Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-25

housed the laundry where every Monday the Orpnanage
sheets were boiled in big oldfashioned copper
Yes the story right The walls of the fireplace under
the copper coated with thick black Scrabblng
wildly he scraped off with his hands, rubbing ii hard and
harder and harder into his caoty hair The SCOT got all
the floor all over his knees all over his gray wooden
jersey but he didn't notice The lock that at last he
pulled down his forehead and squnted up to see was quite
quite black.
There only thing to be done He came out
of the laundry and hiding behind the fir beside the wall
he deliberately methodicay crushed the round steelrmmed
spectacles into thousand fragments.
Now his resolution spent He had done all he could
If they didn't like him now there nothing in the
world he could do about it. All the energy drained out of
him. he stood there motoness and for that he
could begin to understand huge tears suddenly started to
well in his eyes, brm and down his sootdark cheeks
And that was how Matron found him when she came
searching to see why he wasn't the table, filthy
seared, streaked utterly pabe little object tufts of red
hair emerging from coating Of greasy soot wide bleeding
gap in the projecting upper and tears endeSsly falling
from the big myopic eyes.
Well she washed him. She took off every stitch he'd got
and she put him in the bath and scrubbed him from head
foot rubbing soap into his hair and rnsing it out again
and again. And all the time she upbraded him. pouring
him spate of angry words meaningless in themselves
but all adding up the complete depravy worhleSSness
ngaiude and sheer wckedness of the little redheaded gap
toothed, shortsghted boy who was Jimmy Thatcher.
At last she had done her best and worst and taking him
firmly by the hand she led him into the hall where Mr.
Williams waiting There's more can do she stated
Hes clean and that's about all you say. can't replace
the glasses minutes notice. the tooth neither
They'll just have to take him they find him; and if he
doesn't suit he's only got himself to thank Without another
word she jerked him to Mr. Williams, who equally
firmly took hold of him and marched him down to the car
Mr. Williams didn't speak during the drive, and neither did
Jimmy Without his glasses he couldn't properly out Of
the windows and anyway he too deeply sunk in misery
look. Nobody had understood. They'd thought
he'd made of himself not to have to CO. They
hadn't understood that he'd been doing his utmost doing
everything that lay in his power make himself acceptable
the lady and gentleman who might, if Maron had only
left him he was have decided that he just the very
boy they'd always been looking for.
The pulled up, and Mr.. Williams opened the door
and got Come Jimmy, he said and dumbly Jimmy
climbed and followed him. seeing through the mist that
covered his unspectacd eyes painted white gate mass of
snowcovered bushes that sparked brightly in the sunlight
Jimmy looked dmy at the scene in front of him, different
from the eernaly Orphanage walls and realized sharply
that feeling of Christmas pervaded the place He could
barely face the horror of going back and opening the
presents SENT of course by people with good will in
their hearts.
Then suddenly voice, two voices, mans voice and
womans voice cried, "Oh, Jimmy you've comet! and two
of feet towards him. Two people standing beside
him. bending him, stretching out their arms
Jimmy blnked and then, with effort born of desperation,
ngdy focused his weak, myopic He looked to two
faces filled with welcoming love, the face of with
and big round glasses. The End