Bagley High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Bagley, IA)

Page 79 text:

J .. The Grade Operetta RED CANDLES Mrs., Nansen had come to this country from Norway, with her two children QGeraldine Renfrow, and Jibby fBi11y Deal,, to claim an inheritance. Just after they landed she left the children to seek information and never returned. This happened on Christmas Eve, five years prior to the present Christmas Eve, when we find Gilda and Iibby welcoming carol singers Q3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades, to their living room. After the carol singers leave, Gilda sings Iibby a lullaby and takes him off to bed to give Santa Claus fGary Pittman, a chance to bring his electric train. J'ibby's dream is enacted, in which he is made happy by the arrival of Santa Claus and a promise of the return of his mother. Lawyer Snidge QDon Templeton, the children's new guardian, arrives with his son QByron Swedburg, and daughter fMary Lou Johansen, and two of their friends fSue Westre and Marjorie Erps. Gilda is dismayed at the thought of being separated from Jibby, but her protests are in vain. Snidge tells her that he is sending them away immediately after Christmas. Gilda lights candles in the window, hoping against hope that they will prove a magnet to draw her mother to them. The carolers return, and Gilda concelas her despondency as they sing a happy song. Madam Clara fVivian Collins, has come with Mabel QDonna Duncan, to help get the baskets ready which the girls are to distribute to poor families. She notices her picture on the table, andis mystified by its presence. Lawyer Snidge arrives and mentions his plan for the children. On hearing their names Madam Clara realizes that she is the chil- dren's mother. She was struck by a car five years and had suffered a complete loss of memory., There is a happy reunion of mother and children, with prospects of the little farnily living together unhampered by the mercenary Snidge.