it.
1 xl
X Lilla's Xraas Presents.
r ILL A SPEAGUE seemed to blow
J a in at the door with a gust of wind
-J and a drift of snow. Then, taring
kicked a pair of snow encrusted over
shoes into a corner of the hall, Miss
Lilia ran upstairs In a hurry.
"See here, mother," said Lilla, "it's all
over now."
"What, dear?" Mrs. Sprague asked,
looking up absently from a letter she was
writing.
"It's all over I say, It's all over be
tween Randolph oh, what a foo foo
fool I've been!" And she flung herself,
sobbing, on a big horsehair sofa.
"But why, Lilla?"
"Don't ask me like that, mother. Don't!
I'Te told you before. And this this is
the sec sec second time. Oh!" More
sobs.
"I don't understand you, daughter,"
said her mother, leaving her batch of
Christmas correspondence and going to
carry comfort to the tragic figure on the
horsehair sofa.
"He's run away again!" Lilla roared.
"Done what, dear?"
"The same as he did before."
"What did he do before?"
"Mother, I told you, day before yes
terday ran away from me. lie thought
I didn't see him."
"Mr. Watts ran away from you?"
"Yes, mother, and I'll never speak to
him again. Day before yesterday he at
IT is all oyer now," said lilla
least had the politeness to bow. This
time tie just turned and went down
side street. lie was with that frump of
a cousin. I just hate her, and him, and
the whole lot."
"Don't be foolish, child. Mr. Watts
will be here to explain It all. You'll see."
In answer to this Lilla only rose from
the sofa, grimly took off her wraps and
muttering: "Yes, 1 11 see," and dis
"Yes. I came to speak to you again
about it. I forgot "
"Oh, it's no use now, Cousin Mattie.
She will not 'receive lfce or my letters'
never."
"Pooh! Did she tell you so?"
"She wrote to me I mustn't go there."
"Look here, Randolph," said the com
mon sense matron, "this is all nonsense.
If Lilla Sprague won't receive me, she
must be a ninny "
"Don't sny that!"
"I will say that. But anyhow, her
mother will see me.- I am going now to
call on Mrs. Sprague. And now, look
here, about this bracelet." .
Shall we go on with that?" said
Watts, with a faint smile.
"Of course we shall, stupid. Iliggins
says he has tried to set the watch with
the face In, as you wanted it, and he
can t make any better job of it than
Moore could. Xow I think I'd better go
and take it back to Moore's and tell them
to set it with the face out, don't you?"
ery well," said W atts, with almost
childish resignation.
"And then the miniature can go inside
with the original crystal over it, eh?"
"Very well."
"And then I'm going straight to Mrs.
Sprague's."
"Ave you?"
First to Iliggins' Mrs. Sucher went,
where she took possession of a remark
ably pretty and uncommon gold bracelet,
a tiny old-fashioned watch and the min
iature. Then to Moore's, where she left
the bracelet, the watch and the minia
ture. Then to Mrs. Sprague's.
As Mrs. Sucher entered Mrs. Sprague's
private and individual sitting room she
heard a whisk and rustle of skirts and a
door closed behind a rapidly retreating
figure.
"Lilla not well?" sold Mrs. Sucher,
with an incredulous laugh. "Too bad.
These Christmas preparations are unde
niably fatiguing. I have spent three
weeks, my dear Mrs. Sprague, running
about town in search of the right present
for the right people.
"You must have laid yourself out to
be generous," said Mrs. Sprague.
"I am generous. I give my time and
labor to heip other people give presents,
That brings me to the object of this visit.
Can you keep a secret?"
"les, said Mrs. bprague, "and I am
burning with curiosity. So make haste
and tell me."
"Oh, then you know?"
a consultation on that wonderful brace
let, we saw Lilla coming along. I said
to him: 'Randolph, if she meets us she'll
want to walk along with us, and then
the whole plot is ruined. Let's turn down
here before she sees us.' But it seems
she saw us after all."
On Christmas morning, in spite of
many earnest ossurances from her moth
er that that morning would bring a clenr-ing-up
if all her trouble, Lilla was as ter
ribly cross and out of tune with the
chimes as she had been for four days
past. Moreover, she awoke with a head
ache. She found a stocking tied to the head
of her bed, as she had expected, and
took the stocking down and opened it
mechanically. Then she found the brace-
et with a scrap of paper in which, in her
mother's writing, were the words, "Press
the spring and look inside, .behind the
watch. And when sue looked a lovely,
loving face looked back at her a face
that was very like Randolph W atts' own.
