1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:07,200
Speaker 1: Alice's Christmas Tree, Chapter one. Alice mc neil had made

2
00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,199
the plan of this Christmas tree all by herself and

3
00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:14,960
for herself. She had a due estimate of those manufactured

4
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:19,000
trees which hard worked Sabbath schools get up for rewards

5
00:00:19,039 --> 00:00:22,359
of merit for the children who have been regular and

6
00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:27,000
at the last moment have saved attendance tickets enough. Nor

7
00:00:27,079 --> 00:00:30,600
did Alice mc neil sit in judgment on these. She

8
00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,399
had a due estimate of them. But for her Christmas

9
00:00:34,399 --> 00:00:38,320
Tree she had two plans not included in those more

10
00:00:38,399 --> 00:00:43,759
meritorious buddings and burgeonings of the winter. First she meant

11
00:00:43,799 --> 00:00:48,079
to get it up without any help from anybody. And secondly,

12
00:00:48,719 --> 00:00:51,439
she meant that the boys and girls who had anything

13
00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:56,240
from it should be regular laners and by wayfarers. They

14
00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,679
were to have no tickets of respectability. They were not

15
00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,159
in any way to buy their way in, but for

16
00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,280
this once those were to come into a Christmas tree

17
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,439
who happened to be ragged and in the streets. When

18
00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:14,719
the Christmas Tree was ready, so Alice asked mister Williams,

19
00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,079
the Minister, if she could have one of the rooms

20
00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,760
in the vestry. When Christmas Eve came, and he, the

21
00:01:20,799 --> 00:01:24,359
good Saint, was only too glad to let her. He

22
00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,680
offered gently his assistance in sifting out the dirty boys

23
00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:33,200
and girls, intimating to Alice that there was dirt and dirt,

24
00:01:33,799 --> 00:01:36,400
and that even in those lowest depths which she was

25
00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,000
plunging into, there were yet lower depths which she might

26
00:01:40,079 --> 00:01:44,359
find it wise to shun. But here Alice told him

27
00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,120
frankly that she would rather try her experiment fairly through.

28
00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,840
Perhaps she was wrong, but she would like to see

29
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,519
that she was wrong in her own way. Anyway, on

30
00:01:55,599 --> 00:02:00,200
Christmas Eve, she wanted no distinctions. That part of her

31
00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:04,799
plan went bravely forward. Her main difficulty came on the

32
00:02:04,879 --> 00:02:08,000
other side, that she had too many to help her.

33
00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,199
She was not able to carry out the first part

34
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,159
of her plan and make or buy all her presents herself.

35
00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,879
For everybody was pleased with this notion of a truly

36
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:24,360
Catholic or universal tree, and everybody wanted to help. Well,

37
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,400
if anybody would send her a box of dominoes, or

38
00:02:27,439 --> 00:02:31,479
a jackknife, or an open eye, shut eye doll, who

39
00:02:31,599 --> 00:02:33,960
was Alice to say it should not go on the tree.

40
00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,159
And when missus Hesperides sent round a box of faile oranges.

41
00:02:39,879 --> 00:02:42,479
Who was Alice to say that the children should not

42
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:47,159
have oranges? And when mister Gorham Parsons sent in well

43
00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,199
nigh a barrel full of Hubbardston none such apples, who

44
00:02:51,319 --> 00:02:54,840
was Alice to say that they should not have apples.

45
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,120
So the tree grew and grew and bore more and

46
00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,159
more fruit till it was clear that there would be

47
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,199
more than eighty reliable presents on it, besides apples and oranges,

48
00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,800
almonds and raisins galore. Now you see this was a

49
00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:14,719
very great enlargement of Alice's plan, and it brought her

50
00:03:14,759 --> 00:03:18,719
to grief. As you shall see, she had proposed a

51
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,520
cozy little tree for fifteen or twenty children. Well, if

52
00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:25,840
she had held to that, she would have had no

53
00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,879
more than she and Lily and mister Williams and mister

54
00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,520
Gilmore and John Flagg and I could have managed easily,

55
00:03:33,159 --> 00:03:36,719
particularly if Mamma was there too. There would have been

56
00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,960
room enough in the chapel parlor, and it would have been,

57
00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,520
as I believe, just the pretty and cheerful Christmas jollity

58
00:03:43,639 --> 00:03:47,000
that Alice meant it should be. But when it came

59
00:03:47,039 --> 00:03:50,240
to eighty presents and a company of eighty of the

60
00:03:50,479 --> 00:03:55,879
unwashed and unticketed. It became quite a different thing. For

