The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1907-12-12

yer ulun lOOk udlL ucdu " ~AN
yer head orr, yer young hound, ne
said, "inslnywaitin' ag'inst an honest
man. Coin to offer to do anythink
fer yer the missus was. wot Ill soon
put stop to now"
He gave Jimmy a ferocious scowi
as he went out, and Jimmy resolved
that II he found the stocking he
would take 1t to the lawyer at once.
He went to the door and faced
crowd Of excited faces that ranged
in rows from the front Of the shop
right across the alley.
JIMMY" they cried. Give ~
somethink! Yer might. Jlmmy!"
Jimmy always said afterward that
he only did 1t because he thought he
was dying, and the toys would be no
use to him, and the pains In his
heart "drawed him out Of himself"
He tried to speak. but his voice was
only whisper. So he beckoned to
big boy and whispered to him: and
the boy stood up on the doorstep.
and shouted to the crowd: "Jfmmys
goin' to give yer a toy each. Jim.
my"
The big boy went sprawling before
the crowd that swayed and struggled
in, and Jimmy was driven back to the
counter.
Women came in to plead for their
babies at home. Boys and girls
came In to remind him OF their BROTH
ers and sisters. BY nine o'clock he
had given to every small inhabitant
OF the alley.
Then Jimmy tried to go to bed.
but was SO weak and giddy that he
could not climb the stairs. So he
sat in the armchair instead. He
felt strange as well as poorly. Tho
chairs. the fire-irons. the coal.scuttle.
the table.cover everything. seemed to
turn into fantastic figures. and long
tailed demons were running up the
blinds. Santa Claus on the mantel-
piece was scowling and sneering at
him.
Jimmy got into a sudden rage with
Santa Claus and struck him with his
fist
Santa Claus tottered on the man.
telpiece, but righted himself. He was
more solid and weighty than Jimmy
had imagined. and there was clink-
ing sound as he swayed-a sound OF
blinking money. The truth flashed
upon Jimmy as he sank back exhaust
ed in the armchair. The "long
stocking" was In Santa Claus. and he
could not get to 1t, and he never
would, because he was going to die.
He saw Santa Claus leerins at him
when he woke. and In his dreams.
hn ha nd
ly looked frightened. Some one was
knocking loudly at the door. That was
what frightened him. Jimmy woke
completely just as the knocking
ceased. There was a grating noise
outside the window-the noise OF
some one slipping knife through
the frame to press back the catch.
Jimmy struggled to move. but his
limbs only wriggled little. He
tried to shout, but no sound came.
The shutters came open with .
crash. and Bill Black stepped within.
Jimmy closed his eyes to escape
the sight OF the knife, but he felt
Black looking at him. Then, to his
surprise, he went away into the
shop. Jimmy heard noise Of I'm.
barring and unlocking. Then he felt
cool hand on his pulse.
Collapse" a pleasant voice said.
Its lucky we weren't an hour later
Jimmy opened his eyes. and saw
the doctor and Black bending over
him.
1--WE been playin' at Santa Claus.
matey," Black said. I'VE judged yer
was pretty bad not to answer the
knockin, so got in. Rare nice toys
them was yer gave my young 'uns.
Judged yer was pretty bad, so l
fetched EN-"
Bill Black looked at the dre
thoughtfully, and repeated to himself:
Rare nice toys Then he carried
Jimmy upstairs and helped the doc
tor put him to bed. He was wonder
fully gentle in handling Jimmy.
Three weeks later Jimmy came
downstairs to the shop parlor, and
the first thing he noticed was that
Santa Claus was gone from the man
telpiece. He was very weak. and he
could not help a few tears coming
to his eyes; but he had brushed them
away before Bill came In.
Feel all right. boy?" Bill asked.
Yes, Bill" Jimmy said. Pretty
fair"
Seems strange down here. don't
it?"
"a little strange" Jimmy agreed.
Bill cut some hard tobacco In the
palm of his hand, and whistled soft
ly and filled his pipe. Notice any
thing pertickIer stranger" he auR-
gested. His eyes were on the man
telpiece, where Santa Claus wasn't
and so were Jimmy's.
NO" said Jimmy. bravely.. mo.
Bill" ..