| Show F < > < > + < xx > I r < JLJoaNYsLETmR4 iI i I It Was Miscarried to the Benefit of All Concerned and Brought a t Sappy Christmas to One Home In Bickering Alley I BY FRANCIS A SCHNEIDER it 1 I Copyright 1S96 by S S McClure company com-pany panyr 1 r I It was a bitter cold day in December So cold that little Johnny stamped I lirst one ragged foot and then the other I on the frosty pavement and thrust his stiff bands deep into the pockets of his I tattered trousers in a vain endeavor I to keep thEtn warm He stood with his small face pressed against the window of a big toy store on Fulman street I Johnny was quite indifferent to the pushing and jostling of the people who I passed back and forth on the crowded I thoipughfare quite indifferent to the cold quite indifferent to everything l indeed except the wonderful collection of beautiful toys in Blucher Cos window rJr i Hullp kid does yer moder know r yoase out said a voice close beside r him starting him out of his absorb tion tionNa replied Johnny cheerfully He i did not regard the question as uncomplimentary uncom-plimentary Na she dont Where f you goin Skinny Down to de ferry replied Skinny Hol on a minit an look in here I Seen them there beautful wissels an t S that there train of choo choos Mv I l bat I wisht I had em t Whats the use er wishin said Skinny philosophically ye cant haveS have-S em dey aint f r de likes of us We S has to do widout de pritty tings S Skinny was four years older than i Johnnv who was but eightand wise in the worlds ways Johnny made no reply to his friends remark but I breathed on his dirty little fingers and I S shuffled away with an expression of deep thought in his big eyes without S the formality of a good bye to Skinny Skin-ny That young personage after a fleeting glance at the toy store window departed for ude ferry Johnnys mother was a person of i eccentric habits and uncertain temper f and hen Johnny asked her timidly t that evening whether she had any idea whatsort Santa Claus was she replied re-plied in no very pleasant tone Ah go to bed and dont be botherin Ine r c But mom persisted the timorous i c1 5 Johnny dont ye know nothin bout him Dont be botherin me I say or ax yer fader And his father coming inc in-c nresently from work was searchingly r r Interrogated on the subject Now Johnnys lather was many degrees L pleasanter and more agreeable than his 0 < r mother He was much fonder or Johnny i John-ny than ofa glass of beer or even of G S wiisky and replied to the little fellows 0 qudsdpns to the best of his ability and lth something like a twinkle in his Esac1 eyes Santa Claus he had always t1t arn tel was a good sort and yOudofde t ids and brought them < j < 1 I toys and candy on Christmasat least those of them wjipse fathers were well off Mr Flan had nper heard tf > at tswiOlsdluinsclf nscii Rb tit the children of the poor Johnny treasured this information in his mind and pondered upon it frequently fre-quently in the next ten days On the morning of the 23rd of December he arrived ar-rived at a mighty determinationa determination de-termination that made him sally forth bright and early in quest of friend Skinny He found this youth at last seated upon a water butt in Bickering alley allejSkinny Skinny he asked breathlessly I does yer know how ter write Well I guess young un replied Skinny who had gone to a night school quite regularly for two winters and had now according to his own and his familys judgment completed his education edu-cation Wat yer want me ter write I wants said Johnny looking anxiously about to see that no one was near I wants ter write letter ter ter his voice sank into a whisper ter Santy Klaws Um was the response Ill do it fer ye kid cause youse de kind er kid I likes II It was 4 oclock on the same day that the above recorded conversation took place between Skinny and Johnny Postmaster Herrick sat in his office talking to a friend who had dropped in What is it Mr Jackson turning to a young man who smilingly approached ap-proached him you seem pleased about something Look here sir replied he read this and I fancy youll smile too It has just been handed to me by one of the clerks He held out to Mr Herrick Her-rick a rude envelope made of brown straw paper It was soiled and greasy and the postmaster took it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger and looked at the superscription To Mister Mis-ter Santy KlawsNort Poal he read and then drew forth a letter whose mussiness and uninviting appearance was in perfect accord with the wrapper wrap-per Dear Mister Santy he continued aloud mebbe i axes to much when I axes yer to guv me one of dem tin wissels like them in bluchers store winder i never had a wissle an i wants one bad these is painted red at the bottom i lives on de groun flore of 26 Little Ease Court you goes down by de seller dore to git to me house JOHNNY FOLAN r Mr Jackson and the postmasters r friend laughed at this but the postmaster post-master himself smiled rather gravely Poor little Johnny Folan he said thoughtfully Your letter hasnt miscarried mis-carried Well Joe Ill stop for you tomorrow tomor-row and the postmasters friend departed de-parted still chuckling When Mr Herrick went home that evening he showed Johnnys letter to his son Harry It amused that young gentleman greatly Such a queer document docu-ment and then the idea of anybodys believing in Santa Claus Harry was 14 and had < almost forgotten the time when the jolly old saints identity was as real as his own and pleased with anything that promised diversion so when his father proposed that they would play Santa Claus for Johnny Folans benefit he readily fell in with the idea and took a deep and practical interest in