61
00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,680
now Alice began to fear that there would not be

62
00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:03,080
children enough in the highways and byways. So she started

63
00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,280
herself as evening drew on with George the old faithful

64
00:04:07,319 --> 00:04:11,439
Black Major Domo, and she walked through the worst streets

65
00:04:11,479 --> 00:04:14,280
she knew anything of of all those near the chapel,

66
00:04:15,159 --> 00:04:19,240
and whenever she saw a brat particularly dirty, or a

67
00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:24,560
group of brats particularly forlorn, she sailed up gallantly, and

68
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,759
though she was frightened to death, she invited them to

69
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:32,480
the tree. She gave little admittance cards that said seven

70
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,160
o'clock Christmas Eve, five o seven, Livingstone Avenue, for fear

71
00:04:37,199 --> 00:04:41,040
the children would not remember, and she told mister Flagg

72
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,959
that he and mister Gilmore might take some cards and

73
00:04:44,079 --> 00:04:48,319
walk out toward Williamsburg and do the same thing, only

74
00:04:48,399 --> 00:04:50,920
they were to be sure that they asked the dirtiest

75
00:04:50,959 --> 00:04:54,879
and most forlorn children they saw. There was a friendly

76
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,879
policeman with whom Alice had been brought into communication by

77
00:04:58,879 --> 00:05:02,240
the boys and her father's office, and he also was

78
00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,639
permitted to give notice of the tree. But he was

79
00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,279
also to be at the street door, armed with the

80
00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,240
strong arm of the people of New York, And when

81
00:05:11,319 --> 00:05:14,399
the full quota of eighty had been admitted, he was

82
00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:20,160
to admit no more. Ah Me, My poor Alice issued

83
00:05:20,199 --> 00:05:24,800
her cards only too freely. Better indeed, it seemed had

84
00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,920
she held to her original plan. At least she thought so,

85
00:05:29,639 --> 00:05:32,959
and thinks so to this day, But I am not

86
00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,000
so certain a hard time she had of it. However,

87
00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,279
quarter of seven found the little Arabs in crowds around

88
00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,399
the door, with hundreds of others who thought they also

89
00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,800
were to find out what a free lunch was. The

90
00:05:47,879 --> 00:05:52,319
faithful officer Perdie was in attendance. Also. He passed in

91
00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,079
all who had the cards. He sent away legions, let

92
00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,800
me say, who had reason to dread him, but still

93
00:06:00,199 --> 00:06:04,720
assembled a larger and larger throng about the door. Alice

94
00:06:04,759 --> 00:06:08,000
and Lily, and the young gentleman and Missus mc neil

95
00:06:08,319 --> 00:06:11,279
were all at work upstairs, and the tree was a

96
00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,519
perfect beauty. At last they lighted up, and nothing could

97
00:06:15,519 --> 00:06:19,480
have been more lovely. Let him in, said John Flagg,

98
00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,199
rushing to the door, where expectant knocks had been heard already.

99
00:06:24,199 --> 00:06:29,519
Let him in. The smallest girls first smallest girls. Indeed,

100
00:06:30,319 --> 00:06:34,120
the door swung open, and a tide of boy and girl,

101
00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:39,120
girl and boy boy big to hobbledehoydom and girl big

102
00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:44,639
to young womandom came surging in, wildly, screaming, scolding, pushing

103
00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:49,160
and pulling, omitting the profanity. These are the Christmas carols

104
00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,839
that fell on Alice's ear. Out of that? Take that? Then?

105
00:06:54,399 --> 00:06:58,240
Who are you? Hold your jaw? Can't you behave decent?

106
00:06:58,759 --> 00:07:01,920
You lie? Get out of my light? Oh dear, you

107
00:07:02,079 --> 00:07:06,439
killed me? Who's killed God? He see there? I say, ma'am,

108
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:11,319
gimme that Paris gates shut up? And so on, the

109
00:07:11,399 --> 00:07:14,959
howls being more and more impertinent, as the shepherds who

110
00:07:14,959 --> 00:07:17,360
had come to a door became more and more used

111
00:07:17,399 --> 00:07:21,279
to the position they were in. Young Gilmore, who was

112
00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:25,000
willing to Obligejalice, but was not going to stand any nonsense,

113
00:07:25,439 --> 00:07:28,319
and would have willingly knocked the heads together of any

114
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,839
five couples of this rebel route, mounted on a corner

115
00:07:31,879 --> 00:07:35,720
of the railing, which, by mister Williams's prescients had been

