The Red Cloud chief., 1886-01-01
CHARLEY AND HIS MOTHER.
He Did Not Understand Her. Hut She
Loved Him All the same.

She had certainly been a trying
mother. While there az" Try ING peo-
pie in the world. il follows naturally
that some of them viii - mothers, and
Deacon Hanson- wife va, one OF
them. The deacon WAS of German
descent-ani perhap, some If the
compOsure of hi, nature came from
that. He WA, a -iolid sort of 4 man.
some people said; bu; that wa. ju,,
what Deacon Hanson was not.
He was simply Il patient man. De-
lieving that God ruled the world. and
that j, was an i'll thing to pull agains,
providence. Moreover he had in him
a wonderful capacity for un>rlii>h and
lon@-cnduring love. H. had married
Jane Grey because he loved her. and
he loved her still. when she was fifty
years old, a WHY. frctfdl woman. in
whose worn and worried aspect no >ug-
gc,tion Of her sweet youth was left in
any other eve than hi. He looked a,
her through the mist Of vanished wears.
II saw. with some >ccond--ight 81
the heart. the roses If long AGO ON her
checks. and the light of other DAYS in
her eyes.
But that was what her son could not
do. III had no memories Of day, old
err than himself; and eve since h. could
remember she had been frctful and
hard 10 please. Only when he had
been i'll. AZ times. She had nurScd him
SO tcnderly that he began 10 find GU,
the mother side of her nature. and half
longcd 10 be- i'll ovcr again, when he
got well. and all this unwontcd soft
ness vanished. He used 10 envy BOYS
who c0WH 90 10 their mothers with all
their little troubles and joyS-,hcirf fail
urcs and their successes. His mother
desired. indeed. 10 be- Informed If his.
but she seemed 10 him III the first place
To claim his confidence a. a right. .nd
then 10 Use it - 4 text for fault-iiuding.
S~o-in>tead of trying to thaw her
ont with the sunshine Of hi, lovc-hc
shut his heart away from her. and new
or spent Il moment with her that he
could possibly avoid. Thus there grew
up between them a sort Of wall. over
which she looked at him sometimes. as
he then thought. sullenly. He knows
now. too late. that il was with dumb
longing in her eyes. For suddenly She
was taken ill. and her illness was sharp
and short. Her son va. away from
home. They sem for him; but when
he came il was too late for her To turn
back from the gate Of the other world
To speak some last word for this. He
ven into the house, into the we'll
known room. and there he saw her "
ing dead.
did she leave any las, message for
me:?" he asked his father. who sat beside
the bed. gray with his unspoken sorrow.
Not exactly. She only cried out.
just as she was going: oh. if Charley
and could only have been like other
SON and other mothers And then.
before | could answer her. she WAS
gone. always knew you didn't un-
derstand her. Charley; but she loved
day of really good health after
YOU were born, and she suffered so she
couldn't be gay and clipper and easy
going. But she did love YOU. Charley"
And there she lay. dead-and the
boy felt that if he had but drawn
nearer 10 her. and warmed her with his
love. he might have found ont her suf-
fering. and cheered her with his ten
derness. and warmed her with his love,
and tasted the sweetness II being like
other ions with other mothers And
so knowing. over his heart there fell
the shadow of n sorrow and 4 sclf-con-
dcmnation which will not leave him
while life shall last.
All. let Us be tender and pitiful 10
u own. now. to-day. and not wait
until we see them lying Touth's
COmDdntOn.