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Show , MOTHER'S CHRISTMAS By SUSAN HUBBARD MARTIN V 12 ) There wcro thrco girls of them, all merry, llght-henrtod and thoughtless, but this evening a new seriousness was upon them. Fur one thing, mother moth-er had gonu to bed with u sharp neu-Iralflc neu-Iralflc attuck that somehow wb bo-.coming-, of late, u too frequent occurrence. occur-rence. Another wus that father hud just glvan them their Christmas al-dowanco,(for al-dowanco,(for It was the lBtli of Novom-jeer, Novom-jeer, and they hnd already bcEUu to (plan for the great day. "dlrls," hu had huIiI, us he handed .each ono a crisp $10 bill, "this year lyou must really make this do. Don't ispend It and expect more, for It will not bo forthcoming. Times aro hard, money not cany to sot and necessary .expenses must bo met, so remember dhat whllo wo all love Christmas, an , Indeed wo ought, yet wo aro not ex pected to glvo moro than wo aro able Poaco on earth, good will to men,' imoans morn than a mad rush at bar ' pain counters, whim one endeavors to mako S10 do the work of $25, We all 'try to do loo much, and under the .strain tho sweet old merry Christmas of long ago Iiiih lost Uh rlmrm." He had put ou IiIh overcoat and Kne out, and Mag, Joyce and Fan Hat and looked at ono another. "i'o simply got lo give Ileus a more expensive present than I did last year," said Mag. gloomily. Razing at tho lite. ".lust Imagine my humllla- i tlon ChrlKtimix day when she sent mo that beautiful watch fob, and all I hail j given her was a little picture In a plain oak frame. I blush now at the thought of It." "Don't say a word," bioko In Can, tragically. "I suffer imntlllcatlon of tho spirit a hundred times when I think of the little I can give. Ten dollars dol-lars and 27 friends and relations to 1 make presents to." Joyce looked up. Joyce was the youngest, and she wore a brown school dress. Her chestnut curls wero tied with scarlet ribbons. "I say." she began be-gan quickly, "that'll lime tho Christ- ; mas reformation began In this fam- j lly. Three girls. Fan 17. Mag 10 and I 14. Not one of uk able to earn u ponny, and all straining every nerve to make It harder for father nnd do something wo can't afford. I'm like dad. Christmas don't mean a mad rush at bargain counters to buy things i for peoplo who half Iho tlmo don't I care for 'em when they get 'em. Uso-1 less and Impossible articles, too. most I of 'em aro, but wo poor misguided .mortals will tako 'em just because ithey're markod down from $1.16 to , 49 cents. Tho facts In our case are thnso, father's poor, ho works hard, ' and mother Isn't well. 1 say It's time fti stop. I shall simply tell Hell land who has a dearer friend than she Is. I'd like to know) that all I can give her Is a set of mats for liei dressing table. I'll make 'em as pretty as I can, and there'll be lots of love to go with 'em, but there I'll stop." "Out she'll give you something handsome," put In Mag. , "Can't help it." replied Joyce, "her ' ! fathor'a rich and mlno Isn't. If she ' thinks any the less of mo for It, why i she'll havo to do It. Last year we j spent all we had and didn't have one cent loft to remember mother with, and I went up to the attic Christmas afternoon and cried about It. That reminds me. I'm going up to see bow ,sbo Is." Mag sighed. "Isn't Joyce a character?" charac-ter?" sho said to Kau when tho younger young-er slst-jr was safely out of tho room. "Joyce," replied Fan, decisively, "Is n dear, I wish wo were moro like her. I'm not sure, too," she added, thoughtfully, thought-fully, "but that shu Is right." "Oh, don't you preach," cried Mag, "wo'vo got obligations, wo i have frlnds,'and the result is our $10 wllY On Christmas Morning. melt In their behalf like snow before tho sun. I'd be ashamed to look them In the face If It didn't." Joyce crept softly Into her mother's room. The light was turned down low. The figure ou the bed did not stir. Jojre slipped over and looked