New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-05-30
HER TWO BOYS.
An Incident of Decoration Da,


HER TWO BOYS.
An Incident of DECORATION Day.
BY MRS. NJ L. RAYNE.
{ She was a stern-visaged woman, with.
many lines craven deep on her face by
those two sculptors, time and care. Her
form was somewhat bent with the weight of
years, butt bore the uprightness of resist
ance yet Her hair, drawn back under a
mourning veil, was as white as snow. She
did not look tender, loving and loyal, but
she was all three.
Acc ompanied by a young girl, she moved
slowly through the crowded cemetery to
the lodge of the old sexton.
How are my two boys?' she asked when
they reached him.
Her lips quivered, and you saw then
that the luster had gone out of her
eyes forever, and that the little maid
whose hand she held was eyes for the
blind.
.sThe boys are all right, ma am, said
the sexton with deep respect, they re safe
and tidy. I've put bit of decoration
there myself, for I thought mebbe ye
might not come to-day"
'Whpn do not come. it will be because
my feet are stayed here" answered the
blind mother II have the flags and flow
ers with me. Are their graves greene"
AS green, ma am, as June, which
it nearly is. An the flowers a-groW-
in of their own accord as thick as
stars in clear sky. 2
They moved together to the part Of the
cemetery where the little flags studded the
grass above the boys in blue.
Here they are; just feel of them bit,
ma am. The grass as soft as a baby S
cheek to the touch, ma am, ] warrant. .
TIE mother knelt reyerently by the two
graves that were SO exactly alike no eve
coald detect the difference. She laid her
witheied face against the cool growing
grass, and remained motionless a long
time. And if she were crying out in re-
bellion in her heart, or if she were pray
ing, there were none to know, save God,
| who could see and hear.
Boys, she called softly at last; s'boys,
| mother comet
Other mourners came bringing their
| flowers andpassed on. An old man whose
four soldier lads slept near stopped to look
at this lonely, crouching figure
The sexton Informed him in pantomime
that she was not in her right mind-out
OF her head.
sShe doesn't know the difference, . he
| said in an undertone, ''but the two soldier
| boys buried here lre not hers. They are
rebs. They came north and died in the
hospital. They knew Of her boys, and
| were the first to tell her that they died at
Chattanooga. She was sick a long time
after that, and has never beenright since.
When these two died of their wounds and
| were buried here, she found it out and said
they were her boys and she's always be-
lieyed it. An it don't do her bit Of
harm, as can see. !"
The old man turned away, shaking his
head sadly, while the mother arranged
| the flowers on the two graves to suit her
| sightless touch.
| When they were finished they were just
alike in their decorations, even to the
two flags crossed at their heads. my
boys" murmured the stricken mother,
my dear, dead soldier boys whom God
hath in His most holy keeping. Mother
will be with you soon. 1t is almost time,
cannot see your faces. or even your dear
graves, but He will tell you that mother
is coming soon. y
Oh! divine passion of human
love and sorrow! Who shall say
that Thou, too, hast not miracle OF
transubstantiation for this mothers faith
That while she Weeps by these two graves
wherein lie sleeping the two brave soldier
boys, some unknown mother may not be
watching her brave lads in some southern
1 blyouac OF the dead. And that for this
day and hour; each was given to his own,
! by order of tfle Great Commander, tc
whom the soldiers of the south and the
soldiers of the north, the boys in gray and
the boys in blue, have alike surrendered
Modern Improvements in Devotion.
A friend of mine has a telephone II
his East End residence Likewise be
4 possesses a little daughter some -four
years in age, of winning ways, sweet
face, and artfully artless manners.
When bedtime came a few nights acc
/ the mother Of this little maid could not
i find her. She was not in the nursery
and, carrying on the search, her mother
reached the landing on the stairs There
she stayed a moment, and, listening
heard the babe voice in the hall be
low. Looking over the banisters she
was surprised to see tiny Miss Mabel
standing on a hall chair ard talking In
to the telephone in a loud voice.
Hello! Hello! Hello, Central!' the
child was saying in exact imitation q
/ her fathers manner. Hello, Central
Give me heaven, ! want t SAY my
pray Pittsburg Dispatch.
He Left Mementoes.
Dr.. Everett Wagner of Meteali
4 county, Kentucky, d;ed recently anc
his will declares that his friends who
neglected him in life wanted small
trinkets as menentoes. hence he directs
that his body be cut into pieces and