The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-01-02
plants of unhappy people. The man

plants of unhappy people. The man
continued:
my last resources were exhausted
by my wife's illness, and | was SO I'M
happy that l did not know anything
and did not hope for anything. 1t is
still more pitiful you see, madame, al
this time of year, because the streets
and the brilliant stores have such an
cir of festivity. At each step you meet
people carrying flowers, candy, pres
ents; and all the toy stores with their
playthings! Oh! 1t was that above
everything else which made me sick at
heart! All these playthings and my
children would not have even one OF
them! More than that, several days
before her death, my wife, with her
eyes resting on her little girls, muir
INJURED in my ear: L shall not live until
the New Year. You will give them
some pretty New Years presents fcl
me, will you not?"
AS he said these last words, the longj
repressed tears escaped their boundI
and fell down his cheeks. Atlast Mime,
X. was moved, she no longer leaned
carelessly on her elbow against the
desk, but was standing up, resting her
hands on the three heads pressed in a
heap against her.
He wiped his tears, and with 4
stronger voice, went on with his storn
"If my wife had thought of New Yeard
gifts during her last moments, M
children did not forget them eithJ
They did not know that l was poor a1l..
miserable. What good world it do to
tell them? Would they have under
stood it? In the evening when / came
home after thousand useless attempts
TO find a situation, they surrounded me
and said: Papa, you will remember us
en- New Years day, will you not" I
replied: Yes, yes, think of you chill
dren, always think of you Then the
older one, encouraged by my words
and my smiles, said to me one of the
last days of December: What we want,
sister and 1, is beautiful doll which
we saw the other day. Oh! such doll!
A very, very large doll. An indestruct-
IDLE DOLL
"An indestructible doll! I repeated
the words over and over again, and re-
peated them all night during my sleep
Martha, Jeanne and Yvonne, after his
mention of the indestructible doll, lis
tened more attentively than ever, ST
lently pressing their little hands to-
gether with excitement.
1T was several days afterwards, -
continued the unknown man, that
was returning for the tenth time from
an employment office, when some one
told me that X, the great toy dealer
wanted more hands to deliver pack
ages and offered good wages. 1 did not
hesitate about applying, and was ac.
cepted. And all day long, as well as
evening, was travelling about to every
quarter of Paris. l liked it far better
than staying in the stores, where the
sight of the toys, the parents and the
children who came to choose, made me
sadder and sadder. All day long car
ried the toys, in my hands, by armfuls
on my back, but they were all done w
in parcels and tied, so did not see.
was more hopeful then, for | would re-
ceive my wages at the end of the month
they would add little gift, and coulo
buy my girls, if not the large doll which
they desired, at least a smaller one.
"On the 31st of December they told m,
at the store that they could not pay un
til the first days of January. The firm
was too busy with receiving money t.
give any.