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" :1 1 . tl . / _ , MA LACT LAST vclrystore velrystore : ; T Christmas Christ'TIas ChristTIas ' our local IOC11 jc Je vclry velry store added t vo new depart departmerits departmt'nts departmints beforeOne mt'nts mtnts mints ' \ we , never had carr c\rr c rr " \ ed cd before One was a toy counter " , where here a se lel lest selett selel selest t on ot of move mov a e dolls was fcatured featured featuredTl fcatured'I1 featuredTI 'I1 I1 TI ' e a other-an other an other - an opt cal department- department departmentcatered departmentcatered department-catered department catered - - notafford catered to the tradeho trade who \\ho ho \ could not notafford notafford afford - - gl-isses gl isses ghsses unless tl tI ey could ar arrange arrange range arrange tV lV to pay tor for 11 tI tl em on crcd cred t l . beforeCl beforeCI V s t ng the shop the n ght before CI ttlee tHeg r stmas I watlhedB watcheda watched watlhed a B t ny 1 tHe g rl I m sure the she he couldn t have havebeen been more than s Y x ' ( stand tandng standng tand ng depleteddoll depleteddol before ngbefore the alre-idy alre idy alre\dy dy already " \ - sadly s\dly s dly s-idly idly " \ - depleted dol doll ! counter Her IIer bier eyes v 1 s ore ere b g as asshe asshe asshe she looked lookedup up at the one d II I Il ! st II it IIunsold itUnsold 11unsold unsold unsoldnd ind and , nd there Wds a ch Id Jd s s thetailored thetatlered thetattered slongmg longing longmg in them as she tugged at the tatlered tattered overall Jac lacy ] acl ! et of her fa tathcr father fathey ther they busy talking to the optome trlst trist trlstDadd tristDaddy optometrist optometrlst optometristDaddi Dadd Daddi Daddy she ) called caned her vo ceshrill ee cc eeshrill ccshrill shrill w th cxc exc tcment look Isn t it the darl ? ' ' ngest th g Do y ) ou th iouth outh nk Santa w 11 I ! br ng it to me menThe me9 men ? turnedto The me9The man s t red face turned to vard yard her and a hurt express e"press epress " on flushed onflushed across it setll setLI seal ng hopeless hopelessly ly in the gray gry , e eves eyes ) es Fr Fra ; ) d not notMar not.Man notMary .Man Man Mary . } he ans Bns ens crcd ered cred I saw S1nt1 Smti S1nt1m Smtiin Sintiin m in a store do n the street n 'I I a ' h Je le Jeago leago ) cago ago and he said that he d be about aboutz4 l z4l -s- s - v - J l ti z4 z4v o os r : , ; ) , .1 1 I .1She She turned to make malce one last appci appciwt appe\l appe l appeal appealrut ' \ I . wt rut ) ut of 01 everyth ng by the t me he 1cached hecached eached cached our house Reckon he hm II IIeached , m ght have some sweets or m"ybp mybp maybe m"ybpa maybea mayba " < a rag doll don though And he s prom promIsed promised pronrised Ised for sure to bring those glasse glasses glassesOh ; Oh Tears \ were ere in 111 her eyes eye ; eyesbut but she fought them t/\em t em / \ back bravely bravelyand braverand bravelyand and her worn coat sleeve wiped the thelast thelast Uilast > last trace of them away awayI I d d so want one of them she sheh sh shewh wh \\h h \ spercd speed But I m glad Santa SantaIsn Santainn isn inn t go ng to br ng it to me It Itmeans Itmeans ] , means that he s found someone else elsevho elsvho elsevho vho wants it evenorser even \ worser \\orser orser than thando I Ido Ido - do don t it Jt Daddy9 Daddy Daddy9Come ? ' Come on Mary the optome optometnst optometrist optomitrist tnst trist called tak ng the 1 ttle the g rl by bythe bythe bthe I the hand Santa told me to see seeII seewhat sewhat e , II what hat k nd of glasses you should shouldha shouldbase shouhav I ha\ ha hae base \ e so 50 s 5 to be sure bed he d get It ItTIght itright right TIght Now Just ] ust s t in th s ch.ur chur chair ch.urand chairand cha . ; and do as I say sayThe sa ; } The exammat examinat on didn dido t last long longand longand loniand and I was 5t st sill 11 there when "hen hen " it \ viacompleted was wascompleted as ascompleted [ s completed The optometrist