THE COMEDIAN'S CHRISTMAS DINNER.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 828, 13 December 1900, Page 4

THE COMEDIAN'S CHRISTMAS DINNER.

BY BTOFOBD DBLAOTTOY.

CHAPTER I. People said there wasn't a happier family in all Leigh than tbe Miggses. And there wasn't either, till young Joe had passed his seventeenth birthday. And then he began to cause trouble. Not that there was anything particularly bad about him, but he was easily led, and preferred to spend his evenings at the " King's Head " rather than in his quiet home. He was a bit of a favourite, because he had' a decent voice, Was a good mimic, and could remember and rattle oil a comic song, better tban anyone else in the place. The Miggses were working people. With the universal desire to have a gentleman in the family, they had stinted themselves that their eldest son might be educated. He was a bright, intelligent lad, and profited by -hiß schooling. 1 The attention of the Vicar was drawn to him, anl wben at fifteen, bis schooldays were over, the parson's influence was exercised in getting him a position in the local bank. It was a subordinate position, of course. But his future was what he choose to m<ike it. He had bis feet sot on the lower rung, it was but for him to climb. Theie were greyheaded men in good positions in the bank who had started as junior clerks, and it was said tbat the manager himself had once filled the position of office boy. And dear old Mrs. Miggs — who looked on her first-born as. the apple of her eye — fell to dreaming of him surrounded by untold geld, and disI eusing it as one of the partners of the bank. There is ho position too good for her son, in a mother's opinion. Alas ! Parents propose and children dispose. Young Joe was fortd of company. He found the evenings at home a I ride humdrum. At the "King's Head " there was a room in whioh a kind of smoking concert or harmonic meeting was held every evening. Joe was a regular attendant. No " turn " was more popular than his. Everyone waß ready to "treat" Joe, and the. inevitable result came about. Joe drank. Not in the sense of losing Mb head — but sufficient to make it ache. He drank enough to make him disagreeable at home, and heavy-eyed. and slothful at the office. The bank manager was a" teacher at tbe Sunday School, wherein Joe had been so bright a scholar. He viewed with deep grief tbe conduct of bis favourite pupil. He predicted that it could have but one ending. And later on he thought be saw bis prediction verified. Before Joe's eighteenth birthday be was a' fugitive from justice. It was rumoured that he had absconded with £500, and it was a fact that the police - held a wariaut for his arrest. The money had been entrusted to Joe. When wanted it was missing. Joe had gone to bis drawer— of which he alone had the key—and the money had gone.. Anyway, that was his story. It was not believed. Even bis broken-hearted parents— knowing how he bad fallen away from the family circle, and knowing of the company he had been keeping — believed him guilty 1 And when Joe saw how on all 'hands he was regarded as a thief— even by those nearest ana dearest to him— a great fear seized him.. He was innocent ; but if his own father and mother had lost faith in him, how could lie hope to convince strangers ? He resolved on flight, and before tbe warrant could be executed he was far away across the seas. People were then, more than ever, convinced of his dishonesty. The Miggses felt tbat they could never hold up their heads in the place again. The little Miggses were too young to understand the natnre of the blight which had fallen on their home, and their parents determined tbat tbey should never know. And so it came about that the Miggs family moved. Moved away so' quietly, and with such care, that not a soul in the place knew where they bad gone to. It nearly broke' old Miggs's heart to bave to leave a situation be had held so long. To leave it, too. in a measure, under a cloud, for he was a sterling, upright old boy, and that his son should prove dishonest well-nigh broke his honest old heart. The Miggses settled in the Old Kent Boad. Time— the great healer— restored once more thir natural cheerfulness, and us months rolled on they became as happy and united a family in the smokeof London a 8 they had been in the purer air of the country. By tacit consent any mention of their missing boy was avoided. ■ But Mrs. Miggs never closed her eyes any- night without mention of him in that silent communication which — however tired she might be— she unfailingly made to Him who has promised to be a Father to the fatherless, and to guide the foot steps of the wanderer. And when Old Miggs was setting alone smoking by the fireside, whilst mothei was upstairs putting the little- ones to bed, be would sometimes sink so deep J in thought that his pipe would go out And when he sought to relight it, the tobacco was so wet that be had to re-fill tbe bowl. Maybe it was a tear or two which had trickled down his cheek and caused this. forit was at quiet times like these that the old man's thoughts would go out to the fugitive — the boy he bad been so proud of— the boy whomust bave grown quite a man by now— from whom •he had never once heard — whom he. would give the whole world to cjaap in bis arms once more, but whom probably be would never see again, for a-return to England meant for him arrest by the police. • For, you see, the Miggses had been so careful in covering their tracks when */ tbey left Leigh,. that all that happened Nlhere after.-their removal was unknown \Miein. " They would have been saved a trouble if only people had '•' ■ to., write. i. - .-_■' " ''^iyar after tbe rotibery of the k I. the other bank clerks con- \ ling stolen it. .He was on- \ I in the local hospital at -the lonfession. He,j4ffid-:s(been . . . P by v runaway

