The Marshall republican., 1913-01-31
KEEPING OP WITH BEsS
D ANmie skrouasAcnna.

e.
After the stout woman had Topped
Into the nearest armchair. scattering
about t~wenty.four Christmas bundles
on the floor % she did %. she heaved
even deeper sigh than n would
naturally have expected under the cir
cumstancss.
whats the matterf" asked her
friend. you look a. though you'd
lost pounds and pounds from wony."
Il think I have" replied the stout
woman, rather fssbiy. You see. it's
Bessie. Bessie's my favorite niece. 90
you know, and she's burdened with
ovcr-indulgent parents who give her
everything she wants before she
knows that she wants Il. Now, how
IL II possible to please such q girl
with any kind Of gift7 She has jewelry
by the pound and she gets enough
candy every Christmas to feed an
orphan asylum. 80 whenever Decem-
Der comes around ! begin 10 wiring
my hands and say, What under the
shining sun oan 4 get for Bessie?'
That's the way ] SIT my first gray
hairs! ! get a fresh installment OF
them every Christmas"
She was calming down now. Her
friend had politely assumed an air Of
deep attention.
After hours and hours Of brain
racking effort" went on the stout wo-
man. Il found out that Bessie wanted
a Princeton pennant. There was one
Princeton pennant left in the sport
Ing goods section the day I went to
buy Bessie's present and I wrestled
for Il with two husky youths. n middle
aged woman and half n dozen giggly
girls. ] got II. too. although In the
process I lost three perfectly good Jet
buttons and sprained my wrist.
That night Bessie's beau brought
her an atrocious big Princeton pen
nant about three times the size OF the
one I had worked so hard fer. Sweet
of him. wasn't III"
Go on" begged her friend. your
thrilling recital makes n war story
look as fat as a plug hat that's been
sat on. What happened nextY"
Bessie came owe TO my house one
day." said the stout woman. and
raved about an embroidered shirt
waist OF mine that some poor soul had
spent six monts making. Well, that
gave me an idea and I Immediately
started to make Bessie n like II In
six days. l embroidered until I saw
French knots dancing all over the wall
and I counted stitches In my sleep.
Even my football playing son, who
reels OF signals in his dreams, became
alarmed ut the symptoms that ] dis
played. My family rose In wrath
when l brought the thing to the table
at dinner and embroidered between
courses. And then when the vast
val nearly completed Bessie casually
announced that she thought embrold.
! cred shirt waists were getting com.
mon and she wouldn't wear n for
anything"
Dear, dear!" murmured her friend,
alphabetically.
Il felt like telling Bessie that II she
changed her MIND again she wouldn't
got any present from me-" said the
stout woman. But next morning |
started out on the warpath. all Spilled
up In my Oldest clothes. so that |
could grab bargains with the best OF
them. I ran into q sale OF jewelry
women six deep lighting over 1T.
tie 90 cent reduced from 81 coin
purses. and all trying to get waited
on n. once. II took me half an hour
TO get next TO the counter. Really, Il
was cruel the way I climbed over PEG
pie, but u was for q worthy cause.
Anyway. ! got there. found the coin
purses all gone. took another half hour
getting untanSied and had to pay %
for the same thing In another store.
After I'd been patting myself on
the back for about . day for having
tolved the .proebem I met Bessie 6n
the street. She hailed me. ana ,thep
broke int. hmsntations. What %
you think, Aunt Helenr' she said,
Uncle Billy brought ma another coin
pnrss last night. and ] had three N.
readyi'
when I oams TO I was In 4 drug
store and Bessie vas rubbing my head
and cooling. You shouldn't worry 20
owe ChsAstsaAs Yes kAoH yea q tee
much. auntie.'
Yes. 7 know. Bessie 7 said. what
DO you want for ChristmasY
Why. ! don't know she replied,
Nothing much that ] can think Of. Il
want q diamond ring. but daddy won't
give me one Must you 20 % soonf'
Il think now that III 20 . hortst's
and order q couple OF dozen roses for
Bessie--ths stems TO be ut least three
feet long. sent her some when she
had appendicitis and she rayed over
them then. but now-goodness knowsl
She may have developed z case Of
rose fever by this time VT w
Honestly. the thought OF. all the
Christmases that are yet to come IL
enough to Kill any one. Yes. I do feel
as though Id been through . key
hole.
well. Merry Christmas, Here soes
Tor Bessis'si"