SHORT STORY.

Clutha Leader, Volume XLI, Issue 6, 28 July 1914, Page 7

SHORT STORY.

iIHE T OYS' LITTLE DAY." _ »<♦

■ Wood I'angl'orn, in the Christ- - 5' mas Harper's. > was a strangeness about that fr Lr evening, it met tiie return- "''.,. ( , v ,. n on the threshold of his ~';„., The children stood oddly ■C0II1'"." - ill from his suit-case, and no hands thrust iatn his bulging pockets. f f ,-an't have any more toys," said that smug importance always ||,v the bearers of ill news. And "rteV had exchanged portentous ,rjtiihim over this, Ethel plied em ier effect- .. . , away, sa.d , ot ,i,e boo." amende! Oscar, /'•• -aid Kthel. looking down at *itli"ki"dly patronage, "the lion i( , rt |~. 1,,-l.nud the rocking horse , 0 o big. H'" l ~(lor Doll—well, r .*i'l she could stay. But ail the lure in the .lark place under the '■jv closet in the attic where the ~ «tay i" winter and the Brownie '' N'o\v it's called 'the Place of fbv-how did it happen? he Itfjth staitled perplexity. f fW ere naughty." was the cheerqilanation in Ethel's high, incisive foarhtv!" H«' looked upward at il f nt hid 'ritical audience of one ftoo'i upon the stairs. ( \\ Paddy how it happened." ,1 ,jo;vii softly. re-ell." 1,,, « :ll > Et,irl - slow,.v;lfr told us to pick 'em m>. And Ijj't." She assumed a bravado jVital that was as transparent p. It was evidently no light mati.\\V wee naughty." tf .rave an illustrative stamp with et. ns very naughty!" said lie with j en ," resinned Ethel. " Mother if wc didn't pick them up she'd I them up. We said we didn't Ffjaid we didn't care." squealed ( ,Mi;dite.ily, jumping rapidly from W jt step to the floor, and repoatie feat many times. "See what I ," ii,i jovouslv coimnanded. \ (? Motlier said." went on Kthel. | all the inys would have to go until after Christmas an-1 we i't have any more until then, even ihrought some home to-night. And j,l >he could have them. So she tie rles,. of her narrative Ethel ihe ge-tiin- of one about to climb n> imh'kly swung to Haddy "s fa. whence she looked upward at other gravely for a moment, as the I thought with a pang, eritieally. to the Daddy, his under lip did frtly '-nine out. but the shine of ses upturned to Authority was i gleam of tears. Authority Bstilv. with troubled but kind

Istever you've got there will be ■nicr-rat Christmas. Santa Clans It glad to use them then, I'm ' Authority came down the titli a somewhat one-sided smile (tting. -HI talk it over with you when re in lie.!.'' said she. Mr has taken the lion to bed lim," s-tid she, when the small, tour nr' grown-ups wu"s at last 11! she sought him in the library. firfful it' you go near the crib: its tick out six inches from the si do. took Poor Drill. She's got it all I*l up in :i hair ribbon like a bamlKvau>r it hasn't any clothes. Poor ra> her very first, vrai know, ami li" one to which she has shown fct faithfulness. Daddy, don't you those children have too many At Ethel's age T made paper I "lhln't know what 1 M have frit I'd had one quarter as many is wir children have." •a"'l have liked "em. wouldn't lUMliave liked unlimited candy. I siir.|io-c, but I'm not sure it law lie,.n good for me.'.' IV V he, murmured, thoughtfully. *leil his eyes with his hand and l"! i'lly upon the blotter with his ''lsuppose it is selfishness, really, •ringing them home. The look of foes when the door opens. . ."

