The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-25
!. THE ADVERTISERS s DAILY SHORT STORY

| It was 10 o'clock Christmas mornina | when John Campbell stood with his moth | CT in the drawing-room of Mrs. Camp bells fashionable boarding house on wna, had been, but was ceasing to be, one oi | the most fashionable avenues in St. Louis.
 About mother and son was the rum- pied magniticence of furniture originally
 almost too fine for use, but. unrespecte1 by irreverent boarders, now snowins signs of wear and tear. Still the room | had an unmistakable air of what Is cali-
 ed gentility about it.
 | The lace curtains at the window were | dainty, though alarmed, as the needle eye of an expert would have noted. The mir | TOTS were bright the pictures well hung, the rugs and waxed floor were alike im- | maculate and the whole room accurately | reflected the dignified careful but taded , state of it's mistress, the Impoverished, | though spirited and refined widow or u | famous judge.
 The boarders were busy in their rooms, l conducting the annual &exchange' of I Christmas gifts. Bluff and downright l bankers and merchants were exhibiting | unsuspected histrionic talents as they 1 tried on impossible smoking jackets and | slippers which might. perhaps, fit any l body, or lowered over boxes of cigars. while their wives examined with mNro- | scopic eyes new sealskin jackets or held l up to the light the yearly offering Of 1 jewels.
 There was but one child in the house and sofa pillows were being stuffed into his mouth lest his shrieks of joy over the | toys which had come to him might rasp ! the ears of the bachelors Of the house,
 who knew neither Christmas joys nor | sorrows. It was a bright enough Christ. | mas morning in a house where existed l a number of q reputable class or human | beings.
 John Campbell had finished his morn ing coffee and was chatting with his | mother, for these two were cronies- which is a beautiful and excellent thing as between a mother and son. He was telling her that he was going to hls or. flee for the day and. at this, the still graceful figure of the judges widow dropped a little and her face was, for the moment, said.
 the Christmas dinner, at o'clock, John will you not?.
 Mother" expostulated John, "old Creamer will certainly be here, and were
 dinner be to him? It would be pity, to cheat him out of the duty and, besides, he performs 1t we'll"
 But it's the sentiment of it. John. with you absent from the other end of the table-and then shall all the time
 be thinking of you there in your dark, stuffy office. I know how anxious you are, but surely business will never come | upon holiday. All the other offices will be closed"
 That's just why may get a chance some floating thing, you know. And l
 shan't be 'stuffy; you are mixing me up with the turkey" but neither mother nor son smiled at the poor attempt at joke; | John had the American habit-not pad one--of appearing even trifiing to con. l ceal his feelings when they were not or the most satisfactory nature. ''1 tell you. mother, I'll come home to tea" he said. You find some corner
 under the stairs or somewhere. You haven't even bedroom you can call your own, you know-and we'll have a 1 tea and a good time all by ourselves and that shall be our Christmas. "Yes, dear,' the mother assented eag- erly, and. like children the pair planned to hide away from such boarders as might remain in the house on Christmas evening. Each longed for an hour of privacy and homellke seclusion in the big crowded place.
 somewhat pathetic. Mrs. Campbell had really no space she could call her own She slept on sort Of lounge-bed, camp ing about wherever there was vacancy. John, a trifie more fortunate, had llttle closet of a room in the attic to himself The story was net an unusual one p- on Judge Campbell 5 death, the widow,
 left without other property than her beautiful home-as tho widows of noted iurists often are--had transformed the stately mansion into a boarding house. She had no other recourse. By reason or the fashionable tone she was enabled 10 give it. No. 1640 became the recognized place of abode for such members of the smart people of the city, as were home less as a matter of choice.
 Everything at Mrs. Campbelrs was of high grade even her prices. but, not being to the manner of business born the unaccustomed landlady did not flour ish as to her fortunes. She lodged and fed her boarders luxuriously, and man aged to educate her son and see him graduated from college and admitted to tho bar. but she could put no surplus money in her purse.
 Yearly she found herself slipping a lit-
 tie backward on the uncertain ground of financial standing. and this year debt had
 been added to the load the widow car ried.
 John Campbell had nothing to be 1 ashamed of. As lad of 15 he had taken | his full share of the burden of getting a | living. He had worked during his entire | school and college life, minimizing the amount his mother spent upon him. In one thing only he had yielded to her. l that he should follow the profession of | his father. And to this his natural in- | stincts and mental makeup inclined him | and carried him out
 It was three months. or would be in a | week, since John had rented his office, and had his one window letterod with | this legend: