Show by UP FLORENCE BINGHAM livingston copyright by george H doran company CHAPTER continued 19 lettle patted him wore more absently and more dreamily her thoughts withdrawing into the seclusion of acx lous meditation she scarcely noticed when he left her at the call of his own master but his brief sym pathy had given ghen her courage she contemplated the shattered items of her ambitious plan that was one trouble she had been too ambitious hoping to make many dollars out of the chaos a new thought took beckoned with promise sent lettle flying down donn the street again back to tl TI e custard cup she pelted through the driveway and into num ber 47 with a flash of black curie curls she whirled into the bedroom seized ber tier invention from behind the sleeping 4 V A tm lettle patted him more absently box and was off again racing along through the driveway and up the street running running balancing the long pole with plunging bompensa com pensa eions I 1 gotta have that tree she repeat ed over and over half sobbing still I 1 gotta I 1 promised oh penzie I 1 im in gonta she reached the wideawake office utterly breathless and frenzied by the inward struggle between hope and despair her curls whipped across her face as ale sl e dashed through the door through the gate in the counter past the astonished jack and brought up at the desk the long pole wavered un certainly above the head bead of mr ab bott who dropped his pencil and jerked back in instinctive reaction here I 1 panted lettie through dry lips here US I 1 see for yourself you can have it and the whole echeme scheme make as many s you wanter for a dollar whole thing a dol larl mr abbott stared at the child in speechless amazement his eyes uneas lly following the imminent gyrations of the long staci lettle watching him blin with eagle gaze and seeing no signs of success clutched desperately for further leverage perhaps apolo apology gyl that was often what people required of her certainly if an apology or two would turn the scales it was not a e time for personal reserve excuse me for getting mad she gasped out I 1 gotta beastly temper to home I 1 I 1 pound it out but you you didn dian t have anything to pound quick nough bough and excuse me for using your desk if you d bad had a gong you know holy smoke 1 interrupted mr ab bott with some faint indications of plunging into another pocket of good nature dont have heart failure or jim or anything not in my office sit down sister and grab on to yourself lets see if we can find out what asylum you come out of with a sigh lettle flopped into a chair and having collected a modest supply of breath she launched into a demonstration of her model at the end of the stick were mere two arcs of wire which closed upon the card the arcs were held together by a mile w lie loop which could be released by two arms also of wire that ran down the handle within each of the operator the contrivance was mas crudely made the wires were mere far from even eien and they were clamped to the long stick with carpet tacks but as lettie lettle tri tr antly and repeatedly pointed out it worked mr abbott himself worked it a number of times not riot rap idly but nith with undeniable results let tie watched him in agonized suc suspense pense he shook his head I 1 don t see I 1 ow OR ltd it d save sae anything it might in some sections where the steps are high but oil oh sir cried lettle boye boys juet just to loe toe e I 1 interrupted mr abbott point la is he paused thinking its most christmas he began pres antly lettle came out of her chair aint it he looked at her keenly I 1 got a boy that s crazy over machinery did you say a dollar she nodded I 1 im I 1 m sorry to to ash ask so much she stammered now thor hughly humbled but 1 I 1 I gotta gotto have he said nothing but presently he drew out an old w m allet with a pleasant bulge and extracted from it a green bill which he slowly unfolded it was a dollar bill lettle s wide eyes fast ened on it with unlinking uni un inking transfixion it m was as the I 1 ley ey to fairyland the thing she had hoped for worked for fought for but now that it lay before her she was R as held in the awe of unreality her breath stopped her body grev gre v rigid except for the play of muscles in her throat a mist swam before her ea ees es here vou you are sister he passe I 1 over the I 1 III lettie lettle took it in a daze she tried to speak tha a ank her voice bumped up and down her thin cl est heaved in an ague of emotion sl e clutched the bill and stumbled out of the office never before had she owned a dollar a tenth part of it was the largest sum that had ever come into her hands and that had I 1 een immell abely sv allowed up by the bopple window debt oh penzie she cried as she burst into the kitchen I 1 got it I 1 got it jimimy aint you glad depends on what you got dear returned mrs penfield grown cautious through ih much experience I 1 ottle ettle held up her tanned fist list so ti tig I ly clenched that the bones showed I 1 ite under the bloodless al s in slow ly triumphantly she opened it now we me can have the tree and the party and fun and ev everything evry grything thing can cant t we she shouted gosh I 1 thought I 1 id d nen never er pull it off lettle dear sighed mrs penfield we me got to do something bout your language lettle grinned not fore cl rist mas ha have hae e we me I 1 expect we wouldn t have time tore fore christmas smiled mrs penfield but we got to get at it by new years lettle reverted to matters of more moment and now penzie you 11 do what you promised and show me how to buy a big big christmas we got money nough bough now haven t we oh plenty