The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1885-12-24
Mr.. THOMPSON'S CHRISTMAS
PARTY.

Mr.. THOMPSON'S CHRISTMAS
PARTY.
Mr.. Thompson sat in his easy-chair be-
fore his open fire and watched the glow
ing embers, and unused.
1t was the night before Christmas, and
Mr.. Thompson had been busy all day
downtown buying presents for his
a%rities, he is a good-hearted old fellow,
and besides his many young friends, this
year he was obliged to buy a present for
Miss Angelina
He had changed his boarding place,
when he returned from the country, SO
as to be near her, and had moved al his
goods and chattles from his bachelors
apartments to the big front room under
hers. He now had the satisfaction of
hearing her footsteps just above. Every
time she crossed the room to her writing
desk and then went back to the window,
Mr.. Thompson knew that she had taken
the D pen, and ink from the desk,
got a book from her shelves, and had
gone over to the window, after the
manner of w~omankind, to write on her
lap.
1t always puzzled Mr.. Thompson why,
with a prettily furnished desk in the
room, a woman will always prefer to
write on her lap. He gazed fondly at a
handsome lap tablet which he had pur-
chased for her, and murmered softly, 81
would 1 were a Christmas PRESENT."
ga pretty-looking Christmas present
you'd be-" chirped a stuffed sparrow,
which sat on an mpossible-looking bough
Just over Mr. Thompson's mantel.
Now Mr.. Thompson had become quite
used to having live animals talk to him,
but to be addressed by a stuffed bird was
a new sensation-so new, in fact, that he
could not refrain from remarking, po-
litely, 81 spoke to a cousin of yours last
summer, but it is hardly the thing for a
stuffed bird to speak," and he added to
himself, with a shudder at the recollec-
ton of the usual result of these CONVERSE
tons, '.In be turning into a stuffed bird
myself before I know it."
You. are stuffed enough already"
said the sparrow, pertly, latter all the
dinner you ate"
Mr.. Thompson sighed as he remem-
bered the mince-pie and coffee, but said
nothing.
s.Humph! I should think so," said a
new voice, which seemed to proceed
from a case of birds which ornamented
one side of the room. He turned, and
the case all was activity. The great
quack, or the bird with the lantern, who
was evidently the speaker, was swapping
his bill viciously; the crow was pulling at
the imitation grass, which he mistook
for corn; the gray owl was winking on
his perch, and the little prairie owl was
skurrying around, vainly looking for a
prairie-dog's burrow. Without thinking,
Mr.. Thompson arose and threw open the
glass doors. Such afiutter as ensuedi
$50 you want to be a Christmas pres
ent!!" said the sparrow, jeeringly, as he
left his perch and sat Familiarity on the
arm Of Mr.. Thompson's chair.
ssYes, or a stuffed Bird" replied Mr..
Thompson, desperately. s'You must
have a pretty good time of it; no one TO
bother you, no fear of hawks, or men
with guns, or anything of that sort"
.sOf course, of course" answered the
crow, sarcastically. '.But just look at
nv wing, half-eaten up by moths, and
my feathers covered with dust!'
YES" chirped the cat-bird; ''and to
be obliged to sit day after day tip-tilted
on a bit of twig in a position | could not
hold a moment except for the wires"
..Or to stand on one leg from n
wears end to the other, and have every
body take you for a stork," grumbled
the crane.
But the very worst is to have you
tell a different story about each Of us
every time you have a new visitor" said
the owl, glaring at Thompson reprov-
ingly. ssYour m~endacity is something
alarming"
s.Wnere did you get the dictionary"
shouted all the birds in chorus, turning
upon the owl.
MI. Thompson was beginning to feel
decidedly uncomfortable, and was glad
of any change in the conversation. He
was also becoming angry, and he blurted
out, ''Tn give the whole lot of you
away"
80 who? to who?" asked the owl.
ITO Miss Angelina" answered Mr..
Thompson, defiantly, turning to his desk,
and rapidly penning a note to her to
that effect.
..Oho. oho!'' said the owl. '.He
wanted to be a Christmas present; now
is his chance. Come along" And be-
fore he knew what the matter was, he
found himself in the glass case. All the
rest Of the birds had returned, and were
regarding him with malicious eyes. He
had time to notice that he was. standing
on one leg just opposite to the crane. and
he realized that his long nose had grown
LONGER. his neck thinner, and that, in
fact, he was a stork, such as n sees on
the fancy painted panels. Suddenly the
glass doors shut with a click, and ne
was imprisoned.
How long he staid this way he does
not know. After a time he heard a
knock on the door of his room, and pre-
sently the chamber-maid entered.
..Nisther Thompson isn't here at all
at all" she remarked, as she glanced