C. A4‘ 7Tw1VIvvm

lie been feeling way g w&ugh the fog that Christ- 4'. ‘we ‘than "feelinir

.1mwm '. m0mink~tonlght indeed. li’ the m;

"c- c,“ h,

,H.

Akmmmmnans A ‘. vvv vv vwvvv . ~m .

John’ Arcuuihet" slid ' pickod up the parcel.

hld his

or. indeed. no other" actually de- __ Abe action-when his foot llirlilltly into contact with

oomethiuk ‘oft. " bulky," immedllte_

I 1y in his pith. and. sropins a lit- "- “m, lie-hid discovered it to be a

parcel hwlth a label" attached; plough the darkness "made it im- possible‘ to ililtinkulsh the address. John paused at the first lamp. its Bibi-billowing out dim andyel, 19W ulXPUIh-thﬁ fog, ind frown" we a little. peered nt-the writing. Jolly bard luck it was for ;who- W" h“! .10“ the parcel. and he was nowhere near any police-qr- fioe; wherchs could leave it. . "For. Monet’ lehn"— so ran the writindtm the little, glily-hueg ta: flattened to the string. John, mending. found that he was sud. (will! smiling, instead of frowning,

- P“ “WWW-Mt supposing this . mysterious

"061 ~hud been for film: that go somebody he was really and truly "dearest John." Milt Christmas was at last going to mean something to him, and

"Mi menu e name; as it had for

so . »Johh%58milcd a moment longer W" “l! llllllhii. delightful con.

"colt; tfnn frowned aggin, g [d ‘ m‘ “m1 "d!" hi5 ﬁrm. (mac sit

his face homewards. -I{e'd hand it police-office ‘tomorrow

lifted. "Hard on ‘dearest John.’ whoever-What lucky individual "MM w be. if he slam get

'~ hirpresent in time for Christmas

Day.

In his dike John hid the pares! 8W!!! in a, cupboard. from tn;- scrutinlsing eyes of his landlady 8M not until she had vanished.

' “Wm! m" ‘Ml-ml! upon the table,

did he bring it out to least his

. 6W8 once. more upon that ll . _ Human-lotion. l“ “m”

T“ "m"! ‘hid slipped a little, and more was a tear lotus-ism“, “P” "Wlplntv He must do his iﬁsuti l0 make all uh“,

chilled andciunisy nngm "my ‘"5519 WW8 a little worse. T" 9""! fell open upon the ‘"1!’- dlwlwinr a knitted muffler of cheerful blue: and an open 3551.5. '.‘.‘.'.‘.'.'.'.".".‘if;;' °" ‘Km "1 Wm scrawlu ~_ us. s ew lines

"Dearest John: _. . "f The merrlest "and happiest o,f_ Christmases to _you,nnd I hope’ Yoirllplike _yo_ur present, I'm Wliiilliltlll-B. in case you're out when I call. izothat you'll know I'm thinklns of you. . With love from your little

chum, . _ _\ _ i. _- 0harlotte."—' "Little "chum< OharIotwI-T guess I'd rather‘ like to know little ‘chum Charlotte." we lonely John. and stood lbokinfdown at the cheerful blue muffler. half ruefllllyilialf-on- vioueiy. . "Lucky fellow. that other John; whoever,‘ he is. end why! If she lzmitsont her photo us avell." The presentment of tglrlieii face smiled up at John. almost. John felt, as though eheyhad known him all her life. In herqariiris-‘sheheld a dog. a tiny Yorkshire terrier. the stlilli. half-wistful grey>_acc look- "ttlat oi his mistress ~ nu,

{gt-lo ﬁghting‘ x ' - ‘ ' 23¢ snags-pp,

‘W1 H‘ . PM iii? ho ii ' iii mo... s, ~ "w

, I is , jigggs

the

rviwv

" “Itxlb fClriim

3! ISOBEL

- Bifllll

31.- ué)'.»)'.>

vvvvvivv v vvwéévvk

STEEL " ‘ ~ g 1 v‘;vvv¢‘v‘¢vv:¢v%#¢ z

Charlotte's address. The key to his pumle was probably only n. few yards sway and. yet. he could not get it. Slowly he walked oi! down _the street. B0 absorbed that it ls a wonder he heard the voice behind ,hlm sat in surprised tones. .\

"Hullo. old man. I'd no idea you were in this part of the world."

John turned round, and, although it was not he that was being ad- dressed. his face lighted up. Why should not the photographer live in the flat above the studio; and what were the odds that the man he wanted to see was standing talking outside now.

Ten minutes later. John was in the street again and looking’ at e slip of paper on which was writ- ten. “Miss Charlotte Courtlands, l2 Blenheim Gardens."

