. , V
.VferC --gr-. f ffi.ft ,k dL 5- ' .YfXAKp am i.ii! n haii; 01., rare and antique bird Ifo
MrW o It's earlv In the mornln' that a feller muat .. t.lT '-J.r.-.v.-rJP Af..yv!-.7 f -V s (. KVX'AIAD That lately ou the venerable tree, , V
fc mr Is' n" rrT3SSM$ Jlife li.ill.'l in trail of sleep, th. chill wlndi ' .'
VJK TtaMvhV n,r. Ilk. Chr..tma. tlma. It JZBmjZA .... A'
i,t-i.
Mo w
.41
. - '
si
ther.'a biscuits browned an' light. .S-tW, 'r,Fr;V WtWv "Yl V1?-" -VuvVy'it
Svfiafrl A tb mornta' In the kitchen mother's been "3inhi "V f KMjm fTh V??8:
KJT-- mom .vf.il busy ....... o. facNTKU,-- rtf?!i.F
'C"'t 0. you bet I'm mighty thankful that I own ..JA- ?Mtr'li . ViJ !''!irr::
Two lonely, unlearn turkeyi, iol iurvlvon
of the no.
Are a-atruttln' round the yard with i kind
i anvlimfl air."
Tba tort o auililen abaenre of their frlruda
la quite a kIum-k,
An' they're aenwhln' fer their late lament
ed iTonlea everywhere.
With apreartln' tHlla mid feather' Huffed
They don't ureot their fate will be the
other"' (jloomy lot.
They notlre how we're fuln' an' they won-
A-m ... V. I ..'r. .1 1. 1 1 1 '
ihu miliar ritfiv iwn mirniiiii
0, you bet I'm mlcbty thankful that a tur
key 1 am not.
Tha folk they keep arrlvln' brlmniln' o'er
with fun an' laughter.
Bluff uni?b ahuke my hand until the bonea
begin to crark.
Olrl rowiln ahyly klaa me-Jea' exactly what
An' wlfh'promptltnde quite llglitnlng-llka
I gayly kla 'em bark.
But one of them, the falreat maid of all my
fair relations. ...
To ateal my heart by wltchln' arta aome
bow ahe doea contrive,
While In her eyea I read a tale beyond my
expectatlona.
0, you bet I'm mighty thankful-mighty
thankful I'm alive.
A COWARD'S
THANKSGIVING.
Ho was not a bad man at heart. But
the very qualities which mored some peo
ple to coll him a "jolly good follow" were
Identical with those which made other
people consider him a bad cltlsen, and,
with the usual emphasis of people who
take the downward view, a very bad
citizen.
When his wife died he seemed to awake
with a sudden shock to the issues of life
and the fact of death. lie had loved her
with til that mnrrelotis depth of tender
ness, that Inconsistent fervor which some
times underlies the weakest natures.
In the newness of his grief he foreswore
hli old wavs and hnbits. lie knew him
self to be wenk. IJe funded the way to
strength of resistance Iny along the road
of seif-exllc to strunge scenes and un
familiar fncea that road well worn by the
restlcHS feet of those who fly from the
battle within to wage an unequal struggle
with the allies without,
lie loft his little son, made doubly ricnr
to him by the sense of Ioho, with his wife's
cousin, gave to her what money he could
spare for the child's support, promised to
send more at regular Intervals, and de
parted westward.
More than a year Inter he roused him
self as if the linger of fate had touched
him. Ho remembered, with an anguished
regret, that he hud failed again; that for
mouths he had drifted from place to
place, lie himself scarcely knew where or
how. He remembered thut his promised
remittances for the boy hud ceased. Me
saw liimsolf broken in strength, in health,
in spirit. Lie felt suddenly overpowered
with the consciousness of his own weuk
ness, and, as a drowning man's arms
reach wildly out toward nny illusion of
help, bis thought went out toward his
child.
It seemed to him that the love of his
boy could save him. The miracle of sal
vation became to him possible, wherein a
little child, strong in love mid Innocence
and fuith, should lift th faintitu, failing
manhood of the mini.
A passionate yearning seized blm to
fold ngiiin to his heart he little form, to
foci uooul his neck the clinging iirins, to
hear again the lisping words which came
to his weakened memory like distant
echoes in a dream. And then he remem
bered the day when lii'st the child wns
laid in his arms; he remembered the
thrill, the wonder, the first pride of fath
erhood. Then, in broken glimpses, as a
fair landscape Is seen between blurs of
mist, there came to him memories in swift
succession, of the growth, the incidents
of the child's few years.
