jl ~ WW3UD-N TK there Is anything In the I world more aggravating to ft I young woman than a young L man who will not, or cannot, see that she favors him above all the rest. It has not yet been listed. Prudence Milton as much as a year ago discovered that Alfred Ruthven possessed all the qualities that goto make a man noble and splendid and brave —no, not brave! A brave man ■would have proposed to Prudence long *lnce. But Alfred, Prudence knew, "was handsome and intelligent, and prosperous. Just one thing he lacked —self-confidence. Alfred was bashful on the love subject. A great many men are so. They can discuss politics, the musical glasses, the drama, literature, art, science and the classics fluently with a young woman, but they shy away from the real heart interest like an aeroplane dodging a church steeple. Why, Prudence had inveigled Alfred (nto long walks with her in the sil very moonlight of spring and the gol den moonlight of summer—all to no avail. Once, in August, she was boat ing with him, and she had pretended to be afraid the boat would capsize. "What would you do if it did?" she asked him. Naturally she expected him to reply that he would plunge in after her and save her or perish In the attempt. Such a heroic remark as that would of course lead into a more passionate avowal of his reasons for being will ing to lay down his young life for her —and then, of course, he could easily hop-skip right along to a request that, elnce he was willing to die for her, she might consider favorably a propo sition to share his life with him, or words to that effect. But when she asked him, with a tremulous shake in her lovely voice, and with a world of faith and trust in her lustrous eyes: "What would you do if the boat capsized?" He never even stopped rowing. He just said: "It wouldn't matter much. The wa ter isn't over three feet deep here." Prudence almost capsized the boat from sheer vexation then. When a woman becomes vexed with a man be cause he does not realize that he loves 'L : 1 "In the Kitchen With an Apr-jn On, Helping Her Mother Put Up Jellies and Preserves and Things." her, you may (jo out and stake all your worldly possessions that sooner or later she will bring that uian to his knees, or her >Mt, us you like to put It. Let UH pans lightly over the glorious days of fall, when Prudeuce ullowed Alfred to rail several times and find her In the kitchen with an apron on helping her mothor put up Jellies and preserves and things Let us even pass lightly over the evening when she showed him the blister upon her fat:- white hand made by a sputter ing drop of apple butter. Yea. pass lightly over It Any sane man. any ninn In possession of ordinary facul ties, when a beautiful young creature held nut a little white hand and show er pretty Hps together In a stralgh' line and regtwtex | a menial vow that Al fred should rue thla apeei-h »om« day'' Let us now paaa llgbtly »n again Come we now to Christmas eve. Pru dence had, by ways and means familiar to the feminine mind, conveyed to the bashful Alfred the intelligence that she had made for him a Christmas re membrance. Never mind how she did this. You, If you are a man grown, will be able to hark back into your own past and bring up some instances of woman's diplomacy wherein she was able to tell you something with out saying anything in particular. Just gave your Intuition a chance. Knowing this, Alfred knew that It was his bounden duty to reciprocate— t i "That Is, She Allowed Him to Put the Kiss Back Where He Got It." and to reciprocate in advance. Al ways. always, a man must reciprocate In advance to a lady. So Alfred might have been seen stepping hesitatingly up the 6teps of the Milton home on Christmas eve. He carried a small package In one hand. It was his Intention to deliver this to whoever came to the door, with a message that it was for Prudence. In answer to his ring no less a per son than Prudence herself opened the door. Her eyes were sparkling, her cheeks were rosy, and In one hand she held a bunch of green stuff." "Why, Alfred!" she exclaimed. "Come right in. I'm putting up the Christmas greens." So Alfred came right In, shyly and slyly depositing the little package on a small table in the hall as he entered. Prudence led the way to the living 1 CrKlFiiir 13 * 1 CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1910. room, which wm empty of other pe» pie, fortunately, at that moment. "Won't you help