St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-12-27

covered OaSkeGs Wn)cn ne nau III his /!
hand, down besides the steps.
eve were waiting for you," said Rob. |
'tWe were afraid the candle would burn |
out before you came, if we lighted it."
you were very kind to come, doctor,
and tonight, too, when you have so
much merry making at home,'' said the
widow. 1--WE have nothing to show ex-
cept how little it takes to make our
young folks happy-and not so little,
either; for am sure their greatest hap
piness as well as mine is in seeing
Willie SO well again
eyes, yes,n said the doctor. why
his cheeks are rounding out consider
ably, let's see if they are getting hard,
too, "-and he pinched Willie's cheeks.
''But don't keep him waiting any longer,
children. light the candle and done
with it. -
So Rob went into the other room and
brought out kind of box, upon which
evergreens were tackled in mysterious
manner. There was round hole in
the top of the box. Willie evidently
| thought this was the great mystery. He
ran to the box and looked into the hole.
While he was looking, with his back
turned, Rob brought out the tree. 1t
was a fragrant juniper fresh from the
woods. 1t lowered above Rob's head
and shone and glittered and rustled.
The one candle was lighted and gave
! forth q mysterious radiance from the
center of the tree.
Look, Willle!" said the doctor.
Willie looked, clapped his hands and
gave a little shout. Rob fitted the tree
into the box. ''It is your tree, Willie y
said Belle. cit is all for just you"
Sure enough, it had upon it nothing
but the bright ornaments, strings of
popcorn, some oranges, red apples,
sticks of candy, gayly painted wooden
and tin toys, and some white and red
rye candies. For all that, it was a
beautiful tree. The doctor thought it
was the most beautiful tree he had ever
seen, and he said so, but he was think
| ing of more than material beauty.
at did not cost a single penny"
said the widow, and that is the most
beautiful part of it.
Indeed it is, said the doctor. s'But
how is that? The candy, fruit and toys;
did they not cost something's"
mo, indeed" said Belle. ''Rob
worked for the man who keeps the cor
ner store, to get them. The wooden toys
were all broken ones; but Rob mended
them nicely"
"All but the soldier" said Rob. "It
was so much more natural for SOL
der to have lost one arm, that let him
go so.'
..How is it that you have been so
economical with your tree, and yet pay
every cent of my bill9" asked the doc
tor.
I'VE had the money to pay for that.
but not cent for Christmas presents, "
replied the widow, and added: 81 con-
suited with the children about it; for,
to tell the truth, when there is anything
extra to pay out, have to consult with
them, generally. Belle earns some
thing by sewing with me. Rob carries
papers and works Saturdays, which
brings him in little more than enough
to pay for his clothes as a general
thing
1 s.Such as they are, said Rob, mer-
rily, looking down upon his pretty we'll
worn suit. ''But shall do better, some
day
! :.And may ask if you had much left
after paying this bill?" inquired the
doctor
..No, doctor, to tell the truth, we
hadn't. But we never spent money in
a more satisfactory manner than this,
and we shall go on now feeling very
happy and free from debt, if our health
is spared. =
.sHow much did you have left, Rob?''
asked the doctor.
Rob only laughed.
ale hadn't penny" said Willie,
land mother hadn't neither, nor Belle,
and Rob went off and earned twenty
cents selling extras, to make up
enough
1t was out of Willie's mouth before
any one could stop him.
'.Now that Willie has been such a
tell-tale, doctor, must say that moth
ing ever made me happier than the re-
suit of this test for the children. re-
minded them just how it stood; there
was this just bill for your care in
WiIlie's sickness; would they feel better
to put it OLIVE were all sure that you
would be too kind to distress us for it
or should we feel better to pay it and
call it our Christmas thank-ofering for
Willie's recovery? Rob and Belle said
at. once: Let us pay it now; then we
shall have done what we could to show
our gratitude to the kind doctor, and it
would make US happier Christmas than
anything else could. Besides, we can
make nice, new start free from debt.
Willie is the only one who will mind
going without Christmas presents, and
we can contrive something to please
him. So you see, doctor, we have
made ourselves happy by putting our
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