116
00:07:35,759 --> 00:07:40,399
built around the tree, and addressed the riotous assembly. They

117
00:07:40,439 --> 00:07:43,839
stopped to hear him, supposing he was to deliver the

118
00:07:43,839 --> 00:07:47,480
gifts to which they had been summoned. He told them

119
00:07:47,519 --> 00:07:50,160
pretty roundly that if they did not keep the peace

120
00:07:50,279 --> 00:07:53,480
and stop crowding and yelling, they should all be turned

121
00:07:53,519 --> 00:07:56,279
out of doors. That they were to pass the little

122
00:07:56,279 --> 00:07:59,480
girls and boys forward first, and that nobody would have

123
00:07:59,519 --> 00:08:03,160
anything to eat eat till this was done. Some approach

124
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,240
to obedience followed. A few little waifs were found, who,

125
00:08:07,319 --> 00:08:11,480
in decency could be called little girls and boys. But

126
00:08:11,759 --> 00:08:15,519
alas as she looked down from her chair, Alice felt

127
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:19,040
as if most of her guests looked like shameless, hulking

128
00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,639
big boys and big girls, only too well fitted to

129
00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,079
grapple with the world, and only too eager to accept

130
00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,439
its gifts without grappling. She and Lily tried to forget this.

131
00:08:31,319 --> 00:08:34,039
They kissed a few little girls and saw the faintest

132
00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,720
gleam of pleasure on one or two little faces. But

133
00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:41,840
there also the pleasure was almost extinct in fear of

134
00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:45,960
the big boys and big girls howling around. So the

135
00:08:46,039 --> 00:08:51,960
howling began again as the distribution went forward. Gimme that jackknife,

136
00:08:52,519 --> 00:08:55,000
I say, mister, I'm as big as he is. He

137
00:08:55,039 --> 00:08:58,519
had one before, and hid it be down. Tom Mulligan.

138
00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,039
Get off that thing so I'll hide you. I don't

139
00:09:02,039 --> 00:09:05,279
want the book. Give me them skates. You shan't have

140
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,759
the skates. I'll have them myself, and so on. John

141
00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,840
Flagg finally knocked down Tom Mulligan, who had squeezed round

142
00:09:13,919 --> 00:09:17,200
behind the tree in an effort to steal something, and

143
00:09:17,279 --> 00:09:20,360
had the satisfaction of sending him bellowing from the room

144
00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,159
with his face covered with blood from his nose. Gilmore,

145
00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:29,279
meanwhile was rapidly distributing an orange and an apple to each, which,

146
00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:34,080
while the oranges were soked, gave a moment's quiet Alice

147
00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,759
and the ladies, badly frightened, were stripping the tree as

148
00:09:37,759 --> 00:09:40,799
fast as they could, and at last announced that it

149
00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,919
was all clear, with almost as eager joy as half

150
00:09:43,919 --> 00:09:46,320
an hour before they had announced that it was all full.

151
00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,039
There's a candy horn on top. Give me that, Give

152
00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,679
me that little apple, Give me the old sheep. Hoo,

153
00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,519
hurrah for the old sheep. This of a little lamb,

154
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,360
which had been placed as an approa ornament in front,

155
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:07,639
then began a howl about oranges. Oh another orange, bill's

156
00:10:07,639 --> 00:10:10,960
got some. I've got none, I say, mister, Give me

157
00:10:11,039 --> 00:10:15,360
an orange. To which mister replied, by opening the window

158
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:20,559
and speaking into the street, I say, perdie, call for officers,

159
00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,399
and come up and clear this room. The room did

160
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,720
not wait for the officers. It cleared itself very soon

161
00:10:27,799 --> 00:10:30,879
on this order, and was left a scene of wreck

162
00:10:31,039 --> 00:10:35,000
and dirt. Orange peel was trampled down on the floor,

163
00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,320
cake thrown down and mashed to mud, intermixed with that

164
00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,120
which had come in on the boots, and the water

165
00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,799
which had been slobbered over from hasty mugs. The sugar

166
00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,600
plums which had fallen in scrambles, and little sprays of

167
00:10:49,639 --> 00:10:54,279
green too trodden into the mass, all made an aspect

168
00:10:54,279 --> 00:10:58,480
of filth like a market sidewalk. And poor Alice was

169
00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:02,879
half crying and half laughing. Poor Lily was wholly crying.

