Show christmas gifts by luella B lyons 0 ITH more than a toot foot and a W WITH halt half of 0 snow on the highway the telephone lines down and not a chance of tile the mailman reaching them mary march bemoaned her negligence in putting off her christmas shopping 6 and that very afternoon the eight women of them living within a mile and a half of each other ere to brave the drifts and hot hold their annual party despite the weather one nice book in the house that Is fit to give and that had to have a tiny hole burned right smack in the center of the ll 11 lid too she walled walled to bob march ive just had an idea and id better care for it being its lonely he declared rather excitedly wheres that sheet of cellophane you peeled so carefully from off that box of mine the other day haul that out get me that snapshot you had printed to send to my sister and by that time well who inho knows bob was always thinking up ways and means to cover up tor for her tack lack of planning and foresight and she blessed him as she ransacked happily tor for the desired items but when she again joined bob at the kitchen table she gave a startled shriek bob dear that was the only gift in sight and now youve ruined it but he smiled on his pen knife cutting away that messy looking burn from the book lid ild then with an old wood burning set lie he stippled the whittled edge of that hole in the leather binding then he backed that hole with a double piece of cellophane and bound the three edges to the inner side of the book lid ild w with I 1 ill a tiny band of purple leather which matched the book in between the cellophane pieces bob slipped tile the lovely tinted snapshot of mary with a squeal of delight mary accepted the new deal in christmas gifts the newest thing in fads bob darling she assured him delightedly such a tiny bit of 0 wo work rk had turned a perfectly impossible gift into something rare that might have come straight from the gift shop and after the women had raved over marys marya gift toa to the grab bag bob was given the surprise of his life what will you charge bob to make over two or three books for me that very same earns way one or two tor for the youngsters too they exclaimed bob made every moment of his spare time count doing over book lids for a long time after that bless your bad memory darling 1 he be teases every time he makes another entry in the cash book of this spare time job of his ca e union |