The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-12-23
Fletcher's Christmas
WALTER CLIFFORD SMITH
TEEP
IN PARADISE OF THE PACIFIC.


original feast, started a song, the alien
words of which needed the haunting
melody which went with them to charm
| the mind from their translation.
Faster and faster went the electric
! coach. especially when the hill was
reached where there was long, curv-
/ ing descent. Half way down this ap-
! rupt grade there came sudden jar.
The music stopped short a white
mask seemed to drop over the face OF
the conductor. a metallic snap was
heard and the Whirr of brake. Inc
car dipped and reeIed like a boat and
then, with an axle broken, it sWerVed
toward a stone abutment and CRASH
! ed into it with force which shattered
! its iron apron and the electric device
behind it and broke every pane or
glass. Several men were hurled OH the
car upon some loose, ragged boulders.
Among them was Norman Fletcher
who fell face foremost.
When Fletcher came to his senses,
which seemed but an instant after
ward, he was surprised to find HIM
self in his own yard. His mind was
confused about the car and the acct
dent. Had there, indeed, been an acct
dent? He felt singularly buoyant and
we'll though a tenuous haze seemed for
the moment to obscure his mental vi
sion. The slight heaviness he had
noticed upon leaving the saloon was
gone, nor did he feel any of the fatigue
that had come to him when he was
poised on the narrow car-step. It must
have been a dream that he had fallen.
What was it that he had drunk last?
W. fAy
way, and the bright lights of his home
and the joyous voices of his children
FASTENED him. Fletcher smiled when
he heard his wife say in an anxious
voice, st wish Papa would hurry. I'm
afraid he will be late and the oysters
are already served. Go out on the
porch. Charley, and see if the car IS
coming At this Fletcher walked
briskly up the steps, surprised that his
footballs left no sound. Just then the
dog, which had been sleeping on the
porch, started up suddenly, the hair on
his neck ruffled and his teeth all show
ing; and then shrinking back in AFFECT
fear he leaped over the porch rail and
ran, whimpering, into the semi-circle
of light about a neighbours window.
whats the matter with the dog,
Charley?" cried Fletcher, GROSSLY.
mo, Mama" said the lad, 'I can't
see the car at all, but there are a lot
Of people going up the hill" Turning
without a look at his father, the lad
went in. Fletcher, astonished and
angry, followed, saying: Charley,
why didn't you speak when I spoke to
you?" The boy made no answer and
as Fletcher entered the living room no
sign Of recognition greeted him from
children or wife. He stood perturbed
and helpless and unseen, half-con-
WINGED that he was the victim of some
unusual form of nightmare. But 1t
could not be. The presence of his fam
lily, the glimpses of the street beyond,
the familiar conversation of the home
these were real enough.
'.Alice, what's the matter with you
all?" said Fletcher ENORMOUSLY. "Why
don't you say something's" and going
near he plucked his wife's sleeve, re-
assured by the familiar touch of the
fabric; but without a word or a look
the woman rose hurriedly and snatch
ing a lace shawl that lay upon a chair
she wound it about her shoulders, ex-
claiming, How chilly it seems And
then to the white-coated cook who had
looked in, as if to see whether all were
ready: 'Imoto. I think master be here
next car. You keep dinner hot
Norman Fletcher stood as if in a
spell. Was this some new phase of
Christmas fun? That could not be, for
the tell-tale faces of the children
would have betrayed the plot. Some
thing about astral bodies crossed his
mind but he knew little of them. 1t
must be-yes, it must be a dream. The
Christmas dinner may have taken place
last evening and this was the midnight
aftermath of visions. It occurred to
him that the lunch in the barroom fol- |
lowed SO closely by a sumptuous feast
at home was presuming too much on
his digestion. Still these plain realities |
about him-what of them? There, |
surely, were the children playing with |
the Christmas toys. Things that he !
touched were solid enough. Fletcher |
stopped to count the ropes of the por-
there and going to them swung the !
knotted strands back and forth until |
he heard his wife say, close beside him. |
Il wonder where this draught comes
FROM"
Fear-smitten and confused, Norman
F1etche" sought the dining room There |
We're 49, oysters at each plate with the
Ice melting into their pleasant juices
The Odor of the Christmas cooking |
hung palpably in the air. Lace-edged
cloth and shining silver and napery
and lighted candelabra all his own
were there with no phantasy of dream
land to change their shapes Or to !
transport them far away. The mans
own familiar table chair stood in it's
accustomed place. Upon the chandelier
was twined the MALE. sweetest of all
Hawaiian creepers, the fragrance Of
which mingled with the savors of the
least. At all these strong realities
Norman Fletcher looked and could but
half believe, his mind a ferment Of
weird imaginings. Once he heard a
light step near him and his wife stop
ped at his side to arrange some sprays
Of fern upon the table and then drew
away.
My God, my God." cried the
stricken |