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Alice's Christmas Tree, Chapter one.
Alice mc neil had made the plan of

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this Christmas tree all by herself and
for herself. She had a due estimate

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of those manufactured trees which hard worked
Sabbath schools get up for rewards of merit

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for the children who have been regular
and at the last moment have saved attendance

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tickets enough. Nor did Alice mc
neil sit in judgment on these. She

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had a due estimate of them.
But for her Christmas Tree she had two

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plans not included in those more meritorious
buddings and burgeonings of the winter. First

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she meant to get it up without
any help from anybody. And secondly,

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she meant that the boys and girls
who had anything from it should be regular

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laners and by wayfarers. They were
to have no tickets of respectability. They

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were not in any way to buy
their way in, but for this once

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those were to come into a Christmas
tree who happened to be ragged and in

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the streets. When the Christmas Tree
was ready, so Alice asked mister Williams,

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the Minister, if she could have
one of the rooms in the vestry.

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When Christmas Eve came, and he, the good Saint, was only

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too glad to let her. He
offered gently his assistance in sifting out the

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dirty boys and girls, intimating to
Alice that there was dirt and dirt,

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and that even in those lowest depths
which she was plunging into, there were

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yet lower depths which she might find
it wise to shun. But here Alice

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told him frankly that she would rather
try her experiment fairly through. Perhaps she

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was wrong, but she would like
to see that she was wrong in her

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own way. Anyway, on Christmas
Eve, she wanted no distinctions. That

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part of her plan went bravely forward. Her main difficulty came on the other

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side, that she had too many
to help her. She was not able

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to carry out the first part of
her plan and make or buy all her

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presents herself. For everybody was pleased
with this notion of a truly Catholic or

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universal tree, and everybody wanted to
help. Well, if anybody would send

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her a box of dominoes, or
a jackknife, or an open eye,

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shut eye doll, who was Alice
to say it should not go on the

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tree. And when missus Hesperides sent
round a box of faile oranges. Who

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was Alice to say that the children
should not have oranges? And when mister

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Gorham Parsons sent in well nigh a
barrel full of Hubbardston none such apples,

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who was Alice to say that they
should not have apples. So the tree

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grew and grew and bore more and
more fruit till it was clear that there

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would be more than eighty reliable presents
on it, besides apples and oranges,

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almonds and raisins galore. Now you
see this was a very great enlargement of

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Alice's plan, and it brought her
to grief. As you shall see,

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she had proposed a cozy little tree
for fifteen or twenty children. Well,

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if she had held to that,
she would have had no more than she

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and Lily and mister Williams and mister
Gilmore and John Flagg and I could have

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managed easily, particularly if Mamma was
there too. There would have been room

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enough in the chapel parlor, and
it would have been, as I believe,

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just the pretty and cheerful Christmas jollity
that Alice meant it should be.

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But when it came to eighty presents
and a company of eighty of the unwashed

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and unticketed. It became quite a
different thing. For now Alice began to

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fear that there would not be children
enough in the highways and byways. So

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she started herself as evening drew on
with George the old faithful Black Major Domo,

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and she walked through the worst streets
she knew anything of of all those

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near the chapel, and whenever she
saw a brat particularly dirty, or a

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group of brats particularly forlorn, she
sailed up gallantly, and though she was

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frightened to death, she invited them
to the tree. She gave little admittance

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cards that said seven o'clock Christmas Eve, five o seven, Livingstone Avenue,

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for fear the children would not remember, and she told mister Flagg that he

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and mister Gilmore might take some cards
and walk out toward Williamsburg and do the

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same thing, only they were to
be sure that they asked the dirtiest and

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most forlorn children they saw. There
was a friendly policeman with whom Alice had

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been brought into communication by the boys
and her father's office, and he also

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was permitted to give notice of the
tree. But he was also to be

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at the street door, armed with
the strong arm of the people of New

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York, And when the full quota
of eighty had been admitted, he was

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to admit no more. Ah Me, My poor Alice issued her cards only

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too freely. Better indeed, it
seemed had she held to her original plan.

