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Speaker 1: A matter of system by Eleanor H. Porter at the

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office of Hawkins and Hawkins. System was everything. Even the

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trotter boy was reduced to an orbit that ignored craps

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and marbles, and the stenographer went about her work like

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a well oiled bit of machinery. It is not strange, then,

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that Jasper Hawkins, senior member of the firm, was particularly

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incensed at the confusion that Christmas always brought to his home.

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For years he bore with such patience as he could

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muster the attack of nervous prostration that regularly on the

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twenty sixth day of December laid his wife upon a

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bed of invalidism. Then, in the face of the unmistakable

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evidence that the malady would this year precede the holy

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day of peace and goodwill, he burst his bonds of

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self control and spoke his mind. It was upon the

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morning of the twenty first Edith he began, in what

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his young daughter called his now mind voice. This thing

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has got to stop. What thing Christmas? Jasper? It was

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as if she thought he had the power to sweep

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goodwill itself from the earth. Christmas stop, Yes, my dear,

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how did you spend yesterday I was shopping exactly, and

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the day before, and the day before that, and before that.

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You needn't answer, for I know, and you were shopping for,

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he paused, expectantly, presents. Something quite outside herself had forced

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the answer exactly now, Edith, Surely it need not take

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all your time for a month before Christmas to buy

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a few poultry presents, and all of it for two

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months afterwards to get over buying them. But Jasper, they

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are few and are anything but poultry. Imagine giving Uncle

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Harold a paltry present, retorted Edith, with some spirit. The

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man waved an impatient hand. Very well, we will call

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them magnificent, then, he conceded. But even in that case,

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surely the countless stores full of beautiful and useful articles,

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and with a list properly tabulated, and a sufficiency of money.

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An expressive gesture finished his sentence. The woman shook her head.

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I know it sounds easy, she sighed, but it isn't.

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It's so hard to think up what to give. And

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after I've thought it up and bought it, I'm just

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sure I ought to have got the other thing. But

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you should have some system about it. Oh, I had

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a list, she replied dispiritedly. But I'm so tired. Jasper

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Hawkins suddenly squared his shoulders. How many names have you

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left now to buy presents for? He demanded briskly. Three.

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Aunt Harriet and Jimmy and Uncle Harold. They always get

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left to the last. They're so impossible, impossible, nonsense, And

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I'll prove it to you too. Give yourself no further

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concern Edith about Christmas. If that is all there is

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left to do, just consider it done. Do you mean

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you will get the presents for them? Most certainly? But Jasper,

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you know, an imperative gesture silenced her. My dear, I'm

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doing this to relieve you, and that means that you

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are not even to think of it again. Very well, Ah,

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thank you, sighed the woman, But her eyes were troubled.

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Not so Jasper's. His eyes quite sparkled with anticipation. As

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he left the house. Some minutes later, on the way

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down town, he made his plans and arranged his list.

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He wished it were long. That list. Three names were

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hardly sufficient to demonstrate his theories and to display his ability.

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As for Aunt Harriet, Jimmy and Uncle Harold being impossible,

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that was all nonsense, as he had said, And before

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his eyes rose a vision of the three. Aunt Harriet,

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a middle aged spinster, poor, half sick and chronically discontented

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with the world, Jimmy, a white faced lad who was

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always reading a book, and Uncle Harold, red faced, red headed,

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and red tempered. Jasper smiled all to himself at this

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last thought, red tempered. That was good, he would tell Edith,

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but he would not tell others. Witticisms at the expense

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of a rich, old bachelor uncle, whose air was a

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matter of his own choosing, were best kept pretty much

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to one's self. Edith was right, However, in one thing,

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Jasper decided, Uncle Harold surely could not be given a

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paltry present. He must be given something fine, expensive and desirable,

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something that one would like one's self. And immediately there

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popped into Jasper's mind the thought of a certain exquisitely

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carved meershorn, which he had seen in a window, and

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which he had greatly coveted. As for Aunt Harriet and Jimmy,

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their case was too simple for even a second thought.

