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Santa Claos on
"The Limited"'
■By F-RA.yVK U. S Wi.E T.
I Copying lit, IW.v b' Amerlc-i n I'iess Auntt
clutlon.J
THK Chicago Limited was pulling
out ol ihe Grand Central sta
tion ia New York as I »r. Henry
Van Valkenbi'iji sulunit;cii hi
ticket to the nateuian He dashc.l
(trough, pushing that indignant «>Hi
<T;il to oue hi'le. mado a leap for ill
tailing of the lust ear of the train
r i a friendly braketnan dragged him
'vu board," Dr. Van Va ikenbern
►..Ued a little ruefully u> he thanked
€be man and rubbed tln• itching sur
f<io« of Ills hand. Then he puiled him
T-lf together, picked up the books arid
fiewspapers he had dropped and which
$• ."■> bystanders had enthusiastically
burled after him
and sought his
haven In the
sleeping ear.
"O-oli! Were
you hurt?" said
a voice behind
him. "I was so
'fraid you were
going to fall."
Dr. Van Val
kcnberg, who
was a (all man
of sixty, turned
and looked down
from Ills great
height.. At his
feet sto o d a
baby. At least
She seemed a
baby to him, al
though she was
very dignified
arid wholly self
L
« M
Km
"webe YOU Hi 1ITV" possessed and
fully four yftiw old. Sin* was looking
at him with dark brown eyes and
l is so delicious in her almost maternal
r.ilk iiudo that he smiled lrrepressibly.
"Why, no, thank yon," he said. "I
Kin not hurt. Didn't yon see the kind
man helji me onto the ear?"
"I'm very glad," she said, with dig
filty. "I was 'fraid he hurt yon." Shi
turned as she spoke and toddled Into
the section opposite his, where a plain
tout kindly faced elderly woman sat.
"Won't you come over and visit me?"
lie aslced. "I arn very lonely, and I
fcave 110 one to take care of me."
She slid off the seat at once, with
great alacrity.
"I'd like to." she said, "but I must
efk Nana. I must always ask Nana
BOW," she added, with dutiful crupha
fits, " 'fore I do anyfltig."
She laid her hand on the gloved Tin -
gers of the nurse as she spoke, and the
woman opened her eyes, shot a quick
glance at the man and nodded. She
fcad not l»»en asleep. Dr. Van Valken
lierg rose and lifted his visitor to the
•Seat beside him. where her short legs
etuck out In uncompromising rigid It v.
"I can take care of you." she said
t>rlghtly. "I taked car* of mamma a
gre at deal. ;\nd I gave her her tned'
Cln\"
"Very well," he sntd, with the smile
women loved; "If yon really are going
to take care of me I must know your
name. You see," he explained. "I
might need you In the night to get. me
ft glass of water or something.
think how disappointing It would !>•
If I should cull you by the wrong name
and some other little girl came!"
"You say funny things," she said
Contentedly. "But there isn't any oilier
little girl In the car. I looked soon an
I came In, 'cos I wanted one to pla>
With. I like little girls. I like little
boys, too," she added, with innocent
cxpanslveness.
"Then we'll play I'm a little boy.
You'd never believe It, but I used to
lie. You haven't told me your name."
"Hope," she said promptly. "Do you
think It is a nice name?" She made
(he inquiry with anxious Interest.
"I think Hope is the nicest name i
little girl could have except one," hi
Bald. "The nicest little girl I evei
knew was named Katharine. She grew
to he a nice l>lg girl, too, and has little
girls of her own now. no doubt." lie
added, half to himself.
"Were you a little boy when she wa
r little girl?" asked Ills visitor.
"Oh, no; I was a big man, just as 1
am now. Her father was my friend,
and she lived in a white house with
an old garden where there were all
kinds of flowers. She used to play
there when she was a tiny baby, and
I would carry her around and hold '><-r
high UJ>I so she could pull tie- apples
and penrs off the trees. When she
grew larger I gave her a borefc and
taught her t i ride. Site seemed Ilk"
my very own little ;:irl, but by and V
«.'• si' sxjnwti&vwt*
pi'
: -
112 -• " V :J% '■ 1
ccpymiatrr. owphwooq JOS
' she grew up and became a young lady
! and—well, she went away from me.
! and I never had another little girl."
"J>kl she goto heaven?" asked the
; little Rlrl softly.
"Oh, dear, no!" answered the doctor,
i with brisk cheerfulness.
"Then why didn't she keep on being
| your little girl always?"
j The doctor hesitated a moment. He
| was making the discovery that after
| many years old wounds can reopen
! and throb. Xo one had ever been
brave enough to broach to him the sub
ject of this single love affair which
he was now discussing.
"Well, you sec," he explained, "other
boys ilked her too. And when she be
came a young lady other men liked
her. So finally—one of them took her,
away from me."
He uttered the last words wearily,
anil the sensitive atom at his side
seemed to understand why. Her little
hand slipped Into iiis.
