5 ACORN "That is the one, sir! Oh, how can I ever thank you?" Her eyes glistened with tears. Dr. Park noticed that her eyes were large and brown. "Do you live far from here?" asked Dr. Park. She mentioned a place in the outskirts of the city and was about to leave. He went with her and called a cab. She murmured against this, but he silently helped her into the cab. The ride was a long one, but it was only when they neared the poorer districts of the city that he noticed her poor, old-fashioned dress and coat. The cabman was instructed to stop at a large tenement house and Dr. Park and the lady went up the rickety stairs. The door was open and they stopped when they heard a childish voice say, "Oh, do tell us about him, Joe." Four little children were seated around the stove. The man and the woman near the door could hear every word said by a boy, the eldest of the group. "Many years ago there were three men who were called wise men. They started out to find Jesus, for they had been told that he was to be born. They followed a big star to a shed, and there in a manger, they found the little Christ Child. The wise men gave Him presents and worshiped Him. "Not far from the shed there were some shepherds, who watched their sheep by night. They were awakened by the sound of sweet voices and a glorious light which shone in the heavens. They fell upon their knees. And then from the heavens came the words: 'Glory to God in the highest and peace and good will toward men.' "The shepherds went to the manger also to find the child. Christmas is Christ's birthday. He loved little children, for once he said: 'Suffer little children to come unto Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' That is why we should be happy on Christmas for He loved us all and wanted us to be happy." Earl Park stood silently for a few minutes, then gently pushing the mother into the room, he descended the stairs. An hour later he returned and his face wore a different expression. He stopped at the dcor, produced a skeleton key and after a short time succeded in opening the door. He entered the room. All was dark, the fire had gone down but he was able to find the four small stockings and the one larger one. He felt a paper on one of the stockings and, lighting a match, he read: Dear Santa: Please bring us something good to eat for Christmas. And Santa, I would like a nice daddy to take care of us so mamma won't have to work so hard. All of the other boys have daddies. JOE. ACORN 6 He filled the stockings with the things he had brought and into the toe of the longer stocking he put a fifty dollar note. That night Dr. Park slept well. He had done the first good deed for his fellow men, outside of the line of his profession, for years. The next morning he called at the police department and obtained the name of the lady he had met the night before and sent an order to the grocer for her. A few days later he was riding along the street in his automobile, just returning from a visit to one of his patients, when he saw her. He stopped and called to her. Mrs. Covington hesitated a few minutes, then accepted his offer to ride. Whether by accident or design the road toward home was forgotten and they found themselves riding along one of the fashionable thoroughfares. People greeted the doctor, then looked at the poorly clad, yet smiling woman at his side. The doctor learned that she was a widow, her husband having died three years before. She had found it rather hard to get along. They stopped talking. Her face lost its smile and a look of wistfulness came into the brown eyes. She was thinking of her old home, her old life, her old friends, those she had known and loved before the death of her husband. It seemed as if she were living again in the memory of her former life. It was dusk when they reached her home. The children came down stairs to meet her. They looked at the strange man who smiled at them. Then their mother picked the youngest up in her arms and ran tip the steps. That year witnessed a change in Dr. Park. The long felt necessity had been realized and he was made happy. Little Joe would tell with pride of the long rides he took with the big- doctor in his auto, but the doctor's favorite was little brown-eyed, curly-haired Inez who used to come up to his house. She reigned in the big house as its rightful queen. It was Christmas, a year later. The bells were ringing in the grand old church. Throngs of people were issuing from its doors, but as we draw nearer we see Dr. Park, his lovely little wife and family, enter his large car and start up the road toward their home. "It's not so hard to be happy any way, Dorthea," he was saying. "It's all in sharing your life with someone else that makes it worth while." EVA ARBON, '16.