doesn't need the toys to make tot at you like that!" she ani quickly. ' course. I know—but—the >f is so wonderful. . . . One •to intensify and prolong it. And 'Mmit 1 count on that visit to the *p- After a particularly exasperas -non as I get in among Jiocoiit painted trash I can cure "»f 'liscoiitciit with a couple of "'err-en rubber balls." 'n-fs rented sadlv upon the 1111- >* smi-.-a*,.. Mrs' Heath fidgeted "fc like punishing one of the chilJft >he felt that she must not ° er point, and she went on to Jtther .juerulously. '- S'ntiii;.' on toward Christmas, *"■. and when they seemed so in- *» l about their toys to-day T *'t hell, wondering where their "w for their tree was to come from * a tv alri-adv so sated: and so !% were really naughty ami disnt ' took that way of punishing 'An,! really, they've had more ™ tlie empty porch and the bare floor, if vOll ~o ui ,| |, av ,. SO en M'hM. •■■ 1 ~.,„ un.iorstand that. r. 'f r have made a mistake in brer-tion—[ should be still sorrier, Ito hav,. ma.ie on< > \ n the other. '; n » toll vou about the skates I jTwas'a boy?" ' a meerschaum, and settling in- * comfortable depths of his chair the fire with twinkling re- ?**• "Poor little cuss! " he said, j'-y. then turned with quick 7 Uther was the best man in the * °°»'t forget that, you know."

"Of course," she assented, but with mental reservations.

i '•Hut people of that day sometimes had great ideas about not spoiling children. I don't know —I suspect in many cases it was a question merely of the easiest way for the parents just as it is now; easy to withhold in times of less prosperity—easy now to give when toys are many and cheap—easy always to find a principle to justify one's inclination. That wouldn't apply to my father, of course. He was well-to-do, and he cared greatly for his children. But the meagre thrift of the Pilgrim Fathers was strong in him. He didn't intend to have us spoiled by indulgence. Well, we weren't. Not by indulgence. His face darkened thoughtfully, and she knew he was thinking of a dear black Mieep.

"As to tho.H? skates of mine," he returned to his tale with a rueful laugh; " I was a little chap, and it took me all winter shovelling snow to earn the money for them. The violets had come by the time 1 had enough. That next winter was so warm that I" was forbidden to skate at all on account of the ice being thin. And the following winter when I tried them on they were too small. I exchanged them, got cheated in my bargain, and —well—l never skated at all when I was a boy. There's lots of health and strength for a boy to be had out of skating. Besides, that sort of disappointment has nothing wholesome about it so far as 1 havebeen able to discover. It discourages a kill: puts lead on his heels and elbows. [l've been so afraid of doing something like that to 'em. i don't believe that laying (die whole contents of a toy-shop a( their feet could be worse." lie smiled—there was something forth e in the brilliancy of that smile—then grew very serious. "But I'd hate to have anything spoil their appetite for tlds Christinas. 1 want this Christmas to stand out as the archtypc, this tree to be the one tree of their whole childhood that they will remember when they look back at it—no longer children; look back out of the lonely places • ■ . . for such there must be, you know, my dear, and .... we shall not be there." He had leaned towards her. his words coming in that subdued, eager hurry with which one offers the thoughts of one's inner sanctuary. "Ail lives have their places of 'sand and thorns.' We can't prevent it. Storms of temptation and despair of physical pain . . . ." His face clouded with an old sorrow. "I don't think the memory of a happy childhood would have hurt Connie when he lay dying in Mexico." Connie had been the black sheep ami younger brother. "You see," he went on, "how I remember those wretched skates of mine. J want to give them something to remember that will be bright, that will make them say, 'How they loved us!' and want to pass on the message to their own children. It won't be the ; .ys tiiat they'll remember then, it will !■ ■ us, and they will understand a little of how much we —wanted good things for them." she was silent before his fervour, but her imagination worried none the less over the bills, over needed repairs and household equipment outworn. "But," she hazarded at last, almost with tears, "couldn't we make it bright and pretty—without spending much?''