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To one. He would give a pair of bed slippers

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to the other a book. Some minutes later, Jasper Hawkins

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tucked into his pocket book an oblong bit of paper

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on which had been neatly written presents to be bought

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for Christmas nineteen o eight. Aunt Harriet Spinster fifty eight

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years old, bed slippers, Uncle Harold Bachelor, sixty five years old,

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pipe Jimmy Boy, twelve years old. Book. In the office

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of Hawkins and Hawkins that morning, the senior member of

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the firm found a man waiting for him. This man

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was the emissary of his mighty chief, And upon this

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chief rested the whole structure of a deal which was

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just then looming large on the horizon of Hawkins and Hawkins,

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and in which the oblong bit of paper in Jasper's

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pocket book had no part. Missus Jasper Hawkins greeted her

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husband with palpitating interest that evening. Well what did you get,

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she asked? The man of business lifted his chin triumphantly.

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Not everything we asked for, to be sure, he began.

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But we got more than we expected, and he stopped abruptly.

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The expression on his wife's face had suddenly reminded him that,

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by no possible chance could she know what he was

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talking about. Uh, what do you mean? He demanded, why, Jasper,

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there's only one thing I could mean, the presence, you know.

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A curious something clutched at Jasper's breath and held it

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for a moment, suspended. Then Jasper throttled for something and

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raised his chin even and higher. Time enough for that tomorrow,

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he retorted lightly. I didn't promise to get to them

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to day, you know, But Jasper, tomorrow's the twenty second,

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and three whole days before Christmas. Yes, but they must

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be sent the twenty fourth, and they'll be sent, my dear,

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declared Jasper, in a tone of voice that was a

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cold dismissal of the subject. On the morning of the

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twenty second, Jasper Hawkins told himself that he would not

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forget the presents this time. He decided, however, that there

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was no need for him to take the whole day

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to select a pipe, a book, and a pair of slippers.

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There would be quite time enough after luncheon, and he

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smiled to himself in a superior way as he thought

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of the dizzying rush and the early start that always

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marked his wife's shopping excursions. He was still smiling happily

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when he sallied forth at two o'clock that afternoon, leaving

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wide at the office that he would return in an hour.

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He decided to buy the mere shy first, and with

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unhesitating steps, he sought the tobacco store in whose window

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he had seen it. The pipe was gone, however, and

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there really was no other in the place that just

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suited him, though he spent fully half an hour trying

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to find one. He decided then to look elsewhere. He

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would try the department store in which he intended to

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buy the book and the slippers. It was better, any way,

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that he should do all his shopping under one roof.

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It was more systematic. The great clock in the department

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store tower had just struck three when Jasper stalked through

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the swinging doors on the street floor. He had been delayed.

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Window displays had allured him, and dawdling throngs of Christmas

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shoppers had forced his feet into a snail's pace. He

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drew now a sigh of relief. He had reached his destination.

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He would make short work of his purchases, and with

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a dignified stride, he turned toward the nearest counter. At once, However,

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he found himself caught in a swirl of humanity that

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swept him along like a useless chip and flung him

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against a counter much further down the aisle. With what

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dignity he could summon to his aid, he righted himself

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and addressed the smiling girl behind it. I'm looking for pipes,

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he announced severely. Perhaps you can tell me where they are.

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She shook her head. Ask him, she suggested, with a

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nod and a jerk of her thumb, and Jasper, looking

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in the direction indicated, saw a frock coated man standing

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like a rock where the streams of humanity broke and

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surged to the right and to the left by some maneuvering.

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Jasper managed in time to confront this man pipes. He

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panted anxiously. He was reduced now to the single word

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annexed second floor, elevated to your right, thanks, fervently, breathed

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the senior member of the firm of Hawkins and Hawkins,

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muttering as he turned away. Then they have got some

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system in this infernal bedlam. The crisp directions had sounded simple,

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but they proved to be anything but simple to follow.

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Like a shuttlecock, Jasper was tossed from Clark to Clark,

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until by the time he reached his destination, he was confused, breathless,

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and cross. The pipes, however, were numerous and beautiful, and

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the girl behind the counter was both pretty and attentive. Moreover,

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pipes did not happen to be popular that day, and

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the corner was a little paradise of quietness and rest.

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The man drew a long breath of relief and bent

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to his task. In his mind was the one thought uppermost.

