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Show Madame can see no one." And the door was shut abruptly. , What would she do? What could she do? Finally, exhausted after walking walk-ing about the streets, she went home, j I her heart full of dry. choking sobs. I At last she hoard the doctor's key. fie came in. He looked tired. But j she was worn nut. j "You've been to " she began. "Yes," he answered wearily, as be j lighted a cigarette, "1 have been there j all this time. But i she has the finest boy you could hope to see ; they're simply delighted. "Boy?" she shrieked. "Yes." the doc-t doc-t 0 r nodded. H e was too tired to notice her Quick change of expres- j sien. "Oh," be s a I d after a moment, "I'm so glad y o u didn't R n i s h the Christmas things without m e. N o matter how late It is, we m nst always al-ways get r e a d y for Christmas to- i 1 i I I fen! Pli g e i n e i , uuikiii i we?" He kissed her lightly. "After I had left the house," he added, "1 remembered 1 hadn't asked you to wait, and I wanted you to wait no matter how long I'd be! Selfish of me, perhaps, but we must havt our Christmas Eve together and get ready for the children's Christmas together, to-gether, mustn't we, wife of my heart?" '"We most assuredly must," she answered him, and added to herself: "What fools these women are who pity the doctor's wife. I'm the happiest happi-est woman in the whole world." I And the doctor was saying: "My dear, do you know that 't Is Christmas morning and that I'm Vish-ing Vish-ing you a Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas," she returned, and in her heart rang the merriest and happiest of Christmas bells 1 ; i 1 The Doctor's Wife I By Mary Grafcam Bonner j (. 1920, Western Newspaper Union. ) I 'E HAD married her in the first place of all because 1 of her lovely, low voice. There had been other reasons too her good , looks, her smile, her com- I mon sense, but mainly and chiefly the attraction which had drawn him to her had been her voice. It had seemed 'during those first years of his practicing and trying to make headway in a seemingly seeming-ly unresponsive city, that voices would drive him mad, wailing, complaining, whimpering always 'discontented. Even when he met women socially he felt they refrained from telling him anythiug but a sorrowful tale of themselves. As for his wife she understood. . She smiled at the poor excuses they made to come and see him, of the jealousy they showed of each other, of the gifts they sent him, of senseless reasons they had for telephoning. tele-phoning. Sometimes they would both be invited in-vited out to dinner din-ner at s o m e patient's pa-tient's house. The doctor's wife chuckled as she thought of bow little she w a s wanted. Usually they looked at her, she knew, rather pityingly, pity-ingly, and at times, the bolder of the s y m p a t h i z ers o "It must be awful to be a doctor's wife.' I'd never have a moment's peace if I were you with so many women caring for my husband!" "We gef used to It," the doctor's wife said so as not to be disappointing, disappoint-ing, -smiling to herself. What fun It was to he a doctor's wife. How much pity one got one didn't deserve, how much wasted sympathy, how many deliciously jealous thoughts one inspired. in-spired. . j It was Christmas Eve. The doctor had promised his wife that he would help her in those many pleasant engrossing en-grossing niglit-before-Christmas tasks. She went upstairs to see that the children were quite asleep when she j heard the telephone ring. She answered an-swered it, and then heard her bus- hand's voice who was already answering answer-ing it from below. Something, some curious something, made her listen. "Oh doctor," she heard a voice say, the voire of the one woman who hnd lately caused her her first pangs of jealousy. "I can't wait another moment. mo-ment. I nrist see you. I'm sorry, on Christmas Eve loo. but I must! Please, doctor, can you come at once?" "Thai's all ris'ht. little lady," she hoard her husband answer, "I'll be up at once." : "I'm going out for awhile," the doc- tor called up the stairs. And was gone without a word of regret and with no effort at an excuse. i " I. ate that evening she went out of the house. She would see this other worn- an. She called a taxi and hurried off. ... "I'm. sorryj' the nuUi told her,, "but |