Evening star., 1927-12-04

with worn covers. and weapons ihat
any Jack shepherd might 80 InSide
and huv Also, there were n2lSeS,
foreign voices. pushcartS. the unN'H",
led lauehter Of street kiddleS-ahd
the com;ngs and goings Of job-lot hu-
manity that must buy other people ;
cast.off clothing hecause-eNcrNo ou"\
knows why.
The corner where the man STOOD
fakes in the rush and crush of huSi-
ness thorouchfare that pulses WIN
commerce every minute Of the huEi-
ness day and at night is as quiet
a.most-as a clock with its works run
down. And as he stood with smear
or nencils in one 0UtStr"jche0 manu-
the November sun lay over ms H2llle
like a warm, yellow hlankel ana
mild little breeze scattered about NM
all sorts Of tiny trash as II danced
over the cobhlcS, over the street oi
secondhand smells.
Another man who was SP'lnulS
along the business thorouGhlare as
though in hurry to get Wherever
ha was hound-one Of those men VINO
are going TO Heaven one of these days
if they ever take time TO dicThur-
ried coin out Of a pocket and
dropped it in the pencil man mana
And he was sprintlnS on again, Wnen
the vendor called out that he had
forgotten his pencils. The customer
must have thought this remarkahle-
even as YOU and for he halted.
II am selling pencils. sir, not beg
ginG."
The sprinter-man touched his hat
took two pencils ard Whizzed off. And
when he was telling about it TO
friend-who tabled it down, like this
he wound up the incident with the
mention that it was the first time
dealer IN pencils ever betrayed any
symptom OF expecting customer to
take what he had paid for. He said
that he generally helped out bit be-
cause he had got the habit, but
but he believed it to be the first case
on record that customer was sup
posed to get the worth OF his money.
He was mistaken. There are al
ways others. In everything.
X x *
DECEMBER started in with the
~ gray day that poets allot to No
vember, but such is the atmospheric
festivity of the Christmas month that
even the early morning streets gave
token of a Yuetide at hand For one
point Of color a little foreign brown
man sauntered along in the red glow
of balloons that were to start his buSl-
ness day by the time he got as far
down as Seventh street. and a truck
heaped high with toy wagons had for
compa Mon, along one block, florist
van green with wOod5y garlands for
some wedding or deb tea decorations.
And. while everybody knows that au-
tcInobiles are laying off black. new
and vivid Colcrfulness accented itself
In the machines that wilfZ2ed or were
parked along the way-wi4icll meant
Pennsylvania avenue. by street car
green.
What with red cabs. yellow cabs
and black and white cabs, as stylish
as widows mourning. the cloudy day
was 50 outChallenged BY blue cars,
cars of every shade of gray, from
slate 10 putty; terra Gotta, pale greens
and browns of the sparkle of old Oc-
tober ale-if anybody remembers what
ale looks like-the automobiles made
as gay a parade as any that music
and flags could provide. And. as even
the weather knows when it is beat,
the clouds went back to cold storage,
and the sun chuckled out with a gay
ETY. that would put anybody in mind
of a real Santa. and of holly trees
full of scarlet berries.
In one crowded store later in the
morning, an early shopper was con-
sidering whether to buy red velvet
poinsettia or tiger lilies in scarlet
plush Pending a decision the clerk
waited on other customers, and more
customers began to crowd around.
The woman finally referred her prob
lem TO an obvious husband who stood
alongside:
Il suppose it would strike you dead
to say YOU liked them, You can go
~ afslyc GfG q
on a lot Of crowfoot and holly TO dry
up and fall all over the place, for me
to clean up after-but when it comes
to helping me TO select decorations
you haven't tongue in your head"
Perhans he considered that his wife