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At least she thought so, and
thinks so to this day, But

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I am not so certain a hard
time she had of it. However,

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quarter of seven found the little Arabs
in crowds around the door, with hundreds

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of others who thought they also were
to find out what a free lunch was.

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The faithful officer Perdie was in attendance. Also. He passed in all

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who had the cards. He sent
away legions, let me say, who

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had reason to dread him, but
still assembled a larger and larger throng about

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the door. Alice and Lily,
and the young gentleman and Missus mc neil

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were all at work upstairs, and
the tree was a perfect beauty. At

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last they lighted up, and nothing
could have been more lovely. Let him

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in, said John Flagg, rushing
to the door, where expectant knocks had

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been heard already. Let him in. The smallest girls first smallest girls.

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Indeed, the door swung open,
and a tide of boy and girl,

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girl and boy boy big to hobbledehoydom
and girl big to young womandom came surging

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in, wildly, screaming, scolding, pushing and pulling, omitting the profanity.

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These are the Christmas carols that fell
on Alice's ear. Out of that?

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Take that? Then? Who are
you? Hold your jaw? Can't

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you behave decent? You lie?
Get out of my light? Oh dear,

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you killed me? Who's killed God? He see there? I say,

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ma'am, gimme that Paris gates shut
up? And so on, the

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howls being more and more impertinent,
as the shepherds who had come to a

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door became more and more used to
the position they were in. Young Gilmore,

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who was willing to Obligejalice, but
was not going to stand any nonsense,

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and would have willingly knocked the heads
together of any five couples of this

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rebel route, mounted on a corner
of the railing, which, by mister

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Williams's prescients had been built around the
tree, and addressed the riotous assembly.

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They stopped to hear him, supposing
he was to deliver the gifts to which

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they had been summoned. He told
them pretty roundly that if they did not

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keep the peace and stop crowding and
yelling, they should all be turned out

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of doors. That they were to
pass the little girls and boys forward first,

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and that nobody would have anything to
eat eat till this was done.

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Some approach to obedience followed. A
few little waifs were found, who,

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in decency could be called little girls
and boys. But alas as she looked

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down from her chair, Alice felt
as if most of her guests looked like

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shameless, hulking big boys and big
girls, only too well fitted to grapple

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with the world, and only too
eager to accept its gifts without grappling.

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She and Lily tried to forget this. They kissed a few little girls and

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saw the faintest gleam of pleasure on
one or two little faces. But there

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also the pleasure was almost extinct in
fear of the big boys and big girls

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howling around. So the howling began
again as the distribution went forward. Gimme

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that jackknife, I say, mister, I'm as big as he is.

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He had one before, and hid
it be down. Tom Mulligan. Get

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off that thing so I'll hide you. I don't want the book. Give

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me them skates. You shan't have
the skates. I'll have them myself,

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and so on. John Flagg finally
knocked down Tom Mulligan, who had squeezed

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round behind the tree in an effort
to steal something, and had the satisfaction

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of sending him bellowing from the room
with his face covered with blood from his

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nose. Gilmore, meanwhile was rapidly
distributing an orange and an apple to each,

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which, while the oranges were soked, gave a moment's quiet Alice and

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the ladies, badly frightened, were
stripping the tree as fast as they could,

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and at last announced that it was
all clear, with almost as eager

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joy as half an hour before they
had announced that it was all full.

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There's a candy horn on top.
Give me that, Give me that little

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apple, Give me the old sheep. Hoo, hurrah for the old sheep.