" v Blenheim Gardens was quite eas- _lly found, but here John's courage

. bcgan to fail and he. was all for dumping the parcel through the letter box and going oi! again, He skuiked in quite a,harig_dog fash- ion several times round the square, now afraid,to1 put his fate to ‘the test. now determined not to retire from the ileld until he had done so. Indeed, he had gone quite a distance from the house. when. at a corner. a group oi street urchins, intent only, on baiting an unfortun- ate terrier, momentarily barred his way. John looked down at the dog. arid the dog looked piteously, en- trestlnsly up at John.

It was the verlest scrap of a thing. and ‘ John's heart, always tender. melted at sight of it. l-le stooped. and. lifting it. tucked it under his "arm; while the urchins. 110i “kill! hi! ill . and suppos- ing him to be the legal owner of their victim’, were soon out oi sight.

"Poor little chap! Where do you belong!“ John said, and patted to some decree of calmness the small,

silky grey head. The tiny oroat w, -

nuzzlingcioeer. looked gratefully up at hiln, anal-John s in return. Pretty piece of work he'd'»got him- self in for this Christmas morning —ilrst to ilnd little chum Charlotte, donor of the blue muffler, and. sec-

ondly. this hapless, little" creature's - ~

owner. Jolly . little beggar" "I00."- why! where did _he seem to have

seen it. or, at least. its counterpart"

not so long ago? Ah! he had it now. Clad he was he'd rescuedthe little creature just when he did. 5o, with renewed courage and de- cision, John turned his stops once again towards Blenheim Gardens, a tall, unlovely row oi’ flats, over- looking the shabby street. Studying the names on the various doors, he

went up the stairs of Number »

Twelve; till, just as the very top. he found what he sought, and "Courtland" faced him. John brac- ed himself for the effort, and rang the bell, "I

MISS COUBTLANDS! '

‘ Fortune favored him. Miss Court- landa was at home; so the char- woinan who came to answer, in- formed him.‘ Would the gentleman just step mil-He waited iri the lit- tle lounge in some trepidation; for what if. after all, little chum Ghar- lotte should take his visit amiss. or there should be some mistake. ; As _the door opened. he wheeled about. - and then he saw that there was iri- deed a mistake. A handsome. but austere lady of middle-age con, fronted him, interrogation in her‘ glance. " "You wished to see me?" she questioned, a‘ little stlifly. and then her glance fell upon what John's arm' held. Annoyance. took‘ the 'place of frigidity. She frowned. _ "Charlotte's dogl-ond yet. sure» ly there must be some miatﬂe.‘ It is only, a couple of days since I sent it away to friends’; for, of

course, living in a flat, a dog ilrim- . '

possible. "It is because nw- niew .15 inclined to view the ‘nutter so unreasonably that-I shall-be oblig- ed ifyou take the IDMQVIWFY ' before she returns. Naturally" had txrbedispolied of

sence- , ., ens held the‘ door‘ oped ' though o0 indicate thlt the view might new be £9 . ’ on end;‘ but John Wleyelogutvd

oept any such ‘lndittltioﬂ-

- one/Ml!!- » cud striving ilo greeted hi! younc misuwrmh , ‘u’; .. (.1 l!“ g , "burl-oh! ow GIIWIQPGQIWW , litusisstpsw Thadoswtl. her mm now; but she Milt eyoeémittiohll. ahrx-tlolin- 1:‘; _ .- l! oven photon‘! ' filled in do ‘little chum Chet-lotto

it»

.“s- inter- at .

THE cr-

cho-1...... l T

It was a long day-a frightfully long day. Ever since I got up in the morning I had ‘been trying to see to the and ofit, and I couldn't. It was the-day before Christmas.

I saw- them all coming in with strange parcels under their arms,fl heard the ever ‘so many times; butmnothlpg, made the day go on-itwas yards and yards long.

"Felicity," they said. "don't yawn like that or your mouth will stretch frnlrl, ear t0 ear." ~

I'm never quite sure whether what they say will happen. so I went and looked at myself in the glass. My mouth was _all right. and I yawried some more. '

"Felicity," they said, "go and play with thedolrs housw-that will make the day pass quickly."

Well, it didnt- All the things fell down. and the furniture unstuck

‘cos I stood it up too hard. Theday '

quite sure- that I never put any ad- dress '-’ ' ~

John, ﬂushing up. was med en- swering just then by the interven. tinn ei-uiss-courtlands. the elder- Miss Courtlands the elder. who had been striving for some time to com mand a m "s silence. was now heard to say that the dog must be returned at once to its rikhtll-li owner, and that, if the gentleman

» would be so . ~

“But Star's rightful owner's me;

. Auntie" interposed Charlotte. al- moat passionately. “My own little doggle, that Dad gave-me only last Christmas, when we were all so happypand that I called Star because of it. Oh! Aunt Justinis. Aunt Jugtiriia. you could never be

.80 . ' Aunt Justinia compressed her

thin lips. ‘ * (Continued on Page 5)

-i-

l. 1,‘, 45.,

G T W’?

