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l "So'm I. An' I feel funny--just as *funny's can be. An' of course I wouldn't be polite, You bluffed me to thinkin' you a man, That's why I started my high dive. Ou--u--ch!" the doorway my knees bent and straightened into a swift spring, my arms in front and my palms together like a person diving. Then the humor of it struck me, and T chuckled. "Winder hole wan't quick enough in grabbin', so missed my neck, It was still fairly light outside and my head suspended fivre or six feet A cautious step came 'round the cor-- "Ain't scared of me trussed up like this, are you?" I jeered, "an' still, if * wan't for that nail grindin' into me when I so much gs wink, an' my bein' turned wrong side 'round, I could use my fists like anything. I'm good with Asts. Better get your gun an' shoot while shootin's good. ~An'--great snakes!". as the figure came'within range of my screwed 'round face--*"a 'girl--an' pretty as a picture! "P wan't you that spoke?" * R leavin' me to squawk--same's I did number five chicken. Guess 'twas all comin' to me, Say," raising my volce, "you man who 'spoke, come an' get me.. IEve caught an' am holdin' my-- self. Don't s'spose there's any reward ecomin' to me,. Christmas, you know." fat one My eyes peered along the fl:bdghdbmonmm "Hello," said & volce at the door, -- ¥ gasped audibly. Sharp ears were Ti rivon ho ppeond m vin o person m y as nolnclessly ns I could have myselt, The two breaks rattled me. High up at one end was a little square window, the sash out to admit air. My eyes were as quick and ac curate as my fAngers, and my body had onte belonged to an acrobat boy in s hungry hoboes in a woods camp--our But I always liked to do a little more than L promised,. I would take an extra one for good measure--a nice on Window Nails, but Was Saved _ by New Friend Cead giveaway of new fingers, and mine were old. Of course it was a dog barking in the house path and my turn-- ing at the instant of clutching. But that was no excuse for a regular I to be careless. My hand shot out again and another chicken went into the bag. 'That made ~ "Yes, it was, but I spoke deep's 1 eould to sqund like a man. -- Thievin' vm"l't-mmo."lmdw. would only help the mails, not me. Wn*ulwu'uwn';heoma pried off, makin' the winder bigger. Selt it wiggle like 'twas loose when J atuck in." "Of course I came 'round the cor-- mer slow, not beifg sure you meant to stay. And say, L never did havre a real adventure before, with me as heroine. It's just like a book. An' you do look so funny. I'm enjoyin' my-- "lt." hoeboes ain't good to meet when they got their stealin's on 'em. But I sure did set you going." Her tinkling laugh sounded pleas-- ant even in my unappreciative posi-- "Another Chicken Went into the Bag." "Winder pinches, does it ?' lm?hed the girl. "Carpenter who made it didn't know his business." "Knowed--it--too--well," I groaned, between breaths, "'specially when he Orlvy them nails I--was twisting 'round to see you better, an'--ouch! W--h--ew! Them nails are cuttin' me FHight in two. Fust wo--know I'll be droppin' half ing!de an' half out." . The girl uttered a low cry of com-- . "mut you're an awful hobo tramp who attais as' all," hesitated the girl, "Maybe 1'd better walt till the master mes buck from breakin' up your pes-- eamp. Bot hbed slap you with the others." " & choked 4n a startled volice "L----I didn't know," she apologized «eontritely, "I wouldn't have laughed. I Ahought 'twas just bein' squeezed 400 tight, Conld I puoll--* « His Dinner for _ | > uts squeaerk was a of myself as ited and ta-- Its aradoal i to mantkt matuority tw at | '"Then it's all right,. Now there's a little room in back the hen roost lwhm we keep chicken feed, I have the whole care of it an' keep the key, | T'U lock you in there an' bring out some supper an' some peroxide to lcmmmmmm An' in the : mornin' when I sllp your breakfast 1\1 bring some clothés a visitor left here iom They're pretty good, an' 'bout your size. !up.t'-o-u'qm' straight to the kitchen door." "All right," I promised. "But what's the Iden--give myselt up t' "Billy again. You're goin' to work. The master has been tellin' us to be on the lookout for a man to do his garden'in', Good help's