Show P eaven y M i 45 e s s n gats 1 ty sy H rocel roc 16 ell 0 UNION and there ivere shepherds abiding in the hie field keeping watch over their flock ty by night and lo 10 the angel of the lord came upon them and the glory of the lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid and the angel of the lord said unto them fear not for behold I 1 bring you good tidings of great joy which shall he be to all people F for or unto you is torn born this chis day in the city of david a saviour which is christie Chris Christ the the lord 4 ind and suddenly ih there ere was with wilk the th c angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising god and saying glory to god in ih ahe highest and on earth peace good will toward men inen 1 A 1 sa down through two thoa thousand id years heavenly messengers have been going to and fro in the earth eartle carrying good tidings of great sy 1 joy sometimes of course rs there are messages of sor row rolv but in the christmas time the messages are messages that carry comfort and gladness that bring peace and good will but there are heavenly messengers who are always speeding somewhere not only at christmas time but all ill the time for that matter and so this story has to do only with the small red cheeked checked boys of the lice special delivery service who go and come far into the night on christmas eve darkness had fallen and shifting crowds of people hurried good natu through the packed shopping district of a largo western city on one of the great lakes the crowd flowed like a human river with cura cara curlit lit Q ri V house loomed up before him rents eddying off into the side streets and alleys in the stores could be heard the crisp wrapping of paper the continuous blare of horns and tinkling of toy to y pianos and weary shop girls servin serving 9 patrons equally weary outside was wind and snow and jostling people loaded down with bales and bundles of christmas christinas purchases in the post postoffice office the tha wheels were turning fast while a steady stream of letters and packages poured in through the malling mailing chutes on every hand clerks clerics at the various windows were busy handing banding out stamps weighing bundles and making change in the center of the room a man was pushing a jang horizontal row of letters along a table into a cancelling machine three others were steadily pounding packages with a rubber stamp still another naan lyan nervous and working under pressure stood just within a horseshoe railing of iron fron pipe on which hung canvas mail sacks with willi swift trained hands lie tossed letters and packages from his central position in the horseshoe into the tha open mall mail sacks with unerring certainty suddenly denly scooping up a small hand till fill of 0 letters a 1 clerk called aut ut Spec special lall 1 A small boy arose front from a pile of mall mail sacks with a jump rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he went across the room and entered the ad arees lr ees of the in ills his book beoh gee but my feet hurt he confided to one of the clerks it was an oft re story to the clerk but ha stopped ills his hurried work and regarded the boy with kindly eyes as he said last trip son it t Is after ten now and it if anything should come in later we will hold it until morning I 1 know how it is used to carry them myself the boy went out into the night anil and gnadl liis its way towards the outskirts of the town where there were no street cars where the way was often dark and the sidewalks worn vorn and broken it was the negro quarters where broken window panes were stuffed with old rigs and the window curtains were of raper paper dirty muslin or pieces of faded alid tablecloth the heavenly ANIes messenger p plodded down a side street stamping his feet to keep the snow from caking on liis ills slices shoes lie ho came out of the lark dark under the rustling trees whose ice covered limbs creaked and crackled in thel wind ivind dolefully past an electric light 01 dimmed by wil millions lions of s virling swirling white 11 akes then into the tarl c again you will find him in room three forty two said the night clerk at the commercial hotel and and the christmas christinas argel angel found him a young athletic traveling man mail ile he was just unpacking lill liis grips and the very first thin thing lie he tool took out was a picture in a silver frame the angel studied tills this picture as the traveling man looked at his special ive seen that lady before volunteered the heavenly messenger what shouted the traveling man where Is s she 1 I just took a letter to her over at the opera house explained the boy ashes a lady in a show and ive looked for her for nineteen months said the traveling man lowly how strange that I 1 should find her on Christi christinas olis lye eve it Is sure the glad tidings they tell us about and the next moment he had ills coat and hat on and was rushing for the elevator on his way to the opera house and the girl lie he had sought unavailingly for nineteen months the heavenly messenger whistled softly as he plodded through the drift ill ell snow and pulled the knob which lauded caused a bell to ring in the interior ot of an a n old ohl fashioned house light baione from the frost coated windows 01 01 the front room though it was va now far f r past midnight an old gentleman came to the door and pulled the angel into the rouin room abreast of a strong gust of wind and a blinding flurry of snow stake yourself right at home hoille my lay little friend 1 he insisted warmly take that cl chair air up ul close to the fire I 1 emily emily heres a letter front from the british consul in new york what as I 1 live charles Is safe ile he was shipwrecked off the const coast