The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-12-22
YOUNG FOLKS COLUMN


hcar?' And the Youngsters went to bed
and solemnly prayed real hard and
kept it up. too. night after night though
Willie was heard to mutter once that
ne was getting tired of looking every day
for new shoes and only finding his old
uppcrs grinning at him. For this want
OF faith he was severely rebuked by the
pious little sister-mother
Every evening the five children would
peep through the dilapidated fence at
the other happy little ones as they played
on the sidewalk or trundled their hoops
past the gate. Mamie was sure she
could have rolled the hoop as well as any
Of the little girls. and Willie knew that
/ ne could spin top better than that red
haired boy Of Tupper'S. but. as they did
not possess any such delightful toys, they
ana the best thing under the circum-
stances. and watched the others playing
BY degrees they would creep to the open
gate. where they would stand huldled
together. ready to run, like scared rab-
bits, back to the shelter of the weeds at
the. slightest alarm. Generally no one
noticed them. but once or twice Ned
Reed. one Of the bigger boys, had fright
cned them by trying to catch up little
EDDIE while skating by Them they had
grown wary, but just could not resist
the temptation of 'peeking' Little Net
tie had often noticed them. and smiled
III friendly way. and had even tossed
a great yellow orange to little Eddie one
| AFTERNOON. and so she soon saw the state
or the chlldren'S feet. and planned to
give them each pair of shoes for Christ
| mas.
Her favorite uncle. in Texas. had sent
SlO and told her to spend it as she
pleased for Christmas presents. and she
| Resolved to get the shoes and stockings
for these strange little Ford>.
You see, mamma, if | pay $50 a
pair for the shoes l will have enough
left: to get some cheap stockings. and
perhaps some candy. too. Won't they
be pleased: l shall get John to push out
one of those old hats and poke the boxes
through that front window. They will
think Santa Claus left them" and the
child was quite. happy i'll thinking of that
| wonderful Christmas eve.
\ few days later. she went shopping
with her young lady cousin. who was
not in the wonderful secret While look
ing at all the beautiful things they came
to the fur counter. Now Nettie had long
| been crazy for a muff, and in an evil
mcmcpt let herself be persuaded into
buying little beauty for only $40"
Alas. for the Christmas shoes,
The child tried to think that it was no
concern of hers anyway. but her moth
cr's look of panied surprise when she
saw the muff hurt Nettie and made her
wish she had not bought it. and when
she passed little Eddie that evening. she
involuntarily looked at his feet. and the
very holes in his shoes seemed to re-
she was feeling very miserable and I'M
happy. and the muff was no longer beau
tiful to her. While lying in he'd. think
ing it all over, she suddenly found her
self in IL room lined with shelves. and
On the shelves row upon rev of shoe
IL ,,p0S, tod
pointing and shaking finger at her ill
deriSion and Scorn. AS she stood there
in wonder. voice from one Of the boxes
terrified her by eXclaiming:
Il am the shoes that would have coy
cred poor little Willie Ford'S feet: his
old shoes have no soles. and if he dies
with pneumonia YOU will be blamed.
tie voice:
Il was for Eddie. and if he gers the
Group you can blame the muff.
Two others spoke for Eta and Mamie.
while the fifth uttered the caustic re-
mark:
Il thought 1 was to give Rosy some
Christmas joy. but you had t" be mutf
enough to spend your money for Il mutt,
All the other shoes took mp the word
calling out: "Muff, indeed. On. You
great big muffr' and all shook their
hands and pointed in such Scorn that
poor Nettie almost screamed in terror
Claspng her hands in dismay. she asked
piteously:
what shall do about it:''
They all shouted: "Oh. you muff. Go
and exchange your muff for the shoes
Il will. I WILL" said the little girl.
wildly. If you just won't point at me
any more"
Instantly every band was withdrawn
into the boxes and everything was so
quiet that Nettie could scarcely believe
that she had seen anything unusual.
when small voice Squeaked out:
Don't forget that Eddie'S shoes are in
green box. Merry Christmas. and
don't be a muff any more" At this all
the shoes chuckled so loud that Nettie
jumped in fright. and awoke to find her
self in her own little bed. and the muff
staring at her from the bureau. where
she had put it that evening
yes" she said, nodding at it. III
get rid of you tomorrow. I'll neither be
q muff nor have one
Next morning she told her mother of
the wonderful dream. and directly after
breakfast changed the muff for the
shoes. not forgetting to have Eddic's put
in a green box.
Christmas dawned clear and cold.
Just as Christmas should and great was
the Joy in the Ford household over the
shoes and stockings. especially the stock
ings. for one Of each pair was fatter
than its twin. because of the goodies
tucked in them. There was also has