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Show Telegram Serial: 'But Once a Year' Sue Sings at the Club With What Results! 4 'Dot sighed. "The Christmas spirit is supposed to be back of all this," she mused. "If there is anything more unlike the Christmas spirit as it was once envisaged, it's these weeks before Christmas with their burden of shopping. Don't people know can't they realize that nearly near-ly all of it is artificially stimulated? stimulat-ed? That It's Just a, commercial racket fostered and bolstered and built up by people who have things to, sell?" At the moment she lothed herself because no one reaped a bigger profit from Christmas than the company of C. C. Mitcheltree. In fact, they had done almost more than anybody else to make wrapping wrap-ping gifts a fine art, with their varicolored paper, their transparent transpar-ent colored bows, the gilded holly, the miniature Santa Clauses. And as If that weren't enough, there was the Christmas party, not only for Juveniles, but for grown-ups. Decorations and costumes, the new indestructible kind, and crepe paper pa-per tablecloths and new table settings, set-tings, and favors and Jack Horners tn( ten thousand other silly Items. Stephen opened the door of hiT office and met her on the stairs. "Why so glum, my lass? Were doing thiee hundrnl mere thaa-last thaa-last year, even as early as this." "Oh. but, Stephen." Dot groaned, "It's all so absurdly stupid. Why can't shoppers understand that it isn't what they buy, but what they can give of themselves? Of time, or thought, or affection? If they'd only sit down and write letters; or If they'd make something with their own hands after all, Gran has the right idea. She would think a gift no gift unless It held something of herself. Now those mittens for the nephews and nieces " Stephen took her by the arm. "Come on up. I want to talk to you, anyway. Besides, this this speech of yours about Christmas has a ring of familiarity. Didn't we have an ad this season that ran: 'It Isn't the gift. It s its wrap- CHAPTER 11 On Saturday night Sue was extremely ex-tremely nervous and Dusty doubted doubt-ed the wisdom of her appearing before she was actually strong. After all, she had been dangerously danger-ously ill, and Just because she had made such a startlingly quick recovery re-covery there was no reason to push her. He had bought her some fur-lined velvet overshoes; railed, -in his mother's gay days, carriage boots. If he could help it Sue wasn't going to get her feet wet again. Underneath her velvet coat she wore a warm knitted sweater which Gran had sent, and admitted that it was comforting. Sue let her hand rest In Dusty's and watched the lighted shop windows win-dows flash past. "I'm glad." she said, "that I won't miss Christmas. I should have hated to. What day la It, anyway?" "Christmas Is less than two weeks off, If that's what you want to know. And, young lady, Just to "give you fair warning, remember you're Just out of the hospital and if anything happens to you I'll be p-nT11-'- " "-""' L have cold feet for calling up Tony Stefano at all. I should have kept mv hands off and refused to have anything to do wlth Tt. T should have insisted on a cruise to Bermuda Ber-muda or the south. I should have " She turned to him. "Dusty, darling, dar-ling, don't be frightened about me. Really I feel well, although I haven't the strength I had before and I get tired quickly. But you tnow 1 urged you to do this. Don't orry so. I'm quite all right." When Sue stood there, her hands clasped before her, she looked so fragile and beautiful that his heart leaped. Yet no one seemed to notice no-tice 'her. , Then her voice, low and husky, came forth appealingly, and he saw people atop, listen, and turn toward her. Sue finished her song, and Dusty heaved a sigh of relief. The applause was spontaneous and ping' or something to that effect?" ef-fect?" Dot sat down limply and looked out through the long thickly woven wo-ven while curtains into the street, blue in the early dusk. "How can you twist it so? Though your gut be small, its wrapping can be important. im-portant. And a Mitcheltree wrapping wrap-ping shows the giver's loving thought of you.' Listen to those females down there, yapping full of loving thoughts." "What have you there?" Dot glanced down at the corrugated corru-gated frame of a Jack Horner pie and read the slip. "Merry Christmas, Christ-mas, silver letters pasted on cellophane cello-phane cloud