The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1901-12-27

lie strobe rapidly along aud soon
reached the small block Of gayly~light-
ed shops. hut he had not expected to
ilnd ~ great n crowd of shoppers aud
for a moment he was inclined to turn
about aud go back empty handcd-as
he had rome. Then he thought Of the
chi'd's delight when hc-.Iocl Gcnnis-
tcr-had been 80 absurdly mistaken
for Santa Claus, and hc went In.
Mr.. Gcnnistcr submitted To the push
ing and hustling of the h%oliday.hu-
morcd crowd until he had succeeded In
buying n Noah's ark. u box of tcn.pins
and a flag. Then to add to his discom.
fort the sudden thought came To him
suppose the child had awakened aud
was screaming himself into hts2 or
suppose a spark from the blazing logs
should set fire to the house? There.
upon hc made his way out aud hurried
home. feeling much relieved when he
had let himself In aud found all rs
quiet aud ms safe ns when he had gone
out, an hour before.
Aud now he really had to do the
work of Santa Claus. Again he visit
ed James room, aud having possessed
himself Of the little limp stocking, he
returned to the flrcside to I'LL II, when
he discovered that even now he had
nothing suitable 10 put ini II was abb
surd' What sort Of things did they
put into stockings, anyway
So he thrust In the flag, with It's
stick extending far up In the air, aud
he poked Noah and some other of the
ark's inhabitants into that seemingly
bottomlcss abyss, and then he took
back the still limp stocking toits hang
ing place, put the ark and box Of ten
pins near II on the foot of the big bed,
after which Mr.. Gennistcr himself re-
tired.
When he awakened next morning
Mr.. Gcnnlstcr heard .guc sounds of
unmistakablc delight, and presently
when he went over and looked In at
the door Of James room he saw n COM
Teal sight.
4 very small boy In a flannel night
"Johnnies." surrounded by Noah, his
family aud all his animals, was vain
is TRYING 10 stand or his hcad-prc-
sumnbly for joyl But when he saw
Mr.. Gcnnistcr he r%cgained an upright
position.
"Gomma?" he said, inquiringly.
"Your grandma's gone away, but MS
all right, IN look out for you til FL
len comes. You know Ellen?"
The boy stared hard. "who IL oo?''
he said at last.
"I'm Mr.. Gennisicr--this Is my house,
| Say, can you dress yourself? Well,
then. get dressed aud I'll give you
some breakfast"
The boy jumped up and down. Nit
ter Dennitter. Mitter Dennltter, Santa
Claus bringed Willie all diesel"
"Nes, ! see. Hurry, now; get your
clothes ON aud come downstairs"
But the child was too wildly excited
to be able to dress himself that day
aud Mr.. Gennister actually had to Play
the nursel
Afterward Mr.. Gennister played cool
and made the coffee. Then the two
breakfnStcd together with Noah ant
his wife, for guests, standing between
them on the table.
But II was after breakfast that tn,
fun really began. Evidently Will,
had never seen tenpins before, so Mr.
Gennister set them up and showed
him how TO play with them. And VII
lie enjoyed the companlonsbip 5,
much that after that he would mo-
play alone with anything!
As long as Mr.. Gennister sat ON III,
floor and rolled the balls. Willie woulC
fetch and carry and set up the pin
and chatter in perfect delight. Bu
when Mr.. Gennister drew his chair NJ
by the FIRE and tried to read, Willie In
sisted upon climbing on his knee an,
putting his chubby face between thu
readers eyes and the printed page
Commands and perSuasions were of NJ
avail, and at last Mr.. Gennister gave IL
and went back to his place upon th
floor, aud SO II was tina. Ellen foua'
them.