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He must select just such a pipe as he himself

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would like. And for long minutes he pondered whether this,

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that or another would best please him. So absorbed was he, indeed,

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in this phase of the question, that he had made

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his selection and taken out his money, when a sickening

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truth came to him, Uncle Harold did not smoke. To

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it seemed incredible that he had not thought of this before.

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But not until he pictured his purchase in his uncle's

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hand had he realized that the thing was not for

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himself after all, but for a man who not only

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did not smoke, but who abhored the habit in others.

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With a muttered something that the righteously indignant pretty girl

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could not hear, Jasper Hawkins thrust his money into his

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pocket and rushed blindly away from the pipe counter. Long

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minutes later in the street, he adjusted his tie, jerked

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his coat into place, straightened his hat, and looked at

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his watch. It was four o'clock and he must go

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back to the office before starting for home. There was

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still another whole day before him, he remembered, and after all,

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it was a very simple matter to buy the book

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and the slippers, and then look around a little for

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something for Uncle Harold. In the morning he would doubtless

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light upon the very thing. And with this comforting thought,

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he dismissed the subject and went back to the office.

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Missus Hawkkins did not question her husband that night about

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what he had bought something in his face stayed the

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words on her lips. Jasper Hawkins went early to the

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office the next morning, but it was fully eleven o'clock

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before he could begin his shopping. He told himself, however,

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that there was quite time enough for the little he

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had to do, and he stepped off very briskly in

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the direction of the department store he had left the

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night before. He had decided that he preferred this one

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to the intricacies of a new one. Besides, he was

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very sure that there would not now be so many

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people in it. Just here, however, Jasper met with a disappointment.

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Not only was every one there who had been there

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the day before, but most of them had brought friends,

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and in dismay, Jasper clung to the post near the

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door while he tried to rally his courage for the plunge.

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In the distance, the frock coated man was still the

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rock where the stream foamed and broke, And after a

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long wait and a longer struggle, Jasper stood once more

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before for him, I want slippers, bed slippers for women,

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he muttered. Fourth floor front elevator to your left, declaimed

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the man, and Jasper quite glowed with awe at the

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thought of a brain so stupendous that it could ticket

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and tell each shelf and counter in that vast domain

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of confusion. Jasper himself had been swept to the right

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on the crest for a particularly aggressive wave formed by

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the determined shoulders of a huge, fat woman who wished

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to go in that direction. So it was some time

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before he could stem the current and make an effort

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to reach the elevator on the other side of the store.

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It was then that he suddenly decided to grasp this

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opportunity for looking about a little to find something for

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Uncle Harold. And it was then that he was lost,

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for no longer had he compass captain or a port

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in view. But awless and rudderless he drifted. Then, indeed

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did the department store, in all its allurements of glitter

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and show and competing attractions, burst on Jasper's eyes, benumbing

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his senses and overthrowing his judgment. For long minutes he

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hung entranced above a tray of jeweled side combs, and

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for other long minutes he critically weighed the charms of

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a spangled fan against those of one that was merely painted,

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before he suddenly awoke to the realization that he was

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looking for something for Uncle Harold, and that Uncle Harold

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did not wear side combs nor disport himself with Gore's fans.

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Where do you keep things from men? He demanded, then

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aggrievedly of the demure faced girl behind the counter. And

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it was while he was on the ensuing frantic search

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for things for men that he stumbled upon the book department.

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To be sure, a book for Jimmy, he muttered, and

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confidently approached a girl who was already trying to wait

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on three customers at once. I want a book for

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a boy, he observed, and was surprised that no one answered.

237
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I want a book for a boy, urged in a

238
00:15:00,759 --> 00:15:05,840
louder tone. Still no one answered, I want a book

239
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,759
four a boy, he reiterated distinctly, and this time the

240
00:15:11,799 --> 00:15:14,200
girl flicked her ear as at the singing of an

241
00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:18,799
annoying insect. Juveniles three aisles over to your left, she

242
00:15:18,879 --> 00:15:22,919
snapped glibly, and after a puzzled pondering on her words,

243
00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,039
Jasper concluded that they were meant for him. In the

244
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juvenile department, Jasper wondered why everyone in the store had

245
00:15:30,759 --> 00:15:33,480
chosen that particular minute to come there and buy a

246
00:15:33,519 --> 00:15:38,600
book for a child. Everywhere were haste and confusion. Nowhere

247
00:15:38,679 --> 00:15:41,159
was there any one who paid the least attention to himself.

