Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-10

will be hopelessly gray. Maybe il will
be raining dismally. If not that. snow
ing frenziedly. Perhaps a little of both
Maybe it'll be sleeting. Come to think
of it, it may be raining. showing and
sleeting, all at one and the same time
Ugh,
All the same, theren be no help for It.:
no help whatever. Well have to crawl
out of the deep chair and nudge. into the
heavy coat and perhaps put on rubbers.
and probably pick up the umbrella and go
forth to the corner to board street car
damned with surly looking male persons
who themselves have just happened to
think. fifteen minutes before, that they
hadn't done their Christmas shopping at
all, much less early, and that II they are
not to be regarded brutes and beings
wholly cut loose from every semblance of
civilization. why, they've got to go out
and do the Christmas shopping thing now
or never,
We won't have any list made out. Well
have misty Idea in the back of the bean
what we're going to get her and that :
about all: but even that idea is vague and
in no wise concrete. It's the thing she 5
been sort O. limiting about ever since the
leaves began to swirl in the bitches: the
thing about which, whenever she hap
pened to slyly mention ii. We've said "th-
huh by way of a reply. accompanying
the .'Uh-huh' with a significant glance at
her, said significant glance saying To her
just as plainly as words. Now, if you'll
only hold yo1--' horses you'll get that
thing that you're limiting about at Christ
mas: and she has always understood the
"ITh-huh'' and the significant glance per-
fectly, and has said to herself each time
she's mooched around to the topic and
mentioned the name of the thing she
wanted: We'll. he knows what l want,
all right: | can tell by the look in his eye;
good thing I've been foxy enough to keep
on batting away at the subject, though.
for he is so hopelessy dense about these
things!
aIN tnn
car turning into the downtown streets. we
survey the busy, OH so busy. scene, with
each and every woman CARVING 2lNl
pounds of plush clocks and embroidered
suspenders and machine-crocheted cravats
and things in her arms; and thus hi-hum-
ming we button the oVercoat around US
and get off the car
We cross to the first large emporium We
see and stand in front of the first window
we come to for a long, long while, specu-
latively That window is filled with Won
derfully lovely articles. We move hastily
away from that window, and stand, dou-
deringly. bovinely before the next win
dow unaware again of what is being dis
played in that window. We move swiftly
away from that window.
This window gazing gag ought to be eX-
planned. That's the way male person
wistfuly hopes, if not expects, to do his
Christmas shopping-by gazing either
raptly or in state of stunned uncon-
seriousness into the store windows. He
has a sort of insane, deeply rooted idea
that he ought to see, instantly and if
by magic. everything that he wants by
way of a Christmas gift smack-dab in the
windows: and he is filed with a sense of
deep outrage and imposition if he doesn't
find everything that he wants in the win
dows. Why not? Isn't he there, a-look-
ing? Well, then. Why don't the store
people put every blooming thing they've
got to sell in the windows. so that man
won't have to go inside? That's the aw-
full part of it. going inside, Whew, What
wouldn't he give if he didn't have to go
inside except to tell the man the girl
that he wants to buy that S6.iS pair Of
what-d ye-call-' ems in the window outside
there-please wrap 'em up-do | have to
wait for change?-cant / just stick EN- in
my overcoat pocket?
That's the way he wants to do il. But,
alack and alas, The things that he wants
are rarely in the windows. But how about
that thing that she's been limiting about
so much ever since about October o?
Oh, yes, the thinS she's been limiting
about. Let's see, where can that be
found?
We go into this first store we've come