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Show 111 BENEDICT "'"PHIS 'peace on earth, good will toward men' stuff gives me a pain," Darl said. He laughed cynically, cyn-ically, looking down into the girl's troubled eyes. "It gets me how you got hooked into it, Pam. Why don't you look the thing squarely in the face and realke it's the bunk!" "You must be blind!" Pamela-cried. Pamela-cried. "There are thousands and thousands of people who give things." . "O.K., honey." He smiled. "Wo look at It differently. The way I figure it, a man never does something some-thing for nothing. If he Isn't rewarded re-warded with material gain, then he'si rewarded by having his vanity, salved. There's always a selfish motive mo-tive behind a so-called act of kindness, kind-ness, no matter which way you figure fig-ure it. Bat it isn't important. What is important is that It's Christmas and you and I are in love and we ought to think of celebrating." "It Is important, Darl." Her voice was suddenly vibrant. "It's important impor-tant to me to show you that you're wrong. I couldn't be happy with a man who had those ideas." And then, seeing the expression on his face, her tone softened. "Oh, I know it seems silly to you quarreling about something so trite. But to me it isn't trite. Oh, Darl, let me show you how wrong you are!" The streets were festive. Colored lights and greenery showed in every ev-ery window. Lighted trees were on every street corner. Pam stopped the car while a group of carol singers sing-ers trooped by. A girl with a tambourine tam-bourine thrust a smiling face against the coupe window. She dropped coins into it and smiled and said, "Merry Christmas." They left the gaily lighted streets behind. Pam turned into a side A moment later, a small middle-aged middle-aged lady came bustling out. street. She stopped before a house and sounded her horn. A moment later a small, middle-aged lady came bustling out. She carried a basket. Pam opened the door for her, and introduced DarL Her name was Kimball. "Well!" said the little lady. "This is nice. I suppose you're the young man to whom Miss" Tripp is engaged." en-gaged." "Yes, we're engaged," Darl said. He wondered what she had in the basket. She was so poorly dressed, so frail and appeared so undernourished. under-nourished. But there was a sparkle in her eyes. But instead of driving back to the city, Pam drove across the railroad tracks and into the desolate, Ill-lighted Ill-lighted thoroughfares of Jaytown. At last they stopped before a dilapidated di-lapidated tenement house. They entered en-tered a dark, cold hall, mounted stairs and rapped on a door. A weak voice bade them enter. The room was warmer than the hall outside, lighted with a kerosene lamp. A woman lay in bed, a child cradled in her arms. Mrs. Kimball matter-of-factly stirred op the fire, produced candles and lighted them. Pamela straightened things in the room with surprising efficiency. The woman in the bed watched from hollow eyes while Mrs. Kimball unpacked un-packed her basket, set ont a pitifully piti-fully small supply of foodstuffs, some strings of popcorn, the green bough of a pine tree, an orange, two apples, a bottle of milk. The sick woman's eyes were eager, ea-ger, grateful as the things appeared. In no time at all the pine bough was arranged on the table, the strings of popcorn draped over it, oranges placed at Its base, two candles can-dles on either side. Darl's forehead wrinkled. He saw the glow on Mrs. Kimball's face, the sparkle in her eyes. She was poor. She was. doing all she could, and the woman in the bed knev this. She was giving back gratitude and warmth of feeling and love. They left Mrs. Kimball and drove back to the city. They stopped near the park to listen to the carol singers. sing-ers. Pam looked at him. "Did it mean anything to you, Darl? Do you see what I mean?" Darl thought of the woman in the bed and Mrs. Kimball. "It's a selfish self-ish motive," he thought And aloud he said: "I never thought about it this way before, but isn't it nice we have such selfish people as Mrs. Kimball and Pamela Tripp?" Pamela nestled .against his shoulder. shoul-der. "And Darl Holloway," she added. |