silver ribbon two dozen matching favors, blue and white to be made by Peggy. Deliver De-liver Saturday. Truck." Stephen took It from her and placed It on the desk. "Dot, my sweet, I hate to see you so tired, so frazzled, so wearily caustic." She turned her face away and for a moment her chin trembled. It was quite true. Other people besides Stephen had noticed It. She Just couldn't help the cutting remarks re-marks that came to her lips. Nerves, she supposed. Otherwise well, what else could it be? She waa tired to the very marrow of her bones. So tired that sometimes continued. The orchestra leader nodded to Sue to give an encore. This time there was silent attention atten-tion throughout, with scattered clapping. She reached the refrain, and then a strange look of panic and bewilderment spread over her " . . Dusty rose. When he reached her she had stepped behind the piano and the orchestra leader, puzzled, was staring at her. "What la it. Sue?" Dusty asked. "I can't," she said in a whisper. "Of court you can," he said heartily. She looked up at him, her eyes wide and terror-stricken. "But you don't understand. My voice Is completely gone." Whlle'-Dot briskfy packed Sues uitcae because Sue was so weakly incapable of anything. Dusty was trying to cheer up Sue. "Don't take It so seriously, my dear. All you need is a rest and everything will be all right." "It won't," Sue said. "The specialist spe-cialist told me that probably my vocal cords are permanently injured." in-jured." "Doctors don't know everything." aid Dusty. "Forget It. They don't know you. Sue. Think how you recoveredyou re-coveredyou amazed all the doctors doc-tors in New York. In fact, if I'm she thought they would all go soft as Jelly and drop her In a tired little heap, to sleup and sleep. "Perhaps." Dot thought, "if I make up my mind to marry Stephen Ste-phen and really think about him and plan to make him happy, I can be a nice person again." Then she heard Stephen saying. "Dot, we could get married and take a trip after the rush." Dot smiled. "But New Year's cornea on the heels of Christmas. It Just isn't fair and February is the party month" "There's still almost all of January. Janu-ary. And it's nice in the south." "Yes." said Dot. "A little sun helps, but I want to be sure." It would scarcely be fair to marry mar-ry Stephen Just because she was tired and discouraged and wanted a chance to sleep, somewhere away from New York. But she thought, "I probably will marry him. I think I am fonder of Stephen Ste-phen than of anyone else In the world. He certainly has been faithful faith-ful and long-suffering. Why has not mistaken, your case is being written up in the medical Journals this month, to bring hope to others." Sue smiled faintly. "Cheer up," said Dusty. "Well all come up to White Creek for Christmas U you'll be good, won't we. Dot?" "Of course," Dot said brightly. . C. C Mltcheltree's was Jammed with people. Although the counter for Christmas wrappings had been centered so that customers could get on all four sides of, it, and there were half a dozen extra girls, still people were complaining that they couldn't get any attention. Dot paused with her hand on the atair railing which led to the balcony bal-cony and looked down. The store was a madly turbulent sea, heads and arms wildly bobbing about on the waves. Although it was early In the afternoon, the salesgirls were already weary, their smiles Strained, their faces wan. "And It's still two weeks off!" he waited for me so long unless he really means it all, as he says he does?" "All right. Dot," Stephen said gently. "By the way, are you bent on White Creek for Christmas?" "I guess so," Dot said. "Gran always expects us and Sue Is pretty pret-ty well knocked out. Gran is planning plan-ning a gay Christmas chiefly for her sake." "Dot." said Stephen, "I'd love to come, too. May 1?" "I'd love to have you," Dot said as she rose to go out and take the Jack Horner frame to Peggy. "Stephen." she added, and looked straight Into his eyes, "I can't think of anything nicer in the world than marrying you." "Oh!" said Stephen. "Oh, my dear!" As he reached to take her Cootlutd Followlws Pri BUT ONCE A YEAR (Coatl&utd Prom Preceding Pas In his arms, a sample roll of crepe paper which had been leaning on the shelf tipped over and crashed down about their heads, winding them foolishly in yards of a new shade called gloxinia. Gran always wore a percale house dren which came down to her ankles. The top