scarce, an' he'll natch you up, An'--an' them doad chickens in the bag Ill #x up for din-- ner, Td have to get some anyway, for company i# comin', Christmas dinner, you know." But my face was toward the wall, my body limp and dejected.. She placed a hand on my bead and turned my face toward her, ' "Nor me," returned the girl sympa-- thetically. "I'm only second gifi in the kitchen an' they keep dribblin' into me I'm no 'count. But you an' me know better. We're a whole lot, It's only other folks' envy." My face cleared and I laughed. "Guess you're right," I agreed. "Anyhow, you're some girl. An' say, I want you to remember me as Rey-- nolds, That's my real, not 'Rat' like the hoboes call me. Now you run into the house an' tell the men, when they come, that I'll be sittin' out here." Exoluaively Ameriean. l ' Alarm Wrist Wate} The production of marte sugar and With an amlarm wrist wat maple alrup is pursly in Amerlean in-- | pHed an clectric battery t ; COanada being the only country | a sleoper at a designated said hopelessly. "Nothin' matters,. It's the pen for me. When they're caught, all them hoboes are goin' to split on me, to try to save themselves. They've been playin' simp@with me. I see it now, I bragged I was smart, so they shoved me to the front an' kept pattin® an' tellin' me what a kingbird I was. Huh! L done most of the stealin'. I killed the two watchdogs. Just leave me hangin' here to get sort of used to what's comin'." The girl hesitated, moving closer. "Don't talk as If you was all bad," she considered. -- "An' I like your voice. Let me see your face plainer." KWCY 'p'f' \i'g uJ ) x 5 l . T _| hnd & ; ols I'm great with my fists--boxin', you know. An' you're close enough for me to maul you right now." But she paid no attention She studied my face a few moments, then paited my cheek softly. . *"Why, you're nothin' but a boy," she said pityingly, "mothin' but just--a %w What about the catipr you've been watched. A man was hid all day in the top of a pine wfip*dhwmp.w«gu-' your comin's an' goin's. Folks got tired 0' hens stole an' watchdogs piz ened, an' such like, The master an' 'bout a douch men, with the constable, asked, in a depressed voice. "Right in the corner, in the shadow. I was sort 0 scared when you slipped "Just a boy," she repeated. "Now you wait a minute, I won't be gone long." _ * She hurricd away, soon returning with a tall step--ladder, which she placed against the wall. Mounting to the second step she put her arims unr-- der my shoulders. -- I in; an' besides, I wa'n't sure. So I waited. But it'll be an hour or so 'fore the master gets back, an' you'll keep 'Ugly lookin' phis, ain't It?" I jeered. "Better get a rope an' tie my bands. "I'm past twenty--one," indignantly, "Plenty old enough to know what I'm doin', an' to take my medicine." "We'll lay your head an' shoulders on this step--ladder so you'll be level an' easy," she said~cheerfully; "then I'll pry off a side plece, like you said. I've noticed it's loose." In ten minutes she had me free, gtanding on the ground beside her. But I feit no animation. *Don't be silly, Reynolds. I've beer studyin' It out, Would anybody know you 'round here?" "'"Twa'n't worth the trouble," I grinned, "though I'm just as rmuch obliged. But I've got old tramp clothes on, an' with the country 'roused they'd spot me ten miles off an' run me in. Then the gang will thfow all the stuff on me, an' make it good an' strong. No, J'il just stay here till the men are cleanin' 'em up right now, He told me to stay 'round the poultry house an' watch--though 't wan't like-- ly anybody would come so early." "An' was you there all the time?" L "None but the gang, T've worked in the dark--unless by the clothes." "But You an' Me Know Better." CQ, 1981, Wentern Mewnpager Union. 