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This of a little lamb, which
had been placed as an approa ornament

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in front, then began a howl
about oranges. Oh another orange, bill's

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got some. I've got none,
I say, mister, Give me an

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orange. To which mister replied,
by opening the window and speaking into the

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street, I say, perdie,
call for officers, and come up and

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clear this room. The room did
not wait for the officers. It cleared

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itself very soon on this order,
and was left a scene of wreck and

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dirt. Orange peel was trampled down
on the floor, cake thrown down and

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mashed to mud, intermixed with that
which had come in on the boots,

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and the water which had been slobbered
over from hasty mugs. The sugar plums

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which had fallen in scrambles, and
little sprays of green too trodden into the

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mass, all made an aspect of
filth like a market sidewalk. And poor

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Alice was half crying and half laughing. Poor Lily was wholly crying. Gilmore

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and Flagg were explaining to each other
how gladly they would have thrashed the whole

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set. The thought uppermost in Alice's
mind was that she had been a clear,

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out and out fool, and that
probably is the impression of the greater

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part of the readers of her story, or would have been the impression of

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any one who only had her point
of view. Chapter two. Perhaps the

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reader is willing to take another point
of view. As the group stood there

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talking over the riot, as Missus
mc neil called it, as John Flagg

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tried to make Alice laugh by bringing
her a half a piece of frosted pound

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cake and proving to her that it
had not been on the floor, as

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she said, her eyes streaming with
tears. I tell you, John,

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I am a fool, and I
know I am nobody, but a fool

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would have started such a row.
As all this happened, Patrick Crehor came

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back for his little sister's orange,
which he had wrapped in her handkerchief and

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left on one of the book racks
in the room. Patrick was alone now,

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and therefore sheepish enough and got himself
and his orange out of the room

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as soon as he well could.
But he was sharp enough to note the

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whole position, and keen enough to
catch Alice's words as she spoke to mister

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Flagg. Indeed, the general look
of disappointment and chagrin in the room,

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and the contrast between this filthy ruin
and the pretty elegance of half an hour

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ago, were distinct enough to be
observed by a much more stupid boy than

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Patrek Crehor. He went downstairs and
found Bridget waiting, and walked home with

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the little toddler, meditating rather more
than was his wont on Alice's phrase,

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I tell you I am a fool, meditating on it. He hailed Bridget

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up five flights of stairs and broke
in on the little room, where a

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table spread with a plentiful supply of
tea, baker's bread, butter, cheese,

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and cabbage waited their return. Jerry
Crahor his father sat smoking, and

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his mother was tidying up the room, and had ye a good time,

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me, darlin. And you brought
home your orange and a doll too,

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and mittens too, And what did
you have, pat? So? Pat

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explained, almost sulkily that he had
a checkerboard and a set of checkermen,

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which he produced, but he put
them by as if he hated the sight

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of them, and for a minute
dropped the subject while he helped little biddy

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to cabbage. He ate something himself, drank some tea, and then delivered

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his rage with much unction, a
little profanity great incoherency. But to his

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own relief, it's a mean thing, it is, all of it,

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said he. I'll be hanged,
but it is. I didnt know who

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that lady is, but we made
her cry bad. I know that.

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Then the boys acted like nick.
They knew that as well as I do.

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The man there had to knock one
of the fellows down bedad and served

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him right too. I say,
the fellows fought and hollered and stole,

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and sure you'd thought you was drivin
pigs down the eighth Avenue. And I

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was as bad as the worst of
em. That's what the boys did when

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a lady asked him to Christmas.
That was a mean thing to do,

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said Jerry, taking his pipe from
his mouth for a longer speech than he

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had ever been known to make.
While smoking. Missus Crehor stopped in her

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dish wiping, sat down and gave
her opinion. She did not know what

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a Christmas tree was, having never
seed one nor heard a one, but

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she did know that those who went
to see a lady should show manners and

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behave like gentlemen, or not go
at all. She expressed her conviction that

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Tom Mulligan was rightly served, and
her regret that he had not two black

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eyes instead of one. She would
have been glad. Indeed, if certain

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Floyd's and Sullivan's and Flahertys, with
whose names of baptism she was better acquainted

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than I am had shared a similar
fate. This oration and the oracle of

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his father still more appeased Pat somewhat, And when his supper was finished,