248
00:15:42,159 --> 00:15:45,200
At his right, a pretty girl chatted fluently of this, that,

249
00:15:45,399 --> 00:15:48,639
and another series. And at his left, a severe faced

250
00:15:48,679 --> 00:15:52,600
woman with glasses discoursed on the great responsibility of selecting

251
00:15:52,639 --> 00:15:55,720
reading for the young, and uttered fearsome prophecies of the

252
00:15:55,799 --> 00:15:58,720
dire evil that were sure to result from indiscriminate buying.

253
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Her words were not meant for Jasper's ears, but they

254
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:08,600
reached them. Nevertheless, the man shuddered and grew pale. With

255
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,159
soft steps, he slunk out of the book department. To

256
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,559
think that he, he who knew nothing whatever about books

257
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,279
for boys, had nearly bought one of the risky things

258
00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:23,080
for Jimmy, And to Jasper's perverted imagination, it almost seemed

259
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:27,000
that Jimmy, white faced and sad eyed, had already gone

260
00:16:27,039 --> 00:16:31,720
wrong and through him. Jasper looked at his watch then

261
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,759
and decided it was time for luncheon. After that he

262
00:16:34,759 --> 00:16:38,759
could look around for something else for Jimmy. It was

263
00:16:38,799 --> 00:16:43,519
six o'clock when Jasper, flushed, tired and anxious, looked at

264
00:16:43,559 --> 00:16:47,080
his watch again and took account of stock. He had

265
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,639
a string of beads and a pair of skates. The skates,

266
00:16:50,639 --> 00:16:53,159
of course, were for Jimmy. He was pleased with those.

267
00:16:54,039 --> 00:16:56,159
It was a girl who had helped him in that decision,

268
00:16:56,519 --> 00:16:58,600
a very obliging girl who had found him in the

269
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,399
toy department, confus usually eyeing an array of flaxen haired dolls,

270
00:17:02,879 --> 00:17:04,799
and who had gently asked him the age of the

271
00:17:04,799 --> 00:17:07,680
boy for whom he desired a present. He thought of

272
00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,440
that girl now with gratitude. The string of beads did

273
00:17:11,519 --> 00:17:15,200
not so well please him. He was a little doubtful anyway,

274
00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,200
how he happened to buy them. He had a dim

275
00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,480
recollection that they looked wonderfully pretty, with the light bringing

276
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,440
out sparkles of green and gold, and that the girl

277
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,920
who tendered them did not happen to have anything to

278
00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,400
do but wait on him. So he had bought them.

279
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:33,960
They were handsome beads and not at all sheep. They

280
00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,519
would do for someone, he assured himself, And not until

281
00:17:37,519 --> 00:17:39,880
he had dropped them in his pocket did it occur

282
00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,079
to him that he was buying presents for only a boy,

283
00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:47,039
a bachelor, and a middle aged spinster. Manifestly, a string

284
00:17:47,079 --> 00:17:49,480
of beads would not do for Jimmy or Uncle Harold.

285
00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,680
So they must do for Aunt Harriet. He had meant

286
00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,680
to buy bed slippers for her, but perhaps after all

287
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,799
she would prefer beads at all events. He had bought

288
00:17:59,839 --> 00:18:02,759
them and they would have to go. And with that

289
00:18:03,079 --> 00:18:07,279
he dismissed the beads. As yet he had nothing for

290
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,680
Uncle Harold. There seemed to be nothing, really that he

291
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,400
could make up his mind to give. The more he

292
00:18:13,519 --> 00:18:17,079
searched the more undecided he grew. The affair of the

293
00:18:17,079 --> 00:18:20,359
pipe had frightened him and had sown distrust in his heart.

294
00:18:21,559 --> 00:18:23,640
He would have to buy something this evening, of course,

295
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,119
for it must be sent to morrow. He would telephone

296
00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:29,160
Edith that he could not be home for dinner the

297
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,440
business detained him. Then he would eat a hasty luncheon

298
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,720
and buy Uncle Harold's present. And with this decision Jasper

299
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:42,640
wearily turned his steps toward telephone booth. Jasper Hawkins went

300
00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,319
home at ten o'clock. He still had nothing for Uncle Harold.

