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Show ' "r r " . r . - . , . 1 j 1.1 11 . . . 11 11A A , I I e \ ' ' , . i MerryChristmas 1\lerry 1 lerry Merry \ MerryChristmas ' } Christmas hristmas ! I - + _ 0- 0 0R - I Ii B R By ) Helen Helcn Morion Morton 111orron MorionUT MortonI 111 orron orronIT I | i UT IT WAS enoJgh enough eno ieh to make one hatChristmas hatChristmas hat Chriitrm Christmas ! Betsy was IIQ so o tire tlrer tlrerthat ' ( that she could hardly stand Th Thl Thu Thlcounter Thucounter ) counter In the th * middle of ot the th aisl auh aisle aislehad auhhad aislhad had become a nightmare ightrnare nightrnare to her Thcrowds Thcrowds Th crowds hurrying by pulling pullin ( thnecktie thneckties th thneckties neckties necktie . off ofT as their coat coats * brushe brushes brushesagainst < < Jfalnit aealnst against them flncerlni fingering them ovc ovel over overand oveland ovcand and then tossinx toning tossing them bach back backon on th thto thtable table to ble carelessly carelesslyStill carelesslystill Still It t was wal good to have a 8 jol Jot dot doteven Joteven joleven even a temporary one For sh shI shhad shIhad I Ihad had been without work tor for a loot lootenough Ion 10(1 101 ( . . enouth enouah enough time so 10 that . she .he he had epl eat eplen eaten d i ien ' * . .hE hE she he couli coulc could couldborrow couliborrow ' ' en and all aU her possecsions possessions ( . ' borrow mmey money onNo on onNo onNo No Urn time * . t to * be standlfif Itanding standing here think thinkln thinkIng thinkIng ln Ing ( though thouSb That fat tat woman looks looked lookedal lookedas I as al if It she Ihe waa was wa . cotnf goma going to buy leveral several leveralties severalties severs seversties 1 ties Thesa 'Thea Thea There ' . are very nice madarn madam madamAnd madamAnd And to 110 so reaso"i3blc reasoi3blc rf'8so'13ble rf8so13ble reasoable ' ' , " 3 3S 33 cent e'ntf entf cents ( ' ? ' a II pircc prcc piece prccor pieceor ! or three thre for (1 1 $1 ( $ 00 This Is 11 U an exceptionally excepUonaUy ex exceptlonally ceptlonally cepUonaUy ceptionally pretty one und 8nd and Bets Beta Betsy Betsyshowed , showed .howed howed . her a navy blue But the fa fal fat falw fatws i w ws < ( man dropped the ties lIt'1I lIt1I ' and haitened has hasteoed hastened teoed tened away with her friend Itavlnia IE'avinaa leavinga IE'avina IEavina leaving ' ' a pile plle of ties on the noorWearily floorWearily floor noor floorWearily Wearily Betsy leaned over ver an an anbegan ambefn < began peking p eking Ihenn lht'm lhtm them ' up Let I et mt mthelp mthelp mhelp help " ' ' ' a friendly voice asked al ked Betsy Betsylooked Betsylooked Betx : ' looked up Into a 8 handsorrr handllome handsome face facecurly facecurly curly brown hair deep dl'ep dlep ' blue eyetand eyes eyesand eyesand and a 8 mouth that curved lito hto intn a a8m asm ism 8m sm le ! ] e 1 " at the surpr se ce e In Betsy Bet y s 6 a l'yes lyes eyes eyesI eyeswant ' eye eyeI Iwant I want to get ( et some tom * tie ties . for my myfamily myfamily m : family I 1 ve ye been up here her * the pas pasfew pasfew pasfew few weeks and so * o 1 I don t t kn v w " wwhat what the k ds ( d Is want wan I but I think it II 11 11be 1be IIbe be safe .afe afe . to give ( ive cm em Ues tJes ties Socks ar are areso > 10 so o commonplaoe commonpla commonplace commonplaoeYour commonplaceYour Your brothers7 brothers ' Bcty Betsy * asked aaked al at al.he atshe ashe .he he she . held up one or two the she likec likecparticularly like llkciparticularly llkciparticularlyYeah ( particularly particularlyYeah Yeah Three brothers and a sis sister , Is Ister i iter ter She s I a about your sue age I reckonWhat rE'ckon rEckon rE'ckonWhat reckonWhat ' What does doell a 8 girl ( Irl like anyway nyway whciyou when whenyou whenyou ' you ve ye only onJ.y onJy . a little to tpend7 Ipend spend ? ' HI He HI10oJr.ed Helooked Hilookwd 10oJr.ed 10oJred looked . Imploringly Implortngly ImploringlyLet ImplortnglyLet Let s . let get ct the brothers fixed fix.ed . UI ut utfirst ufirst ] first rst and then llien see about her How Howthis I s II IthiB sthis thiB this for fur the 17 year old " ' Betly Betsy In InqulrE'd inquired inquired inquiredFtne I qulrE'd qulrEd quired qulrE'dFille quiredFine ' Ftne Fille Fine You know I m tickled p nlto nk nkI nkto nkto ; I to be able to do anything anyttllng , tor