By MABEL L. TYRBELL

got longer and lcngenso I stamped my foot at it.’_i\nd told it it was a nasty old thing.

"Felicity," they - said, "if you're so naughty. Father, Christmas will put a whip in your stocking tomor- row." " . .

They'd told gme that before, but it hadn't happened ‘cos, of course. I wasn't naughty-it was the day that ‘was too long. Still, in case Father Christmas was too busy get- ting ready for tomorrow to notice today, I thought I'd sit still as a mouse and just wait for the old day to pass. _,

I went. to a place where they

Withspeotacles it wasn't a cob- ‘web at all.

wouldn't look for mo. It was the room where we keep the boxes that

carry our clothes away at holidays

time. My. the boxes must_ be tired

_ of staying there months and months

waiting for next holiday to come ﬂip-ﬂap when there isn't any wind to. blow it? .

I got up a little bit, and took the spectacles I'd been sitting on. You see, when I sat down on the trunk I didn't see the spectacles ‘cps the room was dark. and when I heard them erlck-cracklng under me I didn't want to look at them because I~knew they had been andvgot lprok- en. They were smoked sun-,,‘__,_ s.

and now they had gone‘ and ‘got, a '

along! I sat down on my own tﬁmk, something went crock-crack. but I waited quiet as a mouse. Still, my eyes would turn round in my head, and I saw a cobweb ﬂip-flapping in a corner.‘ Now how can a cobweb star in the middle of each eye. Glass always goes into s (its when you sit on it. I wonder why? Well, I put them on. They'd; do to look at o. cobweb with. "thou I blinked hard. and took them off.

Without spectacles, it was a. cobweb. '

With spectacles. it wasn't a cobweb at all! So I put (he glasses on and looked again. "_ There was a ship with a white soil coming across the roomvuhd the sail was ﬂip-flapping. . _‘ "Ahoy!" I cried, "Where are you going?" ‘ , _ 1 ' ' "To the end of the day." saidythe Captain—there was . _ something‘ of

the spider about him, but he wasn't

a spider ‘cos he was a captain in brass but and a peaked-cap;

"Take e with you!“ I utried. "Pleilse“—I remembered that. at the last moment. ‘ y .

"If you promise not to take of! your spectacles," he said. »

I pr -' iivc times over. and stepped on board. It was more qucerful than Thad expected. There. were rows and rows oi‘ dinners .011

each ‘side of us. and n. long, long-,~.-. 1:. " thin, grey river running down the

middle between them. Dinners of every description-meat and vege- tables, crusts and biscuits, fruit, and

‘CHRISTMAS lwhzs ‘PUZZLE

oaowoo-o-owo-e-e

O 004 (Continued from page 2)

Green Goblin (polritingh-"Iook yonder! There she sits. fut asleep."

The Silver Fairy z-"comel Let ug woken her!"

(They all endeavor to woken the

. Little New Year Fairy. but nothing

places where there were only noth- ings to show where the dinners Qllkht to have been. -

"I ‘some all thosfexllnners have Rot to be eaten befpre we reach the end of the day?" I said.

"They're ﬁnished now." said the CBDlB-in. “We're getting into after- noon."

Ml! dear. I can't tel! you the things I saw in afternoon! I got a stiff neck turning ' my head from one side to the other. Turkeys, chestnuts. pipes. geese. sewing that wasn't ﬁnished. plum uddings, pre- sents that were not‘ packed all run- ning somewhere or other. but we We"? Eoing so fast that I hadn't time to see them properly, ‘cos they whizzed into one long line. The Scenery Simply new ‘by-teas, chil- dren. Christmas tfees only half dressed. and the hurry-scurry on the shores was so terrible that I couldn't get my breath.

“Stop? I cried. "I want to look!"

"‘Gan't!" said the Captain. “It's Christmas Eve. and there's no time. Ahoy! the end of the day's in sight!"

I strained my p es-oh. the love- ly. lovely end oi- t e day! It was a grey land. full of wings. all soft and gentle. and str e. strange shapes moved in. the 0W5. all making their way to C istmas Day which was RU“ asleep with the sun behind o. silver screen." I wanted to sec those shapes, Were they stockings, ﬁnd llﬂfcelﬁ. and letters. and pre- sents, or whit?

‘Bother the spectacles!" I cried.- "The stars in- the eyes spoil the view" -—and I snatched them off.

"Felicity/Riley said. “we've look- 0d and lookdd for youi Come to bed ut once-it's late."

