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Show rff'UlV.'KARIM ASBRANP "Even today, as is days of old. We are sometimes blessed with gifts of gold." A ISS LETTY read the inscription over a life-size picture of the manger scene. The sight of bright tinsel decorations, decora-tions, the sound of carols, and the smell of holly and fir on the crisp air between stores filled her with a nostalgia that almost unnerved her. She had Intended to shed twenty years of her life like a worn cloak, forgetting that she had spent her best days making a heaven on earth for her crippled mother so that her knight had wearied of waiting. Now she was going shopping for a family that had never been hers except in her thoughts, a plain little girl with pigtails and freckles, and a sturdy small boy with pudgy hands and round expectant eyes. She wondered what Larry Haines was doing. Poor Larry I She wished she might have said "yes" to his persistent wooing. The girl with whom he had run off had not bothered both-ered to make a decent home for him. Finally they bad moved from town and Miss Letty had quite lost track of them. Recalling that she had come to town to pretend, she made a fren- I'll find someone to give them to, she thought Maybe I can borrow a couple of children from an orphanage orphan-age just for Christmas. On the way home she stopped to buy a tree and some bright decorations. decora-tions. At the grocer's she gave an order that made that good man's eyes nearly pop out of his head. Leaving the store behind, loneliness loneli-ness swept over her. The house would be dark when she got home. Maybe the fire would be out, too. She peered Into the gathering dusk. Somebody was there waiting wait-ing for her on the front veranda of the rambling old mansion. She hastened has-tened her steps. A man stepped forward for-ward out of the shadows, a child clinging to each hand. "Letty," he said, "it's Larry!" "Land sakes!" she exclaimed. "You gave me a turn. Come in out of the cold." She hustled them Indoors, and turned to take a good look as she switched on the lights. It was Indeed In-deed Larry, older and grayer, but trim and neat in a navy uniform. There stood her dream children, a plain little girl with pigtails and freckles, and a sturdy small boy with pudgy hands and round eyes brimming over with tears. "I want my Mummy," he sobbed. "His mother is dead," explained Larry. "I thought, Letty," said the man, "that maybe you could look out for them a little. See, I've joined the navy. I've got to go and I hate to leave Letty and Jackie to almost anybody." Miss Letty gulped and sat down suddenly in the rocker, gathering the little fellow into her arms. "Gifts of gold," she murmured, "at Christmas." "Many's the time I've dreamed of seeing you like that," he said, reaching reach-ing for one of her hands. She noticed no-ticed how thin he was. How thin the children were, too, and how inadequate inade-quate their clothing. "I haven't got much, Letty," he began, "but whatever what-ever I've got is yours if you want it." Still holding the small figure in her arms, she rose to open the door to the kitchen. The house radiated warmth and good cheer. "Fine," she said gently. "Welcome home, children. We'll have baths and supper, sup-per, and then we'll trim the tree." Larry's eyes caressed her. "Maybe, "May-be, -if I could get the license we could be married before I go off." "Maybe we could, Larry." His arms were suddenly around her and the child, his lips warm against her cheek. Little Letty clapped her hands. "Such a Christmas we are going to have!" she cried. "Even today," quoted Miss Letty, remembering the inscription, "as in days of old, we are sometimes "Letty," he said, "it's Larry!" zied dash to the toy department. |
