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Show -i ' .' . - I L Man, rnwffjj A('K had not been t L'i'.. home In seven years. J M They had gone K'j' M quickly enough In l.I'-'i lil 1 11 0 w " i' that Mi' n Jj years will go, but f'd I -KWnJ w that he was ' '.7-, hack. It seemed as ''''' they had ,i; t.Vjj. 1 ';-4 been longer, lie hud J 3$. ' j- ' ,r3 nilssivl so much. tL2.'4i-uUi I( was n, t,..lt things had changed. Of course, there were changes In the looks of the town. There were few sleighs lined up along the main street; Instead there were automobiles. He hnd been thinking how the uleigh -bells would Jingle as the horses pulled the sleighs over the crisp winter win-ter snow. Hut Instead of sleigh-bells there were the sounds of linn rubber tires creaking over the frozen, 'snow-covered 'snow-covered streets. There had been automobiles au-tomobiles used In that winter of seven years past but they had cot been predominant. pre-dominant. The sleighs had a chance. Now the sleighs were quite missing. The automobiles had charge. He wondered If he stayed away for another seven years If he would see lights from airplnnes and hear them buzzing over the buildings. Yet, even If he did, he did not feel as though the place would really change. There was something about the town that would never change. They might build more modern shops, airplane air-plane landings might take the places of uo many garages as the garages had taken the places of blacksmith I shops, but the essential qualities of ihe town would never change. Always Christmas would be Christmas Christ-mas here with its holly-filled windows. Its wreaths over doors, its trees for Christinas lining the main street. Doubtless that wr.s the way Christmas Christ-mas would always be In many places. But here It would seem more Important. Impor-tant. Christmas would be deep In the whole heart of the town which always expanded and became so generous and ! big and open at this season of the ' year. j Probably because It was, Christmas i did seem different here from that of j any other place. ' He remembered the Christinas be-! be-! fore. There had been guyly decorated i shops, hurried, happy shoppers, lighted ! Christmas trees In the streets, crisp 1 snow and Christmas greetings. ! Hut it hadn't been the same. Christ-mas Christ-mas seemed to belong so much more to his own home. In that other place he had felt a little lonely and a little out of it. Rut here he had no feeling of loneliness. Even though he was just back and as yet had met lew of the people he knew and had vaguely reo-I reo-I ognized some who were gioun up now J who had been children before he left. I he did not feel out of it. They might not recognize him. brt he was at home and he was happy and loneliness had been m.ni-hed fro! . his heart ia a gloriously complete fashion. He had gone home as soon as he I had arrived. And now he had come ' up to get the mall. It was not that he expected nny mail. His Christmas cards and boxes of cigars and neckties and such would be sent to his business address, for It was not unt'l the last minute that he had been sure he could make the long 'trip and reach home in Jimf PL m It S... , .V.-is Wonderful to be Back Again. time for Christinas Kve. His telegram i had come before him. but his presents had already been sent out. and his mail would be wailing for him at his j ollice. To he .sure, he know the family I would quickly ami marveloiis'y tin j little gifts li. put at Ids place on tin j Christmas gift table. Hut ihe goinr for the mail was simply a desire to do what he laid always done, to mingle witli the people, to see his own towns folk. It surely was wonderful to be had. again. Wonderful beyond even what he hud dreamed It would be. low lucky that the train had been on time and he hud been able to have a long, Christmas Kve. Christmas trains, he thought, slionl .' alv ays he on time. Moments at Chrisl-mas Chrisl-mas mean so much. He was leaving the post ollice. lie had seen a number of people he knew. Just outside he met a group of men who had been graduated from high school In his class. They were picking pick-ing up some of Ihe now falling sii"i and throwing snowballs at a group of laughing, red-eheeked girls. "You remember them," he was told. And then it was explained to I. In. that those grown-up y (.ting people were thfl youngsters of seven years ago. lie Joined In the snowball battle. Kvhlently he was a good shot, for u loud shriek from one of the girls proclaimed pro-claimed that fact. "Oh, oh, that's not fair! Your snowball snow-ball went right Into my face. Lucky it was fresh snow or I'd have finished you !" "I'm so sorry," he said to her and recognized her then as that nice little Afhiins kid he used to teach to balance on her bicycle and whose school bag he sometimes carried home for her. She h:n been younger than he but she had always been such a good little lit-tle sport, ready to enter Into everything, every-thing, eager to try. "I'm .lack, you remember me. don't you. Connie?" Constance Adams gasped Just a little. lit-tle. "Why, of course I do!" she exclaimed. ex-claimed. "Hut I didn't expect to find you hitting me with snowballs. That'? n fine kind of greeting!" How beautifully she had changed. All her same nice essential qualities seemed Just Ihe same, hut her changes were merely additional attributes. She dressed with more tasie than she had when a youngster, she was graceful grace-ful now instead of tom-boyish. She was like the town. In Its spirit, its homeyness would always be the same, no matter with what succeeding fashions and customs it kept apace. "Look here," lie said abruptly, "would you mind if I left the mall home and then came around for a nice chat with you?" "I won't be home until ever so late," she said, "or only for a moment at any rate. I should be there now to It Was Late When They Got Back to Her House. get the baskets with the presents. I haven't delivered any of my gifts yet." "Couldn't I come, too?" "Indeed yes. you'd lie a great help in carrying the baskets. I always did like school-bags and baskets carried for me." She looked up at him and laughed. The general snowballing had stopped. Groups were going off together, to-gether, ail bent on their Christinas Eve activities. "I'll be obliging," Constance said. "Y"ou take the mall down and I'll be ready as soon as you come. I won't keep you waiting. They do that, don't they, In stories?" She stopped, a little embarrassed. "Kesides I want to get through," she added tirmly. "I've so many places where I must go." It sounded in his ears like a lieatitl-fiil lieatitl-fiil refrain, almost like a melody. "I w on't keep you waiting. I won't keep you waiting." He said it over and over again to himself. Nor did he keep her waiting. He was there in scarcely any time at all. His family had understood. They hail seemed happy that be had found himself so quickly at home in the town. It was what they had dimly feared he would not be. What a gay thing that was taking around Christmas presents in baskets, in wishing people Christmas cheer and holiday greetings, in having doors opened to one where a whilT of balsam ar.,1 shadows of firelight sent a glow over one's whole heart and mind and soul. It was late, very late, when they got back to her house. He supposed he should wait. He supposed he should keep quiet for a little longer than this. Hut he couldn't. Heshles. it was Christinas and at Christmas, feelings feel-ings weren't supposed to be hidden. One war. n't ashamed of sentiment, one didn't barricade one's affections. "Connie, you m:iy say I ilon't know, hut I do," he began. "1 knew at once. I think I've always known. It has been there, unrealized perhaps, hut you know even as a kid you were unusual. un-usual. Yon weren't like any re the others all rice enough but you! "I wish I'd made a hit with something some-thing other than a snowball!" he ended. "I'm rather glad it was with a snow-.afl." snow-.afl." Constance answered slowly. "It m:is like getting hack at once to the lays when 1 was a child and you were so nice to me and let me be included in so many of the older boys' an I girls' games." "I'd like to Include you. to exchj sively include you. in my whole life.' he -aid gently. "Couldn't you tell me that you wouldn't keep me waiting?" wait-ing?" "Well, maybe I could." she said, very seriously, "and maybe I'd mean it. too! Merry Christmas, old dear!" "Only six years older, young sinarty, but Merry Christinas Just the same!" And the old town Just seemed to sparkle and twinkle that Christmas Kve as it never had before. l. Ir2t. VL'slorn Nomnkbr Ijalon.) |