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Show OilOiU.x vbaLlAVIliljUUAil iiiSOCX 'Off "Vou are not I. Hiking very Jolly on Christmas day ob rxnl the girl In bmwii Were )tmr girts rhlelty hair receivers nnd sllter thimbles, nr wre they so uxpctislte that you are wonder Ing how )on can ever return them neit erT" "N nut oxaetly." replied the girl In green ' I" "Oh. ou tlioiild sen Alice" broke In the girl In brown. "Hhe looks as happy as the girl who has got rid of the coal of Ian she cultivated at the seashore last slimmer She" "1 don't know whether or not she r-celved many presents, but she has one which seonis to make her iwrfect ly happ). It Is" I am sorry lo hear It If that girl got her deserts ahe would siend the holidays with the dentist shewell, you know I hale toon a good deal of Alice lately You know wo Just hud to lie lutlmilH, slme I toll was tlltldlng his attentlona prelt) equall) lietwiuu ua" "M'h'm. otherwise iwoplo might fancy )im were Joalous of well other' "Jealous of Alice, the Iden llow-eer, llow-eer, I had to watth her You never know what n girl with her saintly expression ex-pression Is saying of ou behind )our hack You know that Hob la sort of literary, and ho talks about bookr most of tho time Well, Alice Is an deceitful that sho pretends she, too, la literary. I hate deceit ' "Hut how do )ou manage to keep up the conversation when he " "Rob prefers a couiersntlon In which the other party Is a listener, dear Of course I told him when wo first met that I dearly hm to road" 'Oh, w7l, I don't know a girl an) whom who reads us many fashion mnguzlnes as )ou" "M'h'm. Well, I know that Hob meant to make mo n handsome Christmas Christ-mas gift this year, and er perhaps add himself to It." "Hut how" "Have you not or heard of feminine Intuition, dear' Consequently I Just mentioned to him tho fact thai I urn collecting turquoises I knew by tho way he changed tho subject that he had taken tho hint and thought It ac cldcntal." "Oh hi do show mo" "Ho asked If I was fond of Thackeray. Thacke-ray. I said I doted on him, I'd bate said I doted nn white mice If he had confessed a fondness for thim I wm an happy. Well. )cstorday 1 dropped In nt Alice's I found her In tho library; sho seemed nertuui and I stayed to find the reason " "And did" "Sho asked If I did not consider a set of Thackeray tho nicest Christmas gift a man could mnkn to a girl a girl ho liked very much' 1 replied 'Yes If tho girl had saffron hair nnd eyes which were located ut right angles'"' "And she" "Sho replied, Oh, she was In earn est; sho know a man who meant to give a lucky girl Just such a set Then she Intimated that ho Intended to hint his hope that the set would soon rx housed under his own root " "Hut who " "I said, yes, tho girl was lucky If iho had a genius for martyrdom, that the man who would make a girl such a gift would be the man who would expect his wife to prefer a subscription subscrip-tion to a magaxlne to a new tailor mado frock and an addition to the library to a trip to I'alm Hoach'" "flood! I'm glad you said' "I'm not myself, dear Kob was In the noxt room and heard ovory word Alice had helped him to select a Chrlitruas gift for me, and when I came In she told him to wait while she met me In tho library, so ho could hear my cries of delight when I beard of the selection! Did you ever know such an unmitigated cat'" "Oraclous never'" cried tho girl In brown, "I didn't tell you, did I, that the gift which so delighted Allco was a set of Thackeray' Hob was there and Alice's mother stopped me In tho hall, as 1 went out, to ask tho ad dross of the drcsimnkcr who made Mabel's tfous-eau " Copyrlfjit Mk" bv Vlrisht A 1'su-rron. |