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' . II! .11 ... I, ,, I, I .. I t
MKIHtr XMAS TO ALL. FltlHAV, DECEMBER 8, 1011. A MEHIIY XMASTOALL.
fl Christmas Coe
Reconciliation
Homer Greene
This occurred in the city of Al
ny, in the State of New York, on
iristmas eve, in the year of our
rd, one 'thousand eight hundred
id seventy blank.
Mr. Frederick Jury, attornoy-at-w,
closed the 45th volume of the
jv York Court of Appeals reports,
id threw it on his table with , a
ng. Ho had been reading the case
Darnall vs. Morehouse, reported
i page C4, and had found there
st exactly -what he didn't want to
id. The view of the law, enter
ined by the honorable court, dlf
red diametrically from his own.
e muttered something that sound
i very much like the title of the
se, but wasn't, rose from his chair,
ow on his top-coat with a Jerk that
pped the lining in the sleeve; put
i his hat, turned out the gas, and
arted for his homo in as ill a hu-
Ior as a man of eight and twenty i
ars ever gets. i
Hut the case in 45th N. Y. was
)t wholly responsible for his ill
imor. Indeed it had very little to
with it. This savago mood had
en a matter now, of some weeks'
andlng, and a matter wholly un
ninceted with the profession of the
w. 1o toll the truth, he had quar
led with his betrothed. Neither
them could havo told how the
mrrel began, but the end of it was
d enough. The coolness between
em had continued and increased
r some days, until finally the strain
came unbearable. Then, of course
ere was a scene. There were
iminations and recriminations.
io accused him of "envy, .hatred
id malice and all undharltableness,"
id thanked tho good fortune that
id discovered him to her in his real
iaracter of unmitigated selfishness,
)foro it was too late. And he told
jr she hadn't learned the first ru
ments of true affection, and that,
she had any heart at all, it was
mere lump of ice that was never
iuched by love, or sorrow or suffer-
g, or any sweet emotion of human
ly. Then she drew her betrothal
ng from her finger and cave it to
im, with a face as white as the Ice
r which ho had said her heart was
ade, and ho took it, with a bow as
liim and courteous as thouch it had
fcen their first meeting instead of
Iieir last, and said good night and
irned away.
All that was three weeks ago.
might just as well have been
Iireo years as far as Attorney Jury
as concerned. There was wretch
lness enough indeed, In those three
eeks to have lasted him the
It his lifetime, if it had been evenly
lstrlbuted. But ho Just kent rleht
In with his professional work and
iiid Ms troubles to nobodv. and al-
Inved nobody to question him about
iiem. But thero was a -necullar
jok about his eyes, and a percepti
le thinning of the compressed lips,
nd an unyielding expression In the
lose-shut Jaws; and ho had rapidly
eveloped what his friend and law
artner called "a devil of a temper."
t was almost equivalent to being
rozen to death to speak to him. He
pasted no words in unnecessary con-
Iersation, and his opinions were
ccaslonally expressed with an
bruptness of diction that was noth-
less than startling. Oh reader
tJiearts, wlio sang
ad to be wroth with one we love
hh work like madness on the
r hrain."
I9ii was barely live o'clock, but the
unter night had already fallen, and
ie snow, that had all day been
oating lazily in tho air, came
(own, now, with a force and vol u mo
I hat was faBt making out-of-door
Ifo a burden.
As Attorney Jury stepped out in-
Io State street and turned to go up
he walk, the rising wind broucht a
treat cloud of snow full into his
lace, and his temper was. thereby.
In no wise Improved. At tho corner
bt 1'earl street ho stenned on tn n.
Hamilton street car that was
irunching slowly along, over the
Inow-covered tracks, with the horses
I luffing and steaming ahead of it.
le did not go Inside tho car. It waa
Iilready filled with men and women
ind bundles. Besides, tho merrv
l.'hrlstmas spirit In there, as evidenc
ed uy too incessant talk nc and
laughter, was not congenial to him.