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after long silence, he said,
we'll give her a Christmas present. We

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will Tom Mulligan and Bill Floyd,
and I'll give it. The others shan't

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know. I know what will give
her. I'll tell Bill Floyd that we

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made her cry. Chapter three.
After supper, accordingly, Pat Crehor repaired

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to certain rendezvous of the younger life
of the neighborhood known to him, in

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search of Bill Lloyd. Bill was
not at the first nor at the second,

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there being indeed no rule or principle
known to men, or even to

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archangels, by which Bill's presence at
any particular spot, at any particular time

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could be definitely stated. But Bill, also, in his proud free will,

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obeyed certain general laws, and accordingly
Pat found him inspecting, as a

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volunteer officer of police, the hauling
out and oiling of certain hose at the

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house of a neighboring hose company.
Come here, Bill, I got something

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to show you. Bill had already
carried home and put in safe keeping a

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copy of Routledge's Robinson Crusoe, which
had been given to him. He left

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the hose inspection willingly and hurried along
with Pat, passed many attractive groups,

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not even stopping where a brewer's horse
had fallen on the ground, till Pat

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brought him in triumph to the gaudy
window of a shoe shop, lighted up

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gaily and full of the wares by
which even shoe shops lure in customers for

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Christmas. See there, said Pat, nearly breathless, and he pointed to

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the very center of the display a
pair of slippers made from bronze gilt,

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kid and displaying a hideous blue silk
bow upon the gilding. For what class

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of dancers or of maskers these slippers
may have been made, or by what

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canon of beauty? I know,
not, only they were the center of

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decoration in the shoe shop window.
Pat looked at them with admiration, as

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he had often done, and said
again to Bill Floyd, See there ain't

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them handsome? Golly, said Bill, I guess so Bill, let's buy

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them little shoes and give em to
her. Give'em to who, said

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Bell, from whose mind the Christmas
tree had for the moment faded under the

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rivalry of the hose company, the
brewer's horse and the shop window. Give

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him to who? Why her?
I don't know who she is? The

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gal that made the what do you
call it? The tree? You know?

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And give us the oranges where old
Perdy was. I say, Bill,

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it was a mean, dirty shame
to make such a row there when

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we was bid to a party.
And I want to make the gal a

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present for I see her cryin' dell
cryin' cause it was such a row.

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Again. I omit certain profane expressions
which did not add any real energy to

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this declaration. They is handsome,
said Bill meditatingly. Ain't the blue ones

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handsomest? No, said Pat,
who saw that he had gained his lodgment

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and that carrying his point was now
only a matter of time. The gold

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ones is the ones for me.
We'll give em to the gal for a

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Christmas present, you and I and
Tom Mulligan. Bill Floyd did not dissent,

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being indeed in the habit of going
as he was led, as were

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most of the rebel route, with
whom he had an hour ago been acting.

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He assented entirely to Pat's proposal.
By Christmas, both parties understood that

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the present was to be made before
twelfth night, not necessarily on Christmas Day.

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Neither of them had a penny,
but both of them knew perfectly well

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that whenever they chose to get a
little money, they could do so.

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They soon solved their first question as
to the cost of the coveted slippers.

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True, they knew, of course, that they would be ejected from the

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decent shop if they went in to
inquire, But by lying in wait,

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they soon discovered Delia Sullivan, a
decent looking girl they knew passing by,

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and having made her their confidant so
far that she was sure she was not

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fooled, they sent her in to
inquire. The girl returned to announce,

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to the astonishment of all parties that
the shoes cost six dollars. Hugh cried,

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Pat six dollars for them? Are
I bought my mother's new overshoes for

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one? But not the least did
he bait of his determination, and he

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and Bill Floyd went in search of
Tom Mulligan. Tom was as easily found

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as Bill, but it was not
so easy to enlist him. Tom was

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in a regular corner liquor store with
men who were sitting smoking, drinking,

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and telling dirty stories. Either of
the other boys would have been whipped at

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home if he had been known to
be seen sitting in this place, and

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the punishment would have been well bestowed. But Tom Mulligan had had nobody to

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thrash him for many a day until
John Flagg had struck out so smartly from

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the shoulder. Perhaps had there been
some thrashing as discriminating as Jerry Flaherty's,

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it had been better for Tom Mulligan. The boys found him easily enough,

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but as I said, had some
difficulty in getting him away. With many

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assurances, however, that they had
something to tell him and something to show

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him, they lured him from the
shadow of the comfortable stove into the night.