"I must go to him," whispered the mn
with a gasp, ns lie lifted his lieiul from
his hands. Ills face vu Unshed, tears
stooil in his eyes. His resolution was
carried out with feverish haste, and he
turned his fuce to the Kast.
His wife's relative had little excuse for
him. She hnd long considered him a
hopeless vagabond. So when he appeared
suddenly, us from the possible, and, iu
her opinion, better, dcud, she was not pre
pared to receive him with especial cordial
ity, ihe story was soon told. The boy
had died mouths before. He slept by his
molher. No one hail known where to ad
dress the father, who was supposed to
have forgotten he had t son. She was
really not much surprise! at the apathy
with which the fattier listened. It was
consistent with her cstHiate of his char
acter. She hud no means of knowing
that his faculties were stunned. Hut she
was usUitiislnd beyond measure when, lu
a tnee'iiiuicnl way, he Insisted upon giving
her money for the expense of caring for
and burying the boy.
"Is ihat quite aH'f" he kept asking, and
then, abruptly but quickly, he said:
"liiv)d -by, I'm going bark."
He knew that his hope wns dead; he
felt the certainty of fall now that nothing
remained to him to lean upon. Uut he
thought of other things.
A sleety mist tilled the air, sparkling in
the street lights like a mtiy ahower of
M
brilliants. The particles stung his face
like eltin nrrowa. His features were
tense and rigid. His eyes were hot and
dry and his head ached with a dull, in
sistent, maddening pain. He passed the
colored globes of a drtig store and s'opped.
lted, violet, and green the shafts of light
pierced the dark. The people about him
seemed shadows, the sound of their voices
leagues away. Dimly he remembered a
prescription for an opiate he bad used for
headaches like that. Fumbling in his
pockets he found the paper and entered
the store.
"Make twice the number of powders,"
he said to the clerk. "1 don't want to
bother getting the stuff so often."
The clerk hesitated.
"Nonsense," said the man. "I'm per
fectly lamlliar with the use of It. Give
me ono of them now with a glass of
water."'
Then he went Into the street again with
the packet of powders In his pocket, and
already the mere taking of the drug had
somewhat soothed him. He felt hushed;
his mind seemed to clear and lift itself
Into a curious, Impersonal attitude. As
he walked he found himself quite willing
to contemplate calmly the sodden pain at
his heart, the utter hopelessness and use-
lessnoss of his life. With a mocking per
sistence the many resolves he had made
to himself, the efforts to cliunge, the evcr
succocding failure surged up before him,
aud hU lip curled in contemptuous scorn
of himself. Never did a man hold himself
up to more merciless s-rutiny, more in
tolera.it judgment.
In bis abstraction he nearly fell upon a
group of wretched children of the street
who Btood clustered about a resluurant
window.
And such a window! The light of mel
low globes flooded it. It was decked with
holiday greens, lu the center, on a plat
ter sprigged with parsley, reposed brown
and crisp, a roasted pig, with the reddest
of apples in its mouth. On each side a
fair, i.it turkey, dressod for the oven, lay
In state. Lobsters, in their scarlet coats,
brown quail with heads tucked under
their wings to swell out the pitiful little
breasts, and divers other resources and
accessories of the culinary art lent color
aud sugestiveuess to the tableau.
The man (topped. A tiuy fellow, about
as largo as his own boy would have bceu,
but ragged and dirty and shivering, as by
Uod's mercy his own never would be, lift
ed a newspaper up to bim and piped in a
shrill little voice:
"Huy a paper, mister, to help me git a
Tanksgivin' dinner!
"Is this Thanksgiving?"' asked the man
with t. dull surprise.
"Sure!" ssid the boy. "Don't y' see dat
lay-out in de winder?"
Tho man looked at he window. He
had not noticed it before. He stared at
the children. He rut his hand in his
trousers pocket and felt the small roll of
mil 1;t
THANKSGIVING SONNET.
To God give tbanksl rrom every hill and
plain
Thefriiltsofiiutnnin crown the dying ye-ir
TIih ghost of tlowery summer hovers neur
As If regret fill fur her shortened reign.
The lm. vHSt of the year revolves iinalii
The wine of life Is III the aliiiosphere
Kor thuso to whom hcsltli holds her chnllce
clear.
And bcnllng comes from breath of ripened
grain.
Now o'er the gayly decorated hind
The grnusrlns are tilled from lme to brim;
The frust-sword strews the leaves ou every
band
In comlmt with the sunbeams' rapiers dim;
And heard throughout earth's scenes of
betiuty grand
The grateful tollers chant their harvest
hymn.
bills he knew was there. He remembered
approximately the amount. Brushing
past the pleading child at his feet, he
went abruptly Into the rostaurant. After
a brief interview wita the manager he re
turned to the door.
