How It Happened

its long coat, once the property, undoubtedly, of a much bigger person, saw her eager, wonder-filled eyes, and the wistful mouth which had learned to smile at surrender, the strin

r way to the particular counter at which her precious purchase was to be made, lingering here and there to gaze at things as much beyond her hope of possession as the stars of heaven; and, following

t? Is there anything in here you would lik

aright. "Anybody would know you'd never been a girl. There isn't m

p-guns and boxing-gloves and all the other

has two on a bottle at the same time. I'm just buying things in my mind. It's the only way I can buy 'em, and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas if you couldn't buy some way. Sallie Simcoe will go crazy i

close to her, then beckoned him to come nearer. "He can't see, I know"-her voice was excited-"but take h

ackage with one hand, while the other was laid on her father's arm. "I got it," she whispered; "it's perfectly beautiful." She spoke

wed the odd-looking couple out into the street, b

gs I eat, and I've often thought I'd like to. If you are going to make the tea and toast, why can't I get the-the chicken, say, and

price one? I have, when I'm having kings and queens taking dinner with me in my mind. People don't have chicken 'cept at Christmas, and sometimes Su

ppy skip led the way down the poorly lighted street. A solid mass of dreary-looking houses, with fronts unrelieved by a distinguishing feature, stretched as far as the eye could see, and when a fe

s wailing, while from the floor above, as the hall was entered, could be heard the rapid click of a sewing-machin

one, Mr. Van. This house is very old, and history houses don't have electric lights. Th

hardy geraniums were blooming bravely. A chest of drawers, a few chairs, a shelf of books, a rug-covered cot, a corner cupboard, a wash-stand behind a screen, and a small table near the stove, behind which a box of wood could be seen, completed its furnishings; and still, despite its bareness, there was something in it which was not in the place wherein he lived, and wonderingly he again lo

! I forgot to pu

stove was lifted, wood put in, the kettle of water put on, and the table drawn farther out in the floor. A moment more the lamp was lighted, her father's coat and hat in place, his cha

brown curls which tumbled over the oval face, the clear eyes that little escaped, so keen was t

an I help you? You s

"-she pointed to the covered cot close

again in front of her. "Is"-his face whitened-"i

Besides, she has a class to-night-The Little Big Sisters. I'm one when I can go, but I can't go often." She waved her hand in the direction of her fath

wait, but supper necessitated a solemn decision which must be made at once. Hands cla

o, I don't." He had caught the flicker of disappointment in the anxious little face.

work. "Read to father, won't you?" she called, without looking round. "In that magazine

shiny, well-worn coat and the lock of white hair that fell across the high forehead; saw the sensitive mouth; and as he looked he wondered as to the story that was his. An old one, perhaps. Born of better blood than his present position im

him the writer's exhaustive knowledge of his subject was not appreciated, by his listener it was greatly so, and, in tense

ere a familiar occurrence. In the center was a glass jar with a spray of red geranium in it, and behind the earthen tea-pot the child presided with the ease of long usage. As she gave him his t

E BEST, SARDINES WITH LEMON ON '

n more consciously a guest, but could people live on fare so scant as this? It was like Frances to want to know how other people lived-and not to be content wi