He laughed oddly and avoided lier

" You leave this Christmas to me," iie commanded. "I've got things all planned, in fact," and he palpably blushed, '•there'll be things coming 'most any time now. I "vo been ordering early, to get ahead of the Christinas congestion of trallic. 80 don 't be shocked if tilings begin to come when I'm not here, will you.' And —the tree —. Trimming it is your job. IM be an awful duffer at that. But make it shine, won't you.' There'll be quite a lot shiny stuff to do it with. I want it garish. It can't be too bright. The time of to;. s is so short. But they are such a tremendous power —the toys! And joy! A day all joy! Xo sad memories, no foreboding, no knowledge of evil! What a marvel we can make of it! Of course we've got to give ourselves, too. or they'll get sated and tired and quarrelsome. This starvation diet you're putting them on"—he grinned slightly—"that's a pretty good idea. If they can hold out," he added. "If you can hold out, you mean," she retorted, still unreconciled, for a dreary procession of gap-toothed china, ragged table-linen and worn rugs passed sadly before her eyes. "And I don't think it's good business to wear the same overcoat four years." "Oh, is it four years."' he said in some surprise. "To be sure. I got it the winter Oscar came." "And if you're working this way at night just to buy them things they don't actually need," she went on, "what good would all the toys do if you were to break down.'" For she had been noticing, as he talked, how thin the line of his cheek was. and the thickness of the pile of manuscript that lay at his hand. The dreariness of legal work had never seemed so dreary. "Oh, this—" He shifted a paper so that the pile was covered. "It rests me. Really it does." lie rose with the air of one who must be about his business, and kissed her, but still with that shy air of guilt. "Don't you worry about Christmas, obi lady." he reiterated. And with that she had to be content. Had one of the children cried? No, the faces in the night light were like sleeping June roses. The lion "s feet still stuck out from the side of the crib, exactly as they hail done two hours before when she had manoeuvred about them in order to reach a brown wisp of his hair with a kiss. The short arm lay relaxed over the brute's plush neek; no trouble there. And Ethel—her cheek lay softly against Poor Doll's hard one, ami the eyes of the toys were the only open ones. But somewhere something was wrong. The instinct of the mother who sleeps with one eye and one ear ever alert could not be mistaken. Some need had called her-Hirgently.

She slipped softly to the stairhead. .The clock struck two, solemnly, and light v.-as still streaming from the halfopen library door. And then while she hesitated, Daddy came slowly into the light. He was grasping the door-handle, leaning on it heavily, and one hand was pressed to his side. He looked up, and, meeting her anxious eyes, said, but softly, not to disturb the' babies, "I'm afraid I'm ill."

( It was a violent and terrifying illness. When the doctor finally came the house was placed under military rule forthwith. The children were hurried off, barely with their breakfast, for an indefinite stay at an aunt's. Women with wdiite caps came, and followinghard upon them a load of strange furniture, smelling of dreadful cleanness. They entered the nursery and stripped it bare. A great clean room it was, at the top of the house, light and airy. They changed it all about, refurnishing it grotesquely in white, and then they took Daddy up there—all alone; they wouldn't let her in though she pleaded ever so hard. The first snow was greying the air. This reminded her of Christmas' and yesterday's worry about the too many toys. Had she objected to his bringing home too many toys for the children? Had the wild ecstasy of their greeting ■ seemed too much/ Alas! there would i be none to-night—nor to-morrow night—a great grim chance that it would never ! happen any more. I She wandered restlessly from room to room, her 'hands dragging about and against each other. "Was it like this, then, when it was 1 who was shut away, and he waited and waited to hear?" A heavy waggon drove up through the i--sow. She hurried down to prevent noise. An immense crate bearing the name of a toy firm was being delivered. She directed it to be set inside the din-ing-room door, and sat down before it, staring .wretchedly. Would they never be through—upstairs? The smell of ether crept down to her, whispering terrible things. Then as she looked at the crate there came an eagerness to see and touch the things he had thought pretty. Eestlessly, she found a hammer and prised off a board with as little noise as she could manage. Something grumbled and groaned . within a tissue wrapping, and then the dainty horns of a cow stuck out. A perfect little beast, some eighteen inches long, with an elfin perfection of detail and a tendency to low mournfully whenever you changed its position. She glanced at the price-mark, and pushed the lovely toy away with a frightened look. If the rest of the things were on the same scale the sum total of them added to the heartbreaking expense of what was going on upstairs would not leave very much of their year's income. Then with a rush of different feeling she laid her cheek against the sleek side of the little cow and sobbed fearlessly. Oh—what did anything matter—anything—while Daddy was in danger! And—oh, why had she grieved him about the toys on that night of all others! (To be continued.)