The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1878-01-09
f:ren laughed outright"

thing Of life's trials and disaup'pI,o1in,
ments, Neither shall they know.
have always made them happy, an
will still do so, whether we have
Christmas dinner or not" 80
New emery animated her, sL
joined with her darings in admirin;
beautiful and wonderful toys, book
and all the various holiday gifts a
temptingly displayed, AMI only toel
them home again when they wer,
ready. As she helped little BERTH
up the long, tedious flights Of stair.
that led to their two rooms, Will,
M!adge trippcd on lightly ahead, sh'
net Mrs. Wilson, her neighhor. com
ing down, and exchanging a pleasan
greeting, saw that the young ,wife''s
eye-lashes We're wet with tears, while
her voice sounded unnaturally cheer
'ful. u. .'' - '''' ~ d '''n'
So the artist, who had been
young wife herself once, and, was
now a patient, quiet little widow
fell a planning again as soon as she
had given the children their supper
a e after a merry game Of ramps put
them to bed. - -
"Only one dollar beside'the money
for rent she sighed, "and fonl
meals to provide. before l can see
Mr.. Poser. Well, l have some stores
in the pantry; | will see what there
is, and then go to market. | must
manage to share my dinner with my
poor neighbors-at least to invite
them-or l, shall be troubled all day.
How glad | am That | bought gifts
for the children three weeks since,
when they were cheaper and | had
the money; now they at least will
not be defrauded of their expected
enjoyment on Christmas day -
Among other lessons which the
- ,tf.b 1t' L'.ts 'ilf I51a..g
of life had taught this
brave. little woman, was, that Of the
true act of cookery-how to provide
a delicious meal from cheap and sim
pie materials; so when she had look
cd through her pantry she tripped
of to market with a self-satisfed and
happy smile, as il she had been 60
ing to buy the l"rgest turkey and
best bunch of celery to be found
there, though her basket was small
and her purse held; only one dollar.
The Wilson's, her neighbors, occl-
y % i
pied but one. room, which was warm
ed by FIRE in a large open CRATE, apd
Mrs. Lenox knew that the young
wife was accustomed TO cook. a, sim
pie breakfast by this fire.; every
morning, but for two mornings past
there had been no fragrance of beef
steak and coffee, or any other good
thing, coming through the cracks Of
the mailed up door that led from her
pantry into their room, and could
not help learning they were living
very frugally. $3.50 ssa.4r
So, on Christmas morning Mrs.
Lenox went with her children to bid
the neigLbors "Merry Christmas"
and when the Wilson's door was
opened, one quick glance showed her
that no cooking had been done that
day, nor was likely to be. s.'' lg~
The husband sat by the window
looking out, while she was sewing
near a very small, carefully built
fire. =! a,E 1a aaia y
Both responded politely to her
greeting, but they looked pale and
sad. ,f"a IN y..1
The artist hurried back to her
room and wrote a friendly little note
inviting them to share her Christ.
mas dinner, because her ''other
friends" were not coming, and she
lid not like to dine alone. But they
returned delicately worded friendly
refusal, on the ground Of their pre-
ferring to spend their holidays with
each other only. ,idHga4
The kind little woman sighed, but
went on with her preparations for
Inner, while her children enjoyed
The pretty gifts that had made them
happy since morning. BY and by
she. wrote another note, which read:
'Don't be annoyed, dear Mrs. Viii
son, i'll beg you to accept one little
'lsh from my table since you prefer
to remain at home because am
lreadfully superstitious, and I be-
ieve in the old Saxon proverb: 'The
family whose Christmas dinner is
unshared will be unlucky all the
year. So please do taste a morsel,
Just to save me from misfortune.
ssYOurs trulv.