Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-12-23
TIE LITTLE GIRLS GIFT
TO HER SOLDIER PAPA
A Christmas story by Ernest JarroId.
copyright. 1898. by the Author.l

" Toms earthly pill
grimage also shattered cent cigar and
perforated tintype Of his little daughter
Mabel. The cigar was the last token Of
affection given by Mabel to her father be-
fore he marched away TO war. Many a
night, when aching for u smoke, had Tom
taken the poor cigar out Of the pocket
book which he always carried over his
heart and by the magic of its fragrance
had conjured up the tear wet face OF his
little girl as she had placed 1t between his
lips and after looking at the cigar and
surreptitiously kissing ii he had always
carefully wrapped IL up in its covering OF
| tin foil again and restored IL to his pocket
His comrades In Company + all knew
| the story OF the cigar, and when his body
was found In the chaparral and the shat
tered cigar in his pocketbook it was han
| died with tender, revercnt care AS "A sacred
thing, to be returned to Toms wife in the
tall east side tenement in New York city.
There was mourning In the house OF
| Tom Rafferty, s widow for many days after
the tidings Of his death, together with tho
| pocketbook, reached New York The
mcrciful forgctfulness OF childhood saved
Mabel from the broodinR sorrow which
consumed her mother. But why her IA
Their had no. smoked the cigar she could
not understand. Neither could she mp
preciate why he had not taken 1t To heaven
The idea Of her father being happy in
! any place here he could not smoke was
ridiculous TO her childish fancy, for she
! could not remember her father in his
hours uf ease without "a cigar In his mouth
! But the cigar, with the hole made by tho
Mauser rifle ball through the middle was
! placed, with the other little mementos Of
the dead man, in the bottom drawer Of
| the bureau, where 1t was hidden from
Mabel's sight for many months Her
mother, however, saw IL very often When
weary OF the terrible fight with poverty,
! in the evening when Mabel was asleep
Mrs. Rafferty, often took the cigar out OF
| its hiding place and carcssed it with lin.
| gerinR tenderness because it brought back
sweet memories Of her brave lad. " as she
was fond Of calling her dead husband
| 1t was June when Tom was killed, and
now that her pay was stopped poverty
| pinched the little family sorcly. Espe.
| cially was this true when the winter
! months came and the expense OF fuel was
added to the general outlay from Mrs
Raferty's slender earnings, and when De
| cembcr came she told Mabel Santa Claus
would probably not pay them his usual
visit because be had gone away To a far
country and could not get back again in
! time.
And won't papa have any Christmas
present either" asked Mabel anxiously.
mo, my dear" replied Mrs. Rafferty,
with quivering lip. lie is in heaven
Santa Claus never goes there. But never
mind, Mabel. we won't worry about it,"
But all the time Mabel was thinking
how wretched her papa would be in
heaven without his Christmas slippers,
and especially his cigars And with the
thought Of the cigars there flashed across
her mind a plan SO bold, SO audacious
that 1t nearly took her breath away. For
tunately for the carrying out of her
scheme, she fell asleep before she had time
to impart it to her mother
1t was a sorrowful Christmas eve for
Mrs Rafferty,. She was now living on
memories. She recalled the happiness Of
the previous Christmas time when Tom
was with her Moved by an uncontrol-
liable impulse, she took out Of the bureau
all Of the mementos OF the departed-the
tear stained package OF letters he had sent
her from Cuba, the picture Of Mabel with
the bullet hole through the breast and,
last the cigar. Overcome by her grief,
She threw herself upon the bed, forgetting
In her anguish 10 replace the keepsakes in
their customary hiding place.
Christmas day broke bright and clear
over the city. In her preparations for
breakfast in the kitchen Mrs Rafferty, for
got that she had left her precious memen-
tos exposed upon the bureau Just as
she closed the door softly behind her on
her way TO the grocery Mabel awoke.
While putting on her clothing she saw tho
cigar upon the bureau. She peered into
the kitchen and saw that her mother was
gone. With her heart beating a lively
fng 4.
aud ran down the stairs.
Pedestrians paused as they saw little
girl fit by with eager face and disappear
in the crowd How she got there was al
ways mystery, but within an hour after
leaving home she stood before delivery
window In the New York postofiice The
top of her golden head just reached the
window ledge. The clerk looked down
into pair of wistful blue eyes
Please, sir, said Mabel Il want TO
send Christmas present to my papa.
Where is your papa, you little cherubP"
said the clerk.
I'm heaven, replied Mabel simply.
I'm heavenW echoed the clerk aghast.
Yes, and mamma says Santa Claus
never goes there, so l want to send him
present all by myself. Mamma don't
know anything about 1t, and nobody don't
know but me. want to send it all my
self. =" And she laid upon the window
ledge little roll of brown paper. The
clerk opened it and displayed a most dis
reputable cigar. He bit his lip. He had
little daughter of his own at home
Seeing his hesitation, the tears filled Ma
bells eyes as she exclaimed:
"Oh, sir, please do send it Don't the
cars run today My papa can't get no
cigars in heaven, cause mamma says they
don't sell EN-. Do, please, sir, send It'll
It's mine. l bought 1t for papa before he
went to warl What time does the car goY
I'm afraid my present will be too late!"
By this time the clerk had recovered his
self possession. He picked up time table
of the Hudson River railroad and appar-
emily read from It.:
First mail train leaves for Paradise
today at 1890 O'Clock. Little girl, your
papa will get your present before supper
tonight"
"Oh, I'm SO gladl" exclaimed Mabel.
her face irradiated with smiles as apple
blossoms light up an orchard.
When the policeman turned over Mabel
to her mother an hour later, he had brief
talk with Mrs. Rafferty, in the hall and
gave her the cigar, which had been given
TO him by the postal clerk. But Mabel
still thinks that the cigar has long since
been burned to ashes in the kingdom of
tha hlassad