Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-12-31

teaching the winter school.
1T will look very strange, Polly,
Marigold had said, eff you do no
come to the wedding" But Polly
was not to be persuaded.
"No one will miss me-" she said
"among SO many; and, unless 20,
mind it very much, / would rather b.
away"
Marigold's mind was not of the
penetrating order, and Polly's refusal
to bask in the sunshine of her new
happiness she set down as rather
unpleasant exhibition of Polly's ode
ways.
"Polly always was queer" she sale
to Ben, trying to explain her absence
and then, as Ben all at once tighten.
ed his hold on her hand, she grew
very glad, in her complacent loving
little heart, that she was not queer
for then, perhaps. Ben would not
have loved her.
She became happy wife and q
happy mother. When the baby
came, she smiled sweetly; and, when
baltimore tender, perchance, than
a longer life could haye been-follow.
ed soon after, she smiled again, the
peace that passeth understanding
browning her young life with its JOY
unspeakable.
Again it was Christmas Eve.
From out the cloud-drifts that
floated across the sky, the stars shone
bright and clear in the tingling air
as on that first Christmas Eve so long
ago, when one. with silent golden
finger, point ed East, to where a Baby
lay asleep.
To Polyanthus, the Christmas stars
seemed to be leading her straight
across the fields to Ben Prices house
and she stood there, ankle-deep in the
snow, looking in at the window.
The curtains were half drawn, and
she could see the open fire burning
brightly on the hearth, and Ben, in
front OF it, undressing the baby.
What sturdy, rosy-cheeked baby
it was with red-gold hair that curled
closely around his head, and great
blue eyes that looked up with wonder
ing delight, while Ben, as best he
could, only half remembering his own
baby-days, told the story of Santa
Claus and the reindeer.
She was quite sure that he was
telling about Santa Claus, for present.
ly he drew off the little red stockings,
one after the other, and hung them
up before the open fire, while the
child clapped his chubby hands, and
beat soft staccato upon the floor
with rosy impatient feet.
Polyanthus pressed her face against
the glass and smiled, while two big
tears, warm against her cold cheeks,
fell unheeded. Her smiles were for
the baby; her frankincense and
myrrh-her tears-were those for the
baby too, or for herself, or perchance
for Ben, whom she had resolutely re-
fused to see for two. three years?
She had soft place in her heart
for the motherless little boy in there,
and she had come all the way through
the snow to put Christmas present
in his stocking but, as for Ben, tickle
handsome Ben, the less che thought
of him. the better.
After awhile, the blue eyes grew
heavy with sleep, and Ben, lifting the
sturdy little fellow on his shoulder,
disappeared through the open door
way.
Polly heard him 60 up the stairway
saw little light shine out from the
chamber window, and then, knowing
quite we'll that no one locked his door
in Milvale, she turned the handle of
the door softly and walked in.
1t was warm and bright inside, and
she stood, for a moment, before the
open fire. warming her stiffened
fingers. ben will not be down again
tonight" she thought. And the
little stockings needed mending
There were holes in the toes and holes
in the heels. What restless little feet
they were, to be sure: but she had
foreseen this /; and, drawing thimble
and ball of yarn from her pocket,
she curled herself up on the braided
rug, and proceeded, with def fingers,
to mend the holes which those rosy
impatient feet had made. 1t was not
the first. time she had mended the
baby's stockings; but Ben either did
not discover the holes. or conceived
that the holes and the darning both
came together in the same mysterious
fashion-a fashion not to be compre-
hended by mans feeble intellect.
He was far from suspecting that
Polly-brown-eyed wilfnl Polly-had
any hand in the matter, or that the
neat little garments, which now and
then mysteriously replaced the worn
ones, came from the same source.
As the clock struck ten, James
came in from the kitchen, to smother