Show Merry Christmas and Paid in Full How Silas Vaughan Contributed Contributed Contributed Contrib Contrib- to Yuletide Cheer of the Needy By FRANK HERBERT SWEET I I T WAS an eloquent b plea for the public building an urge for Its beauty It Its I Ivalue value to the town t the h 11 e educational gift to the eyes of youth The Tile speaker speak er was hypnotic He had hurt been engaged for that Purse strings were loosened Money oney Toured poured freely tw twenty freely twenty nty fifty a n hundred live five hundred And It was Christmas They went to Silas ls Vaughan the grocer Ind lender r a wealthy man of the town own People looked surreptitiously to 8 see what munificent sum he would give At first n hand went Into his pocket like Ilko the others then cOllie came out and I III a II I 1 I till the were folded There was an I audible gasp from watchful eyes More Mure pleas came more solicitors I vent ent round man to man fUan lint Hut Shag HUns sat Rut there arms folded rigid unmoved Times are too hard he was heard to story gay in answer to nn an Importunate beggar it Is a bad bud year ear for such a building Nut Not bad for me and all those who 31 hl d to noble Impulses said suld nel h. h a neigh neigh- l hr br r in n 11 voice that all nil could hear The next day was Christ Christmas mall with th the grocery and dru drug stores stares o open n for fora forn a n few hours hOUTS Silas SlIus Vaughan went to his U desk and ond took out twice as many bills Ills as ever t had been allowed d to ao ae- before Times were hard liard Rn and nd more were obliged to charge chorle lIlly luUy uly half hult of ot the accounts were se Ia- e- e heeled ii front from the others and several nerds r ls written at lit the bottoms That tok nearly norl art nn hour Then be he slipped tile the bill bills into lotI 11 his hili pocket put on his nis hat flat and coot cout Und nod went out leaving the DP More store to the clerks It was nearly closing time when he heMme Mme back bar This Thle he lie occupied with packing pocking and arranging a number of busk baskets ts with fruit and nuts and candy which he s sent nt out anonymously In the evening came a big church community Christmas tree Most Gloat of the donors of the public building were there rather rother proud of themselves and not above circulating bits of ot When Silas entered there was no uncertain air of ot chilliness chilliness chilli chilli- ness In the room A few nodded to him but frigidly appeared to take no notice and found a u sent near the front where apparently apparently ap ap- he sat calm and unruffled A poorly dressed man down In fn front had been teo loosing boiling about exp expectantly a as though waiting for tor some one to speak Suddenly he roseI roseI rose I aint no speaker he called loudly but I 1 got to say the new I 1 aint to lu rue MII only beems seems too much coney ioney fur for mil need An I never liked horn horn- Now Its It's been an awful hard time tittle for tor folks on count o 0 othere othere there hem heln so much slack First time I 1 couldn't pay up In twenty years I couldn't see lee no Christmas for tor me Now listen This a feller carried papers all round I got one First FYrst I felt feltt t was a sheriff thing like Then I read on the thc bottom I hope hop this will be the beginning of better things Merry Christmas Paid In full fuU Silas Vaughan Mine was thirty thirty thir ty dollars SI 81 must a given away moren a thousand He lIe sat down SUns Silas had lost all aU his composure lIe IIo tried to slip away But Dut hands and apologies were appearing appearIng appear appear- ing from all aU sides He lIe was Wall pushed to the platform and told to make a B speech lie He would have made a mess messof messof messof of It but all were cheering so wildly no one could hear So It did no not mat ter 0 W 1115 1135 Newspaper r Union |