was a tight little bodice that flowed out over her soft bosom. And the collar, topped by a fresh bit of ruchlng, was held together with a dark cameo. Over the dren she wore a full white apron which tied in the back with a stiffly starched bow. "Now, Sue," Gran was saying as she weighed out raisins and flour on the funny old scales for the Christmas fruit cakes an event j which could not be trusted to Lucy We'll make some for him,. and " "If Lucy's to make the cookies," Sue said. "I could cut them out In shapes like Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, and frost them in colors. I'd like to." Then she thought, "I've been a goose-moping goose-moping about. All this worrying about Christmas presents. A few weeks ago 1 had more money than I knew what to do with, and now I haven't any at all. But after all I have all those lovely things I picked up this summer In Europe. Christmaa Isn't Christmas unless you make It so, and Gran at eighty is as excited at It she were eight and I've been glowering like a rain cloud. After all, probably Gran hasn't so many more Christ-mases. Christ-mases. I'll really help. We'll make It a Christmas to remember." It was to be a Christmas they would all remember, although Sue didn't know It then as the frail little plans In her mind grew into reality. She felt more cheerful and happy than she had since that awful moment at the specialist when he had told her it was within with-in the range of possibility that ihe might never sing again. For nodules had formed on her vocal cords which might or might not disappear. Certainly It was too soon to say. There was nothing to do at the moment but to rest, relax, and not worry. To be continued Thursday Gilbert, the maid or all work "it s never the right thing to spend money before you. have It, now, is It?" "No," said Sue contritely. In a husky voice. She was sitting on the kitchen stool, picking out black walnuts for the cake. "No, I guess It Isn't Gran, but you see there was so much money coming In." "But it didn't come," Gran said. "No." "Now when the cakes are done," said Gran, stirring the brown aromatic aro-matic spices into the rich dough, "we'll douse them with sherry and let 'em ripen. Then we'll get the keys to the Blue chamber and the Green chamber and Inspect Lucy Gilbert's cleanln' upstairs. She's kinda apt to slight things ain't so young and spry as she was. And Susie, when you get through there, I'd like you to sort over all them Christmas ornaments In the box In the living room. Make a list of what we need, and when you take your constitutional this afternoon, stop at Joel's and tell him we want the biggest tree he's got. Tein't every year we can have a real celebration, cele-bration, and we might as well make the most of it. Dusty snd Dot and this new beau of Dot's, Stephen Emery my! my!" Grandma Grand-ma drew a long breath In anticipation. antici-pation. "I do love a party!" "Yes," said Sue. The box of Christmas ornaments was yellowed and grubby with dust She opened It and found the carton with each bright ball In Its own partition, like eggs In a box. Here was the blue and sliver one with Indented sides, the crimson crim-son and gold one with the pointed tip, the yellow-haired angels, the huge star for the tip, the cotton-stuffed cotton-stuffed Santa Clauses, the walnuts she had gilded one Christmas time, the tarlatan stockings and here a broken candy cane. She held the star loosely in her hand. At this moment she might again be the small girl who lived here, with no knowledge of the Sue Garland who had gone away to sing before the crowned heads of Europe. She might be the small girl who hoped above everything that Santa Claus would bring her a lady-doll with real eyebrows and eyea which opened and shut with no knowledge knowl-edge of the grown-up girl who had been very ill Indeed, and who was now Involved with Dustin Paine. A smile crossed her face and she said to Gran, who came In. "You know. Granny, these are the real Christmas things. In the city they try so hard to make Christmas streamlined and modern; they gild and silver their trees and do all sorts of stunts, but a real tree should be green and spicy and furry with ornaments like these. Do you remember the year we had the LebkufhenT Oh I wish" "Why, Susie," said Gran, a delighted de-lighted smile on her tare, "you begin to sound like yourself. Now mebbe I have Katie's recipe. We could even make some. Mrs. Spencer's Spen-cer's little boy has the measles. |