News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-12-23
JAMES CHRISTMAS.
BY HELEN WHITNEY CLARK.

will be for mel"
To pretty jamie Cress, Mrs. Simms'
pretentiOus boarding house was as lone
some and dreary as the Desert of
| Sahara
She had come from her home at Pine
Hill, to try and earn some money to
| help her father make the last pay
ment" on his forty-aCIe farm; and as
she worked Mt q small mi.liner shop
down town, and wore plain calico
dresses. day in and day out, with q
cheap black alpaca on Sundays, the
other ladies at Mrs. Simms' looked
coldly at her, or over her, or beyond
her. If they spoke to her at all, it was
in frigid, numb palsy kind of way,
that seemed to chill jamie through and
through, to the very marrow of her
bones.
Miss Verena Gillette, the Boarding
house Oracle, had pronounced jamie a
nobody" after glance at the slim,
little figure, in the pink calico frock,
with her hair twisted in mass of gilt
tering gold, high upon her head,
80 old-fashioned :" sneered Miss
Verena. ''No more style than dish
pan"
And her fellow -boarders and follow
ers, the Widow Dashaway. Miss Adalina
Duffy, and the two Miss Bobbs, ut once
| took their cue and turned up their
| noses at poor, homesick jamie, who felt
forlorn enough in her new position
among cold-hearted strangers.
However, she was not compelled to
see much of them outside of meal times,
excepting on Sundays, or other holi-
days; for the rest had their places Of
business as well as herself.
Miss Nerena Gillette, with all her
airs and graces was ''saleslady" III
Griggs & Grimshawe's Mercantile En-
porium on Broadway; Adalina Duffy
was cashier at a restaurant. and the
Widow Dashaway was a teacher IN a
kindergarten school.
As for the masculine portion of the
borders, they were of no avail IN
Janie's case, being prosaic married men,
middle-aged and grum, who swallowed
their vituals and took themselves 81. of
the house as soon as possible.
But when, as occasionally happened,
jamie had been induced by the we'll
meaning landlady-who never saw an
inch beyond her nose-to spend an
evening in the parlor with the other
''ladies," she might as well been one OF
the china ornaments on the mantleplece
for all the share she had in the conver-
sation.
Sitting bolt upright on the stiff
legged horse hair sofa, she had the
pleasure of listening to a discussion of
the latest STYLES Miss Gillette being
appealed to on this side and on that us
to what would or would not be worn
during the current season.
And so to morrow would be Christ
mas, and no wonder poor jamie felt
lonely with the prospect of whole
day in such company.
eff l could only afford to go home"
she thought, winking very hard to
keep the tears back, ''and see father
and mother, and grandma, and the dear
old home! know just how it looks,
with the hickory logs cracking and
swapping in the fire place, and strings
of dried apples and red peppers hang
ing in festoons from the kitchen rafters,
with grandma knitting in the high
backed rocking chair, and mother max
ing cookies for tea, or setting away the
crooks of milk on the buttery shelves,
and father smoking his cob-pipe,
and
But here jamie broke down in spite of
her efforts to wink the tears back, and
sobbed like home-sick child
''Dear mer' sighed Miss Verena Gil
lette, the same evening, as she glanced
over the top of Janies head at the
Widow Dashaway, who sat mex "what
luck does happen to some folks! Now,
there's my Cousin John. l seen by the
papers to-day" Miss Verena always said
''seen" instead of ''saw'0 81 seen by
the papers he's been left fortune by a
distant relative out in Arkinsaw."
"Oh, Verenam
The Didow Dashaway glanced past
jamie at Miss Gillette.
''How romantic! Do introduce usm
"Yes, do" chorused the Miss Bobbs,
and Adalina Duffy, glancing around. or
over, or beyond poor jamie.
But he amt here" explained We're
ma. "He's in Illinois. haven't saw
him" Miss Verena used saw when it
should have been ''seen" ")-"I haven't |
saw him since last summer year ago,
when | was a-visiting my aunt. John |
amt my real cousin you know. Only |
his uncle married my aunt, and we call
ourselves cousins" explained Miss |
Verena, looking down on her plate with |
a conscious air, which gave her hearers
to understand that if John was not |
already much nearer than cousin, he
would be soon, thereby filling their
hearts with envy on account of the for |
tune left by the "Arkansawn relative.
"Ah, girls, do look here! A gentle
man in sleigh stopping here! Who
on earth is it!"
1t was Christmas morning, and jamie
had gone to church. The others were
gossiping in the little parlor. with it's
gaudv Brussels carpet, cheap, SNOWY |
curtains, and prim. hair-cloth furniture.
such a handsome mani Who Is
he? repeated the Widow Dashaway, |
peering out through the Stats of the
window blind.
She had just time to change her
position when Bridget, the hired girl
ushered. in the strange gentleman.
lie was tall and handsome, with
curling brown hair, and dark, expires.
slve eyes.
why, Cousin John, what sur
prise"
Miss Verena was shaking hands, in /
reducing him to her friends, and show
ing her cousinly admiration in q very |
manner.
''But why didn't you write you were |
coming? And how did you know | WAS
here, Cousin JOhn2" she demanded .
with q glance. which was meant to be !
coquettish and irresistible.
'You see-ah Miss Verena-"
''Missl" echoed Verena, reproach-
fully.
] mean cousin" stammered John.
IL came TO see another. Oh, here !
she Is nown
And there was jamie in her cheap |
black dress and hat just come from |
church.
And Cousin John was shaking hands |
with her, looking down into her eyes
and talking to her, not Mt all embar
rassed; for Miss Nerena Gillette's hand !
some cousin, who had just inherited a
fortune. proved to be Janies lover. 10 |
whom she had been promised" for 7
nearly two years.
Hurry. jamie, and get your things,
he was saying, ''for | am going to take
you home for your Christmas dinner,
though it will he pretty late one. Get
everything" he ordered, "for you are
not coming back any more. And here's
your Christmas present, jamie, Put it
On and wear il home
AIlss Eerena and her friends looked |
on as jamie unrolled her .