down at the pule sleeper. "Darling mother," she whispered, "how white per cheeks are. and her hands, too. how thin. I wish 1 might kiss them. I'm glad she's gone to sleep. Perhaps Per-haps when she wakes tho pain will he gone." Klin turned to go away, but a pair of slippers sitting side by side at the foot of the bed arrested her. She stooped Mid picked ono up, stroking it softly. Joyce was always tho affectionate affec-tionate ope of the futility Then the looked ut It. The sole was pitifully thin, and there was a llttlo break In ooe side. Mother's wrapper lay carefully care-fully folded over the hack of a chair, where ab bsd put It. even lu her pain. Joyce looked nt It also. Tho slcevct hod been patched, tho collar mended. Joyco remembered with a suddca pang It was the best one mother had. Sho swept the wrapper off tho chair and took up Uiu llttlo worn slippers, then she wont down Into tho sitting-room. sitting-room. Mng and Fan were still thore. "dlrls," cried loyce, dramatically, holding up the old wrapper, "do you think we girls otiglu to mnko Christmas Christ-mas presents when our mother has to wear clothes like this? See how she's patched the sleeves, and the collar, too, and Just look at these slippers!" Tho girls did look, and ns Joyco held them up, the poor shabby llttlo slippers, slip-pers, a stillness fell iiihui them. Each girl remembered the patient figure In the worn slippers that went about a ceaseless lound of duties day by day, with no thought of lelaxatlon of enjoyment, en-joyment, The work must bo done, father's meals must be on time, the girls must have their company and their holidays. There was little time or money left for her when threo young girls were proporly fed and clothed. And as Mag, Fan and Joyco looked at the patched, threadbare wrapper, It told u tulo moro eloquent than any words, representing to theso threo hitherto thoughtless daughters tho sacrifices dully made for them, and never mentioned. Fan wiped a tear away; so did Mag. Joyce's eyes were already full. "If we don't take better caio of mother, perhaps we won't havo her very long," said Joyce, solemnly. "dlrls." sho added, "let's do somc- ' thing Say we put (he dollars out of 'our ten away for her, and 11.x up her things, 1 will, an) way. I'm going to get her a handsome pair of Juliets all . trimmed In black fur, nnd stuff enough to make her a pretty dressing , sacque Mug, will you mako It?" Mag sprang up. "Yes, I will, Joyce," shu cried, "and 1 will glvo $5 too. I 1 never realized that mother was woar I tng quite as pour clothes as theso." I "I'll glvo IHo." said Fan, slowly. "Wo haven't money enough to go round anyway. Let us bo bravo and ell our friends so. Perhaps In tho end thev'11 thank us for It." When mother cume downstairs tlt Christmas morning, she gave a start of surprise. A gay llttlo wreath of holly hung by the window. Attached to It wai a large whlto card which bote these words: "MOTIIKH'S CIIHISTMAS. Ma) She Havo Many of Them." A pretty brown wrapper with velvet collar and cuffs hung over tho back i of her favorite chair. A dainty pair . of house shoes lay beside It, trimmc4 i in black fur. Near thum was a dresa- , lug sacque, soft and warm, of somo gray mnterlal finished off by a touch of scarlet and a bow of ribbon. A shoulder shawl of whlto and bluo hung over ono arm of the chair. Two pairs of kid gloves lay across it. Oa tho sofa was a handsomo conifortci of pink sllkallne artistically knoUsfl rwlh"blue. This was Kan's glTf.'nr had been bought with a portion of her money and made over at Aunt Rachel's Ra-chel's so there could bo no danger ot detection. Thero wero aprons, too, and handkerchiefs sheer and fine. Father hud given theso. Mother stood still, then seeing the new expression in her children's faces, she took a step forward. "Pralso tho Lord," she sang In her heart, but aloud she could only say: "My blessed, blessed girls." as sho gathored them each one Into her tender and loving arms. Ham's Horn. |