Show the ie spirit of C christmas 4 B robert ma S steed widow stately W I 1 d ow Rec recognizes the a voice voke of freddie home lay in freaman a nook ln in the Mic lueF maker f 0 where the sun to in friend nn 7 a mornings caa 7 up from the east satisfied there 1 here at noon he po poured ure d 35 ie no P party of down gently among the third part the evergreens that clothed tho the hill tides aides of her little little farm and in the eve nines before time for sunset on the via plains Ins below be he faded out in yellow splendor over stark blute peak peaks that guarded the widow widows valley from the west the no widow stately had been a widow even when he came into that little nook in the foothills with her non son frank a winsome lad of fourteen or thereabouts here they had dug in with their little herd of belfer heifers hei fers and frank had plowed the valley talley field for oats cuts and potatoes and with the help of a carpenter they had built the house of spruce lof logo where a mountain stream gurgled lullabies in the still nights at the end of the six years they were on their feet the fields hd ex ended tended the herd had crown grown the cream cans went down to town three three times a week there was new fum furniture iture in the log lot house and a lilt of sons again in the widows heart dut but one new pane pang was wits hers mother tove love could not quite stifle stills the pane pang when her tier handsome frank rode oat out with the yellow haired allison girl from south of the ridge at the end of that same six years came the war and now the widow stately Is doubly a widow and the allison girl Is old before her time down the valley a mile or more live the Fre edmans and freddie freed man at fourteen unhappily runs to mI mischief as agthe the parks sparks fly upward was it not freddie who left ther theSta Stately tey agates open at halloween Hallow cen was it not freddie who unbolted the reach in the ile widows wagon who but freddie transposed the front and rear wheels of her buckboard who but freddie shot the wild ducks which she the was taming and drank cream in her dairy when she bad had rone gone to town and tonight as a blanket of christ mas snow carpets the foothills and the valley talley the widow returns from town with her melancholy parcels for christ mas cheer tonight the fire will burn on her hearth and strange visions will wax and wane in the glow clow of embers visions of the first frank and the sec ond frank and a nightmare of horror borror 7 k rm 31 r d q 4 0 F V it i A blanket of christmas snow carpeta carpets the foothills and the valley I 1 at vimy ridge the fire will die out outs and christmas will creep in b wan and cheerless cheer lees and alone i but as she gibe drives up by the log bouse she site sees a sturdy young figure at work in the woodshed and can she be dreaming the spruce logs loge at the end lend of the house have been cut ad piled plied for the winters burning and the sturdy y young r figure comes conies out and takes her horses by the hend head 1 let ilat me put your team awny while lille you go in and arro arm yourself mrs stately said a voice sec see I 1 have started a ore fire for yowl yon I 1 so like frank it seemed that rhe she dared not break the spell without a word world she sank son in the rocker by the fire I 1 but he wax so long in coming that at length she went to the door the sturdy ligure was just disappearing down the road in the fray gray cloud of night who are you who are am you I 1 she called after him hial 1 I am wn the spirit of 0 he answered and then ahe she knew his voice youre not 1 ehe she laughed toure youre freddie 0 0 0 I 1 husband had bad bad had a busy day at the office and friend wife bad had moped all day at borne home 4 it seemed to friend wife that he bet husband took his bli office duties alto gether too complacently for a time timo after they were married be alwawi was home before six BOW now be was fre quey late lats and be dadalt dat sew properly orlY over ever IL that was i what worried her ber mool so 8 frieda wife tte teamed learned to me a little aad and te to ft st ut ikue and to weader wonder a go good deal aad and the mom ehe she moped moved and the lew low did priced ausua beald berry frea from the effim the axce bad had bechta be coine hi his retreat moreover there was the party ef of the third part friend wife bad tor sea seft the party of the third part pam but ahe coald could act not doubt her exie teace per for a year bade back her bar has bu baad band bad had forgotten ferg ottea to kl her when he west to the office aad and when be cao home and aad on those rare nights when he stayed at home he read mad the RIwa PaPer and yawned dawned aad and found the blaw heary heavy oa on his 1 hand hands bo so you see ee there met must be a party of the third part thia this fear tripp gripped tripped ed the little woman 00 deeply that oae one night ahe she deter mined ahe she would know the worst her nor husband bad had not 1 come coins home t to dinner he be bad had telephoned that ho he w waa as very busy ln tn the office he would jat just aup sup out abd rua have a bite and he would likely be fote dont alt sit up she would kaow know the truth I 1 80 90 ahe she put ora long cloak and a ivell veil affair that ahe she could draw over elk F 71 1 AI c 7 there at it the end sat gat an man it waa was her husbands Hua Hu bandt her ber face and ehe she went straight to hta his ace la in time to intercept him before tie tia left for his appointment A light ahone shone through tho the frosted doors but all inside was allent silent as the tomb he has gone alrea already dyl 1 she cx ex calmed to herself then ahe gently tried the door it opened to her hand eyes swept a vista of deserted desks how forlorn and irksome they looked I 1 but everyone was wax gone zone not 1 there at the end sat tat an agul it was her husband I 1 it had never truck struck her before that her husband was beginning to be an man he had not heard her be he was intent over a it statement with long columns column ofaf ure and he be was making calculations on oil a pad of paper before him litra from where she stood she could see the gray tinge about his temples and the thinning hair bair on the top of his head his brow was set in deep furrows and suddenly friend wife found herself swallowing desperately at something in her throat suddenly the he knew that there was wait no party of the third part and never had bad been a party varty of the third part and that she was a foolish wicked woman she drew the door gently shut in the basement of the building was a restaurant where also was a it waiter who for a consideration would carry ft st meal ineal to her husbands office quickly phe he gave the order for two it was to be a modest meal not too expensive ex but healthful and garnished with love loye the waiter carried it in and set it down on the little correspondence table beside friend husbands desk and it a beautiful woman sat tat down beside it lt and held out her hands to the troubled man with the long column of figures vind smiled who are YOU who are yourt he demanded 1 I em am the spirit of christmas ahe she said suld ton you are more than ho be cried toa rou are my wife my my love lover I 1 0 1123 affra unson A a |