1 \ & yifts, they bother & w &A about sending any-- By ETHEL €OOK ELIOT § Family Decided B WAS a high to Send Aid to :":flmmd Needy Instead cightcen ' bun of to Wealthy dred. There Relatives were fAive growin g--up children and a wife who was not strong enough to do her own laundering. . Still, at Christmas time, bis relatives would say, "Mary and John always ao send the cheapest things! I'm surprised, since"they spend so ittle on their John heard of this, arid was grieved. An: innocent little u%v.v"had given his elders away. But, was not grieved, She held her head high and only laugited, for she 'knew that she and John wore not stingy, and that they were as fond of*the family as any other members of it. But she did more than laugh. She made a plan, * * . * _ In existence at 5,000,000, whils the estimate of RNey, the famous entomeol agist, is 10,000,000, _And so on. All the réiftives, over,| twenty, got the same sort of notes, telling where the few cents that hdl nsually been 'spent on them' by the; sehool--teaching brother at Christmas time, had gone this year. And into each note was tucked a hearty "Merry , Christmas." ) quarter wa usually spend on you, to our postman whose wife is in the ho# pital. It will pay a carfare or so for one of the children to yisit her." * John's family were puzzled at first. But after they had shaken their heads together over it for a bit, light sud-- denly dawned, They realized then that the few cents John and Mary had spent on each of them at Christmas time had been more of a gift, in the real gense of a gift, than their expen-- «ive, and often useless, presents in re turn had been. And they saw, too, what real good that little scattered money was doing this Christmas. And the next year John's relatives got jolts instead of presents for Christ-- And brother Thomas, the shoo deal-- or, got a note too, "We gave the World's Species of Insects. The most conservative cstimate places the number of spectes of inscets Good Jolts at -- _ Christmas Time -- Alarm Wrist Watch. f With an mlarm wrist watch is sop plied an celectrle battery to awakon A mleoper at a designated time by They ended by praising John-- and Mary, and thinking their Christmadt notes the best thing they had got. And indeed a jolt can be a very use ful thing, even for a Christmas pres Husetling up a--MNving for--the family genctally keeps father so busy that ha doesn't have much chance to use that Chriatmas lounging robe, (@, 1923, Wentarn Mewspaper Union ) THAT CHRISTMAS ROBE mas ffom lhryl and John. Sister Is abel,| whose husband | was a successful coal man, received a note, "We sent thoe _ thirty--nine cents that we could have afford-- ed for your pres ent this year to the Serblat Re lief, It will give some .tlrvllgl bables a little you would rather have us do this." t | that the little agent was supposed to | make became permanent. Kossuth on Liberty, Fnt If you say "American Hherty,* and take that for your policy, 1 dare say the thne will yot come when huo-- manlty will bave to mourn over a new proof of the ,ncnm truth, that with-- out conmmunity astional frecdom is never surg, You thouk! change "Amer-- lean Iberty® Into "L/iborty"=----then Hty-- erty would be farcver sure in Amer lea --Lonls Koesath, Christmas td passed and gone they found tha# their need of each other It's ° quser the _ autborities can't m"fl- stooke whon the awfully migerable, _ Mrs. Sun--What do you expect for Christmas, Mrs. Moon? Mrs, Moon (wearily)--Oh,> just the usual things, A set of satellites; star earrings, a gray--cloud scarf and that old, everlasting dipper that never wears out!"--M. B, Thomas, f YEAR BY YEAR, IT-- I8 80 Bvery Christmas, year by year, in every way, we are getting broker and broker and happler and happler. . We Christmas with a million dollars is Such a lot of work and worry . Just for one short day! Hard--earned money squandered, vwmbub-lhu-- In the struggle to compete! Yet, on Christmas morning, When we hear the children's cries in raptures of surprises; °* -- When we opan parcals , _ That loving hands have wrapt, Seems like springs Of kindness In our hearts are tappod. _ (©, 1923, Western Kewspaper Union,) (©, 1923, Western Newspaper Union.) JUST THE USUAL THING . Sormsts® Aevscmetle auad Signe Used as Barometer, There is in the northern part of Finland a curions stone which serves the people instead of a barometer, This stone, which the Finos call makior, torus black or a blackish gray when. bad weather is approaching, Fine weather has the effect of turning 1t *". '.qu The Finns regard the «tono suporstitiona roverence, But the scientiste say that its changes ~ Not --mony words, coming from an agent, Bertha thought. Heretofore the V eell/ o was a bit