Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-12-24
a Modern Kris
kringle.

sunny women who always desired To
have somebody aboUt@ N,n whom the
rays of her sunshine might fall--that
IS. somebody besides her devoted hus-
band and the children. Gcncvieye vas
the eldest of the latter. a girl who
combined her mothers glad .v:ays and
her fathers dimples so that when she
smiled like. her mot her she ,lmpled ike
her father. When such smiles were il
p,nined by merry light brown eyes.
half the time swept by runaway locks
cf soft hair. franingaEhee3;s that an
anchorite Noald lpng tnspcs. it was no
wonder that meIJ lost their hearts in
the deptass of thes dimpies. IL
The house party was for Genevicve:
but il was Christmas eve. and of
cours" the. little tots entered very Sc
riously into the arrangements for the
morrow. Grown people, who no long
or could be deceived by thc tales of the
wonderful enuv .besprinkied Santa
Claus. might on the morning receive
their gifts with the best wishes of rel
atives. friends and lovers. and prizc
them for TIL" sake OF love. friendship
and family loyalty. But with the chill
lren's believing hearts il was different.
mas and YOU ll-get something nice de-
lusion had II be kept up for. the sake
cf the budding race.
CrrneVieve and the FIVE house guests
'rillie Covington. Grace Martin. and
ihe big had hcys. Tom Morgan, Dal
Murray AMI Dewitt Creme. were dis
cussine important plans fcr the gen
cral iolliiication.
i! tel YOU It's no use masQucrading
unless we 90 il right We want real
Kris kringle, straight from the land
Of SHOWS, with the deer, and rafting
pack of stuff" said Morgan.
We'll since Morgan seems 50 definite
on just what the plai.s should be. and
seems {" know so much about what a
Kris kringlc should look like let him
he IN" pack reddlcr himself Wen
look On anG take lessons" suggested
crane.
I'll stand my chance with the rest
Of YOU, said Morgan. What do You
say tC drawing lots?"
Morgar's plan wHS finally adopted
Ihe two visiting girls were detailed to
prepare the slips of paper. which were
to decide who should imper>unate Kris
Nringl". Outsi1e in the hall they en-
tered INTO Il conspiracy
Toms the only fellow that seems
Interested III the move the right way
How can we arrange ir'" Miss Martin
vas saying under her breath.
i can fix the matter" respondeG
th.' other. Well Just PUT Kris
krnGle on every ballot. ana in the
meantime Tell try to get the ear of
each Of the others that draw and tell
them To say their ballots are blank
al except Tom. You know. and seeing
that he has the word that wins on his.
h"'ll never dream that We all have the
same thing. too.
Smart girl" said Grace Then both
laughed at the scheme.
The other young people began to
'rowd into the hall. Miss Covlngton
saw h"r chance. 'Tom,' she said, as
II" advanced. 1--WE need some more pa
per. Go into the library and get
sheet out of that top drawer at the
side desk. Tom hu.'rit=,. out. Then
Tillie explained the scheme to the oth-
crs amid much suppressed laughter.e
guess. "" had enough after alL'
she said. as Tenn handed in the extra
sheet We're all ready now Wen
not need that
ne little rolls of paper were put ina
t" hat, ard Title stood up on the.
''rs' step in the hallway so that the
men could not look into the hat as
they drew forth their ballots.
Blank" said Gcnevievc. keeping
hcr slip turned that the unsuspecting
Tom might not Sc" it.
Blank. shouted Crane tearing his
into little bits
Blank. cried Gr2ce, dancing about
''S II wonderfully surprised that she
had not drawn the fateful slip.
Blank. said Tillic reaching in for
herself 4
Blank. cried Murray. looking inno-
cent.
I"n ha,l drawn his Z '1ttnTcnt before
Murrny. nird stood looking at i, with
: froublel look on his face. sasi
Now You're in for il, old man"
laughed Murray looking at the ballot.
50" that Kris kringIco"
Then they al laughed at Tom. who
looked foolish. Can withdraw?'' he
asked appe;llingly
What? The only man who didn't
get blank: And throwing away an
honor like that. Shame, Get in the
sleigh there" we're the volleys fired
at Tom. ANA r. surrendcfal
i hear, he bells tinklinx over tie
snow Already re- scid with thorousf h,
good nature
lii" high ciprk on tic stairs licked
i'iSur"!y. The small band nearly
pointed 10 The midnight htu". Nearly
AL tn" lights in the house were out
Down SiairS the green tree hung invit-
ing'y, !tfcrcl' rlnanch fer. .sstafe I>rt.t,y +
thing. One nf the girls ssss fastening
The little van canfllcs to the bnughS
rcd fire glowod on the walls and on
the SlaCTomc young faces.
Al t9c head i the stairway Kris
hrin"l" 81, upcl out or = door. With a
soft iiEkl" Of toys. y girl turned the
'orrrT 'uT IN" hallway and the good
cd 81. Nick ran plump into, her. The
bells 81 she clowns cap rang.
"GcntN'iete."'
Tom"
Hush, I'm not Tom; I'm Kris
krnylc."