as— — a— — ss— n— si em—ow— wben lie gathered from the doctor's lips that there was no hope be sent for the bank manager. There was no doubting the story he told. ; It appeared tbat on the morning, of the robbery, Joe had come in unusually early, and after signing the attendancebook and putting bis till and desk in order, had slipped into his outdoor coat again, and popped over to the " King's Head " lor a " hvener," leaving his keys in his office coat. It was early, and the other clerks were some in the strongroom below, some late in coming, and some going through the morning's post ip the manager's room, and it chanced that the now dying man was left in tbe outer office alone. The devil tempted him, and he fell. In a minute he had transferred the five li'.tle bags of gold to bis-own pocket, relockedthe drawer, and replaced the keys, and, as the other clerks came in, he himself departed on his day's work of collecting in the surrounding country. It so happened that there was no great call for' money that day, and Joe had no need to touch his reserve. Consequently, it was not till after business hours, when the bank had closed, and the balances were being struck, that the £500 was found to be missing from Joe's desk. - When the confession became known to the bank i-uthorities, they used every efiort to Qua the missing man. And the news of his freedom from suspicion reached him in a curious way. Many months after the robbery, a letter, bearing an American postmark, came to Leigh for Mrs. Miggs. Of course, the Miggses had gone, and in the ordinary course of things, it came back to the post-office. The post-mistress knew the handwriting well. She bad always admired the bright, handsome Joe — who bad ever been ready -wi Mi a genial smile and a merry joke — and 9be. for once, broke the rules and regulations " laid down for ber guidance by the PostmasterUeneral. It was, of course, lier duty to rotnin tbe letter through the Dead Lettertfftgice; but instead, she kept it, counting^ on the idea that her mother's love would prompt Mrs. Miggs to inquire there, sooner or later, if anything had- come-to her from her boy. Time went on, and the letter, put aside, was forgotten. When the news of Joe's innocence spread all over the town, everybody said at once that they bad known it all along, and what a shame it was such mistakes should be made, and innocent people accused. And then everybody tried to get Joe's address, and be the first to wr'.te him good news. But the postmistress was the only soul who could do so. She remembered tbe letter she bad put aside. If sent through the Dead Letter Office it would have to be opened to get the sender's address. Why shouldn't she open it herself P She was a Post Office official. There could be no great amount of harm — especially seeing tbe good which was to result from it. That's how Joe's American address was obtained. Aud so it came about that Joe learnt how bis innocence had been established. It grieved him beyond measure tbat bis parents' whereabouts could not bo discovered. He advertised for tbem in tbe Sunday papers ; but the advertisement never cauuht the eyes it was intended for. Joe knew how tbe proof of bis innocence would gladden bis parents' hearts; but at last he almost gave up hope of ever finding them. With tbe postmistress— who was tbe -one link he had with bis old country — be kept up a correspondence, and told her how be was getting on in tlie world. He had landed" iv America with no character, aud with but a few shillings in his pocket, How it might have fared with him, bat for an accident," Heaven knows, In the same bar where he wns getting a bread and cheese dinner, two music-hall pros, were standing drinking. One was bewailing, the fact that be could not get a song — for love or money — worth singing, which caused tbe other to tell him of a new song which he bad beard' Harry Randall was knocking all London with— "Ours is a Happy Home." Whereupon the man who had lirstßpokeu remarked that he would give a fiver to get the words and music before' anyone else laid hold of it. It was Joe's opportunity. It was the last thing he bad sung at the .Leigh smoking concert. He knew every note and wotd of it. He introduced himself, and his business. Americans are business people. A bargain was soon struck. Joe was to sing it, and if tl* song met with approval.be was to write out tbe verses, and the promised £5 should be bis. Five minutes' walk brought tbem to a third-rate musjc-hull. Through tbe slage-door and on to the stage of the darkened building, and in two more minutes Joe was giving a fairly good imitation of Harry Randall, It pleased the pros, immensely; ■ but it pleased someone else still better. The singet had three listeners. The Boss had chanced to be passing through the back of tbe balcony just as Joe started the first verse. It caused him to stop, and he listened to the whole of the song. The Boss, no doubt, thought that he had struck something rich, for, inside ten minutes, he'd drawn out, and got Joe to sign an engagement. In. his then condition Joe would have signed his own death warrant without much sorrow; but, although a bit one-sided, the agreement put him into abetter position tban be bad ever occupied before. It was for a year, at a salary of four dollars a night, the Boss to have the power of cancelling the contract by one week's notice at any time. It never was cancelled. " Lopdon Joe "as be was called, caught on. Next year he had a bigger engagement at a bigger hall. Joe was a success, and was piling up tbe dollars. The one grief of bis life was liib inability to find his people. Ultimately be married. Wben be landed bo had— for prudential reasons— adoptedanother name, and in this he was married. When the news of his proved inbocence reached him be thought no good purpose would be served by assuming his correct name again, and so did not even tell his wife. Towards tbe fall.of the first year of his married life another grief came on him. His wife fell ill. He consulted doctor after doctor; but their opinions were alike. If she wished tbe baby— which was expected to arrive about the middle of December -to be born alive, she" must give birth to it'in her native land. ' There was no help for It. Joe tried to get bis contract cancelled, but. he was too big a draw to be parted with,;and as his term "was not up till the week before Christmas, he had to send his wife across the water alone. To make matters worse, idle had no friends in London to go to^knewnoone, save an old nurse who lived on.the Surrey Bide. She had.been written to, and had procured two roonjs, abed and a sittiiig room, in a nice, clean little house close to her own place, and she was sure it would be found oomfoi table. And with this' they had to be satisfied. Joe saw bis wife oft. He watched the great steamer with misty eyes, till it became a little, speck, and then finally disappeared. ' And then he returned to his work with a heavy heart. ' Jt would bB three months before he saw his wife again. The " St. Paul." would start-for England, though, a week before Christmas; just as his engagement terminated. He would be able to catch that steamer, and— given a quick passage— would be able to eat his Christmas dinner with his wife and child alter all.

_ " V. CHAPTER 11. The snow was falling in the Old Kentroad. Not a heavy storm, but a gentle descent, as muoh aa to say: " Well, here you are, you know, it's Christmas time again, and you won't feel it's Christmassy unless I drop down a bit, will you ?" Tiny little flakes airily descending, as if the aerial picking of the goose is almost accomplished, and the very last pieces were being taken oft. prior to the singeine. Old Joe Miggs stood at his street door, tearful of those flakes. For had he not promised his little brood that they should sit up, andi be taken to look at the shops when he and mother went out to get to-morrow's dinner ? Not the pudding, bless you, for that had been made long since, and was now boiling and bubbling away in- the copper at a terrible rate. Father bad said- let's have a jolly big one, and of course all the little Miggses had said the same. Mother had replied that they idiould bave nothing of tbe sort, and equally of course she had made one larger than ever — so large, in fact, that it wouldn't go into any saucepan ahe bad — hence the copper, wherein it was jumping up and down, and bubbling to" aud fro, as if annoyed at the indignity of being placed there. Father had put his band out, and then lilted bis bead up, and thought the snow wouldn't be much, and all the little Miggses who were pressing round and between bis legs in the doorway, were quite sure it wasn't snowing at all, and Mrs. Miggs was equally sure that they would all get drenched to the skin if they went out. Not but what they were all well-shod, and well wrapped up, too. For old Joe, mind you f was in steady work, and being a sober, industrious man, had regular pay, and there was no woman in the whole world could make any penny of it. go farther than Mrs. Miggs could. And she had to look to the left and right too. -For, after all, 365. a week is not much .to pay rent with — let alone firing and the light — and then feed eight mouths, two large and six small ones. Not but what the small ones took in nearly as much as the large ones, so that the difference really wasn't worth the mention inc. They were launching out a bit more this Christmas than they had ever been able to do before. As a matter of fact they had let their first