The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-12-21
HIS CHRISTMAS GIFT
FOR HIS BETTER HALF

tinvoluntarily reach up and feel of some
thing that made a slight bulge in the
right-hand inside breast pocket of his
coat. She noticed that when sn..
caught him at this he looked hang
doggier h a ever, and quickly dropped
the tell-tale hand.
Whereuporl a great, glowing light il
lumined her, and she would have laid
as high as 20 to /, in money, marbles
or chalk, that she knew.
Suddenly he ran HIS fingers through
his hair, yawned phonily and said to
her:
How about the eats? I'm starved.''
Are your" she replied. just ordinar-
lily like that. We'll, I'll run down to
the basement and hurry Hilda up with
the dinner
He watched her as she traipsed u
of the room and 10 the basement stairs,
and he listened, with his head checked
to n side, while she battered down
the stairs. Then he gazed hurriedly all
around the room as If seeing some hid
Ing place, mo- for himself, of course. but
for that which made the slight bulge in
the pocket of his coat.
Then, listening again. and even going
10 the head of the basement stairs to
assure himself that his spouse still was
downstairs in converse with the maid
OF all work, he tripped with the great
est Hghtness and stealth to the stairs
leading TO the second floor, which he
took two at a clip, and going so slinkly
that he scarcely creaked the stairs as
he went. He did not stop at the second
floor landing, but beat it right up to
the garnet, still going with such ease
that he wouldn't hav made any u
had he been walking on a flock OF base
runs instead of stairs.
Reaching the garnet, he looked wide
ly and hurriedly around, like ONE one
ri bay after being pursued. His eye
fell upon an old trunk standing in a
dim corner OF the storeroom. He tip
pytoed over to the old trunk, undtd
the clasps at the side, found that the
trunk wasn't locked and raised the lid.
AS he did SO he thought he heard q
creaking on the stairs, and he looked
up guiitily and kept the trunk lid
poised in the air, held by one hand, as
he listened. Obviously ~attributing the
creaktng sound to Imagination, he
thrust the trunk Id back as far as It
would go. hen he burrowed into the
trunk. which was filed with old papers,
books and the like. He tossed the lit
ter Of old stuff to one side, making q
neat little hole in one Of the rear cor
ners OF the trunk.
Then he reached into his right-hand
breast poket with a hand that trem-
bled yisibly, while his breath came
stertoriously, and he pulled up a small
black leather jewel case and he jam
the jewel case into the little hole
that he had made in the back of the
litter of papers and things in the
trunk. AS he did SO he imagined he
heard another bunch Of creaks on the
and again he paused and looked
wildly.
once again treasured as to tns
creaking, he covered over the jewel
case with the papers, let the trunk lid
gently, put the clasps up again,
and then. standing up and brushing the
dust from his clothes. he tippytoed out
Of the storeroom and went down the
stairs to his bedroom on the second
floor. where, flushed but relieved-look-
ing, ne fixed his necktie and coulbed
his hair and emitted a phony whistle
sort Of ease his mind. Five minutes
later his wife called TN the stairs that
dinner was ready, and when ne went
to dinner his manner was easy
again and all Of his hangdogginess had
lisa -peared.
But he hadn't merely imagined that
2reaking On the stairs. Friend wife
1ad made the creaking. And when he |
vent TO his lodge meeting that night
II course she g smack ID 10 fha |
yerret and opened the old trunk and
5ound the brooch In the jewel case
which he fcoiishly had thought to hide
her until Christmas.