170
00:11:03,799 --> 00:11:07,360
Gilmore and Flagg were explaining to each other how gladly

171
00:11:07,399 --> 00:11:11,759
they would have thrashed the whole set. The thought uppermost

172
00:11:11,799 --> 00:11:15,039
in Alice's mind was that she had been a clear,

173
00:11:15,399 --> 00:11:20,039
out and out fool, and that probably is the impression

174
00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,519
of the greater part of the readers of her story,

175
00:11:23,519 --> 00:11:26,559
or would have been the impression of any one who

176
00:11:26,639 --> 00:11:33,519
only had her point of view. Chapter two. Perhaps the

177
00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,600
reader is willing to take another point of view. As

178
00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,080
the group stood there talking over the riot, as Missus

179
00:11:41,159 --> 00:11:44,919
mc neil called it, as John Flagg tried to make

180
00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,519
Alice laugh by bringing her a half a piece of

181
00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,799
frosted pound cake and proving to her that it had

182
00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,159
not been on the floor, as she said, her eyes

183
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,080
streaming with tears. I tell you, John, I am a fool,

184
00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,360
and I know I am nobody, but a fool would

185
00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:06,399
have started such a row. As all this happened, Patrick

186
00:12:06,519 --> 00:12:10,279
Crehor came back for his little sister's orange, which he

187
00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,679
had wrapped in her handkerchief and left on one of

188
00:12:12,759 --> 00:12:16,480
the book racks in the room. Patrick was alone now,

189
00:12:16,799 --> 00:12:20,879
and therefore sheepish enough and got himself and his orange

190
00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:22,879
out of the room as soon as he well could.

191
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,559
But he was sharp enough to note the whole position,

192
00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,360
and keen enough to catch Alice's words as she spoke

193
00:12:30,399 --> 00:12:35,200
to mister Flagg. Indeed, the general look of disappointment and

194
00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,960
chagrin in the room, and the contrast between this filthy

195
00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,120
ruin and the pretty elegance of half an hour ago,

196
00:12:42,879 --> 00:12:45,559
were distinct enough to be observed by a much more

197
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,039
stupid boy than Patrek Crehor. He went downstairs and found

198
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,399
Bridget waiting, and walked home with the little toddler, meditating

199
00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,320
rather more than was his wont on Alice's phrase, I

200
00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,480
tell you I am a fool, meditating on it. He

201
00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:06,080
hailed Bridget up five flights of stairs and broke in

202
00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,799
on the little room, where a table spread with a

203
00:13:08,799 --> 00:13:13,480
plentiful supply of tea, baker's bread, butter, cheese, and cabbage

204
00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:19,039
waited their return. Jerry Crahor his father sat smoking, and

205
00:13:19,159 --> 00:13:22,759
his mother was tidying up the room, and had ye

206
00:13:22,799 --> 00:13:25,600
a good time, me, darlin. And you brought home your

207
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,159
orange and a doll too, and mittens too, And what

208
00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:34,159
did you have, pat? So? Pat explained, almost sulkily that

209
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,480
he had a checkerboard and a set of checkermen, which

210
00:13:37,519 --> 00:13:40,559
he produced, but he put them by as if he

211
00:13:40,639 --> 00:13:43,600
hated the sight of them, and for a minute dropped

212
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,320
the subject while he helped little biddy to cabbage. He

213
00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:51,799
ate something himself, drank some tea, and then delivered his

214
00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:57,759
rage with much unction, a little profanity great incoherency. But

215
00:13:57,879 --> 00:14:01,279
to his own relief, it's a mean thing, it is,

216
00:14:01,399 --> 00:14:05,039
all of it, said he. I'll be hanged, but it is.

217
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,120
I didnt know who that lady is, but we made

218
00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,919
her cry bad. I know that. Then the boys acted

219
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,960
like nick. They knew that as well as I do.

220
00:14:15,879 --> 00:14:17,919
The man there had to knock one of the fellows

221
00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,919
down bedad and served him right too. I say, the

222
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,000
fellows fought and hollered and stole, and sure you'd thought

223
00:14:26,039 --> 00:14:29,519
you was drivin pigs down the eighth Avenue. And I

224
00:14:29,679 --> 00:14:32,279
was as bad as the worst of em. That's what

225
00:14:32,399 --> 00:14:35,519
the boys did when a lady asked him to Christmas.

