Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1867-11-14
THE MAN at THE DOOR.
By MARY KYLE DALLAS.

By MARY KYLE DALLAS.
mo tramps here" said I; and /
shut the door in his face, dill. The
wind blew 50 I coul,l hardly do it.
and the sleet was healIng on the
panes. and the bare trees were groan
ing and moaning as il they suffered
in the storm. No tramps here; I'm
q lone woman, and I'm afraid OF
I'm "
Then the man, l hadn't seen vet
for the dark. went away from the
door champ. champ. chamn, through
The slush, and | heard the gate creak.
as our gate always does; and then
champ. champ. champ came the mtn
hack again. and he Knocked on the
door-knoeked not half SO loud as
he knocked before. anil ] opened it
hot and angry. This time saw hi
face, pale, ghost of Il face, with
yellow brown hair cropped close, and
great staring blue eyes: ani he put
his hand against the doot and held
it open. aes
How near is the next house, mad
an,?' said he
Three miles or more" said |.
"And that il not taYef,?"
No said 7; ''no drinks 10 he got
there; it's Miss Mittcns, and She >
as set a2in tramps ns am
Il don't want To drink said the
man, .thougl,I / do want food You
needr.'t he alrai to let me Iii ma am
I've been wounded and am not ahle
TO walk far. and my clothes are thin,
and its biller coi.l I've been try in2
TO get t. ny parents at Gfeenbank
where can l,st untii II cttci; and
all my money WAS stolen from ME
three davs ago. You needn't he
afraid; let me just lie before the fire.
and only give a crust, 10 keep me
from starving. and the Lord will
bless you fer it
AMI then he Looked at me with his
wild blue eyes in n way that would
have made me do it if hadn't seen
so much of these impost"rS The
war was just over. ami every heg%ar
that came along said that iie was Il
soldier travelling home, AMI had been
wounded AMI rolib d. One that
had been fool enough 10 help, limpet'
out of sight, as he thought, an'i llen.
for l WAS at the garreJ window,
shouldered bis crutches, and tramped
it with the strongest .........
No doubt your pocket is full oi
money" said l, land you only wan
a chance TO rob and murder me. ca
away with yon."' .aa
Dfusilla, that's my niece, was ba
king short cakes in the kitchen :
just then she came To the door and
molioned with her mouth TO me
"Do let him Stay auntie,' aud #
hadn thad good sense | mi .,ht. but
knew better than chit of sixteen.
$50 away with you says |. loud
er than before. Il won't have this
any longer
And he gave kind Of groan, and
took his hand from the latch, ant
went champ, champ. champ. champ
through the frozen snow again; and
I thought him gone, when there wa'
once more, hardly with knock at al
"A faint touch, like q cliild's now.
And when l opened the dooragain
he came quite in, and stoo | leaning
on his cane. pale as u ghost, his eyes
bigger than ever Esq -
We'll. OF all impudence." said 1
lie looked at me, and said he
Madam, have mother at Green
i,ank want 10 live TO see her.
shall not ii l try to go any iurthel
to night" He3 sag
'.rhey all want to see their moth
ers, said /; and just then it came int
my mind that hoped my son Charlie
sho had been real soldier, an OF
ticer le had come to br, mind, want
ell to see his, and would soon be 4
home.
II have been wounded, as yo'
see," said he.
Don't go a showing me yon
hurts" said I; "they buy 'em, S,
they tell me, to go logging witt
now. ! read the papers, | tell ye
and I'm principled, and SOS GU
clergyman, agin giving anything, TN
les, its through some well organizes
society. Tranps are my abonina
tion. And as for keeping you a
night, You can't expect that OF dscen
folks Co..
/ DrusilIa came to the door and SAID
Let him stay, aunty," with her p
again but l took no notice.
So he went, and this time did nc
come back; and / sat down by til
lire and listened t. the wind an
sleet, and smelt the baking cakes an
the apples ste~ing, and the tea draw
ing on the kitchen stove, and ougi
10 have been very comfortable, b,
| wasn't. Something kept tuggin
at my heart all the time.
] gave the fire a poke, and lit al
other candle TO cheer myself up, an
[ went to my work basket to get Il
stock I'd been knitting for my Cha
lie; and as went to get it / saw som