The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-12-22

and then he would stop minute as If
he were taking rest before he started
again.
At last he mounted the fifth pair of
stairs and finally he opened the room
door, and there he stopped all out of
breath, and beside him market basket
Just as full of fat brown paper parcels
as it could be- And when they had got
it into the room and had unrolled every
thing and wondered over each separate
article, Tom told Dollie this:
1t had been a bad day for trade, and
as the afternoon wore on Tom was be-
ginning to feel that he should have to
come home without a cent, when a
gentleman came along, stopped, looked
at Tom, and then put his foot on Toms
box. Tom was glad, SO glad, that
tear fell right out of his eye on a
''shined" part of the gentleman's boot
Tom brushed it in awful quick time, he
( said, but the gentleman must have
seen it, for Tom "felt such kind pat
on his shoulder"
When the boots were done the gen.
tleman asked Tom how much 1t was,
and Tom said on Christmas Eve the
bows asked twelve cents, but he was
such little fellow. and not over
! strong. and he guessed his shine wasn't
worth more than eight cents. The gen.
tleman took out a silver dollar and
handed it to Tom. and Tom said if the
gentleman would stay by his kit, he
would run and get the change, but the
gentleman said: "Why, my boy, the
dollar is yours" "And, said Tom, ''he
said softly like: "A glad Christmas to
YOU in the Christ Child's name l felt"
said Tom, ''most too swelled to speak,
but | did get out that mother and
Dollie would be thankful, and then
somehow 1 told him my name and
where l lived. and how hard mother
worked and about your back and Ruth;
and then | told him how | meant 10
buy you and mother good Christmas
Eve supper. The gentleman, he says
to me: Tom, you put that dollar in
your pocket and carry it home to your
mother and tell her to put it away for
you until you grow up, and then you
take it. Tom. and put it in your own
pocket, and you will never see 1t with
out remembering this Christmas Eve;
and when you remember it, you will
look about you and find some good to
do, some help to give, for the Christ
Child's sake And now,' said the gem
.tleman. pick up your kit and come
along with me; / have an excellent
butcher and a most obliging grocer,
and we will go and pay them call
And then" said Tom, 'he took one of my
hands in his and we walked all to-
gether. and his great big hama made
mine so warm, and when he had
warmed one he made me walk on the
other side of him SO that he could
warm the other. Ever SO many people
touched their hats to us, and lots of
pretty ladies bowed and smiled. l
didn't know there were so many kind
people in the world" said little Tom.
Well, at last they turned into an
other avenue, where there were rows of
all sorts of fine shops, and at a butchers
they went in. Tom wished Dollie
could have seen it. Everything was
dressed up in greens and colored pa
pers, and, although the shop was full,
the boss" came right up to Toms
friend, rubbing his hands and bowling
and saying: Good evening, sir. Any
thing wrong in the order to-day,
Judge? If 50, we'll rectify it at once,
SIR" But the Judge said: NO. l am