226
00:14:36,679 --> 00:14:40,440
That was a mean thing to do, said Jerry, taking

227
00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,000
his pipe from his mouth for a longer speech than

228
00:14:43,039 --> 00:14:46,720
he had ever been known to make. While smoking. Missus

229
00:14:46,799 --> 00:14:50,159
Crehor stopped in her dish wiping, sat down and gave

230
00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,879
her opinion. She did not know what a Christmas tree was,

231
00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,200
having never seed one nor heard a one, but she

232
00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,639
did know that those who went to see a lady

233
00:14:59,679 --> 00:15:02,879
should show manners and behave like gentlemen, or not go

234
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:07,240
at all. She expressed her conviction that Tom Mulligan was

235
00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,639
rightly served, and her regret that he had not two

236
00:15:10,679 --> 00:15:14,240
black eyes instead of one. She would have been glad. Indeed,

237
00:15:14,279 --> 00:15:18,360
if certain Floyd's and Sullivan's and Flahertys, with whose names

238
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,360
of baptism she was better acquainted than I am had

239
00:15:21,399 --> 00:15:25,840
shared a similar fate. This oration and the oracle of

240
00:15:25,879 --> 00:15:30,000
his father still more appeased Pat somewhat, And when his

241
00:15:30,039 --> 00:15:34,519
supper was finished, after long silence, he said, we'll give

242
00:15:34,559 --> 00:15:39,159
her a Christmas present. We will Tom Mulligan and Bill Floyd,

243
00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:42,799
and I'll give it. The others shan't know. I know

244
00:15:42,879 --> 00:15:45,559
what will give her. I'll tell Bill Floyd that we

245
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:53,399
made her cry. Chapter three. After supper, accordingly, Pat Crehor

246
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,799
repaired to certain rendezvous of the younger life of the

247
00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:01,919
neighborhood known to him, in search of Bill Lloyd. Bill

248
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,240
was not at the first nor at the second, there

249
00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,879
being indeed no rule or principle known to men, or

250
00:16:08,919 --> 00:16:13,000
even to archangels, by which Bill's presence at any particular spot,

251
00:16:13,039 --> 00:16:18,480
at any particular time could be definitely stated. But Bill, also,

252
00:16:18,759 --> 00:16:23,039
in his proud free will, obeyed certain general laws, and

253
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:28,120
accordingly Pat found him inspecting, as a volunteer officer of police,

254
00:16:28,639 --> 00:16:31,759
the hauling out and oiling of certain hose at the

255
00:16:31,799 --> 00:16:35,759
house of a neighboring hose company. Come here, Bill, I

256
00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,679
got something to show you. Bill had already carried home

257
00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:44,039
and put in safe keeping a copy of Routledge's Robinson Crusoe,

258
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,159
which had been given to him. He left the hose

259
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:52,960
inspection willingly and hurried along with Pat, passed many attractive groups,

260
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,799
not even stopping where a brewer's horse had fallen on

261
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,080
the ground, till Pat brought him in triumph to the

262
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,440
gaudy window of a shoe shop, lighted up gaily and

263
00:17:02,559 --> 00:17:05,400
full of the wares by which even shoe shops lure

264
00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,880
in customers for Christmas. See there, said Pat, nearly breathless,

265
00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,119
and he pointed to the very center of the display

266
00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,640
a pair of slippers made from bronze gilt, kid and

267
00:17:18,799 --> 00:17:23,640
displaying a hideous blue silk bow upon the gilding. For

268
00:17:23,759 --> 00:17:27,279
what class of dancers or of maskers these slippers may

269
00:17:27,279 --> 00:17:30,920
have been made, or by what canon of beauty? I know, not,

270
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,559
only they were the center of decoration in the shoe

271
00:17:34,559 --> 00:17:38,599
shop window. Pat looked at them with admiration, as he

272
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,680
had often done, and said again to Bill Floyd, See

273
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:48,720
there ain't them handsome? Golly, said Bill, I guess so Bill,

274
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,480
let's buy them little shoes and give em to her.

275
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,440
Give 'em to who, said Bell, from whose mind the

276
00:17:55,519 --> 00:17:58,640
Christmas tree had for the moment faded under the rivalry

277
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,839
of the hose company, the brewer's horse and the shop window.

278
00:18:02,519 --> 00:18:06,759
Give him to who? Why her? I don't know who

279
00:18:06,799 --> 00:18:09,720
she is? The gal that made the what do you

280
00:18:09,839 --> 00:18:12,160
call it? The tree? You know? And give us the

281
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:17,039
oranges where old Perdy was. I say, Bill, it was

282
00:18:17,079 --> 00:18:19,480
a mean, dirty shame to make such a row there

283
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,240
when we was bid to a party. And I want

284
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,440
to make the gal a present for I see her

285
00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,880
cryin' dell cryin' cause it was such a row. Again.

286
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,279
I omit certain profane expressions which did not add any

287
00:18:32,319 --> 00:18:38,000
real energy to this declaration. They is handsome, said Bill meditatingly.