"Why didn't you ask her to please
stay with you?" she persisted pity
ingly.
"I did," lie told her. "But, you see,
she liked the other man better."
"Oh-h-h!" The word came out long
drawn and breathless. "1 don't see
how she possibly could."
There were such sorrow for the vic
tim and scorn for the offender in the
tone thai, combined with the none too
subtle compliment, it was too much
for Dr. Van Valkenberg's self control.
He threw back his gray head and
burst into an almost boyish shout of
laughter, which
effectually clear
ed the atmos
phere of senti
mental memories.
"Where are you
going to hung up
your stockings to
night?" he asked.
"1 can't hang
them up," she an
swered soberly.
"Santa Claus
doesn't travel on
trains, Nana
says."
"Nana la al
ways right," said
the doctor oracu-
fsli
larly, "and of
miwtsoiAK.nA.m courße mUBt
WOOLLY LAMIib. . „„ . „
do exactly as she
; says. But I lieurd that Santa Claus was
| going to get on the train tonight at
j Buffalo, and 1 believe that if he found
| a pair of small black stockings hanging
; from that section he'd fill them."
Her eyes sparkled,
j "Then I'll nsk Nana," she said. "And
i if she says I may hang them I will,
j But one," she added conscientiously,
i "has a teeny, weeny hole in the toe.
| Do you think he would mind that?"
He reassured her on this point, and
i turned to the nurse.
"I beg yonr pardon," he said. "I've
taken a great fancy to your little
charge, and I want your help to carry
out a plan of mine. 1 have suggested
to Hope that she hang up her stock
ings tonight. I have every reason to
J believe that Santa Clans will get on
I this train at Buffalo. In fact," he add
i ed, "I mean to telegraph him."
The nurse hesitated a moment. He
! drew ills card case from his pocket and
| handed her one of the bits of paste
j board it contained.
"I have no evil designs," lie added
j cheerfully. "If you are a New Yorker.
: you may possibly know who I am."
The woman's face lit up as she read
• the name. She turned toward liitn ini
| puleively, with a very pleasant smile.
"Indeed I do, doctor," she said.
' "Who does not? Dr. Abbey sent for
| you last week," she added, "for n
j consultation over the last ease I had
this child's not iter. But you were out
of town. We were all so disappointed."
"Patient died';" asked the physician.
■ with professional brevity
"Yes. doctor."
He rose from Ids seat.
"N jy tb:* Ir.r. ui." red .
CAMhRON COUNTY I'RKSS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1909,
tlals," lie said cordially, "I want you
and Hope to dine with me. You will,
won't you?'
Later, in the feverish excitement of
ngs, going to bed
and peep 1n g
through the cur
tains to catch
Santa Cluus. a
part of Hope's
extraordinary
repose of man
ner deserted
her, but she fell
asleep at last,
with great reluc
tance.
When the cur
tains round her
berth had ceased
trembling a
most unusual
procession wend
ed its silent way
toward Dr. Van
hanging up her stookin
r
CA V
► 7ms
i)
-I'l.h HE YOUR OWN Vaikenberg's
LITTLE GIRL. section. iu some
occult manner the news had gone
from one end to the other of the
"limited" that a little girl in section 0,
ear Florodora, had hung up her stock
ings for Santa Claus. The hearts of
fathers, mothers and doting uncles re
sponded at once. Dressing cases were
unlocked, great valises were opened,
mysterious bundles were unwrapped,
and from all these sources came gifts
of surprising titness.
A succession of long drawn, ecstatic
breaths nud happy gurgles awoke the
passengers on the car Florodora at an
unseemly hour Christmas morning, find
a small white tlgure, clad informally
in a single garment, danced up and
down the aisle, dragging carts and
woolly lambs behind It. Occasionally
there wa* the srjueak of a talking doll,
and always there were the patter of
small feet and soft cooing of a child's
laughter. Dawn was Just approach
lng, and the lamps, sttll burning, flared
pale in the gray light. But in the
length of that car there was 110 soul
so base as to long for silence and the
pillow. Crabbed old faces looked out
between the curtains and smiled. Eyes
long unused to tears felt a sudden,
strange moisture.
Throughout the day the snow still
fell, and the outside world seemed far
away and dreamlike to Dr. Van Val
kenberg. The real things were this
tratn, cutting its way through the
snow, and this little child, growing
deeper Into his heart with each mo
ment that passed. The situation was
unique, hut easy enough to understand,
he told himself. He had merely gone
back twenty-five years to that other
child whom he had petted In Infancy
and loved and lost in womanhood. ID
had been very lonely—how lonely he
had only recently begun to realize—and
he was becoming an old man whose
life lay behind him. He crossed the
aisle suddenly and sat down beside
the nurse, leaving Hope slnglDg her
doll to sleep in his section.
"Will you tell ine all you know
about Iho child V" he asked. "She ap
peals to 1110 very strongly, probably be
cause she's so much like some one 1
used to know."