more tender than nsual, or it might be due to the fact that this agent was young and had a sort of wistful appeal about her, or it might be because she was so different from the others that had eome and lacked the unending fow of words they had all seemed to possess, but whatever was the cause Bertha 'escot did--an unheard of thing for her--sho invited the agent into the house and actually asked her out into the cozy kitchen to have lunch with her., But she did answer it, just as soon as she had lowered the fire under the bubbling coffes pot, to find that her surmise was correct. It was an agent who rang the bell; and worst of all, a book agent. I ¢ 4 After lunch was finished Bertha drew from the girl a little of her story «--lllness, the loss of her position, and fnalily her trying her hand mt selling books. Through it all Bertha could Beo the brave spirit of the girl and the un.sld hardships that she had endured during the time since her iliness, Bhe sould also detect how near to despair the liitle agent had been when she cameo to her door, 'Then Bertha Préescot did another un-- heard of thing for her--she told the little agent of the loneliness in her heart and of the liitle girl she had lost in the long ago, and of how emp-- 4y her life had been ever since. And when she had fAinished ghe asked the gir! If she would not stay. with her through the Christmas time, and there was a genuine appeal in her eyes and in har volce ans ahe did so, "Poor dear," she was saying to her-- self a few minutes later, "she must bhavo been actually hungry. And I came very close to not letting her in.'" Spresd Yelsude sn Cheer by Giving BJ ::u:n 1 Gitlm. bet."> Ber-- NT s s t tered to herself as the door bell pealed just as she was about ready to sit down to lunch, "I bave a mind not to answer it all, I have." * hoi Christmas Spirit * Made Itself Felt By MARION FRANCES HAMILTON aro doe .o yalte contained in tha ;Womm. "And -- mother 'mever scemed to guess how dreary it must be on Christmas Ere--" t Violet hushed her criticism of her 'parents and took action herself, No »munhwm-'mne.nnud: "to say, would have done what she di« Aunt Sophia until this minute had mot realized how lonely a Christmas night she had in store for herselft at home in her~ tiny apartment, She stood now, gazing about almost like a child afraid of sudden loncliness, But no one noticed ithe look, and Sophia had never meant they should. Oh, yes, Bomeone had noticed, Vio-- let's clear eyes had caught it and with a pang at her heart understood. Why hadn't father planned something for--Bophia for tonight? Why Radn't 'he got a seat for her? How could 'Mr dear blessed parents be #o 'thoughtieso? Why, Aunt Bophia was had been a success in New York, and was in Willlamsville just this ome night: All the Williamsville youths would be there with their ladies, and Richard, deep in hig heart, was glad that they were to see him with Violet. "I don't know why I feel this in-- ordinate pride in her," he told him-- gelf. "There are prettier girls, and as jolly, And girls that are nicer to me, too. But It's Violet I'd rather bo geen with than any of 'em." . .. When he called ftor her the whole family was sitting around the open fire in the big front parior. Evident-- ly they had had a family Christmas dinner, for Violet's aunt and uncle and her cousinsg were still there, and un-- "Let's Go to the 'Movie® Instead," She _ Whispered Eageriy, > Aunt Sophia was not going. Bhe had not thought to get herselft a ticket, and apparently no one had thought for her. Aunt Maud was going with her hbus-- band. 'The young cousins were going with their beaux. Mroa, Martin with Mr. Martin. And Violet was going with --Dick, "ut'lputh'mvhl'md." ahe whispered eagerly and quickly in Richard's car, "and take Aunt Sophia with us," Richard wuab amazed, and disap-- pointed, But when he had looked across the hall at Aunt Sophia he amnldenly understood. \Weolil, Violet had always known ho was the best comrade and the most understanding #.girl could ever have whether he was ever to be more or not. Now he justi-- why Richard, although he knew he loved this girl who wasn't the prettiest, nor the richest, nor the wisest in Wil-- Mamsville--no, not by far, had not quite come to the