ccurred to Mr. and Mrs. Hawley, crouched guiltily against
their door to hear their victims pass, for their amazed ears caught
these words--the first were Kate's:

"You must let me give you some of my lotion."

And then came Mead's:

"I shall be _most_ grateful. It must be hot stuff. You know you're
hardly disfigured at all."

"The saints forgive him," Patty gurgled.

Later on in the darkness, Jimmie's idea visited Mead and was received
with some cordiality. And at some time later still, it must have been
presented to Miss Perry, for the misanthropic Mead--no longer
misanthropic--now boasts a massive and handsome wife whom he calls his
Little Kitty. But the idea was originally Jimmie's.

THE CHRISTMAS GUEST

On the day before Christmas eve John Sedyard closed his desk, dismissed
his two clerks and his stenographer two hours earlier than usual, and
set out in quest of adventure and a present for his sister Edith. John
Sedyard had a habit of succeeding in all he set forth to do but the
complete and surprising success which attended him in this quest was a
notch above even his high average.

Earlier in the month, his stenographer had secured the annual pledges of
his affection for all the relatives, friends and dependants to whom he
was in the habit of giving presents: all except his mother, his
unmarried sister, Edith, who still lived at home, and his fiancee, Mary
Van Plank. The gifts for these three, he had decided, must be of his
own choice and purchase. He had provided for his mother and for Mary
earlier in the week. Neither excitement nor adventure had attended upon
the purchase of their gifts. Something for the house or the table was
always the trick for elderly ladies who presided over large
establishments and gave their whole souls to the managing of them. He
bought for his mother a set of colonial silver candlesticks. For Mary,
he bought a comb of gold--all gold, like her own lovely hair. The dark
tortoise shell of the one she wore always seemed an incongruous note in
her fair crown. But Edith was as yet unpresented, and it was on her
account that Mr. Sedyard deserted his office and delighted his
subordinates at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Edith was much more difficult than the other two had been. She was
strong-minded, much given to churchwork and committees. Neither the
home, as represented by the candlesticks, nor self-adornment as
typified by the golden comb could be expected to appeal