Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-12-20


Une pen down with weary sinh Tbon
she unrolled little bundle that had baon
ying beside her and shook out-could tbo
Matcher believe his eyesP-a stocking.
PUor, iorlorn, ragged little stockingl Now
"naU could she want with thatP
ono STOOD on tiptoe and peered around
ene corners of the mantel for a place In
Hung IT, Finally something struck hor
nancy as suitable, and she began pushing
a heaVy ohalr toward the mantel When
10 was near enough, she climbed upon IL
anu hung the stocking upon the "brave
vauuCeus' OF the bronze Mercury that he
mad bought last year in Rome and for
which he had paid such a pricel
Presently she had jumped down and
was surveying the stocking with the great.
est pride. Then the note was carefully
folded, and she climbed upon the chair
again and pinned the folded paper to tho
toe so conspicuously that the winged Mer
curry seemed to stand there for no other
purpose than to hold up a ragged stocking
for all the world to see.
And then-why, then she was lying
down upon the rug with her thin cheek
on her thin little hand, and the listener
heard tired sigh
After long while the old gentleman
behind the screen ventured to move slight
ly. After little longer he moved again
and so gradually came out Of his hiding
place.
Was that old Mr.. Roberts tiptoeing
across the room to keep from startling the
: cor little waif sleeping en- his hearth rugY
Was that the sordid old man whom even
his friends had come to call mere money
machine, that man whose hands trembled
as he unpinned the little note and spread
1t out before himP
DEAR SANTA CLAUsE-When you come to.
night pleas look at me. I'll be down on the rug.
You've never seen mo before. You incident
give me ennything, but pleas fill the stocking
with things for mother shes sick / tied up
the toes SO they wouldent drop out. The doc.
ter says wine and things and housrent.
MARJORIE HOLMES.
For long time the old man sat in tho
chair before the fire Something within
him was breaking the cold and selfish crust
that years had helped to form. He sat
there looking from the sleeping child to
the forlorn little stocking and from tho
stocking to the child. 1t was the first time
stocking had ever been hung up in his
house-the first timel
Suddenly the old gentleman rose. He
lifted the child gently and laid her on
OOhNh WLlOh Duu always Dt6u
his own use and covered her with rugs.
Then he went softly out and astonished
the unsuspecting servants by appearing
among them and ordering the carriage.
Could this be old Theodore Roberts, tho
money machine, the selfish, brusque, irri-
table old man, this man who went from
store to store, ordering and buying and
spending money as he had never spent it
before9 Could this be the Mr. Roberts
that Mrs. Murray knew, this man who
went into that siokrooln, followed by a
great hamper filled with "wine and things
and house remit" Was this the man that
all the charitable organizations Stunned
this man who drove about half the night
leaving behind him trail Of Christmas
rejoicing, mingled with such blessings as
he had never heard before?
And who was it that drove up the hill
at last under the silent stars, with car
riage full of bundles and with strange
soft feeling Juggling at his heartstrings2
He smiled as he went, and yet he had to
keep wiping his eyes. He was glad it was
| dark, so that no one could see.
And what strange figure was this in the
study afterward, this figure that moved so
stealthily and that was so busy stuffing
the. stocking until it was ready to burst,
1t until the bronze Mercury seemed al
most to stagger under his burdenS What
had come over the old gentleman whom so
many people envied and whom nobody
| loved?
just before day Mrs Murray, coming
softly in, found him sitting by the fire,
watching the sleeping child.
eth be a sad time for her." she said
"Her mothers gone, and vhatever's to
become of the little thing don't know"
az don't see why the child shouldn t
stay here, Mrs. Murray" said the old gen
tleman, with his face turned the other
way. at would be some extra trouble for
you, but 1 dare say you would not mind it. -
"S-sirP' Mrs. Murray managed to artic-
ulate.
Then the old gentleman turned around,
and she saw what was shining on his
cheeks
"Do you see that stocking, Mrs Muir
ray?" he CRIED in a voice that she had
never heard before. "That's the first stock
ing that was ever hung up in my house.
1t looks homelike, doesn't itS 1 have de-
every year. And here's n child that needs
home, and, thank heaven, I've home
to give her."
The child sighed and stirred and then
suddenly sat up.
"Did he Gomez" she cried eagerly, with
dazed look at the bursting stocking, and
the old gentleman beside her gathered her
up In his arms and said;
"Yes, my little one, he camel''-Phila-
delphia Times.