301
00:18:46,759 --> 00:18:50,039
The stores had closed before he could find anything, but

302
00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,720
there was yet until noon the next day. Missus Hawkins

303
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,000
did not question her husband in the morning. She only

304
00:18:58,039 --> 00:19:01,440
reminded him timidly. You know those things must get off

305
00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:05,160
by twelve o'clock, Jasper. Oh, yes, they'll go all right,

306
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:10,720
her husband had replied, in a particularly cheery voice. Jasper

307
00:19:10,839 --> 00:19:14,799
was not cheery, however. Within he was nervous and anxious.

308
00:19:15,519 --> 00:19:18,599
A terrible fear had clutched his heart. What if he

309
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,920
could not? But then he must find something, He enjoined himself,

310
00:19:23,559 --> 00:19:27,359
and with that he started downtown at once. He did

311
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,440
not go to the office this time, but sought the stores. Immediately,

312
00:19:31,319 --> 00:19:35,559
he found conditions now even worse than before. Everyone seemed

313
00:19:35,599 --> 00:19:38,240
to have an uncle Harold, for whom was frenziedly being

314
00:19:38,279 --> 00:19:43,000
sought the unattainable. If at nine o'clock Jasper had been nervous,

315
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,119
at ten he was terrified, and at eleven he was

316
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,279
nearly frantic. All power of decision seemed to have left him,

317
00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:54,160
and he stumbled vaguely on and on, scarcely knowing what

318
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:57,599
he was doing. It was then that his eye fell

319
00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:02,279
on a huge sign, aust the thing for Christmas. When

320
00:20:02,279 --> 00:20:06,599
in doubt by me, there was a crowd before the sign,

321
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,680
but Jasper knew now how to use his elbows. Once

322
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,079
at his goal, he stared in amazement. Then the tension

323
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,880
snapped and he laughed Outright before him were half a

324
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,799
dozen cages of waltzing mice. For a long time, the

325
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,559
curious wells and antics of the odd little creatures, in

326
00:20:24,599 --> 00:20:27,519
their black and white coats, held Jasper's gaze in a

327
00:20:27,519 --> 00:20:31,839
fascinated stare. Then the man, obeying an impulse that he

328
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:36,680
scarcely understood himself, made his purchase, gave explicit directions where

329
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,960
and when it was to be sent, and left the

330
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:45,440
store then, and not until then did Jasper Hawkins fully

331
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,920
realize that to his Uncle Harold, the rich old man

332
00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,680
who must be petted and pampered and never by any

333
00:20:51,759 --> 00:20:55,759
chance offended, he had sent as a Christmas present a

334
00:20:55,799 --> 00:21:02,680
cage of dancing mice. That night, Missus Hawkins fearlessly asked

335
00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,799
her questions, and as fearlessly her husband answered them. He

336
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,759
had determined to assume a bold front, however grave might

337
00:21:10,799 --> 00:21:13,559
be his own doubts and fears. He had resolved that

338
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,240
she should not know of them presents. Of course, they

339
00:21:18,279 --> 00:21:22,079
went to day with our love, he answered gaily. And

340
00:21:22,279 --> 00:21:26,079
what did you send the simplest things in the world.

341
00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:29,079
A string of handsome beads to Aunt Harriet, a pair

342
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,440
of skates to Jimmy, and a cage of the funniest

343
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,960
little waltzing mice you ever saw to Uncle Harold. You see,

344
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,440
it all resolves itself down to a mere matter of system,

345
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,720
he went on, But at the real agony in his

346
00:21:40,759 --> 00:21:46,039
wife's face, he stopped in dismay. Why Edith, Jasper, you

347
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:50,359
didn't you didn't send skates to Jimmy, but I did?

348
00:21:50,799 --> 00:21:57,839
Why not? But Jasper, He's lame, Jasper fell back limply.

349
00:21:58,559 --> 00:22:03,680
All the bravado fled from her face. Edith, how could I?

