The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-12-17


drop down the chimney and out into the
rooms Old ALLEN knew him in mo
Ffnent; there was no installing him; il
fact, old Allen would have sworn to HIM
hadAe me- III 0Nourth of July cele-
brs b, whkkA6&eJbrw would, of course;
but that makes no difference; at least it
did not with st. Nick, for he was Q,att on
14lpesf e4e .heaeht, Mshe
y 81 talhltd44 rA14of like this: "Ben
MAINS 3e66&fH good fellow, this Ben
l--works hard-honcst-g ood husband
lgqol fsthesz4nstrive him sssieaAl1g
| 1He hnd Ser1@ bill this pair Of fur
tgl6ves'll az him. 90. ooo-o@ 1
Ben's Eife-good wOmanUvgood wife
good mother-new dress for her"-and
50 on till he es4e co Hdnpy's"
stdck6g. SJooo Coo. COO,
"Hump, 'ssaid ST. Nick" poor little
boy, Hunlpy shall be happy for once
nyhow"2 and then poured into
Humpy's" stocking such quantities of
sugar plqms and resnl ieseaad nuts and
1s,1ch odd looking toys and Naah,s aslk
with a whole menagerie Of .anjMals,eAa
finished off with a druNsfa6< &i&es =
Humpy' himself. ~ - - =
| Old Allen wondered how in the world
konelittle DOCKING cold hold so much,
never for moment thinking it was a
dream-stocking-nor had--hs~timc-t to
think much about it either, for just Ehex
kst Nisk Nrned afoand and for the firsl
ttime saw Old Allen on his miserable bed
and he was SO startled by that sightthat
he crushed the, stem Of his pipe in his
teeth, and the pipe itself went rafting
over the floor.
g What" roared ST. Nick, "you here
you miserable old miser here? Where
is your miserable old stockings? Oh your
miserable old foot, l dare cay! And
that's all you deserve in it, too, you
miserable Old
Here ST. Nick fairly choked with rage.
"Come, get out of this 1t sjs no place
for YOU get out | say! fsGsS = 4
81 WON'T" said Old Allen
You won't, Ell? Well see about that"
said s. Nick, sticking Efis head up the
| chimney and giving aFwhistle; "we'll see
about that" said ST. Nick, and in less
than no time pop! down came the rein
deer, but they didn't look like reindeer
either to Old Allen, but sort Of cross
between reindeer and a hobgoblin; and
Blixen had face just like little Humpy,
and sortof cancels hump on his back,
and all the rest of them were equally
mixed up with faces and persons Old
Allen had known.
But he hadn't much time to examine
them.
+" He says he won't get up" screamed
ST. Nick. -
won't get upg we'll see about That. 2
piped the goblin reindcers, AND thealoas
and all fell to kicking, and pinching,
and pulling and pushing Old Allen till
he fairly roared with pain, and to make
matters worse goblin Humpy kicked
him in the eye with his left hoof.. and
Old Allen with a yell sprangsout Or
his miserable bed into the middle of the
room.
Won't get up, eh:" shouted St. Nick.
We'll see about that" chimed in the
COLLINS We'll see about that"
Now" said st. Nick, taking Old AL
len by his shirt-collar, and leading him
up to the stockings all pinned up in a
row and filed to bursting-"lo look there,
you miserable old miser; there is more
happiness in one of those stockings,
yea, even in the toe of the smallest one,
than you feel in year-uou miserable
old miser-you, to whom so much is
given; you, who might make thousands
happy, and be happy yourself; you, who
when you were young hung up little
stocking too, and which l always filled
-aastmade You happy; you, whose old
| mother wore her life out providing for
you; you, who promised that dear old
mother on her death-bed to be kind to,
and proyideI for your little brothers and
sister, you, who now will not even speak
to those same brothers or sister; yops
who have no good word, thought or fkd-
ing for your kind at this blessed season;
you, who even the dumb brutes have
learned to fear; you miserable miser,
look ut those stockings, read them, and
| be wise! you -" sxv~ssr =.
Here st. Nick, as if fearing q trust
himself longer with Old Allen, gave a
whistle, and up the chimney vanished
goblin rein2eers and st. Nick after Them
Old Allen rubbed his eyes. Surely he
heard bells jingle, rubbed his eyes again,
and this time really awakened in his
miserable bed, in his own. miserable
room
sitwAs Clifistmas morning, and truly
the joyous bells were ringing. Old Allen
got out of his smiserable he'd md put on
Ais misc hhle clothes N the time think
ing of his wonderful dream 1t made
him feel odd, in fact, so he concluded to
go down to his iron safes and look over
his gold; that was his sovereign remedy
for all trouble, but for wonder his gold
did not look one-l1alf SO bright and
charming as usual nor did it keep from
his mind that horrid dream, and, be5iaes,
the vaults were dark, dank, gloomy and
chilly, and in truth Old Allen felt more
uncomfortable than before as he stood
there shiyering, and he thought how good
a great coat would feel on his miserable
back. GIVE mind to buy one," thought
Old Allen; " it won't cost much, and will
last long time, and save Goals intofhG
bargain. $50, carefully locking his
vaults, he started down the streets soil
tary and alone, as cold and miserablesas
could well be imagined
1T was a long time before Old Allen
ceula linda coat to snit him.T This one
|Jcost TOO mnch; THAI was too~thin, and
somehow-why it was he could NOT 1elF
but the pockets in all seemed somsboF
remarkably small Such thing had
never happened before; in fact, he dis
tinctly remembered the last time he had
Al, l.