It was really the end of the day! How ltcame I don't know. but I ran down stairs-to bed. and when I wake tomorrow morning I'll wish you a Happy Christmas before I look at all those queer parcels that have made their way to our house.

_.___. _._...,.

‘.2159 ctod visit to armor Hayseedb pantry on

siistqhed the goose will

omega . sqiﬁlllhrt . g ‘IBM!’ NP!!!’

badger

"ch "Mrs-f "Hayseed had lust,‘ pre-

f _ A _- they "went in pursuit. Old-

d libido s he ‘wail tlltallydlecoyererlln ' wt " did gm! lzimptlrere

‘WIS

» Little "cit! and u... Fears...“

e . "04

rtheydoseemstobeofanyavaild

Little Oil‘! (almost in iimellito. .-“Can't you woken her‘! _ Or. if eheﬁnult sleep. enrrwe go without her?" I Sunshine Ialryn-"Patience. Ui- tle Girl! Patience! Just "a" few minutes longer." ' _ - (Little Girl goes ovér» 0056.8] to the corner where the Iiittle ew Year is sleep her to her feet. . Little Girl: -._- “Oh, Dear! 0h‘. Dear! What is to be dope? why should I wait for this tiresome little person? I don't believe she will ever wake." _ ' ‘ . (Little Girl starts to cry, and all the Fairies cluster round and try to console "her. _ She breaks away and ﬂings herself sobbing on her bed.) (Very loudly and slowly the clock _ booms out-twelve! Ilhzeylall stand V.’ and listen. As the laststrokc dies.‘ away, Little New Year lstretches and ruin her sleepy eyes; They all watch her‘ as she‘ WdkESr At last e dances joyously f6 aid), The Little New Year iry:-= "A Happy New Year to everyone! A Happy New Year’! bring; '_ Now every face shall wear a smile. And every bell shall ring." - (She turns to Little Girl)":

"Little Girl! Little Girl!

Take my hand,

And I'll show you the way to Fairy- land.”

tShc turns to the OHIQHS)

"Forward! Fairies to the‘ ball. Follow me! Follow me! One and all)? -

(Music is played; they do-s little dance and then trip after her oi‘! the stage. Tom comesrushlirgzill from the other side. waving a mow in his hand.) - .

T0m:—-"Here! Welt for me! Don't be in such a hurry I beg. or_you‘ll arrive without the most important guest. The Fairy Postman hm brought me o. special invitation." .

(lie falls over his boots but quick- ly springs to his feet again.)

Tom (Marching out in. a very comic mannerz- . "Forward. Fairies. to the ball.

The honored guest walks last of all; Lead on! Lead on. You ' Little New Year— , -.,. . . And Tired Tom brings up the rear."

CURTAIN. -» -—<0>- .

‘Some War g 4 Christmases

Continued from P838 1

era! points along our from in tryins to establish some form of iratemisa- tion. It began by individual, unarm- V ed men running from the, German trenches across to ours. holdinK Christmas trees above their‘ heads. These overtures were, in some places. favourably received and iraternlsa- tion of n limited kind took place during the day. It appeared that a little feasting went on and junior officers. non-commissioned officers and men on either side, conversed in ‘No Man's Land.‘

"When this was reported to me, I issued ‘mmediate orders_to prevent anv recurrence of sucn conduct, and "coiled the ‘Si: commanders to strict account, which r sultcd in a good deal of trouble."

The narrative of the. late Com- mander-in-Chiei errs on the sober side. The fralernisatlon was more extensive than he suggests. ‘rroops on each side left their teaches, ek- chnnged cigarettes andﬁtaps (the shrapnel helmet being than un- known) and danced together to the music of mouth-organs and other musical instruments which were plentiful on the German aide.

AN ANGLO-GIIBMAN non":

In one» instance, Briton ilifldlhii- ton united their voices insinging a hymn. _ The words, of course. were not the same, but the tune was flun-

- illar to both sides. ' '

Without doubt, the Christmas cele-

, brotions in France in 1914 constitu-

ted the most extraordinary and thought - provoking demonstration that has occurred '01- is likely to oc- cur in our time. , ‘ Elsewhere of coursc, the C'~-~!~<tmr.s festivities lacked that vivid touch. Troops behind the line had their of- ilciai plum pudding. their Royal gifts, and other promote whloli- a" j , v natlonpoouildent-that the War would soon be oyer. pou upon the authorities with a degree of liberality which was embarrassing. A Qne of the stungest-Chrieigrases was that spent by ‘she alllteeri u d-

red men who were interned in ol-

Anotlier stilt!!! _ Christmas was that‘ inept iliroertain’ Germans in

..nrldtriellto pull -

' ' IIWHIALZ‘!