Show christmas spirit made itself felt by MARION FRANCES HAMILTON lonely woman ii HS NE or of those spread yuletide sy pester pestering I 1 n g cheer by giving givin g J again a g e nt a I 1 girl agent a bet bet ber happy horre hoire tha prescot muttered to herself as the door bell pealed just as she was about ready to sit down to lunch 1 I have a mind not to answer it all I 1 have but she did answer it just as soon as is she had lowered the fire under the bubbling coffee pot to find that her surmise was correct it was an agent who rang the bell and worst of all a book agent she spoke as soon as the door had opened a few inches and before bertha had time to frame the words that were on her lips I 1 sell you a copy of this little book today the cost Is only fifty cents and you will find it well worth the price not many words coming from an agent bertha thought heretofore the ones who had bud come had been for all the world like a talking machino machine that had bad been wound up and the only way of stopping them was to be positively PO 91 rude this one must be different bertha thought a perhaps it was that it was nearly christmas time and that bertha Pre scots h heart e a r t was a bit more tender than usual or it might be due to the tact fact that this agent was young and had a sort of wistful appeal about her or it might be because she was so different from the others that had come and lacked the unending how flow of words they had all seemed to possess but whatever was the cause bertha prescot did fin an unheard of thing for her she invited the agent into the house bouse and actually asked her out into the cozy kitchen to have lunch with her poor dear she was saying to herself a few minutes later she must have been actually hungry and I 1 came very varv close to not letting lier her in after lunch was finished bertha drew from the girl a little of her story illness the loss of her position and finally her trying her hand let bat selling books through it alt all bertha could see tho the brave spirit of the girl and the untold hardships that she had endured during the time since her illness she could also detect how near to despair the little agent had been uben u ben she came to her door then bertha prescot did another unheard of thing tor for her she told the little agent of the loneliness in her heart and of the little girl she had lost in the long ago and of how empty her life bad been ever since and when she had finished she asked the girl if she would not stay with her through the christmas time and there was waa a genuine appeal la in her eyes and in her voice as she ehe did 5 BO and so because the tha spirit of christmas was abroad and made itself felt those two lonely souls who needed each other sorely were brought together and made happy find and when christmas had passed and gone they found that their need of each other was still great and tho the short ewt that the little agent was supposed to make mabe ma be became permanent D 1923 western newspaper anlon |