Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-12-21
CHRISTMAS GIFT
FOR HIS BETTER HALF

involuntarily 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 she
caught him at this he looked hang
doggier than ever, and quickly dropped
the tell-tale hand.
Whereupon IL great, glowing light H.
lumined her. and she would nave laid
as high AS 20 to l, 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 YOU" she replied. just Ordinar-
; lily like that. Well, I'll run down to
the basement and hurry Hilda up with
the dinner"
He watched her as she traipsed out
OF the room and to the basement stairs.
and he listened. with his head checked
to one side. while she battered down
tho stairs. Then he gazed hurriedly all
around the room. as II seeing some hid
ing place. not for himself. OF course. but
for that which made the slight bulge In
h pocket of his coat.
Then, listening again, and even going
to the head OF the basement stairs to
assure himself that his spouse still was
downstairs In onvers with the maid
OF all work, he tripped with the great
est lightness 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
door landing, but beat 1t right up to
the garnet. still going with UGH ease
that he wouldn't have made any sound
had he been walking on a flock of base
drums instead OF stairs.
Reaching the garnet. he looked widc-
ly and hurriedly around, like some one
at bay after being pursued. His eye
fell upon an old trunk standing in a
pytoed over to the old trunk. undid
the clasps at the side. found that the
trunk wasn't locked and raised the lid.
AS he did so he thought he heard u
%creaking on the stairs, and ne looked
up guiltily. and kept the trunk lid
poised in the air, held by one hand, as
he listened. obviously attributing the
%creaking sound to imagination, he
thrust the trunk lid back as far as 1t
would go. Then he burrowed into the
trunk, which was filled with old papers,,
books and the like. He tossed the lit
ter Of ole stuff to one side. making a
neat little holc 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 visibly. while his breath came
SIertOflOuSly, ana ne pulled up q small
black leather Jewel case and he JAM
med 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 80 he imagined he
heard another bunch of creaks on tho
stairs, and again he paused and looked
up wildly.
Once again treasured as to the
creaking. he covered over the jewel
case with the papers, let the trunk lid
fall 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. he fixed his necktie and combed
his hair and emitted a phony whistle
to sort OF ease his mind. Five minutes
later his wife called uD the stairs that
dinner was ready. and when he went
down to dinner his manner was easy
again and all of his hangdogginess had
disa peared.
But he hadn't merely imagined that
creaking on the stairs. Friend wife
had made the creaking. And when he
went to his lodge meeting h a night
Of course she went smack up to the
garnet and opened the old trunk and
found the brooch in the jewel case
which he foolishly had thought to hide
from her until Christmas.