Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-01-04
A CHRISTMAS SURPRISE.

Everybody in the neighborh0od knew
little Nina. the old hand organ grinders
granddaughter. who lived in the base
mcnt of great. rickety tenement house
III the slums of big city. But nobody
around there seemed to care whether
poor little Nina. whose parents died
when she was the tiniest bit of baby,
was going to be remembered by old
Santa Claus at all, at all. In fact, Nina
was not a general fayorite in the block
where she lived, becuse her aged grand
mother kept her indoors helping to cane
old broken chairs for a living and doing
the homework. So you see she had no
time to play on the sidewalk and make
friends with the rest of the girls and
boys around there
Nina was not very pretty little girl
either, excepting for her great thick
waves of golden hair that grew about
her round head every which way and
got her many scolding from her neat
grandmother, who was the t.diest old
German woman imaginable. Still Nina
always looked clean and spick and span
m her stitily starched white aprons and
chintz dresses. Yes, indeed, a thousand
times more so than other girls around
there who used to make fun of her quaint
little gowns, besides jeering at other
things she wore that must have been
brought over from the old country many,
many years ago by her thrifty grand
mother.
OF course Mina had heard in Germany
of Santa Claus and all about his doings
and the many ways in which he used to
be kind to little folks but her poor
grandparents never had any spare money
to invite him to their basement home,
so they never even mentioned him once
this Christmas time, and made Nina sit
with her back to the window while can
ing the chairs, so she would not be tempt
ed to look out and get more miserable 10y
seeiLe the imitation Santa Clauses parad-
ing up and down the str, It's advertising
the beautiful toys aud other nice things
for children on sale in the city stores.
1t seemed awfully mean of her grand
mother to do it, don't you think so! Yet
really the poor old woman only meant to
spare the little girls feeling as best she
could.
But Nina often took sly peep at the
parade of children following the oddly
dressed Santa Claus figures on the side
walks and secretly wished she could join
the merry, cheering crowd outside. And
every time she was sent out to buy food
Or 90 home with her caned chairs she
would pause before some big store show
window and feast her longing eyes upon
the beautiful dolls and toys and furs
and dresses and jewelry and cakes and
candles before her there. Then she
would scamper hurriedy home again lest
her stern old grandfather might see or
Overtake her while he played on the bat
tered hand organ around the street cor
ners Of the city.
One Christmas eve the old man came
back to his supper very discouraged and
tired because but few pennies had re-
warded all the tunes of old Christmas
times he had been steadily grinding out
a L.. al
his wife return with HIM to help collect
until midnight. Thus poor little Nina
was left all alone in the dreary old base
ment, lit only by a tallow candle on the
dingy mantel over a broken CRATE kept
warm by an occasional handful Of Gin
ders she used TO pick up around the al
seys every morning.
After awhile Nina finished clearing of
the supper table, and then. blowing out
the candle 50 as to save ii for another
night, she sat close up to the front win
dow OF the basement and watched all the
big folks and little children hurrying
home through the falling snow with
great bundles of good things for every
body they knew, she thought. Finally
she began to cry and cry as if her little
heart would fairly break into pieces, ms
she thought and wondered why ii was
that nobody, except grandmother and
grandfather, ever loved her or was kind
W NV At Nil Aiit AlUc Nlup WOfIU. anu
then she remembered that they were too
poor to help old Santa Claus give her
even the cheapest kind of a gift And
Oh, how she wished that Christmas time
had never come around, as ii only made
her 50 sad and miserable
Suddenly the fire alarm bells began to
ring, and running up out of the b0Se-
lnent she hurried to the street and fol
lowed the crowd rushing down across
the way to grand old mansion that
stood alone. and only made more ,lingy
and mean looking the surroundings tene-
anents of the poor neighhorhood
Ooh, oh. save my baby Save my
baby! frantlcally screamed beautifully
dressed lady, rushing to the front door
Christmas tree had taken fire and set
tho whole apartment in a Seething blaze
of fame. in which 4 large crowd of little
children, who had assembled there at a
Christmas eve party were rushing wild
~ 10 and fro, blinded by the smoke and
frightened almost to death.
Nina, plying the lady who begged so
piteouAy for some one TO, save her little
baby daughter, who was missing in the
fire, ran in among the increasing flames
of the nearly-ruined parlor and found the
child in a deathlike faint, all bleeding
ana torn, under pile of demolished bric-
a-brac near 4 costly cabinet.
rAAtAt NLlt IS L We SNA HNT~ SEE. sex.
cried Nina rs She lifted up the poor little
wounded child to the frantic mothers
outstretched arms.
ooh, my darling. My darling, YOU
are-dead! Dead. | know it! | know
it.' cried out the mother in heartbroken
tones
"Lemme take her home. will YOU.
pleaseE pleaded Nina, holding out her
little red hands. Il will keep her for you
until the doctor comes. ma 'am, and puI
her in my he'd But kindhearted little
Nina was too late with her offering of n
shelter to the suffering child as a ply
stefan and a big ambulance soon bore her
away to the hospital. But the agonized
mother went. too. and took Nina along
with her in a beautiful carriage, because
had not the little stranger, even though
poorly clad, saved her only child, her
treasure, from horrible death?
The child would have been hopelesslv
suffocated If a few moments longer OK
posed to the fumes of that smoke" said
the physician, land this little girl" he
added, patting Nina tcnderly on the
cheek. must possess wonderful nerve
for her age to have rushed in among
those burning flames to save your baby,
madam"