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THURSDAY. cA Blessing £> J inD' ' KUtKcrinc ExJelmai Cabin Bey*s Night Before by Elizabeth Strother WjVUTSIDE the tiny fo’cas’le of tlp^ the fishing schooner, the winter weather was having Its way with the Annie Bell. Now and again « big sea would come aboard, sluice around the dory-nests, and wash off. The lan- Mem, hung over the table, bobbed and swung in crazy circles, casting a wei*l light on the faces of the Banks fish ermen busy- at various tasks. Some' were laboriously writing home, dat ing their letters December 24. Oth ers were reading; one whittled with Infinite patience, at a small boat model. But one, far from a man’s age or stature, sat off by himself. Mis name was Willie Cole, cabin boy, four- the cook, as each man smiled over'a tie, a pocket-knife, a belt, or large gaudy handkerchief. The last to poke a finger In was Willie Cole. All the time he was feel-' ing around Inside there he had to re member he was fourteen years old and was expected to act like, a man. At last he found somethlng. v It was quite small. Unwrapping the p^per he saw it was a brass-bound compass. “To a brave bqy from Captain Angus,” was scratched on the back. Before he got over the wonder of this, a fisher man pushed the boat model into his hand. “Meant It for ye all the time, boy," mumbled the man. “Any kid that grabs the skipper and saves him ■■ ■■ ' ■■■■■ C HRISTMAS shoppers were mill ing through Main street—happy, good-natured folks who smiled and exchanged cheery wishes with each other. Jja^k Weber, standing near tlie en trance of the Anchor store, grew an gry at himself. Why couldn’t he enter into the spirit of the Christmas sea son, as these peo ple were oping— why. was he bitter and peeved at the whole world be cause Ethel Porter had rudely refused to go to the War ing Christmas par ty with him? She had turned hinr down at Uie last minute for Bob Fuller. His pride whs hurt; and his heart ached a bit, too, for he had grown very fond of Ethel in the last few weeks. And he was pretty sure, until this evening, that she had cared. Well, that was all over now! Boh Fuller would be dancing with her to-', night, and showing her all the little attentions that he had hoped to lav ish upon her. He scowled deeply as he thought of this.. Two small children looked curiously at Jack. He drew' bao^c into the shadow, growing more irritated, more conscious of the fact that he was so utterly out of tune with the spirit of Christmas. He felt like an alien in a strange land . . . Suddenly his shoulders straightened, and a smile chased the shadows from his face. “I can t be the only one with a grievance," he muttered to himself—“among all these people. There must be others who have had disappointments. And look how they ire but tif make others happy ! can't I do that, too?” To think was to act with Jack Web er. Soon he was Inside the store, rushing from counter to counter, mak ing purchases. His dark eyes glowed with' eagerness. It was a shame the way he had neglected his sister Betty and her family lately. He had given all his time to Ethel Porter. He had even allowed himself to get mad at Betty for hinting that Ethel was not exactly suited to him. He must try and make amends. He would see that Betty’s qhlldren were supplied, with toys for ffvlong time to come. The lights, from a big Christmas tree shQn£_out^lnto the starlit night as he carried ms packages to the door of the bungalow. Betty showed her sur prise and pleasure. ^ “Why, Jack," she cried, “how—how lovely of you; .this m\kes Christmas Just perfect. And you can’t think who has just come to spend Christmas with usr—Gladys Dare, who "used to live next door to us in Melvin'! Gladys,' come and ineetVsomeone. Surely you haven’t forgotten Jack?’” A pretty, dark-hatred girl Jumped up from where she had been playing with Billy and Sue by the Christmas tree. Her eager brown eyes were alight with pleasure. “Remember Jack?" she echoed, as she held out her hand; “as If I ever could forget the big boy who teased me so much, and who was so good to me, too.” “Uncle Jack teases Sue and me, too,” Billy broke In,, “but we like him a lot. He’s the most fun. Don’t you -like him?”—looking up at Gladys.. A quick flush covered her face. “Why, of course I like him, Billy," she stam mered. Jack Weber enjoyed Christmas more than he had ever done before. He found that dlsap- ’ polntment can be changed Into a thing of Joy. For the comradeship with Gladys, with its background of memories of child hood years, ~ filled' him with a strange new happiness. He thought now of Etlrbl’s behavior with a feeling of relief ; It had real ly been a blessing In disguise, for It Gladys. But It was several fora bo awakened to tho trno ototo of hli feelings, and found that ho lovod Gladys more than all tho world. 