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Pat Crehor, who had more of
the tact of oratory than he knew,

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then boldly told Tom Mulligan the story
of the Christmas Tree as it passed.

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After Tom's ejection. Tom was sour
at first, but soon warmed to

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the narrative and even showed indignation at
the behavior of boys who had seemed to

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carry themselves less obnoxiously than he did. All the boys agreed that but for

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certain others who had never been asked
to come and ought to be ashamed to

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be there with them as were,
there would have been no row. They

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all agreed that, on some suitable
occasion, unknown to me and to this

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story, they would take vengeance on
these Tids and Sullivan's. When Pat Crehor

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wound up his statement by telling how
he saw the ladies crying and all the

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pretty room looking like a pig's,
Tom Mulligan was as loud as he was

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in saying that it was all wrong, and that nobody but blackguards would have

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joined in it, in particular such
blagguards as the Tids and Sullivans above alluded

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to. Then, to Tom's sympathizing
ear was confided the project of the gold

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shoes, as the slippers were always
called in this honorable company, and Tom

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completely approved. He even approved the
price. He explained to the others that

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it would be mean to give to
a lady anything of less price. This

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was exactly the sum which recommended itself
to his better judgment. And so the

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boys went home, agreeing to meet
Christmas morning as a committee of ways and

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means to the discussions of this committee, I need not admit you many plans

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were proposed, one that they should
serve through the holidays at certain ten pin

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alleys known to them. One that
they should buy off Fogerty from his newspaper

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route for a few days. But
the decision was that Pat, the most

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decent in appearance, should dress up
in a certain Sunday suit he had and

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offer the services of himself and two
unknown friends of his as extra cork boys

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at Bernabaum's Brewery, where Tom Mulligan
reported they were working nights that they might

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fill an extra order. This device
succeeded. Pat and his friends were put

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on duty for trial on the night
of the twenty sixth, and the foremen

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of the corking room being satisfied,
they retained their engagement till New Year's Eve,

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when they were paid three dollars each
and resigned their positions. Let's buy

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her three shoes, said Bell in
enthusiasm at their success, but this proposal

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was rejected. Each of the other
boys had a private plan for an extra

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present to her. By this time, the sacred six dollars was folded up

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in a bit of straw paper from
the brewery, and the young gentlemen went

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home to make their toilettes, a
process they had had no chance to go

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through on Christmas Eve. After this, there was really no difficulty about their

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going into the shoe shop, and
none about consummating the purchase. To the

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utter astonishment of the dealer, the
gold shoes were bought, rolled up in

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paper, and ready for delivery.
Bill Floyd had meanwhile learned by inquiry at

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the chapel where she lived. Though
there were doubts whether any of them knew

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her name, The others rejected his
proposals that they should take street cars,

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and they boldly pushed a foot up
to Clinton Avenue and rang not without terror

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at the door. Terror did not
diminish when Black George appeared, whose acquaintance

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they had made at the tree.
But fortunately George did not recognize them in

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their apparel of elegance. When they
asked for the lady that gave the tree,

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he bade them wait a minute,
and in less than a minute,

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Alice came running out to meet them. To the boy's great delight, she

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was not crying. Now, if
you please, ma'am, said Tom,

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who had been commissioned as spokesman,
if you please, them's our Christmas present

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to you, ma'am. Them's gold
shoes. And please, ma'am, we're

