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Show MAGAZINE SECTION. ONEIDA COUNTY NEWS. . i ... ' r " - - . - I r" --- , ., j j The' Christmas Holly Girl j 1 ; V r v f , v ,u ;s - - , - (V; j, ' m i r , 0 j ; Christmas Morning , ' i ard, who'd a riyht to dig his grave without opposition from nobody; now you're ruarkln' out a trail for that kid to foller. gee? Me an my friends here ain't no call to Interfere between father an' son," dropping his voice to an easy, familiar tone, and placing a hand encouragingly upon the tremu-olu- s shoulder, "so long as the father makes a good deal; but when he slumps," his voice was still soft, but the steely glint returned to his eyes "then me an' my friends step In. Sabe? Beln' the first kid In camp, we've con-stituted ourselves his guardian Just like every man in the place will do soon's they hear of his heln' here." He turned hack to his companions. The watery-eye- d man, after one long, wlstfnl.farewell glance toward the bar, resumed his fruit-less search of the goods. There was nothing now to divide his at-tention; he knew the men with whom he had to deal, and real-ized that hence-forth the bar was to bo as far re-moved from him ns though a wall of granite Inter-vened. But, to his credit be It said, even with the realization came a new firmness to his eyes. mm "What's that on the top shelf?" he asked suddenly. "That? Oh, that Is I dunno," hesl. tnted the storekeeper, as he took down the object In question and exnmlned It critically. "It got in with some goods a year ago, an' has been up there ever since." "Why, you chump!" cried the cran-berry owner derisively, "not to know a Jumpii' Jack when you see one I I've bought lots of 'em to home for the children. See I" and he pulled a string which sent the acrobat tumbling up over tho top of his red pole. "Just the thing for a kid." "Just the thin?," repented the watery-eye- d man, drawing a small bag of gold dust from his pocket: "It'll make the boy laugh." As he was going out, tho owner of the cranberries stepped to his side. "Here, take this along with you," he said, relinquishing the can to which he had been clinging so fondly. "It'll help to make out a Christmas for the boy." "And this, too." "And this," added the owner of the sardines and the owner of the baked beans; and then Sheriff Dobson pushed before them and slipped something bright und heavy Into the hand which held the Jumplng-Jack- . "It's a nest-eg- g for the kid," he said gravely. "Now you better go home an' fill up his stockln'; an you can tell him Merry Christmas from us alL" lie lurched heavily against tho coun-ter. His watery eyes began to fill, partly through his condition and partly from some long dormant tenderness which was beginning to reawaken. "The boy's considerable childish," he went on, rousing himself a little ot tho consciousness of being listened to by men who usually passed him with-out recognition, "an likes things to play with. So, bela'tlt's Christmas, an' he Jest coniln', why, I thought mehhe I'd better hunt some toys." "Of course," cried Dobson, the sheriff, heartily; and "Of course," "Of course," came promi My from others of the group. And tlu-- they looked about the store Inquiringly, eagerly, in search of some-thing that would please a d "ft7 Doy who was ; childish. Hut there was little they saw; only huge miners' boots, py! ' ranilds of ph'ks and shovels and blankets, barrels of flour und beans and pork; and on the shelves, tobac- - co and c u n u e d goods, and a small assortment of earthen and tin-ware; and then, at the fur end of the store, a bar for the accommo-dation of those who were thirsty. A-CHrist-majs ' ALK a dozen unshuven, red- - , t'Aw n I shlrted miners were gath-lln-l m'(l u,,out the dingy conn-- '. f ter of anger's, tho one t tore i'Wii In camp. It was Christmas i.pi eve, and they wanted some-$'- 0 ,nlnK for their dinner $?ivriA. itn ne morrow Just to keep JiSiiXa them In mind of the day, they said. But there was little nov-elt- y In the forlorn remnant of cans V- - ojHm the shelves, or In the half-empt- y Liirrel.si and boxes under the counter nmfmassed In tha corners of the room. , - On man found a stray box of sar-- . . (II iii's, und took possession of it with the remark thnt, while It was not i "Chrlstmusy," lie couid have the sat-isfaction of knowing be was eating the only sardines In camp; another . drew out a cun f Boston baked beans i from behind a simadron of tomatoes; while a third, of more Investigating and determined turn of mind, hunted among the boxes and barrels until he actually discovered a cun of Cope Cod cranberries. This brought the entire group of Christmus hunters into a ruiopnct, envying circle; and while they were anxiously debating the pro and con the in of a division of fpoils, the door opened quietly i.nd a t wutery-eye- mar. en- - tered. "Have you got any toys?" he asked, hesitatingly. The Hori-'keepe- stured, and iinanl-ut'nisl- ;is though by preeourcrti'd the grmiji iir'mnd the i.inw d r"riientatives from Caoe Coil tnnii'd and snirpd also. "Any what?" the storekeeper asked jlar.kl.v; "Tojs," ih! nam repeated lookiiig rt 'he cniir.'iMg fuees with ubasbed "things to play with, I inoiiii. H'ao chlldivn h;ie at Christ cos. Yen sec," with a curious mingling of apology and priile In his I'olee, "my little d hoy came :n on I ho stage J:ist i!o clean from lis grandma's hack t Missouri. I've fwen for him these two years, 9Ut couldn't seem to yet to it till I Urtick a vein last month." There were no dry and fancy goods and notions upon the shelves, no show-cost'- s upon the counter, no d!sply in the one dingy window. Such thing would begin to make their appearance only with the coming of the first wom-an, and that was not yet. "Kather a slim show for