carrying it out nr It was late on Christmas eve The one room occupied by the Folans was very cold apd very cheerless Mrs Folan had been drinking hard all day and now lay asleep in a corner covered cov-ered by an old quilt that Johnny had considerately thrown over her Johnny i t i 4i Ii himself sat almost upon the stove trying I try-ing to keep warm Now and then he poked the miserable fire into a mo mentay Dicker His cheeks were Hush I ed in spite of the cold and his eyes I wore a look of expectancy Mr Folan I had not yet come home from his work He must er got me letter Johnny I was saying to himself he must er If he was ter come now Id hide me eyes an not look at him Me fader said I he didnt like de kids ter see him Ders a footstep comin up de courtno its gone apast The candle guttered and flickered and threatened to go out so Johnny trimmed it the best he couid and while he was engaged in his occupation footsteps foot-steps again sounded in the street above They drew nearer and nearer and paused at the cellar door Johnny was breathless He was sure it was Santa Claus even before the three loud knocks sounded on the door and the voice called Hey Johnny Folan lookout look-out for Santa Claus Then there was a smothered laugh ana the footsteps rapidly retreated The laugh sounded like a boys laugh but the footsteps were those of a man When Johnny had climbed the stairs and opened the door there was no one in sight up or down the alley A great market basket stood on the sidewalk close to the cellar cel-lar door Johnny grasped it eagerly and tried to lift it Then with much difficulty the little fellow dragged it down the stairs and pulled it within the circle of light shed by the flickering flicker-ing candle His mother suddenly roused herself and sat up What yer got there she muttered I Something from Santa Claus Mom replied the boy delightedly I Ough grunted his mother Shut I that door will yer and she turned over and went to sleep again leaving I Johnny to look through the contents of the basket by himself There was a card tied to the handle Johnny knew I his own name when he saw it in print and the card certainly read Johnny Folan He lifted the cover and there first and foremost was the tin whistle Santy is a good sort an dont yer forgit it exclaimed he his meagre face shining with delight Wisht fader was here an Skinny Besides the whistle were toys innumerable in-numerable for the postmaster never did things by halves Some of them were entirely new to Johnny he had never seen them even in Bluchers window win-dow But they were wonderful and beautiful to behold and he spread them all out on the floor and sat looking at them with his grimy little hands clasped and eyes that beamed with happiness A good sbrt an no mistake mis-take he kept repeating He was sitting sit-ting thus when his father came in Well wats up now Johnny he asked Where did them tings come from little un with a suspicious glance at the toys Santy Klaws he brung em responded re-sponded the boy proudly I sent a letter an axed him to guv me a wissle an see what hes guy me Aint he the jim dandy dad Ders more in de basket too Only I ainlt had time ter look Mom wont stir dad as he saw his father glance uneasily toward the corner where she lay shes fast asleep Then the two removed the remainder of the baskets contents They proved to be many kinds of provisions At the very bottom lay a turkey with a i letter stuck in its bill Johnnys father I i took it It was a long time since he had occasion to > put his little stock of learning to the test and it came hard to decipher the superscription on the envelope but he did it at last Johnny i Folan with Santa Claus love The I I letter inside was plain enough though I I poor Tom Folan pored over it a longtime long-time before he could read 4 1 It ran thus DearLlttto Johnny Tour letter r let-ter came straight to me without delay though the north pole is a long way from B I have brought the whistle you asked for and some other things that may be useful I could not stop to come in for tonight as you know is my bus night but I hope you will like everything in the basket Goodbye Good-bye little Johnny dont forget that I lcve all good little boys and that I am ycur loving Santa Claus Aaint he a brick dad Yes he be replied his father shading shad-ing his eyes with his hand hes a brick whoever he is I wisht yer mother could only a ben able to jine we two tonight But perhaps shell cook the turkey fer us tomorrowif she cantwell well git Mrs Malony upstairs to do it fer us Be ye happy Johnny looking at the childs shining eyesWell Well guess responded he blowing a blast on the tin whistle BeanS dad you S I be my boy if you be said his father after a pause laying a toil hardened hand on the boys head Mrs Folan was able to cook the turkey tur-key next day and so touched was she by the gift that she refrained from intoxicating beverages forwell it is safe to say for that day at least And Skinny was invited to the feast To make this an orthodox Christmas story it would be proper to relate how the kind postmaster became the permanent per-manent benefactor and patron of little Johnny and in fact of the whole Folan family But this story is a true one and has been told frequently by the postmaster himself who like all postmasters post-masters is unimpeachably truthful and he when asked at its conclusion Well and what else always replies Thats as far as it goes Perhaps he is too modest say how much he has done for the Folans and how little Johnny through his kindly and judicious ju-dicious aid now occupies a position of trust In his ofilce with a fair prosuect of rising to future eminence perhaps eventually of occupying the presidential chair |