288
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:43,119
Ain't the blue ones handsomest? No, said Pat, who saw

289
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,759
that he had gained his lodgment and that carrying his

290
00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,000
point was now only a matter of time. The gold

291
00:18:49,079 --> 00:18:51,839
ones is the ones for me. We'll give em to

292
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,240
the gal for a Christmas present, you and I and

293
00:18:55,279 --> 00:19:00,240
Tom Mulligan. Bill Floyd did not dissent, being indeed in

294
00:19:00,279 --> 00:19:03,079
the habit of going as he was led, as were

295
00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:05,400
most of the rebel route, with whom he had an

296
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:10,160
hour ago been acting. He assented entirely to Pat's proposal.

297
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,960
By Christmas, both parties understood that the present was to

298
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,920
be made before twelfth night, not necessarily on Christmas Day.

299
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,920
Neither of them had a penny, but both of them

300
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,839
knew perfectly well that whenever they chose to get a

301
00:19:25,839 --> 00:19:29,680
little money, they could do so. They soon solved their

302
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,880
first question as to the cost of the coveted slippers. True,

303
00:19:34,039 --> 00:19:36,759
they knew, of course, that they would be ejected from

304
00:19:36,799 --> 00:19:40,000
the decent shop if they went in to inquire, But

305
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,839
by lying in wait, they soon discovered Delia Sullivan, a

306
00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,480
decent looking girl they knew passing by, and having made

307
00:19:47,559 --> 00:19:50,319
her their confidant so far that she was sure she

308
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,200
was not fooled, they sent her in to inquire. The

309
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,920
girl returned to announce, to the astonishment of all parties

310
00:19:58,079 --> 00:20:03,279
that the shoes cost six dollars. Hugh cried, Pat six

311
00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,839
dollars for them? Are I bought my mother's new overshoes

312
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,119
for one? But not the least did he bait of

313
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,680
his determination, and he and Bill Floyd went in search

314
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:17,559
of Tom Mulligan. Tom was as easily found as Bill,

315
00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:21,400
but it was not so easy to enlist him. Tom

316
00:20:21,559 --> 00:20:24,440
was in a regular corner liquor store with men who

317
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:29,000
were sitting smoking, drinking, and telling dirty stories. Either of

318
00:20:29,039 --> 00:20:31,359
the other boys would have been whipped at home if

319
00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:33,640
he had been known to be seen sitting in this place,

320
00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,759
and the punishment would have been well bestowed. But Tom

321
00:20:37,799 --> 00:20:40,759
Mulligan had had nobody to thrash him for many a

322
00:20:40,839 --> 00:20:44,279
day until John Flagg had struck out so smartly from

323
00:20:44,279 --> 00:20:49,240
the shoulder. Perhaps had there been some thrashing as discriminating

324
00:20:49,279 --> 00:20:52,759
as Jerry Flaherty's, it had been better for Tom Mulligan.

325
00:20:53,839 --> 00:20:56,920
The boys found him easily enough, but as I said,

326
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,759
had some difficulty in getting him away. With many assurances, however,

327
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,440
that they had something to tell him and something to

328
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,160
show him, they lured him from the shadow of the

329
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,799
comfortable stove into the night. Pat Crehor, who had more

330
00:21:11,839 --> 00:21:15,279
of the tact of oratory than he knew, then boldly

331
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,480
told Tom Mulligan the story of the Christmas Tree as

332
00:21:18,519 --> 00:21:22,799
it passed. After Tom's ejection. Tom was sour at first,

333
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:27,000
but soon warmed to the narrative and even showed indignation

334
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,880
at the behavior of boys who had seemed to carry

335
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:34,359
themselves less obnoxiously than he did. All the boys agreed

336
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,599
that but for certain others who had never been asked

337
00:21:37,599 --> 00:21:39,799
to come and ought to be ashamed to be there

338
00:21:39,799 --> 00:21:42,240
with them as were, there would have been no row.

