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2
The Christmas Molly Girl j
. l9ii,ViiTUN NttfSfAPtR UNION
ALP a dozen unshaven, red-
shirted miners were gath
ered about the dingy coun
ter of Bilger8, the one store
in camp. - It was Christmas
eve, and they wanted some-
Iktlgf thing extra for their dinner
on the morrow just to keen
Meni in mind of the day.
they said. But' there was little nov
elty In the foTlorn remnant of cans
upon the shelves; or in the half-empty
barrels and boxes under the counter
and massed in the corners of the room
One man found a stray; box of sar
dines, and took possession of it with
the remark that, while it was not
4'Cbrlstmasy," he could have the sat
isfaction of knowing he was eating
the only sardines in camp; another
drew out a can of Boston baked, beans
from behind a squadron of tomatoes ;
while a third, of more investigating
and determined turn of mind, hunted
among the boxes and barrels until he
actually discovered a can of Cape Cod
cranberries.
This brought the entire group of
Christmas hunters into a compact,
entying ; circle ; and while they were
anxiously debating the pro and con
especially the con of a division of
jrpoils, the door opened quietly and a
stoop-shouldered, watery-eyed man en
tered. "Have you got any toys?" he asked.
hesitatingly.
The storekeeper stared, and unani
mously, as though by preconcerted ar
rangement, the group around the
canned representatives from Cape Cod
turned tmd stared also.
"Any what?" the storekeeper asked
Diankiy.
"Toys," the man repeated looking at
me encircling faces with abashed em
tuirrassment "things to play with, I
mean, like children have at Christ
cu see," with a curious
mingling of apology and pride in his
my mUe ren-year-oid boy cameX
1r run . .
"i ""TW1 m
s 9 srnuuma 8, DaCK tO Mlssonrl TV
kin 1.. 1
been sendin? for him these two years,
eut couldn't seem to get to It till I
truck a vein last month."
-
He lurched heavily against the coun
ter. Ills watery eyes began to fill,
partly through his condition and partly
from some long dormant tenderness
which was beginning to reawaken.
The boy's consider'ble childish," he
went on, rousing himself a little at
the consciousness of being listened to
by men who usually passed him with
out recognition, "an likes things to
play with. So, bein it's Christmas,
an he Jest comin why, I thought
mebbe I'd better hunt some toys."
"Of course," cried Dobson, the
sheriff, heartily; and "Of course," "Of
course," came promptly from others
of the group.
And then they looked about the store
inquiringly, eagerly, In search of some
thing that would please a ten-year-old
boy who was
childish. But there
was little they
saw; .only huge
miners' boots, py
ramids of picks
and shovels and
blankets, barrels
of flour and beans
and pork; and on
the shelves, tobac
co and canned
goods, and a small
assortment of
earthen and tin
ware ; and then,
at the far end of
the store, a bar
for the accommo
dation, of those
- who ' were thirsty.
There were no dry and fancy goods
and notions .upon the shelves, no show
cases upon the counter, no display in
the one dingy window. Such things
would begin to make their appearance
only with the coming of the first wom
an, and that was not yet
"Rather a slim show for playthings,
Dobson," said the owner of the cran
berries, after a fruitless search with
his eyes from one end of the store to
the other. Don't s'pose a pack o
playin' cards would do?" as his gaze
paused hopef uly on an extensive as
sortment of that popular article.
"They has pictures on 'em." ,r
"Wouldn't do at all," answered Doth
son decidedly. "They ain't moral; an'
the first kid who patronizes us has
got to be brought up" moraL Say,
your to the watery-eyed man, who
was edging towards the bar at the far
end of the store "none o that!"
"None o what?" asked the man quer
ulously. "I ain't stepphV on your
toes."
N
''".
"No, but you are on the kid's. See
N"e." voice had an Incisive ring
fyhich had made many stronger men
tremble. "You ain't walkin the same
line you was twenty-four hours ago.
Then you was a poor, no-'count druak-
ard, who'd a right to dig his grave
without opposition from nobody; now
you're markln out a trail for that kid
to foller. See? Me an my friends
here ain't no call to interfere between
father an' son," dropping his voice to
an easy, familiar tone, and placing a
hand encouragingly upon the tremu
olus shoulder, "so long as the father
makes a good deal; but when he
slumps," his voice was still soft, but
the steely glint returned to his eyes
"then me an my friends step in. Sabe?
Bein' the first kid In camp, we've con
stltooted ourselves his guardian just
like every man In the place will do
soon's they hear of his bein' here."
He . turned back to ' his companions.
The water y-eyed man, after one long,
wistful.farewell glance toward the bar,
resumed his fruit
less search of the
goods. There was
nothing now to
divide his at
tention; he knew
the men with
whom he had to
deal, and real
ized that hence
forth the bar was
to he as far re
moved from him
as though a wall
of granite inter
vened. But, to his
credit be it said
even with the
realization ) came
a new firmness to
his eyes. ,
"What's that on the top shelf?" he
asked suddenly. j
"That? Oh, that Is I dunno," hesi
tated the storekeeper, as he took down
the object in question and examined It
critically. "It got iti with some goods
a year ago, an' has been up there ever
since." i I r :
"Why, you chump I" cried the cran
berry owner derisively, "not to know
a jumpin Jack when you see one!
I've bought lots of 'en to home for the
children. See!" and he pulled a string
which sent the acrobat tumbling up
oveV the tpp of his red pole. "Just the
thing for a kid." j
"Just the thing," repeated the
watery-eyed man, drawing a small bag
of gold dust from his pocket: "it'll
make the boy. laugh."
