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Show aT) ChnstcBher i-O'-rt G. Hazard. jjf?.fr.S. JONES has been makin' Jf&i pies," observed liuth. "Mince pies?" replied her sister. "No, Jones pies," answered Ruth, it was promising for somebody, for Ke-turah Ke-turah Jones never made pies without making one over. The batch might be mince, apple or pumpkin, but there was always an extra pie for good nature na-ture and good luck. This time it was a Christmas pie and destined for the old toy maker. It was his only chance of holiday joy, for, while he could whittle out boats, carve dogs that could almost bark nnd cats that seemed afraid of them, and make doll f IJ' nouses' lie cou'd 12jk-' not cook, and he j . lived alone. TTTj t-i He was an old fl I TV I m!in. queer but S I ra kindly. His old L fpJL sSi'u&l house seemed to be falling down, WS lm or at least It was vC)' f&'ir3 leaning that way, wvT! but yet " si,el- '' I fg'-ih tered the toy shop Mkftfy- ' bravely and tried f-A to feel as young R)x 83 eTer because it .tL-v i?ys had seen old Hans t"jfS8$J. Uf xf' stand on his head IjgljH just to show how young he was. On the way to him with the pie the children chil-dren wondered if he would sing for them again as he had done the last time they watched him at his work. It was the song about the miller's dog that they wanted, but they found him working on a toy horse, and when they noticed that there was something wrong about the horse they forgot about the dog. "You haven't got that right, Mr. Hans," said Kuth ; "you shouldn't put a necklace of sleigh bells around his stomach." "Well, well," said the old man, "I'll have, to sen about that ; but perhaps I was thinking think-ing about something to ent when I put the bells in the wrong place." "Well, here it is," said Ruth, uncovering the pie, "and we wish you a Merry Christmas." Christ-mas." "Sure," said Mr. Hans, "sure It will he merry, and yon shall be merry, too," and he took down a hundle as he put the pie upon the shelf. It was a very Interesting bundle, but the children suddenly remembered the song and forgot the bundle. This was the song : The mUlfr's big dog lay on the mill floor, And KanK'O was his name, oh. A wondering what lie fay there for. And why he whs so lame, oh. B-a-n-e-oon O Bango was hfa name. The miliar he said if the doff was dead, Why. that would be the end, oh; Put nlnce' ho only fnme Instead, Old fliins would soon htm mend, oh. B-a-n-R-ooo O Bango was his name. The special fun of it was when they spelled the dog's name around the circle, each singer faking one letter, and then all Joining in on the last line. Then Ihe children forgot the song and remembered the bundle. It was well wrapped, for they took off paper after paper, like peeling an onion, until they came to the girl doll that, could call for niolher and the boy doll Ilia! could play on a mouth organ. Then, with both the presents going, they also went, leaving a pleasant smile on the old man's face and all the toys looking happily at each other. Mrs. Jones welcomed the travelers back with a taste of her cooking for themselves, and was as happy as all good Christmas cooks are. She said, "You can't make chocolate almonds out of horse chestnuts, but those youngsters surely did put In their thumbs and pull out plums." Kg), 1'JliO. WuHlorn NuWMpuiier Union.) |