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                              MR. BLAKE’S
                            WALKING-STICK:

                _A CHRISTMAS STORY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS_.

                         BY EDWARD EGGLESTON,

                               AUTHOR OF
       “THE ROUND TABLE STORIES,” “THE CHICKEN LITTLE STORIES,”
                 “STORIES TOLD ON A CELLAR DOOR,” ETC.

                               CHICAGO:
                ADAMS, BLACKMER, & LYON PUBLISHING CO.
                                 1872.

        Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870,
            BY ADAMS, BLACKMER, & LYON PUBLISHING COMPANY,
      In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

                         RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
                      STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
                      H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.




                                TO OUR
                           LITTLE SILVERHAIR
                   Who used to listen to My Stories;
                            BUT WHO IS NOW
           Listening to the Christmas Stories of the Angels,
                        THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED.




PREFACE.


_I have meant to furnish a book that would serve for a Christmas
present to Sunday-scholars, either from the school or from their
teachers. I hope it is a story, however, appropriate to all seasons,
and that it will enforce one of the most beautiful and one of the most
frequently forgotten precepts of the Lord Jesus._

                                                      EDWARD EGGLESTON.




CONTENTS.

                        CHAPTER I.

    THE WALKING-STICK WALKS                         11

                        CHAPTER II.

    LONG-HEADED WILLIE                              20

                       CHAPTER III.

    THE WALKING-STICK A TALKING STICK               25

                        CHAPTER IV.

    MR. BLAKE AGREES WITH THE WALKING-STICK         31

                        CHAPTER V.

    THE FATHER PREACHES, THE SON PRACTICES          36

                        CHAPTER VI.

    SIXTY-FIVE DOLLARS                              39

                       CHAPTER VII.

    THE WIDOW AND THE FATHERLESS                    44

                       CHAPTER VIII.

    SHARPS AND BETWEENS                             51

                        CHAPTER IX.

    THE ANGEL STAYS THE HAND                        55

                        CHAPTER X.

    TOMMY PUFFER                                    57

                        CHAPTER XI.

    AN ODD PARTY                                    58




MR. BLAKE’S WALKING-STICK.




CHAPTER I.

_THE WALKING-STICK WALKS._


Some men carry canes. Some men make the canes carry them. I never could
tell just what Mr. Blake carried his cane for. I am sure it did not
often feel his weight. For he was neither old, nor rich, nor lazy.

He was a tall, straight man, who walked as if he loved to walk, with a
cheerful tread that was good to see. I am sure he didn’t carry the cane
for show. It was not one of those little sickly yellow things, that