me?" she aHkod. "I think It la such fun to decorate the house with the holly and stuff for the holidays. Now I've Just been trying to tie this bunch to the chandelier." She mounted a chair and affixed the bunch of green sprays to the chande lled. Alfred stood in dumb admira tion. He looked at Prudence, and ha looked at the green herblage which she fastened to the fixture. Bhe look ed down at him, smiling, then put out her hand. "Help me down," she said. Alfred caught her hand to assist her to come from the chair. Heroes are made in a moment. No man knows in what Instant his sou! may flame within him so that he will do and dare as he never dreamed of doing or daring. The philosophers call such times psychological mo ments. This was one. Alfred helped Prudence down, and It was quite nat ural and easy for her to find herse4f In his arms when she reached the floor. And then before she knew what he was about—at least, so she said —he had kissed her. \ "Mis-ter Ruthven!" she exclaimed. "How dare you?" "I —I —you know—the—the mistle toe!" he stammered, disengaging one arm and pointing to the decoration above her head. "I forgot that," she said, demurely. And then Alfred found tongue at last and told her what she had wanted him to tell her all the year. And ho asked her to be his Christmas gift, and she consented In what is so often called the time-honored way. That is, she allowed him to put the kiss back where he got it. Later that evening Alfred said to her: "Do you know, I don't believe I ever would have had the courage to pro pose to you If it hadn't been for that mistletoe." "That mistletoe!" she laughed. "Al fred, that mistletoe Is smilax. I don't believe It would have worked at all If It had been real mistletoe." (Copyright, 1910, W. 1). Nesbtt.) JUST SO. Ah." we say to our friend, whom we observe counting a large roll of bills before starting out, "going to buy something to fill some one's stock ing?" He looks at us with a merry, holi day twinkle in his eyes and replies: "Yes. I'm going around to buy a wooden leg for my brother." /p. <• ODAY when me an' Willie Smith An' Alfred Potts an' Spot McKay "> An' some more hoys we's playin' with Got talkin'some 'bout Christmas day An' how we must buhhave real well, Cause all our pas an' mas they said IM* Santa Claus can always tell \Y hat boy has mischuff in his head. Why, Alfred I'otts he say to us: "It's nothin' but a lot o' fuss! Don't you buhlieve your pas and mas- There never was no Santa Claus 1" An' nen we tell him 'tisn't so. 'At we heard Santa come last year An* see his sleigh tracks in th' snow—■ An' he has sleigh bells, 'cause we hear. \n' where th' chitnhley is we see Th' soot all scraped off in lb' back \n' at shows where o* Santa, he Corned «l«>wn th' chimblev with bit pack. Hut Mfred I'«»tts. he snilT, like this, An' "\ mi don't know what you miss Hv not a bein' bad. buhcause Then never was no Santa Claus!" Nen me an' Willie Smith an' all Th* oilier boy . an' Spot McKay, l''tend we hear somebody call t's to come home, an' slip awav W we won't play with Mfred I'otts |tuh< mse w«* know 'at he is bad \\ In ti we think of tli' lots an' lots <»f Christmas* 'ai he have had. I tell my pa what Alfred said \n' he at li idue an shake his head \n" sa»* '.it Mfred . chain e is slim, 'i aitse S'tila W"ii't buhlieve in hunt 'f 'MXlahl, IMS. W l) Nrsblt » IlPu-Wton the G''? t if W By tmttw tree wis all a-twinkle with iti candle* here and there \ \ \ \ Wl *"h a merry tinkle swayed the gift# it had to hear* \ Vi\\\\y \ And all wai now completed for the morrow that should he with loyous welcome greeted by the children round the tree, \!ii i• \ p wk «— l may have dreamed it so, at \\W \\\w''' \\\ ® ut * race °* a *° *7 / .\\ \\ WvVu v\A \ A Came through the hush of midnight and hided there with me. |\\ll I _ , \ fj 1 I \m \ \ 111 as a sleeper when dreams hold the heart of him; . I VI. 4 - U U jj\ | Mil £ The sjiadows grew the deeper till the tree was hlurred and dim— •/111 1| iM I I 11 J)| ' /7 /Then/marvelouslj) glowing as of all the stars and suna j I 1 V / \jfl/ \ - j I lt '/ a beauty P ait krowing. with the majesty that stuns, y I lTp J JlhW 111 j a cro# * °f jewel-flame i j ' "y-Lt ill j / Wllick From the shadows came ill \ n'Mw // / An il softly came a chantmgX "To these, the little one*!"