floor, and the 'money they had got for their furnished rooms enabled the Miggses to live rent free. And as to the trouble! why, bless your heart, there was nothing the first floor could want that could be a trouble. Mrs. Miggs, in the few weeks she bad had her lodger, bud come to love her like a daughter. She was a motherly old soul, was Mrs. Miggs. and the loneliness of the woman who was so shortly to become a mother had appealed to her with a twofold strength. And the lodger was not slow to reciprocate. -She was grateful for the kindness shown her, and the gratitude developed into a stronger feeling when she saw the loving care which the more experienced, woman bestowed on ber babe when it came, for it was a good four years since the cares of maternity had troubled Mrs. Miggs, and the new arrival causedher maternal old heart to flutter, and herself to make almost as much fuss as if it were really ber own. So it seemed that that Christmas was to be a merry one. And it was. Merrier far than they had thought possible for it to be. The lodger had got over her trouble, and was moving about a little. She had promised to keep a watchful eye on the pudding whilst the Miggses wentr out shopping, and so it was that she was left alone iv the house that Christmas Eve. And she was glad it was so. Her husband was coming home to-night, and she wanted to be alone when lie came. Aloni», tbat is to say, save lor the wee mite she bugged so closely to her bosom. She wanted to- bear what he thought ot their babe— to hear him speak of it— free from the restraint of strangers. The Miggses trooped down one side of the Old Kent-road, and up the other. The UttleMiggses looked with wide-open mouths at the -huge rosetted turkey whioh hung in the middle of the poulterer's window, and hadn't before believed it possible that birds of such a size, could fly. And the piles of oranges at the fruiterers! The rosy-cheeked apples! The heaps of nuts! The bunches of holly and mistletoe! And aboveall at die confectioner's, a few doors from the cornei of their street, in whose window was a Christmas tree! Was there ev**r such an enormous one before ? How was it possible for the branches to bearall those gorgeous- presents and packages P Aud that lovely fairy queen at tbe top! Why it almost took their breaths away. They could have stood outside that confectlonuf's for hours, flattening their noseson bis window, and feasting their eyes on tbe beautiful vision behind it. But mother had her shopping to do, and so, with a sigh of regret, they bad to tear themselves away. And mother had a little sigh to herself, dear old soul! She had hoped, this Christmas, to have given her chicks a Christmas tree to themselves, but those four weeks father was out of work through the strike, bad compelled ber to go to her 'stocking, and spend on bread and butter what she bad intended for her little ones' Christmas festival. Meanwhile, at hume, the lodger was anxiously awaiting her husband's coming. And he Came at last. Came .in a luggage-laden cab which pulled up nt the door, and a minute after in the passage husband and wife were clasped in each other's arms. Then there was the little one she was holding to be ' shown, and kissed, and admired. Had he ever seen such a fine baby before 'i Did he think he ever saw such fat chubby arms in his life r Look at his bright little eyes blinking under the passage lamp ?, And wasn turn the dearest, darlingest, ickle sing, that was so pleased, urn was, urn's daddy had come home ! Joe had'no sooner set loot in the room above than be was struck by strango familiarity. .Everything about the place seemed to remind him of some oilier. And then— he saw Mrs. Migg's photograph on the mantel board ! "Why this is " was all that, in his amazement, he could gasp out. And his wife replied : •• That ? Oh, that's Mrs. Miggs. Tlie people downstairs. Do you know them ?" Know- them I" Downstairs ! He Hew down three steps at a time. The lower rooms were empty. He flew up again. For hve minutes bis wifo was the most bewildered little woman in the world, and then she understood it all. When she explained how good the Miggses had been to ber, and how poor they were, her husband seemed to be as pleased about their poverty as he was at their kindness to her. He made'a rapid journey all over the house, touching with afiectionate hand article after article, as if it brought back some gentle remembrance. And, then, enjoining his wife to strict silence, and promising to be back within an hour, he hurried out. He must have covered a lot of ground, audspent a lot of money, in a very short while, for b,is purchases began to arrive one after the other. The Miggses had come home, tired, and were taking oft their thfngß, when tbe first lot came. A loud knock at the door was answered at the door by Mrs. Miggs, who' was astounded to find a butcher's boy, with one of the' largest pieces of beef she had ever seen on his tray, so heavy tbat tbe Jjoy could scarcely lift it. Despite her renjonstances, lie insisted on leaving it, saying a gentleman had paid lor' it, he knew he had made no mistake, name of Mrs. Miggs, sixth house on the left-hand aide, w^tin't U r . .'.".' ''--'-;