for the thefamily thefamily thnfamily . family I 1 struck a bai bad spell was wasdown wasdown wadown , down with flu tor for three weeks and andlost andlost amlost lost my job I just lust ju t got another last lastweek lastweek lasweek week But I 1 d have hated to have havethe havethe havithe ' the day go by with nothing from thibit the the'big thebig ' big boy His Ills face was WBS ihlnlni shlnlng shining ihlnlniI shiningI 'big big ' I 1 11 have them wrap1- wrap1 wrapped wrap1ed wrapted - ed a as i 5 gifts giftsThen giftsThen ( iftaThen Then you go ( o over uver to the c.unter cunter counter counterthere c.unterUlere Ctuntethere { . Ulere there and tclect select tomethine something lSome l/g l g / ) for ( or your yoursister yoursister yousister sister Here 111 1 I 11 II tak take you over a aget I Iget Iget get a g rl fr tr in m my home town I t Iwalt twart twait walt wart on y u St )1 1 Si ' ) e a 11 III IIIf t tr f r flp Ip lp and Dotswer ncl Bets Betswer wel wer t alone along w th t I nr lIT iur iurY nrY lITY Y u re nd n ru ( t M A c tv iv Ilrl girl IlrlI { fir } tl \I I \ tier pr el Nw Nw N Nw w ndcr nder n er you w WI were [ rc re s helpf heipf il 11 d 1 1 I I r - s > a > r ra ra rI ra ra rrr a I a a rr I 1 waut want to eet get "ome ome some " ties ror for f r myfamily myfamily my myscared family familyscared scared of or these the.e thee . cophiiticated sophisticated girlsin girls girlsIn ( Irliin In m st t of the "il il ci " I ops T " T ' at j s . because be because because cause I " ve se e been here only a few fewmonths fewmonths fewmonths months n A d in my home town ev everyone everyone cvcryone eryone ki kr ew everyone and It w . IS us ISwI"ll uswell iswell wI"ll wIll well " it \ , v-as v as was - as d Terent tyerent ferent ( ( . . Say y ISI I t Idon tdon idon I don t thi thl k I 1 m 01 ge getting ( citing tlng fresh dyou7 d dyou dyou you ' I m j ist 1St rat so ISO homesick H II sticc 81 sl 81hce slf hce f ice v-as v as v.as vas was . - rd rtd ( ( w tt tI U embarratsr embarraSSI1e embarrasur ie e tit tII t tIt It II v.as vas was w . Betsy s . turn to look tr tI Ibled J I Jbled ibled I bled Sure I knew how It WUII was WUII1 wasI waI * \1 1 \ I d i r t cl ci alltr attlr attr ( s\\iy s iy av"lY avlY awny \ . \ " w v . . th every c is ' " istomtr i itumir < tumir tomtr tom I r U1is this Uil * wriy WdY way e I " Il'r Ilr 1 I ' e.r er . I m like yn Y YI Yn yn I n ( w where hpre here ar al d ( I 1 I Ir i r 1 PS eo es ; me for my c ( wr WI wrI WIIeolle wrt I I t ( sltin Ieolle eoi eot Ie le I v v.as vas was . . s Fat latne IRIng ng Cl CF ClristIT'IS ClristITIS riltn ristn 11tin ' sl ( tin v e v w . . It 11 U s ct ci ror cor cot fJS fis f is JS n nr al ar d n o oreal nreal real Chr stir stlT 'I I s ' cl ; i ir it t t S I 1 m gild glrdl gl rdl rdlyo idyo ! ! yo i i to 10 d b t e \ y ir ur famIlyISle familySi family ISle | Sl Si e tIt t I i Y F 1 r \ nvcr O\'r O 'r r mer ( ' to Mdrle Marie at ate atp e ( > won .on on . ens " en "n n k I > v.c vc we . v . c r re c i r ter ler and went I , 1 i her tie Ill ' sell ell f g . 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Iave lave ave jus just I a I tic tie . ut v.t vt wt Ic Ie le hr f ( Ir ( r j I n h hadl.tl ha ha adl.tl adltl a d I . wd wa . t t gtla(4drd gtla4drd gel ( t ai aq a ( ( < -i i - ri a i r < ( d fI fy f I ) y u 11 ii ) It let eel > I n rip ye e 111 It 11 \1 1 \ . was a t t I ) ist i J S t I III aI a II aI I I k I f [ lIs 11 1 > s * was u V . d js s u a . her h ( i es kl k kIt kI l y v w ' " . a t I f i 1 u g U t tt < flk talk I al k w Ih th a "TI TI sn " n .111 111 ail ailt . illl I II It I t wn .n n . firl girl .h h wh who . ( kr kl cw ew hi his la IR c g gas d " , t l ( tThff lThele Thff Thele There "a a Vk w " as a & . just jU'1 jU1 ' 8 a n no o ner nel net l I t k v t I FSIl actt f ' act I III t t I n bef bf bt > f ( ' re I'E IE ' Betsy aa laid said Id w th Ih a H II gnn grin grinSure gnnSurf ( rin rinSure II Sure Surf ' enough enolJfh Lead Lf'Ad LfAd ' me mf ' to the lunchcounter lunch lunchu lunch.uujyicr lunchuujyicr counter ( ( . u lf'r lfr ' You re no more lonely than thanII thanI 1 ve ye brrn bt'f'n btfn been ' ' As AJI It Is I * I 1 really feel ff'el ffel ' like II . ' cep ( { sA sa1 say y Merry Mf'rry Mfrry ' Chri Chrlslm"s Chrlslms Christmas lm " * whf'n whfn when whentomorrow whentomorrow whf'nIOmOrrow ' IOmOrrow tomorrow corne comes * [ |