playthings, Dobson," said the owner of tho cran-ImtiIi- s, alter .t fruitless search with his eyes trom one end of tho store to the other. Don't s'pose a pack o' pluyln' curds would do?" as his gaze paused hopefuly on un extensive as-sortment of that popular article. "They has pictures on 'em." "Wouldn't do at all," answered Dob-son decidedly. "They nin't moral; an' the first kdl who patroni.cs US has got to be brought up moral. Say, you," to the watery-eye- d man, who was edging towards the bur at the far end of the store "none o' that!" "None ti' what?" asked the tunn quer-ulously. "I ain't step,!n' on your toes." "No, but you are on the kid's. See here." His voice had an incisive ring which had made many stronger men tremble. "You ain't wulkln the sam line you was twenty-fou- r hours ago. Then yon was a poor, drunk- - tWAWAV.W.V.V.VAWi Santa Fetched Him f'i. , ' , wtJw-- Croat Savers. How our mothers ami grandmothers would have appreciated the wonder-fully eilklent electrical appliances of the present day. Probably most of nil the electric washer and ironer, be-cause. If the proper machines nre se-lected, they represent the greatest economy. Not only do they ave money, time and Imckbreaklng. drudgery, but the very clothes themselves. I! IlillllllllllllllllllllillUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII II APair of Stockings Bj Chriitopktr C HiurJ ii liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiimimiimiiiiiii ir (V. Weatcra Newtyaper I'oltio.) BUDDY SMTTII had three ideas his stockings they were full of feet, full of holes, and they could be full of presents. It was with regard to the third idea that he was paying attention to the second. Will-ing to go barefoot under the circum-stances, he was tlelng up the holes in his best stocking, with it view to the Christmas possibilities, ills sister, Agnes, had already bung up a much longer stocking, with a note attached In which she Informed all who might be concerned that this one was hers. Hut Agnes, like the monkey that used a rabbit for a muff and kept himself warm by hugging it, was a Uttle pel-fis- Not only hnd she hung up one of her mother's stockings, but she had got an advantage over lludrty In the mat-ter of the chocolate cake In the cup-board, for there were holes all round It the size of her little finger. So It was that on Christmas morn-ing the shorter stinking hud the most In it. ' 1 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1:1 1 1 1 1 n i wi ii it iv ; f TheEvergreenTree ' By OmtopW C Hum! III 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 (, ltf."A Wesleru Newspaper Colon.) ' rpilE servants hnd retired and left the old lady alone. She sat be-fore the decorated and lighted tree that was burdened wlh gifts that seemed to have no destinations. For j, Mrs. Stone was long past the wanting of gifts and no companions, young or old, sat with her, because she wished to be alone with her memories. She was not as alone hs she seemed to be, for, In the great ,halr opposite to hers memory placed tle fairy figure of the child who had planced and danced about the house aid under the Chrlstmns tree of long ago. Beside her there sat one who seemed to lay his hand again upon hers In happy e and satisfied affection, while there bent over her the strong and tender t youth who was once her hope for later years. Again the old house seemed f full of Joy, and noisy merriment drove J out the deathly stillness, while t tree that is always green spoke of th I Immortality of happiness. I The next day, when the servants I dismantled the evergreen tree, It was f found that every gift was marked with a name, and they were busy that t Christmas morning In distributing new happiness about the neighborhood. tI 0 M. HOW JLrUll J " rwc mwwkA7 -- v u v phi ; grrrr.TT-r- . --- 7 ,V.V.W.W.V.VAVAV.VAV. I THE MAIL I CARRIER j . 17011 many years, In good weather or had, day after day, he had fol-lowed his chosen Job faithfully and well. He bad carried many, many Christmas presents In his day, too. This year one of the families he had served so regularly prepared u Christ-inas bo for him ami for his wife and for his children. "It Is the tiist Christmas box I ever received from one of my families," be said. "Wasn't It thoughtful of tham to have rcmemhercd their mail car-rier?" But the people were saying, "To think that we haven't done something of this sort every jear. The mail car-rier does so much for us and we, at limes, almost stem to forget he's eren human I" His Luck I K " (, 1022, Wntorn Newnpajwr I'nlon.) "fX7KLL, I'll be getting lots of presents soon," he said. He had Just met some pleasant new friends. "Yes," be continued, "Chrlstmns Is a good time for me. You see I'm popu-lar with wies. I get notes from hun-dreds of them; there are any numher who Write to me, and when Christmas comes I hey knit ties for me or buy a handsome silk handkerchief or (wo. or a t'uie mulller a little thought of rue ft any rate. And I've never lecn In a divorce case yet." he cmied. "You must be ti iliploui.it or luckier Mum you deserve." Fomonue remarked. "Neither," he unswerwl. "I'm a mllk-- 1 : 1 and a milkman's 'hn-tti- is is apt to tv full of rheer nod tho gorvi-boart-e- d fclwes of the ladies I" ! IHHHHIHUm i H I " ' 1 s, I Easily Managed YOU muHt btlleve In Santa Claun ? tn neKlwt yon would not rau And ,t tha holidays drift by ; Ancl hririic you nothlDK but a Hiifh. He may not t you If you watt In I'll. riPM and millish tate For him upon his way to mart i" To irrant the wlxhra of y0ur heart Pnr he his wnyg maki-- s known to men Ny s that are beyond .ur Ken And us hlii Journeyinff vant is made He uw e many a musqueraihi. ; So If a artlty you r In the supply of ChrlHtuias rheop. Junt huHll like a wllllnB elf I AaJ old Baata eUiw youradj. |