Warren sheaf., 1902-12-11
FREDDY'S PRESENTS.
Tho4e He Received Were Always OF
the UseSul Kind

the UseSul Kind
The following short story, says
youths Companion. will excite vari-
,ous emotions. Some readers will
lnugh st ii; others will be indignant;
and every boy that reads it will be
glad his name is not Freddy Keedick.
IT think l shall have to get Christ
mas present for little Freddy
keedick," said Mrs. Dillingham; to her
husband one evening early in Decem-
der.
Don't you think you have enough
d$tls nsphews and nieces to provide
3or in that wsyf" asked Mr.. Dilling-
ham.
I'VE have enough, that's true, but
Mrs. Keedick was SO very kind when
Nellie was sick in the summer, that
feel somewhat under obligation to
her"
Then I would get Freddy Christ
you suppose would be suita ble?"
81 have not been a BILE to make up my
mind as to that. What do you think?"
"Oh, don't ask mel"
~ have an ideal" exclaimed Mrs.
Dillingham;. It'll make a call on Mrs
K&edick this afternoon. and try to find
out what sort of a present would be
acceptable to Freddy"
IN pursuance of this resolve, Mrs
Dillingham; was shown into Mrs. Kee-
dicks parlor on the afternoon of the
next day, and after few preliminary
exchanges of opinion on unimportant
matters, che converse tion was led
GEound TO Christmas by the caller.
"i suppoSs Freddy receives quite a
humber of gifts each Christmas" said
she.
"Oh, yes" replied Mrs. Keedick.
HE has a few relatives who always
sSmember him, but really the presents
we appreciate the most are those his
papa and give him"
'~That 10 because you know what
pleases him best" said Mrs. Dilling-
ham.
Yes, that's it. I haven't much pa
slsnce with the toys that his Uncle
Henry and his Aunt Polly bring"
why notT'
'Oh, l prefer something useful!
Now that French clock on the mantel
Shere has given me more satisfaction
than any other present Freddy has
ever received at Christmas"
''Was that Christmas present to
TYeddy?" asked Mrs Dillingham;, in
surprise.
Yes. We needed clock in this
room, and I told Mr.. Keedick that as
we had to get Freddy a Christmas
present we might as we'll buy him
clock"
Does Freddy like it?''
"Well, he doesn't exactly go into
raptures over it, but find it very USE
tul indeed. Then Freddy has plenty
of trash given to him at Christmas,
SO that it really doesn't matter. Then
I like him TO have useful things, you
know. That writing-desk there was
another Christmas present TO Fred
dy."
"But that is lady's writing desk"
az know it is. You see l had decided
that he ought to have a writing-desk
because it would be so useful, but
when I went to buy it. | could not find
a desk suita bic for small boy. How
ever, l saw that lovely Iady'S desk for
sale at bargain. and L thought it
would be sinful TO lose the opportun-
ity of getting it for Freddy, as had
gone out for the very purpose of buy
ing him desk"
'I see," replied Mrs. Dillingham;.
Then those lovely vases in the par
lor. which you have admired so oftea,
are also some of Freddy's Christmas
presents. The way we happened to
get them was this: Mr.. Keedick could
not think Of anything useful to buy
for Freddy last Christmas, and hap
pened TO think of those vases, which
I had seen at such very reasonable
price in q store down town. The par
lor waR SO bare of ornaments that we
needed them very badly, and so
went straight out and bought them
for Freddy
Mrs. Dillingham; rose to go, and as
Mrs. Keediek followed her caller to
the door, she continued to explain how
much more sensible it was to give
children useful presents rather than
gimcraeks, which are broken in a
week or two.
Mrs. Dillingham; went home, and
surprised her husband with the an
nounccment that she had decided to
give Freddy Keedick handsome sofa
pillow for Christmas.
The Birds Christmas,
In Norway, the cold northern land,