• — - 
Uncle Ab," it said upon the fly-leaf; 
■“From Jimsy: Christmas Greetings.” 
The door clicked as it had clicked the 
night before, and the night before. 
“Unc—Mister Sawyer,” said Jimsy, 
sleepily. “I mos’ forgot to come, I was 
so awful tired an’ sleepy. . . . Ain’t 
—Ain’t—ain’t sick, are" ye, Uncle Ab? 
Yer face is awful queer.” 
“I—I don’t know,” said the first citizen, 
hoarsely—“I—I think I am. Go to bed, 
Jimsy, and—thank—you—for the book, 
my boy.” 
Jimsy went back to bed. He did not 
know—nor did Aunt Judith or Abner 
Sawyer—that presently he was the sole 
keeper of the house save Stump, snoring 
in the kitchen. For Abner Sawyer was 
furtively driving Peggy into a village that 
knew him only by repute, and Aunt Ju¬ 
dith, having slipped away in white de¬ 
fiance to Cousin Lemuel’s, down the road, 
was driving into Lindon with the sur¬ 
reptitious savings of many years in the 
old-fashioned pocket of her gown. 
V 
1 he clock struck six. It was Christmas 
morning! Jimsy awoke, with the thought 
of turkey uppermost in his mind, to find 
Aunt Judith by his bed, a wonderful look 
of Christmas, he thought, in her gentle 
face. 
“Dress quickly, Jimsy,” she whispered, 
“and don’t make a sound—not a sound! 
I’ll wait outside by the door. It—it’s a 
Christmas secret that nobody but you and 
I must know.” 
Jimsy tumbled into his clothes, and 
opened the door. “W-w-w-w-hat is it, 
Aunt Judith?” he whispered. 
But for answer, Aunt Judith only hur¬ 
ried him in a flutter to the sewing room, 
safe this many a year from the measured 
tread of first-citizen feet, and closed the 
door. 
“Oh, Aunt Judith!” gulped the boy. 
Aunt Judith!” 
A Christmas tree winked and rain- 
bowed glory in a window by the eaves, 
everything beneath its tinseled branches 
that the heart of a boy could wish. The 
radiance in Jimsy’s eyes brought Aunt 
Judith to her knees beside him; her sweet, 
tired eyes wet with tears of pleasure. 
“You like it, Jimsy?” she whispered. 
“You’re sure you like it, dear” 
Jimsy buried his face in Aunt Judith’s 
shoulder, with a strangled sob of excite¬ 
ment and delight. “Aunt Judith,” he 
blurted; “I—I can’t mos’ tell ye what I 
think!” 
Aunt Judith’s arms clung tightly to him. 
“Cousin Lemuel helped me,” she whis¬ 
pered. “The house was dark, and Mr. 
Sawyer in bed. There wasn’t even a light 
in the work-shop We tip-toed up and 
down the back-stairs. You mustn’t 
breathe a word of it, Jimsy. Not a word! 
It’s for you and me.” 
Jimsy sighed. “Wisht,” he said; 
“wisht Uncle Ab believed in Christmas.” 
HDahe boohs pour Christmas (rifts. Hub put 
these boohs ott pour Christmas lists to^bap 
ABROAD AT HOME 
The American ramblings, observations, and 
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WALLACE MORGAN 
In a class all by itself. In keen analysis, in vivid in¬ 
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IN THE NEW 
By PROFESSOR EDWARD ALSWORTH 
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EVE EDGARTON 
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The Love Letters of Juliette 
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405 
