Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-12-25
elf the task Of making up for the

self the task Of making up for the
months when debts had accumulated.
Christmas! That was the hard part.
Nothing for the children! They had
had such jolly times before, with pres
ents for everyone Now she had more
work than ever to do and less time for
making presents, even If she had the
money with which to buy material.
VI shall have to tell judith" she said
to her husband that night, when they
were seated by the lamp and the chill
dren were in bed, show sorry we are
that we cannot make her visit pleas
ant one."
1T is too bad" said he. Judith Is
such a slave to your father, looking
after his every within and never think
ing of herself. l wish she had home
of her own. always planned to give
her a really good time whenever she
should make that long-deferred visit"
Judith arrived. her face shining with
happiness.
"As last I am here! Are you quite
well, Amer"
ooh, yes, DEAR" Mrs. Midgely's voice
had a strange note in 1t. Judith looked
up quickly.
"You don't look well, Anne. What
is the matter?"
Poor Anne let the floodgates of her
tears open and told Judith her trou:
bles.
otis only that we don't want you to
have stupid time, Judith"
"Never mind about me-" answered
Judith. II am wildly happy just to be
here with you all. But I am glad You
told me-"
The children were delighted to have
their aunt with them. They had often
visited the pleasant old white house
that had been their mothers home, and
it was a happy party that surrounded
the dinner table that night. Mrs.
Midgely, too, almost forgot to be wor-
ried as she smiled at her sisters high
spirits.
Next morning after Judith had
kissed the four children as they left
for school, she turned to her sister ard
said
Same, dear, we must take an In
ventory Of stock and see what we can
make for the kid1ets for Christmas"
"There is nothing" said Anne.
"We'll find something!" determined.
~ answered Judith.
"You can make things out Of com.
paratively nothing" laughed Anne,
'but you can't make them out of abso-
lutely nothing"
Eyes, we cant I'll send for my
yarns and knit cap and mittens for
each child. They are using bright COL
: ors and combinations of colors. In
that way we can use your leftover
yarns, too. Well have plenty without
buying any more, and knit rapidly.
I've done lots of this work for the Red
Cross"
She made looms with empty spools
and pins, from which each child helped
to make a round string which they
worked on at odd moments They were
to be sewed on the mittens. No more
hunting for the "other mitten." The
children were entertained with the idea
Of being useful and Of helping Aunt
Judith. :-
The sisters looked up discarded dolls
and sewed up legs and arms, painted
the faces and restored the hair. En-
tire outfits Of clothes that could be
taken off and put on we're made from
bits of cloth found in the scrap bag,
and they crocheted lace enough for the
trimming. These were for the two lit
tie girls, Martha and Peggy, aged sew
en- and nine.
How to make eleven-year-old Ralph
happy with left-overs was the problem.
Then Judith remembered that years
ago she had been the recipient Of a
stamp book which she had not used.
She wrote her father for 1t, and then
invested in some mixed stamps for
Ralph to make beginning with. A
few new puzzles and toys from the
ten-cent store made q goodly array Of