Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1935-12-21

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! lchlcaso Tribuns-Hsw goxk News syndicat
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]. (c0pyright; 1855: - Elisabeth Jordanl
GIN TWO PARTS PART ONE
JERRY DEwAR made an auspici0u
. entrance into the world by beinl
born On Christmas morning BY tla
time he was seven be was sure this has
been very clever Of him No other boS
ne knew had been Christmas presen
70 his father and mother No ofhel
boy he knew had been born 70 an &C.
compartment Of Christmas bells, Oh
had his cradle decorated with q Christ
mas wreath and red ribbon bows Bis
jubilant father had done that. and
proudly admitted It. Ills mother, when
pressed for details by Jerry IN later
years, had confessed that being busy
At the time she might have forgotten
about the ribbon and the bows But
there they had been, q lasting Joke to
both parents and a source Of vast sat
isfaction to Jerry.
They were recalled regularly every
| Christmas morning at the breakfast
table. Jerry had the recurrent pleas
Ire Of hearing how enchanting he had
I looked, and how his little fists had
seemed to be reaching up toward the
bright red ribbon. It was his fairy god
mother who originally added this de-
tail, about which even Jerry's father
had seemed a trifle vague at first But
after q year or two he remembered it
perfectly, and the third year ne went
so far as 70 testify that the infant had
secured the wreath, had hung it around
his neck and had swallowed half the
holly berries on 1t before his startled
father interrupted this first breakfast
AS Christmas came and went other
exciting details were added to the cpl
sode by Jerry's father and his fairy
godmother. His father, for example,
distinctly remembered that when the
nurse first took him into the room the
new born babe was sitting up in his
crib, singing Christmas carols There
was always q great deal Of laughter !
ana WlSecracking, which seemed to the 4
small boy pretty silly treatment Of q |
serious subject The fairy godmother 1
was invariably present at these Christ
mas breakfasts. He had been taught to 1
call her Aunt Eve. She WGs also pretty
constantly IN the house at other times
That, Jerry understood, was because
she was his godmother, and his moth
er'S lifelong and most intimate friend.
He knew al about Aunt Eve She had
been his mothers playmate, and school
mate, and bridesmaid when she mar
RED. Then she had gone to Europe for
q visit and had married Hector Jen-
nings, who was killed year later in
an airplane accident. This, Jerry in
.erred from the serious faces Of his
father and mother when they spoke
u 1t, had been very sad. But by the
line he was old enough to observe Aunt
sVe intenigently it was hard to think |
hat anything about her was sad. She
lad come back to America and to her !
I'D home IN Jerry's town. She was ]
'oung and lovely and gay. She was ut I
erly devoted to Jerry and knew exactly
low TO entertain small boys and make
hem laugh. She had none Of his ]
notners odd notions about how they c
lIuol act, They could do what they
Lked and 1t was all right with Aunt C
we. She was always giving Jerry treats S
nd wonderful gifts. q
You're a fairy godmother to this
oungster, Eve" he had once heard l
rs mother tell her. But, Of course,
oure running him. His humble par s
nts can never live up to the pace I
ou're setting" a
Jerry didn't know exactly what that q
leant, but the title of fairy godmotn- q
STUCK in his memory. He began to II
III Eve Jennings his fairy godmother,
her great pleasure. As he grew old Il
1ough to hear fairy tales and look at Z,
Re pictures illustrating them, he saw Il
Ow Wen the title fit. Aunt Eve looked n
lactly Like a fairy godmother. She n
adnt q crown or wand, but every h
ing else was there-and she was al ri
avs beautifully dressed. II
She had been in the Dewar house on Il
Re memorable Christmas morning It
ben Jerry himself arrived Naturally,
fairy godmother had to be. Her later hi
essences added to the Importance III
always held for the boy as NJ
combination Of holiday and birthday.
Re was the only friend who brought al
m two presents on these occasions
le alone realized the propriety of do
this. All the others imagined that yC
giving him Christmas present they til
re also giving him a birthday pres Sc
{. The injustice of this was begin TEL
ng, very slightly, TO dim Jerry's Joy
Christmas. On the whole, however, tn
thought wei Of the day, and he sub 70
rlbed Fundamentally to the theory ON
his parents that It must be q day OF he
tire Joy0usness In the household.
lat was why it was so disconcerting er
him, and to them, to have Christmas 70
'rning on his seventh birthday open
der q cloud. KIN
me cloud, Jerry realized at once, was M
, abSence-the first absence on any nc
rlStmas morning OF his lfe-of hfs Vo
~ godmother It was odd to have
: breakfast table set for only three. ne
y more odd was the strange silence
his parents No laughter today, no =,
7 exchange Of what his father called
isecracks." In short, no real Christ ne
IS spirit. But the table space at ma
rvs place was piled high with pack tht
8, and still larger packages were 70
the floor around his chair. He was W0
Henry AFitchau On rry3for NO.. ~, I'm