The Washington herald., 1915-12-26
By JOHN MOROSO

SkNiI Oh bhC boDlC ~ uoho
He read the passages of hope and
promise he had learned to love dur
ing the early days of his regeneration
and then, following the instructions
of his host, stretched himself out on
the bed, rolled up in blanket, and
slept. After nights in doorways
under paper covering in the parks. OF
in the coal bin of the late Cock-Eye
Garry McCarry's place, he felt as il
he were falling through a cloud, SC
soft and deep was the bed.
At three O'Clock he was awakened
by the master of the house, who
spoke very softly and whose counten-
ance shone with delight.
"A Merry Christmas! A Merry
Christmas" he whispered. at is
time"
He had brought with him all ol
the disguise of Santa Claus save the
false beard and mask. Those were moi
needed. Gottlieb pulled on the shiny
black boots. baggy red trousers, red
greatcoat and cowl, all edged with
new white fur, and finally thrust his
hands into the gauntlets.
Down from the roof came the sound
of sleigh bells violently shaken. "I've
got the butler up there announcing
your arrival" whispered the father oil
the little lad who did not believe any
more. They tiptoed down stairs ever
so carefully, although not a creature
was stirring, and went to the living
room, which was really a great hall,
high of ceiling, wainscoated and with
n, h,r Er.o1,-a o,,x-.I~ IL, "a
winding of horn, the trampling OF
hoofs in the snow and more fierce
jingling of bells. The steeds of Kris
Kringle were horses from the stables
hidden in the shadows.
In the living room a tall, dark-hair-
ed lady in white was lighting the last
of the candles on a great Christmas
tree, in the fragrant boughs of which
frosted angels winged, and gold and
silver tinsel cleaned. At its base were
piled all the treasures of toyland that
the heart of a child could wish for.
The lady gave little cry of astonish-
ment at the vision of Santa Claus,
went to him. put her jeweled hands
on his shoulders, looked into his blue
eyes and said: "Why, you are really
Santa! I'm SO glad you've come to see
my little ones" Her eyes glistened as
brightly as the diamonds in her rings,
and she turned away and pretended to
be fixing something on the tree.
Now. DEAR" said the master of the
house at is my turn. You get ready
to watch the children turn out, and
wheh the clock in the hall strikes
four we will sing the carol. 1t is
now. By Jupiter. we're
going to put something over on Lad
die this time"
The mistress gone from the room.
Santa and his host packed a great red
bag with toys and placed it beside the
wide hearth. The master then drew
from an inside pocket his gift to his
wife and laid it in the top of the bag
That's for her." he whispered TO
Santa. "If it wasn't for that dear lady
there wouldn't be any Christmas for
me-"
He asked Gottlieb to watch the
candles on the trees carefully and TO
be ready at the striking OF the chimes
in the hall. "You might take the
armchair here and pretend to have
fallen asleep" he suggested as he
slipped rom the room.
Save for an occasional cracking or
kissing from the logs on the hearth
there was the profound stiffness OF
the hour before wintry dawn. Gott-
lieb glanced about him and saw that
his host was man of great wealth.
Magnificent paintings were on the
walls; rugs of wonderful weave were
on the floor A glimpse into the din
ing-roou showed him silver and gold
ware N great value Cut glass and
rare china glistened from the
shadows. He felt curious to see the
gift which the master of the house
had selected for the mother of the lit
tie ones and he opened the wide, fiat
case OF morocco lying at the top OF
his Christmas pack A blaze of white
fire struck his eyes. 1t was diamond
necklace OF priceless value, each
stone a gem OF wonderful radiance.
His breath caught.
He had heard of such things, had
heard them talked about in whispers
in Cock-Eye's place, and he knew
how easy it was to dispose of the
necklace, selling stone here and an
other there to the keepers of fences
for Jewel thieves in New York, Chi
cago. London. Paris and the other
great cities OF the world. Some of the
ruddiness left his face. If the neck
lace was worth one hundred thousand
dollars to the purchaser it would be
worth ten thousand to the thief.
Ten thousand dollars! Why, even
one thousand dollars would keep him
clothed, housed, and fed for the few
years of his life and there
would be enough left over to keep his
old body out of Potter's Field. He
could live comfortably on fifty cents
a day for two thousand days! His
hands trembled and the white fire OF
the diamonds flashed more tempting
ly. He closed the case and placed it
again at the top of the contents of his
pack.
Gottlieb stared into the bright en-
bers among the ashes on the hearth.
Light and shadow danced fantastic
ally before him and then there seemed
to come to his inner vision the ghost
" glimpse of face. Deeper in reflec-
ton, the voice of dying man sound
cd in his brain: God has blessed us
both, Jerry" And then the echo of
his own voice: ale has that, sir" His
eyes closed as the chimes sounded in
the hall.
The roguish face of a boy. beneath
tousled brown curls, peeked around