Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1919-12-12

nonsense. Hilda answered. III yol
knew the trouble have with her
Mrs. Holmes, you wouldn't be askint
me to put any new ideas into he
head. She is contented with he
dolls and is satisfied. and my worl
takes up every minute Of my time.
And you don't do your work,
cried the Scotch woman. There
better and more natural work at YOU
hand for you to do. and you leave 4
to others"
What do you mean by that"
u mean Eunice." said Mrs Holmes
defantly. and wiped her hands on hel
apron and stalked away, leaving Hilds
Groves indignant and resentful.
Mrs. Holmes had put her littl,
charge to bed on Christmas eve am
later stole on tiptoe 10 the door
Eunice was lying with her face t
the wall, her head resting upon hel
arm The good woman looked wist
fully at her. and at the little stockings
which hung from the head OF the
bed. She had never had n child ot
her own.
She was going to I'LL them to over
flowing with certain store OF good
things that she had purchased ant
hidden away In the linen closet among
the sheets and pillow-csses She had
candies and oranges. and firecrackers
that snapped diSconcertingly. contain
Ing foolscaps and notices and paper
ornaments within their fat and crink
ling bodies; a jack-in-the-box. too
and a doll. just large enough to be
cunningly concealed inside a stock
ing. Mrs. Holmes watched the child
Her sleep did not seem sound. for
once or twice she stirred. and the
good landlady had that morbid ter
ror of discovery which a real Santa
always feels.
"l'll wait till Mr.. Cunningham has
come In and then I'll do 1t" she re-
solved Mr. Cunningham. the last OF
her boarders to come home. was al.
ways punctual upon the stroke OF
eleven. Eunice would then be sound
asleep. no doubt.
But Eunice had not slept at all.
With child's deliberate craft she
had deceived the goodnatured land.
lady. She waited till she heard Mrs.
Holmes go into her room, and then
she rose up ever so softly and pulled
on the empty stockings, dressed her.
self. and crept into the hall She
listened In terror at Mrs. Holmes
door. She was reading aloud, as she
did of an evening, and the solitary
voice was terrifying. Not much less
so was the regular breathing of Mrs
Bennett next door, the middle-aged
woman who always insisted on stop.
ping and speaking, no matter how
busy Eunice might happen to be- The
floor creaked, and once Mrs. Holmes
stopped reading and sat up In her
chair. Eunce shrank into the recess
between the hall curtain and the UNI.
brella stand. Then all was right
again and Mrs. Holmes voice droned
on The child opened the hall door
and fed out into the December blasts.
She had gone to find Santa Claus.
for she knew that he would not come
to her.
The theater was only three blocks
away, and Eunice could see the dis.
tant glitter of lights as soon as she
was In the street. The road was full
Of vehicles, and pedestrians went hur.
rying along the sidewalks. but no
body molested her or was curious
about the little, thinly clad girl that
slipped among the crowds, lodging
here and there until she reached the
corner Of the third block. Then
Eunce halted before the rush OF au.
tomobiles that whlzzed past her in
never ending line, and a big police
man took her by the arm.
Where are you going, little girl?"
he asked gruffly.
"Thanta Clauth," said Eunice. point.
ng toward the theater lights.
do you belong to the tbeater?"
asked the policeman obviously.
Where is your Mammal"
"Over there" said Eunice, and the
policeman carried her across the
street, while the automobiles parked
Ipon either hand on wave of his
ordly fingers. He set her down at
he stage entrance.
Anybody lost a baby?" he asked