339
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,680
They all agreed that, on some suitable occasion, unknown to

340
00:21:46,759 --> 00:21:49,880
me and to this story, they would take vengeance on

341
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,279
these Tids and Sullivan's. When Pat Crehor wound up his

342
00:21:54,319 --> 00:21:58,039
statement by telling how he saw the ladies crying and

343
00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,759
all the pretty room looking like a pig's, Tom Mulligan

344
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,160
was as loud as he was in saying that it

345
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,000
was all wrong, and that nobody but blackguards would have

346
00:22:07,079 --> 00:22:10,359
joined in it, in particular such blagguards as the Tids

347
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:15,880
and Sullivans above alluded to. Then, to Tom's sympathizing ear

348
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,359
was confided the project of the gold shoes, as the

349
00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:23,680
slippers were always called in this honorable company, and Tom

350
00:22:23,799 --> 00:22:28,079
completely approved. He even approved the price. He explained to

351
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,160
the others that it would be mean to give to

352
00:22:30,279 --> 00:22:33,960
a lady anything of less price. This was exactly the

353
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,079
sum which recommended itself to his better judgment. And so

354
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,400
the boys went home, agreeing to meet Christmas morning as

355
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,240
a committee of ways and means to the discussions of

356
00:22:45,279 --> 00:22:49,799
this committee, I need not admit you many plans were proposed,

357
00:22:50,279 --> 00:22:53,440
one that they should serve through the holidays at certain

358
00:22:53,559 --> 00:22:57,319
ten pin alleys known to them. One that they should

359
00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:01,519
buy off Fogerty from his newspaper route for a few days.

360
00:23:01,559 --> 00:23:05,440
But the decision was that Pat, the most decent in appearance,

361
00:23:05,839 --> 00:23:08,680
should dress up in a certain Sunday suit he had

362
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,960
and offer the services of himself and two unknown friends

363
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,519
of his as extra cork boys at Bernabaum's Brewery, where

364
00:23:17,559 --> 00:23:20,519
Tom Mulligan reported they were working nights that they might

365
00:23:20,599 --> 00:23:25,279
fill an extra order. This device succeeded. Pat and his

366
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,920
friends were put on duty for trial on the night

367
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,839
of the twenty sixth, and the foremen of the corking

368
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:35,200
room being satisfied, they retained their engagement till New Year's Eve,

369
00:23:35,839 --> 00:23:39,240
when they were paid three dollars each and resigned their positions.

370
00:23:40,599 --> 00:23:44,599
Let's buy her three shoes, said Bell in enthusiasm at

371
00:23:44,599 --> 00:23:49,599
their success, but this proposal was rejected. Each of the

372
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,839
other boys had a private plan for an extra present

373
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,960
to her. By this time, the sacred six dollars was

374
00:23:57,039 --> 00:23:59,720
folded up in a bit of straw paper from the brewery,

375
00:24:00,319 --> 00:24:03,079
and the young gentlemen went home to make their toilettes,

376
00:24:03,599 --> 00:24:06,000
a process they had had no chance to go through

377
00:24:06,079 --> 00:24:10,240
on Christmas Eve. After this, there was really no difficulty

378
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,519
about their going into the shoe shop, and none about

379
00:24:13,559 --> 00:24:17,200
consummating the purchase. To the utter astonishment of the dealer,

380
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,079
the gold shoes were bought, rolled up in paper, and

381
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:26,599
ready for delivery. Bill Floyd had meanwhile learned by inquiry

382
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,799
at the chapel where she lived. Though there were doubts

383
00:24:29,799 --> 00:24:33,599
whether any of them knew her name, The others rejected

384
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,200
his proposals that they should take street cars, and they

385
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,599
boldly pushed a foot up to Clinton Avenue and rang

386
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:45,480
not without terror at the door. Terror did not diminish

387
00:24:45,519 --> 00:24:48,960
when Black George appeared, whose acquaintance they had made at

388
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:53,240
the tree. But fortunately George did not recognize them in

389
00:24:53,279 --> 00:24:57,119
their apparel of elegance. When they asked for the lady

390
00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,839
that gave the tree, he bade them wait a minute,

391
00:25:00,079 --> 00:25:02,480
and in less than a minute, Alice came running out

392
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,440
to meet them. To the boy's great delight, she was

393
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:10,319
not crying. Now, if you please, ma'am, said Tom, who

394
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,240
had been commissioned as spokesman, if you please, them's our

395
00:25:14,319 --> 00:25:19,359
Christmas present to you, ma'am. Them's gold shoes. And please, ma'am,

396
00:25:19,559 --> 00:25:22,039
we're very sorry that there was such a row at

397
00:25:22,039 --> 00:25:26,480
the Christmas ma'am. It was mean, ma'am. Good bye, ma'am.

