The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1912-12-18
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2y DAISY WRIGHT FIELD

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dinner with us and not a sign Of any
Christmas dinner or of the wherewith-
al to procure it. There isn't a thing
but bacon and potatoes and turnips in
the house unless it is ar onion or two"
"YOu forget the squash, Kathryn"
mildly i%nterposed her brother Tom,
with mock serious visage and dancing
eyes.
kathryn, fresh from boarding school,
had attempted an elaborate and ultra
scientific garden the summer before
with tangible results in the form of a
single we'll grown squash, drought, i'll
management and various pests having
played havoc with the other things.
Kathryn's dreams of a tidy income
of a possible prize at the fall fair IAN
ished into thin air. But the squash
was tenderly borne to the cellar by
Tom and carefully guarded as a me-
mento Of Kathryn's brave If futile at
tempt to stave off the evil day when
the dreaded mortgage, like a dark bird
of prey, should swoop down and carry
of the little home.
Kathryn was considered a very clev-
er girl at boarding school and by all
her legion friends at home. She could
paint strange birds that a naturalist
would have been at a loss to classify
and lowers unknown to the science of
botany, do fancy sewing and marvellous
embroidery and write charming verse,
though, alas, the editors were surpris-
1ngly obtuse to. the latter fact! Be-
sides which she was able to talk vol
ubly in French and could rattle off
some lively two steps and schottisches
on the piano-if she had possessed such
an instrument.
But non of these accomplishments
were eXchangeable for coin of the
realm in the little country village on
the outskirts of which they lived, and
as they had only Toms meager salary
as a grocer's clerk to fall back on, it
soon came to pass that shabby gar
ments and the plainest Of plain fare
We're the order of the day, in their
household. Kathryn's fingers itched
to help her brother bear the burden
of support. She longed to add her mite
to the family income, but as yet had
not struck her "niche." She did not
know quite enough to teach, and there
was no vacancy in either of the two
village dry goods stores.
On this Christmas V there was less
than a dollar in the house, and be-
sides herself, her mother and Tom,
they had received notice that seven
guests would be with them for the
Christmas holiday-distant relatives,
who had standing invitations to ''come
up to u house for Christmas some
ttme," and who by a coincidence had
chosen the same date to accept the in
vitation. There was Aunt Matte and
her twin boys, Cousin Wilbur and his
new wife, Aunt Sue and Uncle Hiram
quite a tableful at any time, and GER
ta1nly an enormous crowd to be provid-
ed with Christmas dainties with a fund
of less than a dollar.
1t began to look as If they must
break their rigid rule never to go in
debt, ever for the n~ecessaries of life,
and ask the village grocer to trust
them, a very humiliating alternative.
After Toms brilliant remark, which
she had been expected to take as a
rarely humorous hit, Kathryn gazed
at him admiringly for a moment.
"You think you're funny, Tom
Wrennet, but you're not" she told
him. squash pie will be a grateful
addition to u boiled potatoes and
turnips and onions and other Christ
mas dainties. Surely no one can say
that l blistered my fingers and freck-
led my nose in vain yer that gar
den, since its one and lonely product
Is to feed the Christmas guest"
"Never mind, children" broke in
their mother, laying down the letter
that had just come from Aunt Mat
tie, announcing the arrival on the
morning train of herself and her twin
boys, 1--WE can at least do our best to
make our guests feel at home and try
to enjoy their visit. It is hard not to
be able to entertain them as they have
US in the past, but what can't be cured,
you know, must be endured"
Mothers a brick" exclaimed impul-
sive Tom. "And I move that we ten
der her a vote of thanks for her little
Christmas speech" Whereupon he
gave her a rousing kiss and a bear
hug and went out into the yard and
down into the cellar after the squash.
When he came up from the depths of
the darksome cellar to where Kathryn
stood expectantly waiting, he dropped
Imply on to an upturned box near by
and famed himself weakly with his
old hat. He opened his mouth twice
In a vain and apparently desperate at
tempt to speak and then subsidized into
silence.
"Tom Wrennet," demanded his sis
ter, giving him an impatient shake,
"drop your nonsense and speak. What's
the matter?"
"It's-it's gone" gasped Tom, quite
as If ut" had been a diamond neck
lace instead of a warty and plebian