Montana labor news., 1949-12-22
Let Every Heart
Es VERA TARPI.l.N

'"t tit- u'N I DcItft ia Alll>l-
has. iim-you know ihai." aura
wished she HADN'T .pokcn quite "a
loudly her remark had stopped in
midstream three r~apid-running con-
%vcrsatipn,. Her guest, studied the
rug pattern Jim merel, looked
al his vile in silence.
81 mean after all" She went on.
it not their religion 80 |
assumed it would be embarrassing
Ito lhcm-to invite them TO our
Christmas party" She swallowed
uncomfortable
And | assumed that lhi, part,
VA ior all the fellows in our oi.
lice. including Ben He smiled
then, but didn't soften the accu>a
ton. Everyone in the room knew
ri the close friendship between linn
and Gcn-ihcy ouIy guessed at his
wiics resentment OF the friendship.
Mr.. .Adams, office manager. broke
the silence next. Il wouldn't wor-
r. about II loo much. Jim. Aitcr
all, Christmas Is. lie cmptied
his glass aud returned il to the
cofiec-tablc. "Nnd we all feel 4
little differently abon, the holidays
than they do"
.Nbout nine o'clock carulcr> came
to the door. singing Justify and
slightly oii-kcy. lie, every heart
prepare him room The oldest
~carolcr was scarcely twelve. He
ratified a box full Of coins. Mr..
MAINS snatchcd the donation box
from him. tremendously deposited
nine pennies. bowing after each do
nation. Everyone put in nickels
and dimes. Jim put in a iivc-dol-
lar bill and everyone shouted show
oil" Laura VA, annoyed but kept
still. Laura and inns little girl.
BonnA. VA, out caroline too. but her
group covered a different n%ciehbor-
hood.
M one noticed much when the
telephone rang later III the eve
ming and Jim wcnt to answer ii
But when they noticed Jim's face
when he returned to the living
room--i, was White and witchcd
mnplcasanlly. Laura walked over
To him "Whn wa> i, dcag
1T vas Bcn-hc called - apollo
rize ior not coming tonight.
Hi, daughters been III Chill
drcn's Hospital Tor the pa t month
you know"
Adams broke in say that, right
Ben said She was pulling out Of
it--,hat was last week | believe
How's she doing, did he say
"Shc died this afternoon
Nobody seemed to have anything
more 10 say after that. The part,
broke up within the next hall hour
Just as the Adamscs were leav-
ing. Bonny came i'll from caroline
She was flushed with happiness and
excitement. Laura clutchcd her in
her arms convulsivcly.
Did your group make a big haul
tonight, Bonny?'
"Did we" she paspcd I'VE got
more than any other eroap ! bet
And Mon. we sang for that Mr..
Ben at Daddy's office, and"
"Oh but you shouldn't havel'
Laura looked at Jim with alarm.
why not. Mon. He asked Us 10
sing Silent Night and guess what
He gave us ten dollars And she
invited us in and gave us candy
and cookies, and gee, they're nice
.\nd | told them hello from YOU and
Daddy, and you know what: She
cried Isn't that funny. Mother !
Jim looked at his stricken wife
and wanted to take her in his arms,
but Mr.. and Mrs. Adams were
standing there with their mouths
open, 50 he merely graSped her
hand firmly. Bonny babbled on hap
PLY.
And YOU know what else, Mr.,
Ben asked me what the donations
went for. and when | told him he
took all the money out OF his wal
let and put it i'll our box, a you
imagine? And then ! asked him if
he had any boys or girls like us
and would they like TO go caroline
with us and he said no. And then
she started crying again and we
LETT. Wasn't that funny"
Mr.. Adams cleared his throat.
"By the way, Bonny, just what
were those donations for anyway
| forgot to notice when they came
around here"
"Nhy. for the Children's Hospital
fund-or something like that-it was
all printed on the box"