IVs the car turned up Beaver street
in extra team was attached, but the
Hpeeu was noi tnoreuy porcoptlbly in
creased. At tho siding, on the stfinn
Incline leading up to Hamilton
Htreet, the driver halted his wearv
liorses to wait for the passing of tha
Blown car. It was not yet in sight.
Svon tho dreary tinkle of the horses'
bells could not be heard. Five mln
Irtes passed: ten minutes went by.
Irho merry passengers In tho car had
;rown subdued and anxious. To At
torney Jury, standing on tho rear
platform, tho delay had become un-
HOMER GREENE,
Author of "A Ohrtttmat the Ittconcttlatton."
bearable. Nothing so exasperated
him, of late, as delay, or forced idle
ness. Finally, Impatient beyond endur
ance, he stepped from tho car,
floundered through tho deep snow to
the sidewalk, and pushed on with an
energy born of vexation up the dark
and wholly deserted street. lie
hardly noticed the down car as It
went by on Hamilton street, with
Its single passenger. At tho corner
of Hawk street ho turned down to
ward Hudson avenue. A whim had
seized him to go around by tho
residence of his former sweetheart.
Ho had not been there In three
weeks, and he had a morbid curios
ity to see tho placo. No one would
notlco him on such n night as this;
and there was a baro possibility that
he might catch a glimpse of her
through a window with curtains not
drawn, or something of that kind.
Not that It was anything to him,
now, whether he ever saw her again.
Oh, no, but then
"Hup! Hello! what tho
Why, Sonny, I camo near upsetting
you; hurt you any?
A diminutive bit of humanity
struggled up from under Attorney
Jury's feet, gouged the snow out of
his eyes and mouth, and replied:
"No'p . Tay, Mlthter, toll
me where Tanty Tlawth llvth?"
Jury bent down' to examine the
questioner. It was a hoy four or
five years old, too poorly and thinly
dressed to bo out in such a tempest
as this, but a boy with an object In
view. Ho was looking for Santa
Claus, and his bright eyes shone in
expectancy as he waited impatiently
for an answer. An Idea dropped
suddenly Into Attorney Jury's mind,
and ho said:
" Why, I'm Santa Claus, my boy;
what do you want of Santa Claus?"
The child replied, with a touch
of incredulity in his voice: "You
don't be Tanty Tlawth, do you?"
" Of course," reiterated Jury; "of
course I'm Santa Claus to all' In
tents and purposes; what do you
want of me?"
Doubt gave place to confidence
In the boy's mind.
"Well tay!" he answered; "my
mama, te's sick; te Is; and to wanth
a a a plathter, and a bottle of
of And tay, Mithter Tanty
Tlawth, I want a tied."
Jury's temper was vanishing and
his heart was softening In the pres
ence of the little waif.
" Where do you live?" he asked.
"Oh! way oft there."
The tiny fore-finger pointed In
three or four different directions
successively. The child was evident
ly lost.
" What's your name?" asked
Jury.
Some Indistinct words, which
could not bo understood, tumbled
out of the tiny mouth. Jury tried
again.
" How did you get hove?"
" I tummed up tho tepth; my
mama, te's tick; to Is,"
Here was, a clue, at last. The lit
tle wanderer's homo must be beyond
the steps that' lead down Into tho
ravine on the other side of tho city.
Jury determined to find it at any rate
and, taking the child up In his arms,
and shielding him as much as possi
ble from the storm, he hurried on
through Hawk street, gathering fur
ther information from his newly dls
covered dlsclplo on the way.
On State street a woman turned
and looked after him suspiciously,
and a policeman, standing In a
sheltered corner of tho now cap!
tol thought better of an apparent
attompt to follow, and retreated to
his covered nook as soon as the
driving snow struck his face.
Against the steps the storm swent
with unchecked fury, and tho deep
ening snow upon them rendered tho
descent hazardous and slow. But
once at the bottom, tho child rec
ognlzed his surroundings, and gave
distinct directions for finding his
home. It was a long way still: up
Canal street, and across by a side
street, to a row ot very cheap and
very shabby cottages, whoso multi
tudinous Imperfections were kindly
hidden by the darkness and the
heaping snow.
