The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 21, 1937, Page 23

Christmas Awakgnin S ; J Katherine Edelman Christmas drawing near, can't we get together and' plans—" Robert Dutton read With calm deliberation, heavily scrawled letter into its envelope, Always the impractical Ha!" he said slowly. “No wouder he never ets anywhere A list of appointments waited ipon his desk. Visits from two of most important men in town; clegation about a right-of-way a tract of land he had just ; a reminder of a talk he promised to make at a lunch- Important things, he thought, things Hal would never be called upon to do. Hastily he went through his mail jare envelope in a familiar aught his eye. He opened it a little curiously. What could Miss writing him about? His long fingers drew out an artistic Christmas card. A conservative wish and an old Christmas carol printed in English letters. That was xcept the signature, “Eleanor the Denby be , Denby} A flush stained his face, an in- definable something sent the blood | [rosEEE o .. [ singing through his veins. “Elea-! | ' | aor,” he said softly; “a beautitul g B © name; how queer that I never % heard it before.” Then, as if resenting his weakness and sentiment, he dug into h: | Some bv[ol’v.h\olx(ced left him visibly unsettled. Robert| Christmas memories surged from a | through his heart. He was back in scarcely | the old home again. Everybody was hing to him rushing around in circles. He saw the big tree in the corner of the| parlor; the kitchen table piled high | with good things to eat. And Mother | and Dad, with happiness beaming | upon their faces. | He picked up Hal's letter again.| After all, maybe his kid brother | wasn't so crazy? The thought was| pushing through his mind that may- be it was he who lacked real sense. V%% had meant ev thing had happened to a Christmas greeting whom is mail again. But try as he would, he could Dutton; not concentrate on the things that Secretary e he had T T L % gt e Y Y i o M Vo Yo PR R P rod LTS We’d Like to Tell Our | = Sy Y ] «We're Going to Forget Business | for Today,” He Said. | | g ‘ 4= |This time he read the letter in a different mood. “Let’s give Dad and Mother the surprise of their lives. Let’s go down and make one grand Christmas for them. You can turn everything over to someone else for a week—anyone can handle things like that—there’s nothing personal or precious about them.” “Nothing personal or precious about them!” He turned the words over in his mind. Hal was right. (Someone else could handle the things that had seemed so terribly :| important. A few hours of confusion, | perhaps; then things would go on |as before. The world would forget ihim in a day. | His fingers reached for the pen upon his desk. “Dear Hal,” he be- | gan, “I heartily agree with your prc- posal that we get together and make | plans to give Dad and Mother the 'bigges& surprise and the grandest Christmas ever—" He was smiling broadly, almost laughing aloud, as |he finished the letter with a Iluur-| {ish. Five minutes later Miss Denby entered his private office to find a new Robert Dutton. She almost dropped her book in surprise at the expression upon his face, and the new way in which he greeted her. “I'm ready to begin, Mr. Dutton,” she began nervously, when he made To You in Person 0 we’ll have to make But we carn’ thisdo . . . . WE WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS ) R Juneau Water Co. | store |a good-looking and adorable sec- Kay, in a thin, quivering voice, « - 3 PLEASF,, SANTA begged him to be kind while she explained. afternoon. Kay said yes; it was waiting in the closet. And it was, though not quite what Toby sup- posed. Kay was excited as a child on| ) ByEieg T R Christmas morning. There were waffles for breakfast and especiaily i good coffee. Afterwards. M Toby Barnes shoved her tall husband into; his big chair. “Sit there,” she. com-| manded him, and left the room. | “When is this fine exhibition of! selfishnesss going to begin?” he | { " in action!” Kay returned with a large pack- | elaborately | | i ! age wrapped. Toby | fuoy Barnes, just home from the office, stood regarding his wife with amusement. “You have the manner, | Kay, of being about to leap up and| ¥ wave a flag. What's happened?” shouted after her. “I want to see it; | | “I've just discovered something| important about myself.” Kay’s| | short, light curls were becomingly z haphs y|"“; Her eyes \vr:;' l:‘l; ?nw’:‘: looked pleased. “There you are,” he| : MERRY tense blue. She slender ¢ . G . 