of france but he Is not seriously injured and Is on ills his way home the motherly woman who had come coine into nto the roum cried a little over the news from her sort son but she did not forget to turn to tho the bearer of the good tidings arid and say poor boy it Is a bud bad night for such a little fellow to lie be I 1 out are your feet wet take your shoes off and we will dry them more warmth came frum from the old gentleman than came from the fireplace as lie pictured to the boy christmas christinas time in England The wife brought a plate of cookies shaped like animals and covered with pink and white frosting 1 I merry christmas she called softly holding a lump lamp high over tier her head as the christmas angel slowly made ills way down the walk and out into the night gift my luff to your ml mi were the parting words the augel angel heard as he turned the corner comer of a I 1 street and lost sight of the little house I 1 of the madly kindly german folk I 1 when the special delivery angel awakened christmas morning or rather christmas noon ills his mother bitting at his bedside and stroking its his hair said to him in a regretful tone T 1 ani nl to have a for dinner soolly vur ji A 1 d nui LAUT izuno manage it you have your our fathers eyes dear my but lie he would have been proud ot of youl you 1 id rather have chicken than turkey answered the boy the tha gravy is better tell me about last night nothing but glad tidings ma sone seemed to be almost tickled to lo death at their mall mail I 1 guess folks send any other oilier kind of letters but cheerful ones on Chri christmas straps eve I 1 i it A I 1 ajr ive seen that lady before suddenly a house loomed up before nm im that seemed to be settling into the kow like a ship on the brink of foundering riven even as the christmas angel lit the first match shielding it from the wind and holding it close to see the house number the door was opened ile he hail been expected an old oid negro man bowed him in his face was sid sad and wrinkled and his hair the color of wood ashes he wore enormous carpet slippers and a checkered shirt open at the neck showed underwear of coarse red flannel we all been spec tin ln you sahl sah I 1 he quavered lit granchie grau gran chil sick in chicago Clil cago hospital li ellen ellen he railed called shrilly A slow heavy movement in the room 11 1 bond i ond and a stout mammy ma turny came into hito view breathing heavily as her weight v eight threw her slightly from side to side bide as she ahe walked de fettah come asked the old ivo woman inan haltingly she rubbed tier her eyes and blinked for a full minute before ill he could see the writing womanlike she turned the pages and read the last paragraph first its from to de nurse she announced praise de lord de calle caille am safe tin an oun out ob all dangny it bayl say now IL 11 will be christmas joy bif us although lie he could not write the old argro ar gro man inan proudly touched t the lie pencil is his bis name was written in the boys receipt book quite warm now and ninus one of his glad tidings the heavenly li fessenger departed in into 0 the falling snow which soon swat swallowed owed 1 liim alin up and then quickly cover covered e oner oe LIS alls footprints foot prints as it if in fear h he might ight hs ba followed and some harm come to him the next nest message of glad tidings was delivered to a stenographer tucked away in a back bach room of a rather dilapidated looking rooming house it was a letter from home she knew it would mould come at the last moment yes arhe hall had been erding and it have been like christmas at all had it not been for the christmas messenger im so tired of the office grind si slie 1 e confided more to herself than to ti alie e 1 boy 0 Y ive written dear sir a hun died and fifty thousand times this week rm im sure then she straightened ills hia necktie patted him on the head and the angel trudged down stairs and out into the night again next nest came a letter for the head of a family faintly in a magnificent home where the heavenly messenger passed a relay of se rants before reaching ill alie person named in the address that worthy held the port leres aside and stepped forth in evening dress a serl us ius man with gray hair ile he signed for the letter then looked at the christmas messenger inquiringly come in here san he directed and led ic d the boy into the library tho roo room a was a contusion confusion of da dazzling women on ia e and holiday decorations an n evergreen I tree that reached I 1 almost imos t t to 0 the 1 ceiling was loaded with toys and christmas christinas presents of f every color colo and 11 J kind while ahll e other oilier parcels and packages were heaped on the floor at the foot of the tree A little girl the man was saying our daughter an only child she seems discontented nothing makes bior ter harpy happy now just suppose you were she do you think she mill like nil 11 11 this and all the women listened eagerly to hear what the boy would say I 1 I 1 1 I would but maybe well theres too loo much of this pointing to the gaudy toys 1 I remember my baby sister got a lot of fine toys when dad was living arid and she left them all and went into the kitchen to play with some borne new tin pans and things mother had just got from the store the star of the new york opera company dabbed nt at tier her face with a rabbits foot A fine christmas this hl the khe reflected bitterly snow three feet jeep deep broadway Eru adway hundreds of miles away and the show going to pieces this very night ali ah me she signed for her special delivery letter ter while the christmas ang angel ea stared curiously at the bare walls of the dressing room the star gave the messenger a quarter and he passed on his way |