As he was going out, the owner of
the cranberries stepped to his side.
"Here, take this along with you," he
said, relinquishing j the can to which
he had been clinging so fondly. "ItH
help to make out a Christmas for the
boy." -
"And this, too." "And this," added
the owner jot the sardines and the
owner of jtLe baked beans; and then
Sheriff Dobson pushed before them
and slipped something bright and
heavy into the hand which held the
Jumping-jack. "
"It's a nest-egg for the kid," he said
gravely. "Now you better go home an'
fill up his stockin; an to-morrer you
can tell him Merry Christmas from us
all."
Great Savers.
How our mothers and grandmothers
would have appreciated the wonder
fully efficient electrical appliances of
the present day. Probably most of all
the electric washer and -ironer, be
cause, if the proper machines are se
lected, they represent the greatest
economy. Not only do they save money,
time and backbreaklng drudgery, but
the very clothes themselves.
i The Christmas Dolly
0
iS- ill -i;i Tyf
j ,Glmtoia Morning j
v$ VTT rwj tfftytrr ' 9 - - O
II f 0Wd H il V If f
I . i 'I ' i 1 Wj-QXV - ,
IIHIIIIIIIIIIIII1II11I1I1IIIIII1III1IIII1IIIIII
II
APair of Stockings
By Ctrijtopter G. Hazard
IIIfllllllllllllllllllllllllTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
ir
(, 1922, westers Newspaper Union.)
"DUDDY SMITH had jhree ideas
-"- about his stockings they were
full of j feet, full .1 holes, and they
could be full of presents. It was with
regard to the third Idea that he was
paying attention to the second. , Will
ing to go barefoot under the circum
stances he was tieing up the holes In
his best stocking, with a vlewto the
Christnias possibilities. His sister,
Agnes, j had already hung up a much
longer 'stocking, with a note attached
In 'whlth she Informed all who might
be concerned that 1 this one was hers.
But Anes, like the monkey that used
a rabbit for a muff and kept himself
warm by hugging it, was a little , sel
fish. Not only had" she hung up one of
her mother's stockings, but she had got
an advantage over Buddy in the mat
ter of j the chocolate cake in the cup
board, for there were holes all round
It the size of her little finger.
So It was that on Christmas morn
ing th? shorter stocking had the most
in it.;
(, 1922, Western Newspaper Union.)
KTX7ELL, I'll be getting lots of
v T presents soon," he said. He
had' Just met some pleasant new
friends. ( v
"Yes he continued, "Christmas is a
good time for me. Y.ou see I'm popu
lar with wives. I get notes from hun
dreds of them; there are any number
wly write to me, and when Christmas
comes they knit ties for me or buy a
handsome silk handkerchief or two, or
a fine muffler a little thought of me
at any rate. And I've never been In
a divorce case yet,' he ended. '
"You must be a diplomat or luckier
than you deserve," someone remarked.
xeuner, ne answered. "I'm a milk
man and a milkman's Christmas is apt
to be full of cheer and the good-hearted
wishes of Una ladles 1"
Santa Fetched Him
'A
.-...V .-iN-.-C-X'.-A'
Courtly &trafx Kod&A Co.
inE MAIL
CARRIER
pOR many years, in good weather
or bad, day after day, he had fol
lowed his chosen Job faithfully and
welL He had carried -j many, many
Christmas presents in his day,, too.
This year one of the families he had
served so regularly prepared a Christ
mas box for him and for his wife and
for his children, v
"It Is the first Christmas box I ever
received from one of my families," he
said. "Wasn't It thoughtful of them
to have remembered their mall car
rier?" ' . : ; .
But the .people were savins. t
hlhk that (we haven't done something
oi uns sort every year. The mall cur
rier does so much for us and we,1 at
times, almost seem to forget he's even
homanrt -
tan
' T 1
A I
Its -
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TheEvergreenTree
By Cfcristopoer G. Hazard
imiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniuiiniiiimiiuiio
(,'1922, Western Newspaper Lnion.i
THE servants had retired and left
the .old lady alone. She sat l?e
for the decorated and lighted tree
that was burdened with gifts that
seemed to have no destinations. For
Mrs. Stone was long past the wanting
of gifts and no companions, young or
old, sat with her, because she wished
to be alone with her memories. r
She was not as alone as she seemed
to be, for, in the great chair opposlfe
to hers memory placed the fairy Ago
of- the child who had glanced and
danced about the house and under th
Beside
Christmas tree of long ago.
her there sat one who seemed to lay
his hand again upon hers in happy
and satisfied affection, while there
bent over her the strong and tender
youth who was once her hope for later
years. Again the. old house-seemea
full of Joy, and noisy merriment drove
out the deathly stillness, whi.e n
tree that, is always green spoke of to.
immortality of happiness.
The next day, when the secant
dismantled the evergreen tree, it
found that every gift vras arK t
with a name, and they were busy i
Christmas morning In distributing aw
happiness about the neighborhood. .
,
I'lH 1 1 1 1 1 ' 1
Easilu Managed
...
J I &
YOU must believe in Santa V m
If in neglect you wouM g
And see the holidays drif t w
And brinff you nothing but a
He mar not greet you if you
In Idleness and selfish J1;
For him upon his way to sia .
To grant the wishes of your
m to ffleft
Pbr he his ways makes known
By'meana that are beyond
And as hte Journeying vast
He uses many a masqueraae.
So if a "carelty you fear
In the supply of Chrts mas cn
Just husUe like
And be old Santa Claus Y-