point of propesing. KFor Violet, who was bhonestly in love with him (not like the others who were In love with the idea of perhaps being loved by this hero) dared not whow her adoration. No, she dared only be as frank and comradely as a boy, and treat him like an equal. And Richard was a little put out with this. Any reflection of Mmself in a girl's eyes short of a hero's reflec-- tion made him feel strange. © Besides, be wasn't sure it was pos-- sible for a man to be in love with a lady unless she waes in love with bhim. He had pride, too. Violet had agreed to go to a musical eomedy with him, a good abow that Violet's father exclaimed B: amaze ment --when he saw Ri '"Well, wo'd better get our things on, too." f the maidens them-- selves thought so. And Violet Mar-- tin, who was netther the prettiest, nor the richest, nor the cloverest of 'the matdens, agreed with them in theirmes tUmate of the big, handsome, wealthy fellow., But it was, with her, not his riches, or his good looks, or even his clal sense of humor. Bho loved his taugh. . Violet Martin was honestly in love with this big, congenial boy. Richard was in love with Violet, too. He was quite certain of that. Rut he was spolled. Anyone would be spolled adored. "You see, it was not only the girlis--there was his mother who had great, popularity that gave her this thought. No, it was a> feeling she had for the whole two years since he would make one of the best co: .ades in the world. She understood his spe It seenfed that not only youth was to start for the theater?" was _ "None of the others," remarked Comet anxiously, "know the short--cul@ as we do, Last year we got stuck in an oak tree, and once we had to wade through the Milky Way. «Do you 1@ member that little boy in Poland wh cried becaus~ he didn't see us? Wi must make.a great racket tonight M he will wake up. And therd as | child in Canada who set out some hMay for us ; dear little thing !" ¢ The stable door flew open, letting in a great gust of icy wind. e together! It's because he kind est, And perhaps shol be ém; me and take. me even if sho'o not #a all--fired in love!" -- .: s And that is why that was the wigh "he chose for proposing. ~ oR * He did it going bhome from Asd Bophia's party; \a ts But perhops Violet was one cta wisest after all. ~For Richard. ~, Without the Aid Bih jees in thelf By MARTHA B. THOMAS _ Where Would Old | yix OM ET of His Trusty _--_ stails. As the Reindeer? two leaders . o Banta's ®° ce they felt a great responsibility Christmas Eve. ols W "Ab, my fine fellows!*" exclaimed big, jolly voice, "the packs are fi and we must be off. Comet, I you to keep a sharp eye out for a dents, Cupid, don't forget the and the care with which we must on the roofs !" e In no time at all the reindeer harnessed, the packs tumbled in, off they fiew, SBanta holding the ; in both hands. *"Comet" and "Cupid" _ and Santa's Comet and Cupid outdid themael They went like the wind. The W boy in Poland heard their 1--1 feet on the roof and caught one glimpse Of the sleigh. 'The child Canada found the hay she bad loft: the reindeer all goné in the morpl No present was lost, no house for Rack in their stails once more, and Cup!d gare long sighs of tion, "Of course Santa is the people think about most, but after & where would he be without is?" _ Christmas is the only morning the year when ene call is for any youngster, AoNo portunity to do a loving thing mmmy:-..mm o So'hh.al'M At the theater Dick suddeniy show," Richard explained. "And m.uvcdw.mu"'tsn% us We want you to «it with us!" . mmtmmuuofi eyes beamed at that. "No, of coum Violet that makes her sweeater to feeling than all the other giris-- #"That 'Io Why That Was the Night He Chose for Proposing." -- #2 could, you generous young man! | I will tell you what I will do.. TH up a little supper for you two If 31 come in after the theater, and : may bring some of your friends. will be splendid. FH have a m evening, truly, getting ready for y And she really would. Her J gayety on Christmas night, is the kindness that made her take bim! . -- (© 1813, Western Newapaper Union y |_ _ agreed, © "And J wouldn't let you K (©, 1923, Western Newspaper Union:» Santa Claus 1 HARDLY THAT OM ET f : less in thei stails. Mt: two leaders ,