The nurse closed her book and look
ed at him curiously. She had heard
much of him. but nothing would ex
plain this interest In a strange child,
lie himself could not have explained
it. He knew only that he felt It pow
erfully and coinpelllngly.
"Her name Is Hope Arniitage.'' sin
satd. "Her mother, who has just died,
was a widow, Mrs. Katharine Arm!
tage. They were poor, and Mrfc. Ar- .
seemed to lane no relatives.
She had saved a little, enough to pay
most of her expenses at the hospital.
We all loved the woman. She was
very unusual anil patient and i-harm
ing. All the nurses who bad auj
thin-* to do with her cried when she
died. We fell thit she might have
been • ived if she had route In time,
but <lu' was worked 0111. Sin- bad
1 •. ' he:!!■ . 7 •••• !• it"'- :• I :
-- V . • ••-
' Z "T" 7T4SET :-v ■:.T- ;.M ,«U*' J' -NR^
■ ■ -»-■> v* •, ; 3*mbms* ;•. i.-.»
I
112/ \ h
: mW
! husband's death three years sigo, am!
she kept at It day and night. She wn
bo sweet, so brave, yet so desperately
miserable over leaving her little girl
alone in the world."
Dr. Van Valkenberg sat silent. It
1 was true. then. This was Katharine's
child. He had not known of the death
of Armitnge nor of the subsequent
poverty of his widow, but he had
known Katharine's baby, he now told
himself, the moment he saw her.
"Well," the nurse resumed, "after
she died we raised a small fund to buy
some clothes for Hope and take her
to Chicago to her new home. Mrs.
Armltage has a cousin there who has
agreed to take her in. None of the
relatives came to the funeral. There
are not many of them, and the Chica
go people haven't much money, I
fancy."
Dr. Van Valkenbei'g was hurdl.v sur
prised. Life was full of extraordinary
situations, and his profession had
brought htm face to face with many
of them. Nevertheless a deep solern
nlty tilled him, and a Strang*- pea<-e
settled over him.
"I want her," he said briefly. "Her
mother and father were old friends of
mine, and this thing looks like fate
Will they give her to me—these Chi
cago people—do you think?"
Tears tilled the woman's eyes.
"Indeed they will," she said, "and
gladly. There was"—sb< hesitated—
i "there was even some talk of sending
| her to an institution before they finally
i decided to take her. Dear little Hope!
! How happy she will be with you!"
He left her and went back to the
seat where Hope sat crooning to the
doll. Sitting down, he gathered them
both up in his arms, and a thrill shot
through him as he looked at the yellow
curls resting against his breast. Her
child her little, helpless baby—now
his child to love and care for! He
was not a religious man. Nevertheless
a prayer rose spontaneously In his
; heart.
"Hope," he said gently, "once long
; ago I asked a little girl to come and
live with me, and she would not come.
, Now I want to ask you to come and
stay with me always and be my own
little girl anil let me take care of you
and make you happy. Will you come?"
The radiance of .June sunshine broke
out upon her face and shone in the
brown eyes upturned to his. How well
he knew that look! Mope did not turn
toward Nana, and that significant omis
sion touched him deeply. She seemed
to f«el that here was a question she
•alone must decide. She drew a long
. breath as she looked up at him.
j "Really, truly?" she asked. Then,
! as he nodded without speaking, she
i saw something in his face that was
| new to her. It was nothing to fright
j en a little girl, for it was very sweet
| and tender, but for one second she
j thought her new friend was going to
1 cry. She put both arms around his
neck and replied softly, with the ex
quisite maternal cadences her voice had
taken on in her first words to him
when shp entered the car:
"I'll b«» your own little girl, and I'll
take care of you too. You know, you
said I could."
Dr. Van Vulkcuberg turned to the
nurse.
"I shall go With you to ber cousin's
from the train," he anuouueed. "I'm
ready to give them all the proofs they
need that I'm a suitable guardian for
the child, but," he added, with a touch
of the boyishness that had never left
him, "I want this matter settled now."
The long train pounded Its way Into
i the station at Chicago, and Dr. Van
i Valkenberg summoned a porter.
! "Take en re of these things," he said.
Indicating both
sets of posses
slons wll h a
sweep of his
arm. *i shall
have my hi)uds
I'll! I will) rriv
little <luur T ii"! - ."
He jjal lioivii
her Into li i «
ii rin s as he
spoke, nnrt she
uestleil •« »rii I m--.i
his I iron <1 client
with n « hlld's
unconscious sut
Is fact lon In the
strength and
firmness of his
i
1 Tri
rk
> r \
*)
i
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siu. m.-u.i i. a...usm -Meirvflirlsl
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clillil held above the crowd in the
arms of a tall man. She was laugh
ing triumphantly ns li bore her
throntrh the throne and ''is heart was
lii I.i eye as iie smll'V at her.
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