Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-02-13
The gturp.Teller.
THE MAN AT THE DOOR.
BY MARY KYLE DALLAS.

his face, I did The wind blew so could hardl.
do it, and the seet was beating on the panes, ant
the bare treeswere groaning and moaning as i the!
suffered in the storm. 'No tramps here; I'm
lone woman, and I am afraid Of 'em-
Then the man hadn't seen yet, for the dark
went away from the door. Champ, champ, cham9I
came the man back again, and knocked on the
door-knocked not half as loud as he did before
and I opened it, hot and angry. This time saw
his face-a pale ghost of aface-with yellow brown
hair, cropped close, and great staring blue eyes
and he put his hand against the door and held Il
open: o.,
Three miles or more, said l.. ..-.....
uAnd that is not a tayernr.'. -. ,!,,.,,... n. =,
Sssfo.' said I; ;ssno drinks to be got there it
Miss Mitten's, and she's as set agin tramps as
am" 49,, ,,,,
81 don't want drink" said the man. though
do want food You needn't be afraid to let me IN
ma'am I've been wounded, and am not able te
walk far and my clothes are thin, and lt's bitter
cold. I've been trying to get to my. parents al
Greenbank where I can rest till I'm better; and
all my money was stolen from me three days ago.
You needn't be afraid; let me just lie before the
fire, and only give me crust the stalest crust tc
Keep me from starving, and the Lord Will bless
you for it. .,,,,
ewes in a way that would have made me do it It II
hadn't been I'd seen 50 much of those impostors.
The war was just over, and every beggar that came
along said he was soldier travelling home, and had
been wounded and robbed. One that had been
fool enough to help, Gmped away out OF sight, as
he thought, and then-for l. t. was at the garTet
window-shouldered his crutches, and tramped 1t
with the strongest. .g..
I, "and you only want chance TO rod ana murder
me. Go away with you !" :,
Drusila, that's my niece, was baking cakes In
the kitchen. Just then she came to the door, and
motioned with her mouth to me DO let him
stay, auntie," and if I hadn't had good sense
might but T knew better than a chit Of sixteen;
aGo away with you!'' says I, louder than be-
fore. II won't have this any longer"
hand from the latch, and went champ, champ,
champ, through the frozen snow again; and
thought him gone, when there he was once more,
hardly with knock at ala faint touch, like a
And when opened the door again he came
quite in, and stood leaning on his cane, pale as
ghSsMs aIs sysI s isgsf Hgsdsnos snoe syss said
He looked at me, and he said:
'tMadam, have mother at Greenbank. l
want to live to see her. / shall not if try to go
any further tonight.
sThey all want to see their mothers" and just
then it came into my mind that l hoped my son,
Charlie, who had been q real soldier, an officer he
had come to be, mind you, wanted to see his, and
would soon.
'sFI have been wounded, as you see" said he.
''Don't 90 showing me your hurts, said L ;
'they buy em, so they told me, to 90 begging
with now. Tread the papers, tell ye, and N
principled, and SOS our clergyman, agin giving
anything, unless it's through some well organized
society. Tramps are my abomination. And as to
keeping you all night, you can't expect that OF de-
Drusilla came to the door and said: o..
s'Let him stay, auntie," with her lips again, but
I took no notice
So he went, and this time did not come back
and sat down by the fire, and snlelt the baking
cakes and the apples stewing; and the tea drawing
on the kitchen stove and ought 70 nave Deel
very comfortable, but Iwasn't. Something seem
ed tugging at my heart all the time.
4 gave the fire poke, and lit another candle tt
cheer myself up and went to my work basket tf
get the sock I had been knitting for my Charlie
and as went to get it saw something lying OF
the floor. picked it up. 1t was an old tobacco
pouch, ever SO much like the one gave Charlie
with fringe around it and written on 1T In INK
''From c. F. to r. H. !" and inside was Dit o
old letter /; and when spread it out l saw on thf
top, "My dear son.
+ know the beggar must have dropped it, anc
my heart gave one big thump, as though 1t hae
been turned into hammer.
Perhaps the story was true, and he had moth
err I shivered all over, and the fire and the can
dies and the nice comfortable smells might as vel
not have been at all. Twas cold and wretched.
And over and over again had [ to say to mysel
what heard our pastor say often: Never glv'
ANYTHING to chance beggars, my dear friends; al
ways bestow your aims on worthy persons, through
weI-organized societies," before could get bl
of comfort. And what an old fool was to cry
thought, when l found my cheeks wet ill.,, a,,,
But did not cry long, for, as l sat there, das
and crash and jingle came sleigh over the road
and it stopped at our gate, and l heard my Char
lies voice crying: ''Halloa, mother!" And out
went to the door, and had him in my arms, m
great, tall, handsome brown son. And there b
was in his uniform with his pretty shoulderstraps
and as hearty as if he never had been through an
hardships He had to leave me to put the hors
up, and then had by the fire my own boy An
Drusilla, who had been up stairs, and had pee
cryinc-why, I wonder ?-came down all in flut
teLfor they were like brother and sister-and b
kissed her, and she kissed him, and then away sh
went to set the table, and the nice hot thing
smoked on a cloth as white as snow; and hoy
Charlie enjoyed them! But once, IN the midst
know turned pale, for Drusila said: what
the natter Aunt Fairfax?
I said nothing but it was this: Kind O hk
the ghost of step, going champ champ over tn
frozen snow kind o like the ghost Of a voice sa!
ing: tLet me lie on the floor before your fire, an
give me any kind of crust" kind o like son
One that had mother down on the wintry roa
and freezing and starving to death there; That
what it was But put it away, and only thougl
of Charlie.
We drew up together by the fire when the + +
was done, and he told us things about the war
never heard before-how the soldiers suffered, ar
what weary marches and short rations they som
times had And then he told me how his life hs
been in danger; how he had been set upon by tt
foe and badly wounded and how, at the risk
his own life, fellow-soldier had saved him, ar
carried him away, fighting his path back to cam al
std never seen you but for him, saysmy Cha
lie. 'sAnd if there's man on earth love, It
Rob Hadaway-the dearest best fellow We,
shared each others rations, and drank from Il
same canteen many and many time; and hf
a brother, I couldn't think more Of him.
''Why didn't you bring him home to see yo
mother, Charlie" said |. "Why, la love nj
too, and anything l could do for him, for the M;
who saved my boys life, couldn'tb be enough Sci
for him, Charlie"
But Charlie shook his head and covered
face with his hands.
'sMother," said he, II don't know whether Rt
Hadayay Is alive or dead TODAY While "