350
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:09,240
How could I forget a thing like that? He groaned,

351
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,400
and beads for Aunt Harriet. Why Jasper, I never saw

352
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,920
a bead on her neck. You know how poor she

353
00:22:16,079 --> 00:22:19,480
is and how plain she dresses. I always give her

354
00:22:19,559 --> 00:22:24,599
useful practical things. Jasper said nothing. He was still with

355
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,079
Jimmy and the skates. He wished he had bought a book,

356
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,720
a wicked book, if need be, anything would be better

357
00:22:31,759 --> 00:22:38,240
than those skates and mice, mice for Uncle Harold, wept, Edith,

358
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,440
Why Jasper, how could you dirty little beasts that Uncle

359
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,480
Harold can only feed to his cat? And I had

360
00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:49,680
heard so much from Uncle Harold. Oh, Jasper, Jasper, how

361
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:54,559
could you? I don't know, said Jasper dully, as he

362
00:22:54,599 --> 00:22:58,440
got up to leave the room. To Jasper, it was

363
00:22:58,519 --> 00:23:01,680
not a happy Christmas. There were those three letters of

364
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,160
thanks to come, and he did not want to read them.

365
00:23:06,079 --> 00:23:08,480
As it chanced they all came the same day, the

366
00:23:08,559 --> 00:23:12,519
twenty eighth. They were addressed to missus Hawkins, and naturally

367
00:23:12,599 --> 00:23:16,240
she read them first. When Jasper came home that night,

368
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,920
they lay waiting for him on his desk. He saw them,

369
00:23:20,279 --> 00:23:22,559
but he decided not to read them until after dinner.

370
00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:25,960
He felt that he needed all the fortification he could obtain.

371
00:23:27,559 --> 00:23:30,200
He hoped that his wife would not mention them, and

372
00:23:30,279 --> 00:23:33,480
yet he was conscious for vague disappointment when as time

373
00:23:33,599 --> 00:23:38,960
passed she did not mention them. Dinner over further delay

374
00:23:39,039 --> 00:23:42,920
was impossible, and very slowly he picked up the letters.

375
00:23:43,519 --> 00:23:47,799
He singled out Aunt Harriet's first. Dimly, he felt that

376
00:23:47,839 --> 00:23:50,039
this might be a sort of preparation for the wrath

377
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:55,400
to follow. Dear niece and nephew. He read, and he

378
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,200
sat suddenly erect. However in the world did you guess

379
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,319
that it was? Beatsigh wanted more than anything else in

380
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,759
the world, and these are such handsome ones. Ever since

381
00:24:04,799 --> 00:24:07,400
beads and chains have been worn so much, I have

382
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,119
longed for one all my own. But I have tried

383
00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:12,400
to crush the feeling and hide it, for I feared

384
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,240
it might be silly, and me so old and faded

385
00:24:15,279 --> 00:24:18,200
and out of date. But I know now that it isn't,

386
00:24:18,559 --> 00:24:20,519
and that I needn't be ashamed of it any more,

387
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,759
for of course you and Jasper would never give me

388
00:24:23,839 --> 00:24:26,880
anything silly. And thank you ever and ever so much.

389
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,759
With a slightly dazed expression, Jasper Hawkins laid down Aunt

390
00:24:32,799 --> 00:24:36,240
Harriet's letter when he had finished it, and picked up

391
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,559
the one from Uncle Harold. As he did so, he

392
00:24:39,599 --> 00:24:42,400
glanced at his wife, but she was sewing and did

393
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,880
not appear to be noticing him. Well, children, you have

394
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:51,319
done it this time, read Jasper with fearful eyes. The

395
00:24:51,319 --> 00:24:54,039
little beasts came on Christmas morning, and never have I

396
00:24:55,039 --> 00:24:59,880
Jasper turned the page and relaxed, suddenly stopped laughing. So

397
00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:02,680
I believe, how in the world did you happen to

398
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,400
think of a present so original, so cute, and so

399
00:25:05,519 --> 00:25:09,200
everlastingly entertaining the whole house? And I might say the

400
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,559
whole town is in a fever over them. And there

401
00:25:11,559 --> 00:25:14,079
is already a constant stream of children past my window.