8bo seemed to fit Into his Ufa. as If oho had always been there. Ho wondered how ho had gotten along before sha came. And. when Gladys answered Ifc shy "yes" to a question he asked a few days later, he knew he was folly In tune with the Joy and gladness of the Christmas season. C. ISIS. West •in Nawapapw.UnU^. Problem Solved Uncle John had sent father a pipe for Christmas. But father never smoked a pipe. k As It came from a long distance It could not be ex changed. The family was discussing the problem of what to do with It when five-year-old Bobby spoke “I know t Give It to Santa Claus, been good to us.” I NSURAN FIRE WINDSTORM PUBLIC LIABILITY, ACCIDENT- SURETY AUTOM BOl AUTOMOBILE THEFT and Co. P. A. PRIC& M>u»r. Agricultural Studies in Century Agriculture began to be Studied, as a science, in the principal countries of Europe, about the middle? of the Six teenth century, notes a writer In the Montreal Herald. The works of Cres- cenzio In Italy, Olivier de Serres in France, Heresbach In Germany, Her- Yera In Spain, and FItzherbert In Eng land, all published about that period, supplied the materials of study, and led to Improved practices among the reading agriculturists. The art re ceived second Impulse In the middle ^f the century following, after the general peace of Alx-la-Chapelle. Then, as Harte has observed, “almost all the European nations, by a sort of tacit consent, applied themselves to the study of agriculture, and continued to do so, more or less, even amidst the universal confusion that soon succeed- ed/ • \ ^ During the Eighteenth centqfj the march of agriculturo was progressive throughout Europe, with little excep tion; and It has attained to a very considerable degree of perfection in some districts of Italy, in the Nether} lands and In Great Britain. Tn Spain It has been least Improved, and It'Is still In a very backward state In most parts of middle Europe and, of course, Russia ADVERTISE IN The People- Sentinel. /- CALL ON US FOR AI/L KINDS OF /BEAUTY TREATMENTS AU work done by experienced operators. FOR APPOINTS!! PHONE NO. 43. The Bari Beauty Shop, ADVERTISE IN The People- SentmeL from washln’ overboard a grand Chri^mas!’’ This $ras jnore than stand. ''cried right them all! and didn't “Thank you, thank you . Christmas," he gulped. Angus, standing the “Same to ye all, boys. deserves Willie could 1 there before mind a bit , . . and Merry And Captain doorway said. Many of ’em!” ©. 1)33. Weft tern Newspaper L'nion. “We’re Coin’ to Have a Bit o’ Christ mas 'Around Here!" * teen years old, and desperately home sick. He tried not to think of his small home fur away, his mother prob ably trimming a tree for the younger children, his father chuckling over this or that toy for the baby. Certain ly a “boy fourteen years old, used to many of the hardships of a fisher man’s Ufe, must not break down and cry on Christmas Eve. Certainly not! The other men paid no attention to him. The pens drove on. The knife dellcajfcly/iiared off a splinter from the mast/ o< the boat model. Willie clamped his jaws together and tried to •ay over and over the multiplication table of nine. It was the hardest, and took up the most attention. He was frowning with concentration when the cook burst in, hla leathery face all a wide grin, bearing a large, round tin. It was covered with a piece of red paper. This he set down In the middle of the table. “Belay there I" he roared good naturedly. “Git cleft r of all your gear . . . we’re a-go- in r to have « bit o’ Christmas around here!" ’ The men growled a little, but gath ered up their traps. Willie gave one great gulp and nearly let a tear fall He bad reached “nine times eleven” la the tables, and could hardly believe there was to be a real celebration iht here In the fo’cas’le. The red over the tin bad slits. In these men were to poke and draw forth a gift The tiny place began to take on an air oT holiday cheer, not to say , .. "... tipper give most of ’em,” grinned ypG&MPtP&PV&NPi /fr\F ALL the Christmas carols the 'BS Christian world will sing the best-known and undoubtedly the best loved Is that one which we know in English as “Silent Night, Holy Night.” It is by no means the oldest of the Christmas carols, for It was written only 114 yearq ago by Franz Gruber, organist In the Austrian village of Ob- erndorf, with Josef Mohr, pastor of the parish church, coutributing the words which begir^, In their original German, “Stille Nacht, HelligY Nacht.’’ For many years the song was known throughout Europe simply as a “folk song from the Zilerttfl,” a distrl# in Austriq. This was partly because an organ builder from the_ Zillertal had come to repair the Obefndoff church organ on that Chrlstnjtd Eve In 1818 when Gruber and Mohr were rehears ing their new song. Back among his native mountains the organ builder sang the card'which the StrasseflFjfi®-, ters, also natives df the Zillertal and widely noted singers of folk songs, promptly added to their concert pro grams. ’ » Not until 1854 was any'inquiry made" into the origin of the Christmas song, which was popularly attributed to Michael Haydn.. In that year coart musicians at Berlin sent to SL Peter’s in Salzburg to ask if a manuscript of the song might be there. By chance the youngest son of Franz Gruber waa a choir boy in SL Peter's. He told the story of the song’s composition, the request from Berlin was forwarded to the senior Gruber and 9 statement, “Authentic occasion for the writing of the Christmas song, 'Silent Night, Holy Night,”’ was drawn up by the com poser. The Teutonic race baa given to the observance of the great Chrlatlaq fes tival as we know It the tree (also cele brated in a German Christmas song, “0 Tannenbaum”), the legend of Krla Krtngle and many other charming sen timents. Bat none embodies the, Christmas story so utterly and with such sweet tenderness as the simple words and melody of "Silent Night, Holy Night”—-Detroit m§ Preen, / // /' //,