| Show af conf ba ia bat upon the top step rs ot the stairs that led to tha A street and rested hia chin in the palm of his hand some of the fellows came along and cd to him but teddy answer he want to play with the felloes just now tor he was battling with a great sorrow tom bad said it so it must be true tor tom was eight years old and dlan t iw e to go to bed until 8 0 clock ted dys hour tor retiring was halt past 7 and he realized that the eitra halt hour made a man ot the world out of tom while it left the unfortunate teddy still a baby tom had stuck his hands into his pockets toms trousers were lovely and rough just like his fathers and had swaggered around telling all the fellows that there any santa claus when questioned further he had said that there used to be but that ahls year there gasn wasn t going to be and there never would be again ro santa clause it teddy been six ears old he might have cried but of course one as old as he never cried teddy wondered it hed better tell his mother lie decided he w t hy should his mother whom he loved so dearly be made to suffer any longer than was necessary it w as hard though during the next two weeks which seemed like years not to tell and when christmas eve came and his mother galy brought out his biggest pair of stockings and hung them up at the end of the mantel he could hardly keep back the tears how disappointed he and his mother would be when they got up in the morning and found the stockings she leaned oer and kissed him tenderly are ou tired dear she abbed OM don t seem as happy as usual teddy assured her as well as he was able for the lump in his throat that he was perfectly well ills moth er like the wise one that she was hoidn t press the question she merely drew up her low rocking chair and sat beside the bed until she thought ted dy was asleep and then she crept down stairs teddy lay for a long time after she went watching the firelight nicker on the walls lie coulden couldn t go to sleep and besides what was the use when there an thing to wake up tor A good many tears rolled out of the corners of his eyes but he dlan t care now he must have lain there for about four or ten hours he thought and had lust shut his aei to rest them from the light when he heard a sound a very little bit of a sound he sat up quickly in bed and listened eagerly because it sounded U really did sound af if it might be in a min ute he know just how be was leaning out of the window he feel as it he had walked there at all but more as if he had just skimmed along without any effort on bis part as if he bad been some sort of delightful fish bird lie leaned away out of the window not feeling a bit afraid of falling and looked down upon the street yes down there on the street aa plain as day he could see the reindeer shaking their long horns and prancing until the bells that seemed almost to cover them filled the air with their musical jingle and then there was a gleam of red somebody was climbing into the there was the echo of a jovial voice calling the horns ut the reindeer quivered joyfully their little feet paw ed the ground then the whole turnout seemed to leap into the air and like a flash was gonel teddy rubbed his eyes it was fun ny he thought he was at the win dow but here he was in bed he sat up and looked around the room the fire in the grate had gona out but the gray light of the morning was beginning to steal through the curtains teddy belld out of bed and crept softly to the fireplace the stockings were bulging in all directions aa had been their exhilarating wont in other years he put out hla hand and touched one of them gently it was no dreamt the blocking was full to with a little sighing whispering wheeze offo and relief teddy clasped his hands until the knuckles showed as white as the snow outside then with a cry of absolute delight h dashed into hla mother a room she opened a pair of sleepy eyes at the sound of the pattering little feet teddy threw himself upon her laughing and sobbing oh mother mother mother ha cried he come after aall santa claus did cornel santa chaus did come he did he did he ald achl cago dally cwb |
