The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-12-23

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| of eXpostulation and rebuke which fol
| lowed. When each had said something
! appropriate or otherwise to the occa-
sion, l offered this
My dear people, Betty has made up
her mind, and changes not.
That seemed to petrify them and [
| got out of the room amidst absolute
silence, though no sooner had | closed
! the door than the whole family came
! to life and each one began to talk,
Mon say women can + stick to n reso-
| luton ] didn t find it hard at all, and
| YOU can imagine what relief it was
to know | could do as pleased, To be
free from the rush and hustle Of these
| days is privilege enough at any time,
| but how infinitely more so at Christmas.
! That mighty day, so rich, so big with
| meaning for poor busy man-and to
spend it as | wished I was intoX-
! icated with tho idea. and went about
the house singing airs too high for my
voice from sheer excess of emotion
until mother and the girls begged me TO
stop.
Up TO last night my happiness contin-
ued unabatcd, Then ] began TO change
and hear the result.
Just after dinner last night Doctor
Ravenal called and asked for me. You
remember, he comes here sometimes. and
usually il is to see me- n seemed quite
i'll at ease when / went into the room.
IIe stood up. formally, and said.
"Miss Elizabeth, [ need help, so l
came TO you. Every woman ] know is
up to her ears in Christmas prepara-
ton, and | thought perhaps you-hav-
ing two sisters might be less So
7 had him sit down and tell me HIS
trouble assuring him ! d help to any
reasonable extent, at the same time
feeling little piqued because he
thought d not be so busy as other
women. Ism t that the woman for you7
And thereupon he told me of wo-
man deserted by her husband-left with
a little new baby seven days old, and
five children besides, the oldest not
quite fifteen He said il was a case OF
ahicct poverty, and insisted upon my
driving out with him. then and there,
70 see what ] could do-addiug:
woman can best help woman, and TINS
one surely needs n friend.
Ny first impulse was to e.: ana
positively thrilled at thought of 1t, and
then | remembered that I had struck;
OF course, my resolution came first, and
IT WASH Z quite fitting to explain 10 nm,
was itl So ] said:
CTS ont Of the question for me to
%, Doctor Ravenal; bnt II promise to
do all | can for her, aside from that.
He looked at me moment without
speaking.
But T wouldn't say another word,
either way. and he was obliged to
make the best of II.
When he had gone ! sneaked into the
rear hall and closed all the doors so
that no one could hear me telephone,
and with my heart pounding absurdly'
| called up " ana ordered
complete outfit for that poor little de.
serted Christmas baby, and host OF
ho ~ children. too.
Then | felcphoned L. and or
dered a lot of groceries and when J eX-
nlaincd the situation the people at botn
nIaccs were quite willing to send the
tbinps last night-eight miles up the
canyon. at that How = that for CHRIST
mas spirit, And in one swoop, l: you
please, I spent all my Christmas money
at least that is what l should nave
called it if conditions had been as or
old c,
As left the phone l heard Clara
and Dick giggling at the library door,
and saw they were ,peeklng at me L
ran at them but they slammed the
door in nv face, and so | went upstairs
TO nv room and locked myself IN. Wncn
/ went TO bed ] could not sleep, but
rolled and tossed and thought of that
blessed little voungster all night. m
not especiaIlv sentimental, as You Know,
but the idea of baby deserted by ITS
father was almost too much Tor me
There's something about a child!
But let me tell YOU the rest.
After breakfast this morning l david
led about the house trying to hnd some
thing TO interest myself in, but every
one was crazy over the Chrlstmas pres
ents, and so ] got into my habit, slip
ned out to the barn and saddled Bit
zen, and in about two minutes was on
his back.
lie reared and plunged. and capered
and frisked, and the cold sharp air
seemed to scatter all the cobwcbs from
my brain AT once. ! suddenly knew
that it was a splendid old world, IN.
stead Of merely thinking so; that | had
glorious life to live, rather than pass
my time speculating about the lmmor-
talitv of the soul-as you and | so
oft have donel
Now what do you think | dId'
Where do Won imagine ! went?
or course YOU know. | went up the
canyon 10 find that poor baby and ITS
unfortunate mother, trusting TO luck to
know the place at sight.
TIE average town dweller doesn u
know much about the canyons IN their
winter dress. Every step my capable
horse carried me was farther and farth-
cr into the land of wizards. The noun
tains are not like alabaster as the
novelist loves TO declare, but. lnStead-
are monsters clothed in splendid SHOWS
so that unwary strangers may be lured
farther and farther from home, until,
at the critical moment they may be de.
stroyed. The sun was under cloud
and that was the way the mountains
looked TO me. But / merely blew on
my fingers at them, and said,-
"Poohl You re not monsters at ali,
You re Just great piles Of dirt heaped
up there without even the wish to be
heapcd. bv some breath of fame in the
middle of the earth, or by the pressure
Of other heaps, stronger than you.
Scared Of YOU! Not bit Of it! ] IN
going to find what you We got in your
trap!'
And if you II believe it, prompt 10
the minute, out came the sun shining on
everything, sparkling and smiling on
slope and rock. and tree and bush, and
saw my bluff had worked.
Then n little whiifet of dog darted
out from a side path and buzzcd about
Bitten s heels. and for moment | was
quite busy holding him TO the earth.
He detesis small dogs When Bitten
could keep still ] saw that there was
boy. too-you know there nearly nj
WAYS is where there is dog,-and ]
soi1 IN him