optometTlst turned turnedto turnedto turneto , , j to the father falher 111 Ill make a special specialI specialeffort specialeffort speci ; , effort to finish them ton ght hsa be he besa hesa I sa dHe d He was back soon a sl 51 si p in his hishand hishand hihand hand I 1 I ve ye fixed it ] t with the mai man management management ' ' agement A dollar doUar now and a dol del dollar delfar dolar ' lar far a month until unhl the balance of offive oflye cflve : > f five lye dollars daUnrs is pa d dMary dMary dMary Mary had returned for a final finallook finallook fin ; , look at the toy Don t you thmk think thmkDadd thinkDaddy thmlDaddl Dadd Daddy } that the glasses could cornas come comeas comeas as a birthday present and oh ohI ohI olI I d d \ want ant a doll so badly But Butbut Butbut Butbut but I I011 I won \\011 011 \ t t cry cryHer cryHer cryHer Her father hadn t heard He was wasbusy wabusy busy feeling feelmg in h s pockets for the thedollar thdollar thedollar dollar needed tor for the down payment paymentHe paymentHe paymenHe He found a lean wallet and from frompulled it itpulled pulled uUcd a quarter and seven dime dlffies dimes dlffiesHe dimesbe ; He be counted them over twicescared tWice a ascared ascared scared look on his face then begao began begaoa begana begaa a renewed search Tr umphanti umphantJy umphantly umphantJyhe umphantlyhe ; he finally produced an eighth dim dimand dime dimeand dimeaiid < and aiid handed the s Iv Is her er to the optome optometrJst optomet optomeAs optomitrist optomitristAs trJst t . As the man in m overalls overaUs and helfin h $ elfin daughter started toward the thedoor thehoer thdoor door hoer the girl beh nd the lhe doll doU coun coup counter coupter cou ; ter looked at the optometr st theat then thenat thenat at me a tear in her eye Then sl si slran e eran ean ran an after the pa r Wait Walt a a mo momentsn momentisn m mment < ment ment-sn ment sn ment-isn isn - isn ] t your name Mary9 Mary ? ' shased shasedUh she sheas sheasked as asked ' ; ed askedUh edUh Uh huh huh9 ? ' t ie 1e to little hltle g rl an an5wcred answered aiswcred 5wcred swered bewildered bewilderedThen bewilderedThen bewilderedThen Then I guess Santa meant you youHe yoube yoiHe He HeHIS be \ was \HIS HIS here just a few m nutcs nutes ago agoand agoand agand ( and said he 1 I ad a doll for a httle little httlegirl littlegirl littigirl girl named Mary but he was arald afraid araldhe afraidhe atraihe [ he \ wouldn ouldn t have the lime time to deliver deliverit delivcit it Then he remembered that thlittle the thelittle thelittle little girl s father sa d he was com corn comIng corning coning Ing here so he asked me if I Ikeep d dkeep dkeep keep the doll doU and g ve ye it to toyou toyou tyou you That Thl ; ) s it up on the counler counter counlerTake counterrake counteTake Take rake it and run away because 1m 1mso 11so I m mso so busy I haven t 11 t me to talkShylY talkShyly talk talkShyly Shyly Mary reached up tor for tliproffered the theproffered theproffered proffered treasure a d hugged huggedclose it itclose itclose close closeMary Mary was speechless while hbenefactor her herbenefactor herbenefactor ( benefactor busied herself beh nd the thecounter thecounter tilcounter counter Suddenly 'Ie Ie he ' * ie g rl felt felttug a atUJ atug at her sk rt it and an ana Mary was at ather ) tUJ tug tUJat tugat MMary wasI I eb e eher her side looking Jookmg up at a M her I be beI b bi1 I 1 eve you re Mrs Santa Claus the thechild thechild 0child child whispered awe in her heroic herOlce \Olce Olce soice soiceAs \oic oic \ OlceAs oicAs As the door closed behind ttpair the thepair thepair pair the lhe girl took her purse from fromher fromher ( roiher her bag and looked lool.ed looled . ins de1rs deMrs de deMrs } \ Mrs \1rs 1rs Santa Claus mdeed indeed indeedheard I Iheard Iheard heard her mutter Lucky uckMrs uckMrsy y f fSanta for me methis mthis this Santathis Is pay day Y or ort Mrs Santa Santawouldn Saniwouldn wouldn t eat cat tomorrow |