ignorance, perhaps you will find it there!
THE END
Silenus and Bacchus.
Roman statue of the fourth century.
The bambino.
In the church of Ara Cœli, Rome.