it was one of the last days before christmas, and the as sistants in the large store had their hands full serving eager christmas shoppers.

　　at one counter an old lady was choosing gloves red ones for her daugher in law, light blue ones for her niece, pink ones for her grand daughter, green ones for her sister and by the time she had found what she wanted, the counter was covered with pairs of all colors and sizes.

　　when the salesgirl had finally written out the bill and was about to turn to the next customer with a tired voice. "thank you very much, madam," the old lady suddenly cried out, "oh, i almost forgot..."——"anything else, madam?" said the girl, "yes," began the old lady, "i'd like to buy another pair, but i' m not quite sure about what exactly i should cloose. i wonder if you could help me." "certainly, madam", was the girl's reply. the old lady then went on to explain that what she was looking for was a pair of gloves for a girl of her age. she was not at ail sure what color to choose, and the design was a problem too.　the tired girl did her best to help the old lady make up her mind, showing her ail kinds of gloves.

　　at last the chosen pair of gloves were wrapped up and paid for as well, and as the girl was about to turn to the next customer, the old lady handed her a little parcel and said, "these now, dear, these are for you and thank you for being so patient. i do hope you have a merry christmas !"