"Who wnnts a Thanksgiving dinner?"
he naked. Two or three voices said "Me!"
explosively, but for the rest an incredu
lous stare alone responded, until one boy
said, slowly and reproachfully: "Ah-h,
g'way! You're givin' us guff!"
For answer the man opened the door,
aud the children, without more ndo, clum
sily shuttled past him. All save one, a
girl with an accordion slung from her
shoulder and the black locks of Ituly
straying from under tbo red kerchief on
her head. She paused with a look of in
quiry. "Hoes de girl come?" asked a boy.
"She's a purty good feller for a girl."
"Yes, come along," said the man, with
an affectation of cheerfulness. "In a
time like this female suffrage goes."
They were led by a grinning waiter to
a private dining-room where a long table
stood shrouded as with new-fallcp snow;
and whi e the children were taken to wash
their hands and faces, the man, whose
head tnrobbed afresh as, he enme iu from
the outer air, took in s glass of brandy
two of the powders from the package in
his pocket.
"Ilring us a real old Thanksgiving din
uer," he said to the waiter, "and plenty of
it, without too many trills. Some soup
and some turkey " He paused and
looked archly at the children, who caught
the spirit of bis glance and shouted: "Yes,
yes!"
"Yes, some turkey with cranberry
sauce "
The liny newsboy hugged himself and
murmured": "Cramb'ry saucer'
"Anil some scalloped oysters," contin
ued the man, stopping after the mention
of ea -h dolicacy to wa'cb the children,
who shivered witll eagerness and punctu
ated each pause with approving nods and
murinuiiug echoes, "and some sweet po
(Tegs I
taloes, and plenty of bread and butter,
nud ah, pickles "
"Ah-h, pickles!" repeated the children.
"And pin shall It be mince pie or apple
pie?" ne uskf'd.
This question requind pondering, and
n youthful Alexander .-lit the tiordinn
knot by saying: "I.o's have liofe."
"Here, here," said the man to a boy
who scrambled for the ..nt at his right
hand. "When there's only one lady in
the company the seat of honor should be
long to her."
The man touched her hsud reassuringly
and turned to his left, where sat the littlo
newsboy. I.ong and steadily he looked
into the child's face.
"He, too, hud blue eyeji," he murmured,
with a catch of the breath as for a brief
Instant his own eyelids closed and he hit
his lip.
At last, when each child had eaten two
pieces of pic, even to the Inst crumb, the
man robe to his feet, clnt-hing at his chair
for supiKirt. lie brushed his ha ml across
his eyes. , Strange lights danced before
him, crimson and gold; the ulr was popu
lous with unknown shapes, weaving In
slow mazes; soft melodies sang in his ears
as from infinite distances, thrilling, uncer-
Si
tato, r'uing and falling s with the swell
of an invisible sea.
"Children," his own voice sounded re
mote and dissevered from his, "good
night. Have you had a good dinner?"
The vociferous assent recalled his stray
ing fancies. He saw his guests multi
plied as in a room wailed with mirrors.
Being of unceremonious habit, they
stood not upon the order of their going
and soon were gone. As the little news
boy slid down from his chair the man laid
a hand on the child's tangled bead and
gazed in his face with a look of yearning
tenderuess. The boy looked startled and
hurried away.
"It was a great success." said the man
trf the waiter as he laid a bill on the cash
ier's tray. He uttered his words with hes
itating precision.
"It is the only good thing I
ever did in my-life.'' and then he
laughed aloud.
The waiter smiled complaisantiy; the tip
was large enough to cover many ecen
tricities. Nearly an hour later he cautiously open
ed the door and peeped In.
"Did you ring, sir?" he asked diplomat
ically. There was no response, and he
went swiftly to the averted chair. On the
table the cigars were untouched; one
glass of brandy had been taken from the
bottle; several sma.. white paper wrap
pers lay on the cloth beside the emptied
glass. In the chair, with his hands still
holding the paper and his head against
the high leather back, sat the man but
his spirit had gone too far on a long quest
to be recalled.
With J';y we see thee lying on thy back, ...
Thy chHHle, lush drumsticks nicking lu
iii no, .
Thy wings In sweet peace folded, and, alack,
.... . ... . .1. u...,H..rt ikiiiimiiil PfirM.
1 HH IIICHMIW. HI IIIJT Kill, HUM. I'iim. ., --.
Filling our souls with heavenly melody.