And at the bottom of the stocking
away at the very toe was another pa
per which said, "The bracelet ought to
tell you why I ran away. R. W."
Then she laid her head and bracelet
on her pillow, and wet both bracelet and
pillow with tears untal her headache was
all gone.
If I wuz Santa, and Santa wus
me,
D'vou know what I would do?
I'd load with presents the Christ
mas tree
And hnve 'em all marked "For
Willie B.,
With p'raps for Charlie a
few.
P. S.-I'm WlllirB.
A nappy New Year.
Delight and pathos are inextricably
mingled with the thought of New Year's
day, says the Boston Watchman. It Is
only a conventional point of time; any
other would do as well. Every day closes
an old year and begins a new one, but for
all that we cannot help feeling that this
day, which is agreed upon throughout
Christendom for the beginning of a new
year, is somewhat unique. The pathos
comes from the review of the past, and
from the sense that another notch has
ers were far north of the tree line. But
they took bones of the whale, walrus and
other animals, and tied them together so
as to make a trunk with branches. That
was the tree. A Christmas without can
dy would seem strange to you, but instead
of candy, they made balls of whale fat, or
blubber, of which the Eskimo children are
ns fond ns you are of chocolate drops or
peanut brittle. They hung these on the
tree, and prepared some presents of but
tons and beads, and that was all. But it
was enough for a delightful time for the
little Eskimos, and their pleasure made
the men so happy that they forgot their
loneliness and homesickness. Home Mag-
azine.
Boiled turkey is very popular in Eng
land, and is certainly a most delicious
dish a handsome one, too, with a proper
sauce. A good way to "boil" a turney
is to steam it. Use a baby wash-boiler,
and arrange a rack or something on rests
that will hold the bird up above the wat
er. Steam until it is perfectly tender
without falling to pieces.
For salad rolled bread is in very good
taste. Take fresh bread and cut off all
tlie crusts with a very sharp knife. Then
butter one end. slice thin- and roll up,
buttered side inward. When a sufficient
number of rolls are prepared tie theiu in
a clean white cloth and keep in a cool
place for quite a while before using.
A dinner never noeds it, but chicken pic
is a regulation item on Christmas menus.
It may be prepared the day before if the
reheating is carefully done.
Never under any circumstances use a
flour-and-water thickening for making
gravies. It is quite as bad as boiling tea
both culinary sins.
Stuff turkeys or any fowl not more
than three-quarters full, or less, as dress
ings swell and so become solid if packed
tightly.
Unless scalloped oysters are on the
Christmas menu oyster soup should be
the soup selection.
Salted nuts are always in favor during
the progress of the Christmas dinner.
The old-fashioned mince pies are al
ways in order.
read: "With tnuub'.iuig fingers did -we
weave the holly round the Christmas
hearth." So that the holly has before its
present vogue in cemeteries been asso
ciated with the memory of those no long
er in our midst.
Botanical'.y speaking, the holly is a
genus of trees and shrubs of the natural
order Aqui foliaceae. chiefly natives of
temperate climates, with evergreen, leath
ery, shining and generally spinous leaves.
The common holly, the only European
species and a native of some parts of
Asia, also is a well-known ornament of
woods, parks and shrubberies in Great
Britain, the stiffness of its habit being
so compensated by the abundance of its
branchlets and leaves as to make it one
of the most beautiful evergreens. It is
found as a native plant in Scotland, al
though Britain is nearly its northern lim
it. It attains greater size and displays
greater luxuriance in the northern than
in the southern parts of its geographic,
range, often appearing in the former ns .
tree of considerable size 20 to 50 feet
high while in the latter it is generally a
mere bush. The name holly used to be"
derived from the very ancient use of the
branches and berries to decorate churches
at Christmas, said to be connected orig
inally with the Roman Saturnalia, from
which the tree was called holy tree.
Best of AH Gift.
The best of all gifts at the present time
is yourself. Make yourself iu some way
more pleasant and helpful to others. You
may have been neglectful of them; be
mindful henceforth. You may be quick
in temper and have spoken hastily; put
on restraint and siwak kindly now. Re
strain all evil habits and make yourself
a joy and a help to others. They will
bless you.
It Made Him Hot.
A J lUBSi
Santa Onus There, confound these
hard-coal burners! I've singed my whis
kers and ruined another suit of clothes I
First of All. f Ct) J
If Santa Claus would ask the horse, vL fvrV t-
Who hns to pull the loads, v
The gift he'd like for Christmas 3 v ri
He would shout, "'UooU Itoadsl" -'&'f
m "4"