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very sorry that there was such a
row at the Christmas ma'am. It was

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mean, ma'am. Good bye,
ma'am. Alice's eyes were opening wider and

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wider. Nor at this moment did
she understand gold shoes and row at the

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Christmas stuck by her, however,
and she understood there was a present,

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So of course she said the right
thing by accident, and did the right

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thing, being a lady through and
through. No, you must not go

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away. Come in, boys,
come in. I did not know you,

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you know, And how could she
come in and sit down? Can't

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you take off your hat? Said
Tom in an aside pat who had neglected

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this reverence as he entered. And
Tom was thus a little established in his

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own esteem. And Alice opened the
parcel and had her presence of mind by

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00:26:17,799 --> 00:26:22,400
this time, and amazed as she
was at the gold shoes, showed no

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amazement, nay even slipped off her
own slipper and showed that the gold shoe

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fitted, to the delight of Tom, who was trying to explain that the

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man would change them if they were
too small. She found an apple for

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each boy, thanked and praised each
one separately, and the interview would have

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been perfect had she not innocently asked
Tom what was the matter with his eye?

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00:26:48,039 --> 00:26:52,240
Tom's eye, Well, it was
the black eye, John Flagg gave

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00:26:52,319 --> 00:26:56,200
him. I am sorry to say, Bill Floyd snickered. But Pat came

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00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:03,160
to the front this time and said
the man heard him. Then Alice produced

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some mittens which had been left and
asked whose those were. But the boys

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did not know. I say,
fellows, I'm going down to the writing

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school at the Union, said Pat. When they got into the street,

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all of them being in the mood
that conceals emotion, I say, let's

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all go to this. They agreed. I say I went there last week

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00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:30,920
Monday with Meg MacManus. I say, fellows, it's real good fun.

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The other fellows, having on the
unfamiliar best rig were well aware that they

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must not descend to their familiar haunts, and all consented to the amazement of

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00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,799
the teacher. These three hulking boys
allied themselves to the side of order,

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00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,920
took their places as they were bidden, turned the public opinion of the class,

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00:27:55,599 --> 00:27:59,519
and made the Botany Bay of the
school to be its quietest class that

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00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:04,119
night. To his amazement, the
same result followed the next night, and

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00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:11,440
to his greater amazement the next.
To Alice's amazement, she received on twelfth

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00:28:11,559 --> 00:28:18,400
night a gilt Valentine envelope, within
which, on heavily ruled paper were announced

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00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:26,640
these truths, marm The mittens were
Nora Kilpatrick's she lives in Water Street place

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00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:33,480
behind the Lagger Brewery, yours to
command, William Floyd, Thomas Mulligan,

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00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:40,880
Patrick Crehore. The names, which
they could copy from signs were correctly spelled.

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To Pat's amazement, Tom Mulligan held
on at the writing school all winter.

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When it ended, he wrote the
best hand of any of them.

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To my amazement, one evening,
when I looked in at Longman's two years

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00:28:56,559 --> 00:29:02,960
to the day after Alice's Tree,
a bright, black eyed young man who

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00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:07,160
had tied up for me the copy
of Masson's Milton, which I had given

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00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:12,319
myself for a Christmas present, said, you don't remember me. I owned

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00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:18,960
innocence. My name is Mulligan.
Thomas Mulligan. Would you thank mister John

346
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,640
Flagg if you meet him for a
Christmas present? He gave me two years

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00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:27,480
ago at Miss Alice mac neil's Christmas
Tree. It was the best present I

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00:29:27,559 --> 00:29:33,200
ever had, and the only one
I ever deserved, and I said I

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00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,519
would do so. I told Alice
afterward never to think she was going to

350
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catch all the fish there were in
any school. I told her to whiten

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00:29:42,119 --> 00:29:47,240
the water with ground bait enough for
all, and to thank God if her

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heavenly fishing were skillful enough to save
one end of Alice's Christmas Tree by Edward Everett Hale