The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-12-19
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A CHRISTMAS DINNER.
A STORY OF 4 FRENCH FLAT.

Jobn {. shriyer in Baltimore American
1t was as far back as 80 He was Il
ioyial. good-natured fellow, handsome and
ouick- witted-a man able to earn his living
ii he wished: but. alas Philip Hill was
lazy. Newspaper life was different IN those
DAYS from what it is now. Then man
could make boy fall out Of tree in front
of Il saloon. mention the name of the pro-
prietor in the paper, and become bosom
friend of said proprietor. Hill was a &c
MUS in arranging advertisements for his
friends. and hence he was such tavorlte.
Poor fellow. he had married. because he
happened to meet girl with a pretty face
that struck his fancy He had married
her on nothing. for she was as poor as he
Hill had his scanty salary-and newspaper
men in those days were not paid much
The little woman was brave, and made the
best of her bargain She was happy be
cause she loved her husband and he was
GOOD hearted and kind TO her. Often they
had hard times in their little rooms They
lived in fiat in side street in the great
city of New York; lived alone, and away
from any one. Not exactly alone for on
the fiat below them was another family
living in the same circumstances Mrs
Hill and Mrs. Stanley often had little con
fabs about their private lives, and had
much in sympathy. Stanley was clerk
in an uptown store, and he, too, found 1t
hard to live on the pittance given him by
his employers. He was different from
Hill. for with him life was hard, and fate
unkind. He looked on the dark side CT
this world. and foreSaw all evil before the
shadow was visible Hill lived an easy,
deyil-may care life The world owed him
a living, and it was to give it to him, Per
haps the occupations of the two made them
as they were Hill lived for something to
happen to give him facts to turn into
money Stanley had tue facts, in shape
of dry goods, always before him, and even
when they were turned into money he saw
little of it. His was a humdrum life
measuring ont calico by the yard or tempt
ing the tickle desires of the wealthy with
bright ribbons and laces. Hill often
laughed at Stanley and told him to be
cheerful, to trust ID luck for better time;
but Stanley only shook his bead and plod-
ded on.
1t was near Christmas in this yeaF Of
80, and the two little families were-as
every one generally is-making prepare
tions for the holiday Luck seemed bright
with Hill. There is always some unlucky
Que who tires Of this life even at Christmas
time. and kills himself, oY, worse still, kills
some one else. On such meat our hero
was growing fat. At this time nearly all
the newsgatherers on the great dailies were
space men paid for the copy written
and matter used in the paper only. Hill
was a fayorite with the city editor, and,
having friend at court, was indeed in
luck, He made his wife very happy by
giving her Il goodly sum each week, and
she in turn had made the money go as far
as an economical house wife should. All
was well until, indeed, Christmas week
Then there came crash. A great detail
cation was discovered in the house of
Premium 4 Payment, where Stanley was
employed. The loss was great, and caused
temporary suspension Of the firm. The
closing of the great house at this busy
season was blow that hurt many Stan
lev came home to his wife utterly broken
down. They had been living 50 close to
their income that this misfortune left them
with almost nothing. In vain did she try
to cheer her husband up and tell him that
all would be right For two days he re-
fused all comfort; but one morning be
started out determined to find work.
As luck would have it, it fell to Hill S
lot to write up the defalcation, and
thus Stanley loss was Hill s gain. The
job was good one, and Hill found his
pile for Christmas shopping increasing each
day as he took. up the paper and saw the
news of the defalcation growing column by
column.
1t was Christmas Eve, and Hill had
gone home His heart was light, and his
pocket was well filed. There was :
CHEEKY fire in the little sitting room. Il
was real pleasure to sit beside the little
wife and hear her talk of the coming day
II have not purchased a single thing
for dinner, she was saying, ''for, Phil,
L thought you would like to buy every
thing Do you remember our first Christ
mas dinner? You had not been very busy,
and we had to be content with chicken
and some potatoes; but we enjoyed it.
And the little woman looked up into hel
husbands face to see if there was any trace
of recollection there.
''Do remember it p he said, pattins
her cheek. II should say l did; but,
dear, it will not be such tomorrow.
have saved money to buy great dinner,
and we Il have it-yes, dinner with turkey
and trimmings, and money to buy you a
nice Christmas present, too. -
Mrs. Hill busted herself about the little
room and laid the cloth for supper. Soon
the two were laughing and talking across
their humble board, thinking of the feast
of the morrow.
Down stairs it was different. For three
nights Stanley had come home more down
cast as the days grew He had wandered
about the great city looking for employ
ment. Each place brought the same an,
swer mo one needed at this time.