5 said. “I'm sorry, Kay, to fall down! Soung i v T USTOON| st ght aplays sl 104 o sreornt b 1 ko | CHRISTMAS! r'hslv' She rose to her feet ah:d ‘aith and happiness of childhood wanted the darned thing.” culated with f)n!h -h:\n(l.\. 1 as she tells Santa what she wants. “There you are!” cried Kay lmr]»! to be utterly, gloriously en-| —_ ing the box at him. “I simply will not | sed in ME!” let you squander your money on ex- pensive things for me, Toby.” | Toby opened the box. drawing| forth a manly, well-tailored dress- | ing gown for a tall gentleman. “You‘ know,” muttered his wife in a small voice, “you haven’t a thing to sit| around in at home.” “So this,” he raved, “is the great exhibition of selfishness! And where is your housecoat, I'd like to kiow?” & North Transfer Co. my husband, Mr. Barnes, in here today to buy that for me. I've changed my mind. May I ex- change it for something else I pre- | fer?” The clerk weakly nodded. Christmas eve found Kay cryptic. Toby carelessly inqui to step a bit down into a wide, comfortable chair, squeezing in beside him. “You're a perfectly grand gu she smiled, “but this Christmas, my man, I'm going to be superbly self- ish, as an exXperiment. Will you try it too, Toby?” “All right,” he agreed, “T you on.” The next morning Kay tilted a pert gray hat on her cu and walked imperiously to the shopping| district. “I'm fed up with being voor, | and scrimping and saving so I can | & be generous in mean, little ways.| Today I . spend on myself!” She felt guilty and ridiculous, and | she turned her eyes away from a| haberdasher’s window where gentle- men’s furnishings were irvitingly | displayed. Toby needed masses and masses of things. No, just this once she would spend with a bang all she had on something frivolous for her- elf. Toby had promised to do the same, At noon she happened to notice a s tall person standing by the next! store window. He was absorbed in thought. Kay hardly breathed while | the man suddenly plunged into the door. She crept close to a sheltering pillar while she watched what happened inside. N She saw the man point to a wom- | an’s rich, quilted housecoat. She saw him pay for it, and icave, but without a package under his arm Just the sort of housecoat for which she had yearned hopelessly. | She gasped in dismay. For one Lot | 3 second she was possessed with anger. Toby wasn't playing fair. He had | no right to make her feel ashamed and abject on Christmas morning! | When Toby's flapping overcoat | was out of sight Kay slipped into the same shop, going straight to the counter her husband had left. “May I inquire,” she asked crisply, “if that quilted housecoat just pur- chased, is to be delivered to Mrs. Toby Barnes?” She gave the house | address. The clerk was stariled into | admitting the fact. | Kay threw up her chin. | i1 take This Spirit of Yuletide Cheer which makes any load a bit lighter and any heart a bit brighter. We have tried to the best of our ability to make your Holiday Season better. If we have succeeded we are glad and trust that we may have the pleasure of serving you throughout the coming New T TREMI Year. “I asked no motion to start the routine of the day. “We're going to forget business | & for today, Miss Denby, and go: Ng Christmas shopping, that is, if you want to help me out.” He fumbled | & with his tie as he spoke, noticing for | ¥ the first time the soft curving of | N her white neck. “Your Christmas| card,” he went on “wrought some| miracle. I've found out that business | and making money isn’t everything | 3 in life. Theyre both fine in their| way, but there are other things,| &) too; precious things that I've been overlooking.” He came closer to her side and looked hard into her eyes. “For instance, going shopping with SABIN’S “The Store for Men"” - retary.” T e S s = ; W PR /2R YR RN VT RN D S 2 R e 2N 2 L IT IS A REAL PLEASURE TO WISH CHRISTMAS JOY, AND NEW YEAR HAPPINESS FOR ALL OF YOU————OUR FRIENDS AND PATRONS. Butler-Mauro L;FDlrug- Co. “The Rexall Store” )/ .. and best wishes for a Merry Christmas .. and a Happy New Year. ) - . U and I Lunch Room JOHN WALMER & e