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Show J'yatheHne del man prj-tON CARLTON gripped tha wheel tightly as the car ?v?wtf-J plowed a zig zag path through the mire of the ''-JSfjfi country road. What a fool ''Ahi he had been to allow him-CJj him-CJj self to be talked Into tak-mir tak-mir tng the short cut between Webster and Holton! But he had been In such a hurry to get back to Chicago to Join with the crowd In welcoming In the New Year. If only he had made sufficient Inquiry he could have found out about this awful detour. He hadn't thought there were any roads left that were quite so bad, and he couldn't have foreseen the quick and annoying thaw that had set In. Down the steep grade the big car careened now on one side of the foad, now on the other. He couldn't hold It to the ruts. It got more and more beyond his control every minute until finally the left rear wheel slid Into the heavy three-foot bank at the side. Don made a sound that was almost a groan. He was beyond speech for the moment. Could anything be worse? Marooned in the dark on a country road, and on New Year's Eve! As hungry as a hawk, without even a sandwich to bite on. Hang it all, anyway! any-way! Why hadn't he used a little common sense? Stumbling out of his seat, he stood upon the running board for a moment. There didn't seem to be a thing that he could do. The heavy night was all around him, and there probably wasn't a house within miles. But there was! For the friendly light of a Christmas candle was blinking blink-ing at him from the window of a small cottage that stood back some distance from the road ! Braving the sticky mud that made walking so dlilicult, Don approached the house and knocked. "I I beg your parden for bothering bother-ing you," he said apologetically, "hut i my car got stalled out In front and I i "I I Beg Your Pardon for Bothering You." thought maybe I could use your telephone." tele-phone." There was something likable In the face of the lad standing Inside tha door. "I'm sorry, we've got no phone, I ml.-ter, hut but I know mam would ! lie glad to have you come In. Wouldn't you, main?" lie turned toward a slen- der and charming dark haired woman as he spoke. "Why, of course," she said, with a i smile. "We're always glad to assist a I stranger, and arid we can fix you I something to eat, and you can stay here until some one conies along to help you." I Soon Hie appetizing odors of ham I and eggs and coffeo filled the room, j Don Inhaled tho fragrance while he talked to the children. He found the I other three Just as pleasant as the hoy I who h.nl opened the door. There was something especially likable about them all. Don did a lot of thinking while ha ate the delicious menl. His sharp eyes had tnken In tho situation at a glanco. There was poverty In the little home -not the kind that shows Itself to the j world unashamed hut the shabby ro-' ro-' llnenient. A few new toys of the cheap-. cheap-. est kind were the only things to show j that Christmas had come to tho little I family. I Hi' thought w ith a thrill of the pack-' pack-' ago Hint lay tinder the back seat of his cur. He was glad now that a mla-tnke mla-tnke had been made on the shipment to the Nelson Stores and they had asked him to bring the things Into the factory branch for credit. But Instead of going t() the factory branch, he made up his nilnil that tho contents of the package would remain In the Daltoti collage. And he felt quite sure that he was going to have u lot more fun out of the thing he was going to do than he ever could have celebrating the New Year with his bachelor Mends In Chicago. An hour later, after help had come along, and while he was being towed (o the highway, there echoed In his ems above the plop plop of the horses-feet, horses-feet, thfl hearty I hanks and good wishes for a happy New Year that th. Dalton family hnd repeated with such sincerity. And ho fell Hint such good wishes must riimo true. G. K3:L vlom Nwsrt ir t'nlu |