Janey 's ' 'stiffcut' said she was 100 in everything, deportment
an' all."
At one house something white slips down the staircase to where a
good view can be had through the half-open parlor door. It pauses
when a step cracks loudly in the stillness. The parlor door
is slammed to.
"D' you think he saw?"
"I don't know. I'm afraid so. Little tyke!"
Something white creeps back and crawls into bed. A heart thumps
violently under the covers, and two big, round eyes stare up at
the dark ceiling. Somebody has eaten of the fruit of the Tree of
Knowledge, and the gates of Eden have shut behind him forever.
He does not sense that now; he is glad in the exulting consciousness
that he is "a little kid" no longer. Pretty soon he'll be a man,
and then. . . . and then. . . . Oh, what grand things are to happen
then!
The mutual gifts are brought out with many a shamefaced: "It looks
awful little, but 't was the best I could do for the money. You
see I spent more on the children than I lotted to," and many a
cheerful fib of: "Why, that's exactly what I've been wishing for."
Some poor fools, that have never learned and never will learn that
the truest word ever spoken is: "It is more blessed to give than to
receive," make their husbands a present of a parlor lamp or a pair
of lace curtains, and their wives a present of a sack of flour, or
enough muslin to make half a dozen shirts.
Pages:
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241