The Gavelyte, December 1913

CE.DAR ILLE COLLEG ""'ell, happy faces and to} and Ch11istmas trees ain't going to haYe nothing to do with th.is st::i ry," answered Buck, "and if you'll help me, I'll write it right now." Ben respondE<l that he was "ith him to the bHter end and the ~tory proc eded: "This ain't a true tor:r. ~Iosit Christmas stories say they a.re true, but they ain't. It was a hc,t day in Dec rn 1 bEr; Oh, it "~8lq as l,ot as the fourth of July." Here Ben interrupted. "Say. that's putting it pretty stron,g, h,n·t it'?" "Di<ln't I tell you," Buck replied. "that this wa,sn·t going to 1 be onf' o tbce te>ries like you re:ad in Forward." He compromised the mat– < r, l!c ·vever, by ubstitutln,g the third of July for the fourth and be– ,,_an again: .. o of course there wasn't any snow on the ground and no l'leigr,bells :inging out, 'Pc-ace on earth.' And us fello•ws. didn't have happy, roiling faces £lither because we h-ad to go to church to give our entertainment. Bill Jones and me ihad to sing a carol and just as we linished, 'Reddy' came to the window and told us that the other fellow, had swipe:d the treat. So when t,he preacher started 1.o ,·ind up, we beat it out the side door to the woods. ·we could not eat the candy, though as it was too hard. I guess it was S'O>me that the groN,l' had traded in on bb pew rent So W" had a b~Jl game and then went in swimming. "·e got tired of that a,fter a while, S'O we g,o Bill's deck and had a game. I Hrk f d Bill bei.::,ause he trumped n.y aee and be got mad and \Vent h.ome. I did too, and dad met me at th€' gate. I wantEd to go to l>ed right away, but he thought we ought to take our physical exErcise first. ,Ye don't have a gyim, so dad made the woodshed do. H E•aid it hurt him more than it did me, o I w1 ·IHd him a M rry Chr'..st111a and-that's all." Buck . topp€d writl:ng and look .d at Ben x·p r 1 tantly. Ben rose to the occa' ion. Pr tty good, but, 'tr, don'L you think it lacks an appear– auce 01 r ality: tho. e climatic onditicns are--<well to say the Jeas,t 1at11 r u11u.sual." Bu<·k was stump a 1 ·a. or scape, h to t, JI l ou tliat tb is d for a mom nt, but only a moment. for seei ng add Ed thi1 p~.,;tsC'ripc: "Drnr TEia.:her, I forgot happ ned in J<'lorida." L• ll Jfr,J11 tor f'n : L 111Pn • A oorl au ·wpr turni-tll n,"ay Z"t"''1 Au an.,\\'( r ill ti lJl .-,a\ 8 11 iue (01' t 11 ) Au fill 'PJ' j II !la• )J ad i. wnr t,11 two in thP l' - li' . • mil Hlll'I •1it IOUI' ((Hh, aud )011 l'Hl1 HC('Olll)}lisb \\'Of)d(l'S, 3