all we got to do la Is to plan and well get right at it CHAPTER dimes limited the reason some folks have to have so much money explained mrs pen field Is they don t know how bow to plan land tl ey d be s to know how bittle money they could live on it if they d only mix their brains with it it was admitted at number 47 that funds were ample for the project in hand but the young miss penfield was dismayed to find her capital diminished from one dollar to eighty cents the in terpening ter twenty being required to liquidate the final payment on the window it seemed that one could not face a holiday in the right attitude if one were in debt and let tie could not be spared to earn fur ther money before the festive day however crink brought in five cents returns from an errand and thad ju bil antly contributed one penny gross proceeds from two hours of chicken fending from the chatterbox garden total eighty slit six cental mrs penfield knew a place in the country where a tree could be had for nothing but it m would take two car fares and return also crink and the family hatchet twenty cents was segregated for the enterprise the next morning an important ex lon tion set forth from the custard cup mrs penfield went along as an guide but the motive force was let tie who bore the badge of authority in a small purse containing sixty six cents in negotiable form she she was aas lly ily the happiest child in the whole city her feet pressed tie tl e rainbow path of promise her fingers held the wand rand of possibility her starved life was suddenly illumined with the light of joy dazzling by contrast scarcely tp to be alle bellev jed permeating her being with a feeling of unreality the had a long walk but the morning was beautiful bright and crisp with a bracing quality that em pha sized the cheerful spirit of the sea son there had been rain a few days before washing the haze from the hills giving greener life to lawns lanns and trees the streets were bist b astling ling with activity ity i Ex pressmen and delivery delhery bons we were j busier than 1 running up steps and ringing doorbells with an agreeable appearance of rusl people were hurrying in every direction carrying packages of delightful mys berv mrs penfield guided lettle to a store that catered to shoppers whose desires were mere ambitious and m whose hose re sources were small head held high lettle pushed her way may through tl rough the bowd that thronged the aisles the first item on her list wag was tree trim di A but she blinked tn in bev bewilder be alder ment at the array before I 1 er and a dime was the limit the absolute limit for this department lettle set her teeth and ell minted systematically until she reache I 1 the most for the least which her three yards of thin silver tinsel for ten cents candles most emphatically I 1 A christmas tree without candles Is an evening sky without stars for the affluent candles were provided in boxes at ten cents per but others might be had at the rate of six for five cents six were so had by lettle who then turned her mental batteries upon the subject of holders essential to safety of branch and limb but can die holders were ten cents they came in sets of twelve clamped to a card and you were obliged to take the en tire lot or go without lettle stood before the display go 10 long that impatient shoppers disputed tie space she occupied so absei absorbed bed that the interrogate Inter rogat ons of floor R walk olk ers failed to pene late her conscious ness her heart pounded in a panic how could she do what be done she looked around A woman stood beside her en engaged aged in mental work on candle holders with the in tuition of wide experience lettle appraised her instantly landy gracious she cried aint ain t it a fright the way they lump em the woman looked UD III ain aint t it r 7 she agreed and the six for alv e can dies are longer n them in boxes too I 1 I 1 gotta scheme said lettle what say afre if we go shucks on a card id I 1 d be glad to thereupon nickels were pooled and a card was purchased and divided to the infinite satisfaction of everybody concerned the penfield plan allowed another dime tor for candy but it was no erlay matter to decide upon the variety dl DI visibility had to be considered as avell as bulk fortunately the lower the price the higher the color so the lat int ter quality took care of itself lett e pacing up and down before the long counter of heaped up candles came to rest before plain mixed and midget mixed undeniably they represent d the best values the midget would yield greater numbers but plain midd would surely melt less rapidly and alid I 1 tl give longer entertainment to the consumer ultimately lattif s money was on plain mixed the other purchases required little selection and were speedily made they consisted of a tablet of plain good paper for one dime two packages of envelopes for another a spool of white thread five cents and a stick of pink and white candy one cent the latter would help decorate the tree and also serve as a gift for thad during all these transactions mrs penfield had been merely an attentive bit of background but in the following few minutes she was called upon to I 1 ru q 4 I 1 C a I 1 gotta Sol scheme leme said lottie lettle take an active stand it proved to be b no simple matter to get mise miss lett lettl out of the store so engrossed had she been in the purchases on her tentative list that she had scarcely cast a comprehending pre glance at other co commodo ties but now that her responsibility BBS was over and her cash exhausted she turned a fascinated eye upon table and counters of alluring articles TO BE CONTINUED |