* j I Ml /I /// // / • MI" /// / St range glory held the trifles that hung upon the treei 'I I X. Il ml ' h & The marveling that stifles', all speech laid hold on mei '//|a. O r / j u^'e oldea that led ttif storied'^ kings 11 * '!i Jf jfjJ. j 'To epmc treasures golden and precious offerings /// I \ ln tta \ f V * ray Christmas dawn \ 111 J cp- ; : ~ j I the 4 agone. N. \ \ n W l earth \hrohhed with musio of wings. Ij [j N \. that dreaming—hut VX II I atire wereV<{leaming xield of ffpace and timet Then ught rtad hcraja for me\o »tray— \ heard ail 112 a ■ I ■ 11 B » III! W—MII W —!■ 'IIM (C'upyriKht. 1910. W. I>. NVsbit.) Finds oS Lip Wilbur 1) * Nosbii A called me to her day be HOI fore yesterday and sed she W wante< ' me *° help her do something a l' t * ece °f pen cil In iier hand that was about a inch long and looked as If she had chewed it to sharpen It, ni.d she had a lot of notes made on the back of a bill from the dressmaker. Henry, she said, 1 am puzzled to doth to kno what to give your pa and four T'nkel Wlllyuni for Chrismus. 1 do wish you would kind of pump them and see what they would like to hav. and then tell me, without giving It away to them what you are trying to find out. All right, ma. I told her, and tried to get a peek ut her list to see If she had me down for the muggtezine re valvar I want. Hut she folded up the paper and put It away. So that night win n p» and Unkel Hill was sitting In the librarey talktn about th<- way senator TlUiuan had biter look out or he will be playing in a drama that lias a pi ex* agent, or « Ise |»e will be cruckln a bh'i k nak« whip aroui -J in I n!. I TMM CiMM, I I- 1 pa what he thol mum the right kind of a ('hrlsmus present You otto l»« sat Is fid)- with what you g"t. my young man.he sed. without coming aroiud unci hint in. I ulnt hint In. I told him, I just won d' red what your Idee would be about on» for your»e!f. Urat«' S-otf he S'-d. Has It to this* It Is bad enuff to hafto fork over for the find things yure ma buys fur me without bavin to pay lor some thing you get for me I dont want to gm you anything I •ed I Just want to g««t yure Idee about what you want I nkel inn *p»ke up and sed ui1 ** V 7&; | / / » I "H»nry, 3h* Said, I Am Pu«il*d to Death to Know What to Civ* Your Pa and Unci* William for ChrUt mM" lurn »luir«- u MOIHUU tun IXMUI •t. It wm u matter of |>ruft-»huul prlil* «rlth hint, bi'tiia hi* *>-d tlmm waa nu (iruflt In iinkln it woman* |>o< k»t when all yon nut wan a buiii'b at *itiupl«* Hml a bnttuii liunk ami a |i..*>|ir ru* Mini h»i*m« thirty and furl) »»nu lint t limit ara what |i|rhlu haa to Uti with ('hrlaititi* prrni-iua I »ad You wate till you get marrid, pa spoke up reel quick. Kindly pa and Unkle Bill thay got nie to tell them about ma astin me to llnd out what they wanted, and then thoy laffed and laffed, and Unkel Bill sed it was a refreshin indication of the change that was takin place when a woman even thought of thinkin about what you wanted. He sed they usually went ahed and got what they wanted you to want. You tell your ma, pa sed, that as neer as you can lern what i want in more hair on my hed, my wlsdum tooth filled, and rockkln chares that I wont bump into with my legs when I get up in the mornln. And if she asts you what I want, unkel Bill sed, you tell her that 1 am noncommittal to a degree, but that you think I would prefer a tobacko pouch that hns sashay powder inside the lining, a collar and cuff box with pink satin inside of It, a cigar cutter that 1 can hang on my watch chane whenever i want to feel pertlckerly ashamed of myself, a silver handled pensil that she can borrow frum me the day after Chriamus and never Kiv back to me, and a smokln set made out of hammered brass that I can s«U to somebuddy for flnger bowls That'* rite, pa sed. But the best Chrismus present for a man. unkel Bill sed. U to pick out a fifty dollar present for him, that he would hafto pay for when the bill romes In.and then not get It tfupyrlghl, W [> Nesblt.) DARK OUTLOOK BEFOREHAND "Mamma," asks the little boy. ho* can Huuta Claus get Into our fiat, when we haven't any rhlinmv -noth i ing but a steam radiator?" "H<» will probably slip In by the bust nient door, darllug " "It's all off then." says th«- lad, with a urpiUlng vigor In the u.<« of slang "That Janitor will put liliu out of busl !»•*•* before he can unpack his sack " » MIH ONE BIQ WISH Hletar rtu« Johnnie, do you know what I would like most? Brother Johnnie No, What* Ulster Hue | saw a fat lady at the ••'reus last summer and I «uh I had ler slot king to hang up «• 'hrUttuaa nlfht *