402
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,200
You see, I've got the little devils where they can

403
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:21,079
best be seen and appreciated. There was more, much more,

404
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,640
and all in the same strain. And again, as Jasper

405
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:28,119
laid the letter down, he glanced at his wife, only

406
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:33,440
to find a demure, downcast gaze. But one letter now remained,

407
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,920
and in spite of what had gone before, Jasper picked

408
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:41,920
this up with dread. Surely nothing nothing, could reconcile Jimmy

409
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,720
and those awful skates. He winced as he opened the

410
00:25:45,799 --> 00:25:49,680
letter and saw that Jimmy's mother had written, poor Jimmy's mother,

411
00:25:50,079 --> 00:25:53,559
how her heart must have ached. And then he stared

412
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,079
in unbelieving wonder at the words and read them over

413
00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,759
and over, lest he had in some way misconstruing their meaning.

414
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,799
My dear sister and brother, Jimmy's mother had written, I

415
00:26:07,839 --> 00:26:10,680
wish you could have seen Jimmy when your beautiful skates arrived.

416
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,640
He will write you himself and thank you. But I

417
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,119
know he can't half make you understand just what that

418
00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,119
present means to him. So I am going to write

419
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,720
you myself and tell you what he said. Then maybe

420
00:26:21,759 --> 00:26:23,799
you can realize a little what a great joy you

421
00:26:23,839 --> 00:26:27,119
have brought into his life. And let me say right

422
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,799
here that I myself have been blind all these years.

423
00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:33,400
I haven't understood. And what I want to know is,

424
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,920
how did you find it out what Jimmy wanted? How

425
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,559
did you know when I his own mother never guessed.

426
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,880
Why even when the skeates came on Christmas Day, I

427
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,240
was frightened and angry because you had been so thoughtless

428
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:52,599
as to send my poor lame boy skates. And then

429
00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,880
I could hardly believe my own eyes and ears for Jimmy.

430
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,359
His face, one flame of joy, was waving a skate

431
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:05,799
in each hand. Mother, Mother, He was shouting, See, I've

432
00:27:05,799 --> 00:27:09,119
got a boy present, a real boy present, just as

433
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,000
if I was like other boys. I've always had books

434
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,880
and puzzles and girl presents. Everybody's thought of them when

435
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,119
they thought of me. He cried, thumping the crutches at

436
00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,680
his side. But this is a real present. Now I've

437
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:28,079
got something to show and to lend, something that is something.

438
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,039
And on and on he chattered with me, staring at

439
00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:34,000
him as if I thought he was out of his head.

440
00:27:35,319 --> 00:27:38,160
But he wasn't out of his head. He was happy,

441
00:27:38,759 --> 00:27:41,119
happier than I've ever seen him since he was hurt.

442
00:27:41,839 --> 00:27:45,279
And it still lasts. He shows those skates to everyone

443
00:27:45,599 --> 00:27:48,640
and talks and talks about them, and has already made

444
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,359
plans to let his dearest friends try them. Best of all,

445
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,640
they have given him a new interest in life, and

446
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:58,119
he is actually better. The doctors say. At this rate,

447
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:02,279
he'll be using the skates himself some day. And now,

448
00:28:02,799 --> 00:28:05,599
how can I thank you you who have done this thing,

449
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,160
who have been so wise beyond his mother. I can

450
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,599
only thank and thank you, and send you my dearest love,

451
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:19,759
your affectionate sister Bertha, the senior member of the firm

452
00:28:19,799 --> 00:28:23,319
of Hawkins and Hawkins, folded the letter very hurriedly and

453
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,680
tucked it into its envelope. There was a mist in

454
00:28:26,759 --> 00:28:30,160
his eyes, and a lump in his throat, too, most

455
00:28:30,279 --> 00:28:35,440
uncalled for, unwelcome phenomena. With a determined effort, he cleared

456
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:40,799
his throat and began to speak. You see, Edith, He observed, pompously,

457
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:45,039
Your fears were quite groundless after all this Christmas shopping.

458
00:28:45,319 --> 00:28:50,519
If reduced to a system, he paused. Suddenly, his wife

459
00:28:50,599 --> 00:28:53,839
had stopped her sewing and was looking straight into his eyes.

460
00:28:57,039 --> 00:29:00,279
End of a matter of system by Eleanor H. Porter