Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-12-24
MABEL'S CIGAR.
AcHR-sruAsrAtr by ravvsr iARpott
L--nyIcLL ~ Ly IL AnLnarl

N.f. I,o .igar wa. the last toI.cr.,,
,r..iI.r. .u.t.r .ly Nnlri to hc. f,tt., ~.
t.r, 90. r..I.n.1 AWAY tn Nnr NAM
rIyif. ,,HrY Y..lluR for "a smoke. hgJ 1.S,,
tlL.g tUr moor rivnr ont uf the p.,L.,
I..l v,N.rn bee uIway- carried ot.r Lt.
hrgrf ,uI a.. thu magic uf its frn,,r,n,a
InI ,..Irr,.i up the trar wet fnrrnf bt.
Uffr...IHl as -hr hnd pln,rd it brt,,r.p b,.
Inns. and affur looking 40 the riy,r ,,d
surr,riituu.lv kissing ~ hp had plO.y.
carefully ,rnprcd H. up in lts COVERING,
tin foil agnln ana restored 20 iuI .pn,P,t
IIis conraIr, lu Company r. all Epeu
the story Of tho cigar. and when b,. h,dv
,y,s found I'm thu chnplrral and tl,, abat
terod rirar I'm hls uurhotbouk 1t v,. han.
dIUI with frndt r.. rc.t,-unt care. a. d, s.,crad
trIrr. tl Dbl, returned tu Tom s wife In fba
m.u. r,-t side tenement an Now York cItv
Tbrr. ,yns mourning in the huu., n,
Tom Rafferty, widow for many dny- nfter
thrfIHIug- of hi4 4dslth. tugrthrr with tb,
rp.i.fIsus. reached Now York Tina
urrirm urgutfulnr.s of childhood ,,yed
Mabel from the hruoding sorrow which
consumed her mother But why her m
thor had nv. smoked the clgnr She could
not understand Neither could she nm.
urcrl,tryhv bee had not taken 10 ta hrnyae
The idru Of her father being happym
any plnrc where he could not smoke wa,
ridIruluu- to her childish fancy. FOR she
could NOT remember her fnthrr In bls
hours ,f raeo without cigar ln hi. mouth
But the cigar. with the hulc IuaHt hy the
NHus.r ride lall through the middle. WA.
ula,rd with the other it'll, mpincrto, Of
tho da1d unn. I'm tho bottom drawer Of
tlr Iurruu where 10 was u##.u from
Nn.Dl. lrhf for mary months Her
mother. however, snw 10 very often When
vr.rru uf thet,rriUlp nsht with rlyortv
Iu evening whom Mabol was u.lcop
Mrs Rafferty, often took tho cignr ont of
its lIImy pInac and currs-rd IL with lin.
..r.rg tenderness hrcau-o 90 brought hnrk
sweet memories of her "bravo lad " gs she
w,. fond OF calling her dead husband
10 WAS june when Tom was killed. and
uuv tI,f Err nay was stuuprd ruycrty
pinahrd tho little family sorcly Espe.
ri3IIy was this true when the ,yiptor
months came and tho expense OF fuel WAS
ggduI to tho grurrnl outlay from Mrs
RaT.rfy'l slender earnings, and when De.
r.u.bnr ruuo .ho told Mabel Santa Claus
would probably not pny them his usual
visit brrau-c m had gouo away tn "A far
country and could not get back ngain I'm
r.ms.
And won't unpa hnyc nnv ChrIstma,
prr-rut cl.hprs" asked Mabel anyiously.
"Nu. my dear. replied Nrs Rafferty,,
with guIyrriug lip Ho is I'm heaven
Santa Cuu, uoyer goes thorc Bur never
mind Mabel. wo won't worry about H."
But all 80 timc Mabel was thinking
how wrctchrd her pnpa would DO In
IuIvru without his Christmas slIuuers,
aud especially his cigars And with the
Thought OF tuo cigars there flashed across
her mind "a rlnn sn bold. sD uudaclous,
th.t n nearly took her breath AWAY. For.
trn,tclv for tho curryiug out uf hor
s.h.urr sla fpu nslcrp before sha had time
tY impgrt 90 tn hrr mother
10 wa. "a s0TrowmI Christmas cyo Tor
Mrs Rafferty, -hu was now living on
memories Sho recalled tho happiness Of
the previous Christmas time when Tom
WA. with her Moved by an uucontrul.
Inulo impulse. shr took out Of the bureau
all of the upmcntos Of tho dopnrtcd-the
tear stained package of letters hc had sent
har from Cuba. the picture Of Mabel with
tho bullet holc through tho breast and,
Iust. tine cigar. Overcome by her grief,
trp threw herself upon tho bed, forgetting
ip her anguish to replace the keepsakes In
their customary hiding place
Christulns day broke bright and clear
over the city. Ia her preparations for
breakfast iu the kitchen Mrs Rafferty, for.
cot that she hnd left her precious uemen.
tos exposed upon the bureau Just ~
she closed the door softly behind her on
hor WAY 10 the grocery Mabel awoko.
While putting on her clothing she saw the
oigar upon tho bureau. She pecrod into
the kitchen and saw that her mother was
gono. With her heart beating lively
tattoo against her ribs sho seized the cigar
aud ran down the stairs.
Pedestrians paused rs they saw little
girl Ait by with eager face and disappear
I'm the crowd. How sho got there was al'
ways "A mystery, but within an hour after
leaving home she stood before delivery
window i'm the Now York postoflice Tho
ton of her Volden hond lust reached the
window lodge. Tho clerk looked down
into "A mir of wistful blue eyes
"plense. sir" said Mabel, II want 70
send a Christmas present 20 my papa
'Where is your papa, you little oherub''
said the clort
''In heaven. " replied Mabel simply.
In heaven (" echoed the clerk aghast.
YES. and mamma says Santa Claus
never goes there, su want 20 send him
pr,lopt an by myself Mamma don't
know ANYTHING about IL, and nobody don't
Know but me. want 10 send 10 an my
s.lf" And sho laid upon tao window
loigca liftle roll of brown paper The
clerk opened IL and displayed a most as
q little danghtor ot his own AZ nome
seeing hIS hesitation, lho tears h'''" ~