Show ra s d T T j i S 7 abr 1 I r in R iv I 1 R 0 v T 7 n j by sarah jano clark j ial saw joan first as she stopped JIM in nt at du valls grocery mother wants A T bone steak tho he kind she gets and a pound of bacon iler her was that delightfully husky kind jim having finished ills his purchase pu lchase got out his money slowly counted up tho the amount of ills his purchases and looked over ills his change carefully before lie ho pocketed it she looked like a gr grand and girl ho wished he knew her but ho he was as a stranger in the big city and hed have to wait rush things with a girl like that and perhaps she had a boy friend already unconsciously ho he slowed down at the corner of his apartment building stupid to have to emt eat all alone the night before christmas jim turned to look back at the store he had just left and found that the girl had overtaken him hello there you going my way he asked im a stranger here and its mighty lonesome at christmas 1 but the girl with a cool excuse me please hurried on jims cheeks burned ile he meant to be fresh really ho he turned the corner and entered the doorway of his apartment then ho he saw the girl the third time she was just opening the door doo r and going up tho the stairs she lived in the same building with himl he ate his solitary supper in his bis one room kitchenette apartment then what was there to do his first christmas away from home his job here was so new that he dared to ask tor for time oft off to go home well he ha supposed he could go to a show but when jim got out onto delaware place he almost changed his mind A snow had begun to tall fail a heavy le leisurely liture ly snow with big lakes flakes aw 11 4 Z apa I 1 there was a bump and a crash as an armful of packages landed on oa the sidewalk that made a thick carpet on the streets and sidewalks already icy from the drizzle ot of the afternoon he hesitated a minute about starting out on such a night then think ing of the lonely room he be had just quitted he shrugged his shoulders and started up the street with his head down he trudged through the snow plowing his wa way y with difficulty against tho the strong wind too late he saw a dark figure directly in front of him there was a bump and 6 a crash as an armful of packages landed on the sidewalk startled jim looked into the face of the girl he was thinking about his face red with embarrassment jim picked up her bundles bundle a strange to say the girl laughed amusedly why go around barging into people this way its just my luck christmas eve to have my bundles all scattered and a little ruefully some ol of them broken say a shame you must let me replace anything broken e n 11 jim insisted really im awfully sorry about this I 1 was wa facing the snow and had my head down ill never forgive myself if you dont let me do this last minute shopping with you I 1 am jim sheridan from i dubuque working tor for the times 01 well im joan siegfred ive iva been feeling sorry for the tha way I 1 squelched you a while ago so im glad of a chance chanca to say so her eyes were bright and sparkling and her cheeks glowing from the tha cold walking down the busy streets with a pretty girl replacing christmas decorations that had been smashed in the fall and being allowed to help put them on the tree later was a lot better than going to a picture show alone and when joans cheerful friendly mother asked the homesick lad to have dinner with thorn them next day jim felt that he was no longer a friendless stranger in a big city and that christmas was a time of peace and good will after all C service |