" Hore't where I live," said the
child, and Jury put tho burden out
of his aching arms at tho door of the
last cottage in the row. Tho little
fellow reached up, turned tho knob,
pushed open tho door, and said,
" Turn In." Jury started to go In,
but on the very threshold he stopped
short In stupefied amazement; for
there, before him, in the little, poor
ly furnished room, stood his quon
dam sweetheart no less utterly
astonished than he.
"Alice!" he at last found voice
to say, "what what does this
mean?"
Woman-like, without answering
his question, she exclaimed; "Why,
Fred! how how did you get here?"
"'I found this budget In the
street," said Fred, closing the door
and advancing Into tho room; "in
Hawk street, on the other side of the
city, and I I " Fred was getting
ashamed of his soft-hearted human
ity "I have brought him home.
But, Alice! you?"
" I came this afternoon," she re
plied. "A widow lives here, with a
daughter of sixteen and that little
boy. The girl works in papa's fac
tory, you know, and she sent word
that her mother was 111 this week
and she couldn't come to work, and
I I" blushing at her tender solic
itude for those in trouble "I camo
over to see if I could help them.
And while I was here," she hurried
on, "the baby disappeared and
couldn't be found anywhere, and
Eliza has gone out to look for him,
and I couldn't leave tho poor wom
an alone, so I stayed. They are very
poor, Fred. They aro in need of
some better rood nnd some more
fuel, and I think there ought to be
a doctor, you know.
Fred put on 'his hat and turned to
the door.
" Why, where are you going?" she
exclaimed.
" I'm going to get 'em," ho re
plied, and Jn another moment he
would have been gone; hut, in that
moment Alice had run to him and
thrown her arms around his neck,
and half whispered, half cried: "Oh.
Fred! how could I ever, ever say
that you wore selfish!"
" Simply because I said you wore
heartless, my dear; and I said an
unpardonable falsehood."
They wero alone In the room. Tho
boy had disappeared. Thero was a
sound as of childish explanation, in
another apartment, and a woman's
weak voice In chiding and In sooth
ing. " Now go," said Alice, disentang
ling herself at last from her lover's
arms; " and be sure to come back
for me." Ho bent down and kissed
her again, and went out Into the
night.
It was still snowing, but he felt
that every flake that kissed his
cheek was a blessing.
Over across the ravine tho lights
of St. Agnes twinkled dreamily
through tho mist of snow that dim
med and softened them; and all
along tho silent street the high,
white covering of nature hid the
scars and blemishes and dull decay
that man and time had wrought, and
made all things beautiful and pure
as a young girl's love. And Jury
wondered that ho had never, in all
his life beforo, seen a fall of snow
that could compare, In lofty beauty
and sweet suggestlveness, with this.
It might have taken him fifteen min
utes and It might have taken him
two hours, to get to North Pearl
street; he didn't know and ho didn't
care. But ho hurried with all en
ergy. He stopped at the grocer's
and he stopped at tho doctor's, and
he stopped at the toy store; and
when he went back up tho ravine,
ho was In a covered sleigh, and it
was so filled with boxes and bundles
that when they wero carried Into the
sick woman's house, Eliza, who had
returned from an unsuccessful
search, to find the little truant at
home, didn't really know where to
put them. And tho boy who had
found Santa Claus clapped his little
hands In glee, whon the painted
sled was brought In, and shouted
with the sweet persistency of child
hood: "Oh, Mlther Tanty Tlawth, I
flnded YOU, didn't I?"
But when the covered sleigh left
tho widow's door, it bore a more
precious burden Oh! a far more
precious burden; a burden which
Attorney Frederick Jury WOULD
hold In his arms Where the gas
lamps wero straggling, and call her
his " re-betrothed."
Sweet and mellow, through the
storm, camo the single stroke of the
nine o'clock bell. Sweet and tender
Oh! how sweet and tender -camo
tho good-night kiss of lovers recon
ciled. And the soft snow fell, and the
Christmas Eve grow long, and the
spirit of tho Christ Child rested down
upon tho whitened earth.