The while with fork and knife
Thvibirk nieiit nnd thy while meat fondly we
Kufriise wlih gravy In our revelry,
Ami then, Willi pleasure rife,
Kacli dainty morsel neatly tuck away
Cpou Thanksgiving Diiy.
Thou'rt ii'ibler Hum the ranvaatmrk or goose.
The lonllV Sllllllgilin or mti "t."
r siiy other mlnsirel that Is loose
Kr TiiKciilooni to t'npo Mary Ann.
Compnied with thee the woodcock Is a mere
lii'lusloii all lu all; ,
The upland plover ne'er enn be thy peer,
llcsldu thee to the epicure und seer
The prnlrle hen Is small;
Tho-.i art the bird nf freedom, anyway,
Upon TlianksglvlmjDuy.
THANKSGIVING DAY IN EUROPE.
Unkod Bcn, Olocp, and "Bounkin
Mil a rAmcrlcniiie."
A few years ago one of the diplomatic
corps in 1'aris complimented some Amer
ican visitors by giving a Thanksgiving
dinner. H made some elaborate re
searches regarding our national customs
us applied to the day and with help of his
chef offered uniong other things baked
beans, well thinned with custard nud
frozeu. The crowning glory of the feast
was a pumpkin pie. Its crust was shing
ly puff pastu fully an inch thick. The
pumpkin was merely a lilmy glaze upon
the paste, with a tnffy-like consistency
that made It cliug to the enter's teeth.
The cliff must have Impurtcd the secret
to tho national 'pie, at least in part, to
others Of his craft, for a little later a
well-known restaurateur announced on
a little placard at his establishment:
"Rounkin 1'ia a la Amerlcnine."
In Berlin the traveler will find, if he Is
there in November., an addition to the
menu of some places of refreshment. The
addition is a nourishing announcement to
Americans that Indian puddings, bean
puddings, pumpkin tarts, and other delica
cies, which the waiter will affably say
are for the American "Danksgiving," but
which only resemble the originals they
Imitate as the mist resembles the rain.
Foreign restaurants pride themselves
upon catering to American customers'
tnstes, but their translations are striking
and worked out laboriously from the dic
tionary. One Berlin hotel proudly put
upon the menu, "False hair stewed Amer
ican fashion." It requires some penetra
tion to discover that a dish of smothered
beef known to us as mock rabbit Is
meant. 1
A Russian of wealth and position hav
ing gathered accurate knowledge of In
dian corn and the ways it should.be serv
ed some years ago, invited some English
and American friends to dinner and, after
a little preliminary boast of the success
his ganlner had made In cultivating the
vegetable, presented his guests with tiny
Immature cobs an inch and a half long,
Boiled till tender and served like aspara
gus tips with a rich cream dressing. An
American present found It difficult to
maintain a circumspect gravity when the
hostess asked him if it was true that in
America this corn was always eaten with
the fingers, for in view of the dripping
ears she was daintily lifting, one at a
time, upon her fork, he had to assure her
that she was eating it in the only proper
manner.
The Crowning of the Tear.
This is the festival which the Pilgrim
fathers inaugurated, which New England
has annually celebrated for two centuries,
und which the nation has adopted. and
sanctioned as a day of public thanksgiv
iug to God. It exalts the home aud
strengthens its sacred and tender ties.
It brightens the shadows which have
gathered over it. It dignifies prosperity.
It prompts men to reach out helpful
hands to their less fortunate neighbors.
It reminds us afresh from "whence every
good gift comes. If It seemed good to
our fathers in the midst of the hardships
of this new world to give public thanks
to God for blessings, how much more
reason have we to follow their example?
Abundance of food and clothing, happy
homes, a free country at peace with ail'
nations and extending its lufluen"
throughout tho world, with marvelously
multiplied appliances for use and pleas
ure which surpass the wildest dreams
of those who first were moved to set
apart a day of public thanksgiving and
praise, are ours. Y bat shall I render un
to the Lord for all His bench ts toward
me? I will take the cup of salvation, and
call upon the name of the Lord.
Tickletooth Pndtlin?.
"Tiekletooth pudding" was the name of
the Thanksgiving pudding of old colonial
days. It was only a memory of the great
progenitor of that name which the pil
grims had left at home In old England.
There were no ten pounds of solid fruit,
no twenty luscious eggs, rich beef suet,
nor was it dampened with choice brandy
and home-brewed ale. But it was prob
ably more easily digested.
Erery Day.'
Every day is a day of thanksgiving for
Christians. They do net wait until the
crops have been gathered before returning
thank, for they are thankful for every
day's blessing. Still it is a commendable
custom for a nation to officially recognize
man's dependence, and '.o ask Its people
to unite in a common thanksgiving.
"1
Sii