398
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,799
Alice's eyes were opening wider and wider. Nor at this

399
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:37,720
moment did she understand gold shoes and row at the

400
00:25:37,799 --> 00:25:42,160
Christmas stuck by her, however, and she understood there was

401
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,640
a present, So of course she said the right thing

402
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,599
by accident, and did the right thing, being a lady

403
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,960
through and through. No, you must not go away. Come in, boys,

404
00:25:54,039 --> 00:25:57,160
come in. I did not know you, you know, And

405
00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:01,720
how could she come in and sit down? Can't you

406
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,920
take off your hat? Said Tom in an aside pat

407
00:26:06,039 --> 00:26:09,960
who had neglected this reverence as he entered. And Tom

408
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,839
was thus a little established in his own esteem. And

409
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,559
Alice opened the parcel and had her presence of mind

410
00:26:17,599 --> 00:26:20,920
by this time, and amazed as she was at the

411
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:25,200
gold shoes, showed no amazement, nay even slipped off her

412
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,440
own slipper and showed that the gold shoe fitted, to

413
00:26:28,519 --> 00:26:31,519
the delight of Tom, who was trying to explain that

414
00:26:31,559 --> 00:26:33,759
the man would change them if they were too small.

415
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,039
She found an apple for each boy, thanked and praised

416
00:26:38,039 --> 00:26:42,039
each one separately, and the interview would have been perfect

417
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,400
had she not innocently asked Tom what was the matter

418
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,200
with his eye? Tom's eye, Well, it was the black eye,

419
00:26:51,279 --> 00:26:54,720
John Flagg gave him. I am sorry to say, Bill

420
00:26:54,799 --> 00:26:58,359
Floyd snickered. But Pat came to the front this time

421
00:26:58,839 --> 00:27:03,279
and said the man heard him. Then Alice produced some

422
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,440
mittens which had been left and asked whose those were.

423
00:27:07,039 --> 00:27:11,640
But the boys did not know. I say, fellows, I'm

424
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,000
going down to the writing school at the Union, said Pat.

425
00:27:15,039 --> 00:27:17,920
When they got into the street, all of them being

426
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,960
in the mood that conceals emotion, I say, let's all

427
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,519
go to this. They agreed. I say I went there

428
00:27:26,599 --> 00:27:31,119
last week Monday with Meg MacManus. I say, fellows, it's

429
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:36,119
real good fun. The other fellows, having on the unfamiliar

430
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,640
best rig were well aware that they must not descend

431
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,559
to their familiar haunts, and all consented to the amazement

432
00:27:44,599 --> 00:27:48,799
of the teacher. These three hulking boys allied themselves to

433
00:27:48,839 --> 00:27:52,240
the side of order, took their places as they were bidden,

434
00:27:52,799 --> 00:27:56,200
turned the public opinion of the class, and made the

435
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,400
Botany Bay of the school to be its quietest class

436
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,559
that night. To his amazement, the same result followed the

437
00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:09,200
next night, and to his greater amazement the next. To

438
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:15,440
Alice's amazement, she received on twelfth night a gilt Valentine envelope,

439
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:20,240
within which, on heavily ruled paper were announced these truths,

440
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:26,720
marm The mittens were Nora Kilpatrick's she lives in Water

441
00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:33,000
Street place behind the Lagger Brewery, yours to command, William Floyd,

442
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:38,839
Thomas Mulligan, Patrick Crehore. The names, which they could copy

443
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:44,680
from signs were correctly spelled. To Pat's amazement, Tom Mulligan

444
00:28:44,839 --> 00:28:48,960
held on at the writing school all winter. When it ended,

445
00:28:49,119 --> 00:28:52,400
he wrote the best hand of any of them. To

446
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,519
my amazement, one evening, when I looked in at Longman's

447
00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,720
two years to the day after Alice's Tree, a bright,

448
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,039
black eyed young man who had tied up for me

449
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:07,640
the copy of Masson's Milton, which I had given myself

450
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:12,759
for a Christmas present, said, you don't remember me. I

451
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:18,880
owned innocence. My name is Mulligan. Thomas Mulligan. Would you

452
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,599
thank mister John Flagg if you meet him for a

453
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,880
Christmas present? He gave me two years ago at Miss

454
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,319
Alice mac neil's Christmas Tree. It was the best present

455
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,319
I ever had, and the only one I ever deserved,

456
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:36,200
and I said I would do so. I told Alice

457
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,119
afterward never to think she was going to catch all

458
00:29:39,119 --> 00:29:42,480
the fish there were in any school. I told her

459
00:29:42,519 --> 00:29:45,319
to whiten the water with ground bait enough for all,

460
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,039
and to thank God if her heavenly fishing were skillful

461
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:55,599
enough to save one end of Alice's Christmas Tree by

462
00:29:55,799 --> 00:29:56,920
Edward Everett Hale