No Boohef had Mrs. Miggs carried Ml through into the kitchen, and set. the. whole family in a ferment of wonder as to who could possibly have sent it, than there came another knock. Jt was tlie grocer's boy, staggering under a basket laden with fruits', andwines, and spirits, and Christmas crackers. lie also was quite sure there was no mistake. (-Sent, had ordered and paid for- them, giving directions tbey ivere to be Ben) there. Name of Miggs, wasn't it ? . All the little Miggses were round the door, amazed at the shower of good things, and holding vague ideas that Santa Clans was at work by way of the street door this year, instead of the chimney as per usual. Mra. Miggs had no alternative but to take tlie tilings in, and a procession of little Miggses trooped down the passage carrying parcels of goodies. As 'the grocer's boy remarked toTitrs. Miggs, it looked us if they were going to bave a blooming big pudtlen, and no mistake about it. The grocer's boy bad scarcely left the doorstep, when, in Bnswer to another knock, the greengrocer's man came, aiid left so many bags of nuts, and apples, and orangss, that 'the little Miggses-'-' mouths watered, and their eyes seemed likely to come out of their sockets— they bad never been so close to such luxury in their lives. Another knock. Tbe entire family rushed to the door. Lo and behold, there was the poulterer's man, with tbe very same resetted turkey which bad excited .Iheir admiration an hour before ! lie insisted there could he no niistake. He wasn't such a good tempered chap as tbe others (maybe he had been drinking too many healths to be good-tempered— i I does a fleet some men that way). He desired to know if he looked like, a blinkin' idjut. Did they think be didn't know bis orders, eh? There was the receipted hill, with the name of Miggs, w.asn't it ? This house was No. 6, wasn't it ? Garnet way ! And so the turkey bad to be taken in. Mrs. Miggti was iv such a state tbat, as she declared, she didn't know-whetlier she was standing on her bead eft ber heels, when there came yet' another knock. And they all rushed out again— for by this time the little Miggses were in such a state of excitement, that restraining them WHS out of the questionami the door was opened. , There was a chorus of prolonged •• Obs'! "as if tbey were witnessing a display of fireworks. There on the steu whs a gigantic Christinas tree, laden with presents And— yes ! —no! —yes! there on the top was the Ha me identical fairy queen they had seen in the_ confectioner's. AVbut F No — it couldn't be! Yes, it was the very .{same tree ! It bad taken two men to carry it round. They. too. insisted there could be no mistake, and they lifted the tree, and, with great difficulty managed to get it through into the front parlour without scraping the things off. They had to put it on tbe floor in the middle of the room, for it was too tall to stand on tlie table, and the little Miggseß stood around it in a circle — in speechless awe, bewilderment, and wonder. So much so that, when there came, vet another knock, tbey were too enthralled to leave tiie room, and mother went to the door alone, remarking that she was so tired that she was fit io drop, and that there was no room for anything else iv the house, whatever it might be. They beard the door opened. Tbey heard a scream, a man's voice— with a quaver in it — say "My de'nr old mother !" and then their own mother cry out, "My boy, my boy !" and the spell was broken. They s'l rushed nut, to find mother sobbing on the aims of a stranger, who was clasping herto him as if he never intended to let ber go again. What a time of explanations it was, to he sure ! And no woman in the world was so liapny as was Mrs. Misgs. when she found the boy she bad so lone sorrowed for once more beneath ber own roof. No man so happy as the falber to rind the shadow .of crime lifted from his son. No man so proud as that same son that his own pood fortune would enable him to do so much for thf- old folks at home. As to tbe little Miggses, tbe exnlanation that he was simply n brother tbey repudiated with scorn. They bad nevi r known mother or father tell them a story before ; but to expect theni •to believe that a man who in one hour could nrrtdiice all those luxuries wa« a plain brnl her —well, it was an incult to their -intelligence. As the eldest Mit?PH darkly hinted, it wns more likely Santa ClntiH or Old Father Christmas in disqui«e. Parents ought not to have such a low ouinion of their children as lo (ry^and work oft a thing like that on theni —even if it was Christmas time. It was too muoh of a joke. And what a merry gatherine it was tbat sat down to dinner next day ! And now the old folk knew they were- grandparents, what a fuss tbey made of their "grandchild ! It was the only tiling which cansed a slight damp on the happiest day the little Migoses bad ever Bpent— they feared their little noses were being put out of joint. Hapny family 1 Why. bless ynur heart, there wasn't another like it iv the whole county of Surrey. (The End.) 1 I I SS I