Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-25
When the Vile Buys
"Hubby's" Christmas Cigars

! was interested in still more decora-
tive label on a box farther along in
| the case and was tapping on the glass
to indicate il.
These are Reina Victorias.' said tine
clerk. fetching out the box. Fine. salts
flying. after dinner smokes.
oh. isn't that nice nanle-Reina Vic
! torias.' exclaimed the young woman.
And such a beautiful picture on the
box, isn't it,"
The picture was indeed lovely. 1t de-
picted a. sort of Ponce de Leon idea Of
FLORIDA, with wonderful fountains %:
eternal youth spouting out of lily pads,
birds OF rare and gay plumage fy1nG
presumably songfu!ly) through a many
hued jungle, wonderfully mazarine sea
washing the very ends of the jungle, and,
of course. smack-dab in the middle. the
portrait of another wonderfully peachy-
skinned gentleman, probably the manu-
facturer of the cigars. who obviously, by
beauty of his pelt, was a walking aver
t5sement of the fountains of eternal
youth.
Fine goods" said the saleman. Colo
RADIO csaros. handmade Vuelta Aba1o
understanding better at the price in
the market"
How many are there in the box" she
| asked him.
Fifty said he.
MY. what a lot Of them she exclaim-
| time to smoke all those up"
"Oh. l don't think so.'' said the clerk,
coughing to cover up his chuckie. Be
| sides. probably he'd give away quite a
few of them to his friends.
She looked at him rebukingly.
"Oh. no, there you are quito mistaken.
she said, with dignity. HE would never
think of giving away anything that had
given to him for a present. Certainly
not!'
sshe hou,h+ tho c,ears and carried
them away with her.
! Christmas morning the husband Of the
pretty young matron found the box OF
cigars at his breakfast plate. The boz
was wrapped in pure white glazed paper
tied all around with tiny red silk ribbon
and there was bunch of holly under
meath the ribbon. She watched him as hi
, united the package. He felt her gaze
So he made a deliberate effort not &c
look as rueful as he felt. and succeeded
He felt still more rueful when he saw
the wonderfully ornate begilded box ane
the label, but he crowded back his feel
ing. being considerate male. Not fol
| worlds would he have let her see that he
felt glum over the certain prospect that
he would have to smoke all of those CT.
gars right in her presence. So, aftel
breakfast. with the fine coffee rafting
around in him, and when he felt ripe an6
ready for sure-enOugh smoke, an<
wished to blazes that he could pull one OF
his own regular cigars out Of his vest
pocket and smoke it, why, he took one OF
the Reina Victorias out Of the box OF
Christmas cigars lighted it, and
However, just a moment.
It is right at this point that this vera
cious Christmas story splits or from the
! usual Christmas box of cigars story. You
are perfectly familiar with the formula
of the old dope The husband, in the an.
tique form of this narrative, would bite
the ond off the Christmas smoke. making
a noise as if he'd stepped on q puffball ir
the woods, and getting his mouth full OF
acrid hay dust. and he'd pull on it, any
how, and It wouldn't draw. and so he q
bite off another chunk of It, and ther
he'd light it. and it would burn like rec
barn full of dry fodder, mostly along one
side, and smelling like a conflagration a.
the dump, etc, etc. But as a matter Of
fact this Christmas cigar was about the
finest two-for-a-quarter smoke he'd ever
had in his life, and he all but ate it, an6
let the fragrance from the end of II
trckle through his nostrils. and kept or
exclaiming over the wonderful perfection
of the tobacco, and asked her where the
dickens shed got 'em and so on. Ano
he priced the box as if it contained
radium, and the gift was a knockout.