Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1863-10-17
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VI :
tbe breath Of aa~ers., A golden shroatsd
bird srilIsd NOTES iofseushiag; lmssical joy
70 the rosses and bellottupes ia the win
dow below him. i did not sound like he
song Of 4. Gagged bird. o Perhaps the swss.
odor s.ealiag up Ito, him irem the bios.
soms, the sunshine on his golden wings,
stirred some slombering bird memory Of
his, and made him think he was at home
again in the summer isle round which the
purple sea breaks murmurously, and
where the roses bloom all the year. The
furniture Was light and graceful. The
carpet was gray. Nothing was red there
but the two faces, mother and son.
They had been talking long and ear.
nestfy. Then for while they had So. in
silence which the sou, Charley Wayne.
WAS the first to break. .... e.
'1' you were poor mother, and really
needed me, would stay at home without
saving work.
my heart ;s poor-my heart needs you.
You are my ALL For the rest, vii! sell
all have and give to the poor, and you
shalt stay and werk for me-"
Charley looked up at her with eyes
whose. meaning al~ays stirred her soul,
for they were the eyes Of her youths love.
Over such eyes grew the roses and violets
Of that same June Of 1862.
What would father have said, mother
The question found its mark. She we'll
knew from whence came her sons quick
courage, his eyes Of earnest meaning, bis
heart true A. steel, warm As GUNNER. If
father were living he would not have been
the last to follow the bugle call. Yet she
did no, want to utter her own sentence of
doom.
She did not speak for q little while
She seemed to see again the face Of her
los. love-to hear bis voice, which had.
through the years of their life together,
been guide at once and comfort. She
almost seemed to hear in the still summer
air the downward swoop Of wings, and to
feel upon her brow touch Of peace and
healing. She looked up again a. Charley.
How strong he was handsome, noble
and brave just the stuff Of which heroes
are made. Had she any right to deprive
the good cause Of tie blows that stout
right arm could strike? After all wha,
were peace and security, which only the
sacrifice Of the right could purchase? If
this life were all-but wheE the words
spoken here must echo through the ever.
lasting spaces, when the deeds dore here
must make or mar The life that never ends,
could even love aud loneliness make her
so weak as to purchase the present with
the future! She looked at Charley still
but she could not see him for the tears
gathered in her soft, mo.herly blue eyes.
Father would say co. she whispered,
"snd must say what father would, must
I.ot? l must prove myself worthy TO
have been his wife. But be is dead, and
If should loose you also, Oh whom have
leh7" n'-
"God!' Did Charley speak or was it
the voice Of strong angel calling down
from the eternal high,s2 ~:2, l-..
Mrs. Wayne bowed her head reverently,
silenced by that word, by the thought of
tho love beyond hope or longing which
might be hers, if she would. She dared
not again call herself alone in the nj.
verse. She only put out her hand silently
and Charley took it.
"Never, fear, mother. All who fight do
not fall. | shall come back to you, and
you shall sit when you are old under my
vine and fig tree. aad tell your grand
children stories Of how their fathers help.
ed to save the country" = z~.s E=~
"Heaven grant it," she whispered, try.
ing to be brave, ana smile, as he left her
to tell the boys Of the Twenty FIRST that
he was ready to accept the leutenan.'s
commission that had been offered him.
Ii was proud day when he marched
away with bis men,. Even his mother, a.
she watched him from the window, and
met the fearless eyes which sof,ened into
. glance Of love as they saw her face, felt
. thrill Of exultation, q pride in her brave
son. which for the time kept her tears
back. But the tears came when she heard
no longer the martial music that cheered
him on-wbea the noon-dsy silence fell
around her, and the noonday light, gay,
glaring, pisiless, looked in upon her woe
She shut her window blinds aud drew
down her curtains for the brigh, dsy
seemed mocking her. Mute with sorrow,