And, glancing out of his office window, he 
saw with a shock that, instead of Austin 
White, Jimsy and Peggy, the old mare, 
were waiting beneath a snow-ridged elm, 
to take him home in the sleigh. Jimsy 
caught his eye, smiled warmly and waved, 
and because Abner Sawyer did not 
know what else to do, he stiffly returned 
the salute, and reached for his hat, irri¬ 
tably conscious that sufficient sleep and 
food had already left their marks upon his 
.guest. Jimsy’s cheeks above the old- 
fashioned tippet Aunt Judith had wound 
about his throat were smooth and ruddy. 
“Aunt Judith didn’t want me to come,’’ 
•explained Jimsy, “but I tol' her how Gink 
■Gunnigan often let me drive his truck, an’ 
T coaxed so hard she had to. . . . 
Unc—Mister Sawyer, it—it’s nearly 
•Chris’mus Eve!” 
Abner Sawyer climbed in without a 
word. Peggy flew off with a jingle of bells 
through the village, through the woods, 
through a Christmas Eve twilight, dotted 
now with homely squares of light shining 
jewel-wise among the snowy trees. 
“Jimsy!” 
“Yes, sir?” 
“A lady telephoned that you’d been— 
begging — from door to door.” 
Jimsy hung his head forlornly. “I—I 
only rung some door-bells an’ said ‘Merry 
Chris-mus.’ ” 
“You expected — and received- 
money ?” 
“Ye-e-e-es, sir.” 
“Why ?” 
Silence. 
“Jimsy, I insist upon an explanation.” 
Jimsy gulped. And, facing Abner Saw¬ 
yer, his eyes blazed with heart-breaking 
■disappointment through tear-wet lashes. 
“Uncle Ab,” he choked, pitifully; “it— 
it was a Chris’mus s’prise fur you an’ 
Aunt Judith.” A great tear rolled slowly 
down upon the tippet. “I—I seen a book 
on fancy carpenterin', an’ I—I didn’t have 
no money, an’ a thimble—it ain’t silver, 
but it’s most as good.” And then Jimsy 
lost his moorings, with a sob, and cried 
his heart out upon the sleeve of Abner 
Sawyer. “I—I got the—book buttoned 
under my coat,” he blurted after awhile; 
an , L ncle Ab, Pm awful sorry ’bout the 
■door-bells. All the fellas do it home — ” 
Abner Sawyer would have been less 
than human if the boy’s tragedy had not 
touched him. 
“Why,” he asked, huskily ; “why did you 
wish to give me a Christmas present?” 
“Because,” cried Jimsy, passionately; 
“yer so awful good to me an’ Stump, an’ 
■so’s Aunt Judith. An - I thought mebbe 
ye'd never had nobuddy ever give ye a 
present an’ mean it like 1 did, or — ” 
“Or what, Jimsy?” 
“Ye'd feel diffrunt ’bout Chris’mus.” 
The first citizen took the reins and drove 
home in silence, conscious only that the 
world was awry and be hated the Village 
Conscience. Nor was he quite himself, 
■even after supper was done, and Jimsy, a 
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