The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1888-05-24

| inCapacitated from doing so at the time,
and the son went out from his native town
at the head of his company, followed by the
| bcnediCtion Of his father, and with the
echo of his parting words in his ear: Lick
'em, boy. Thrash EN- out of their boots for
me, since | can not 60 myself" A much
| more characteristic leave taking than a
more sentimental one would have been.
The young man rode away with share
Of his fathers vindictive spirit infused
| into his own Ecntlcr nature, hut as the War
! progressed he saw 80 many touches of a
/ kindred natHrc among the people he had
| como 20 conquer that he came to pity as
well as blame. and eliminated his soft
heart cduCss by falling desperately in love
with the fair and gentle girl who aftcTward
became his wife and the mother of his
children.
He had found hc- in an old mansion
| which the Cpicn forces had takes posses
sion of, caring for an invalid mother, and
covering and trembling with fear, with no
one beside TO protect her but an old negro
nanny and her dcCrepit husband, and his
| chivalric heart went out to her at once as
| nc treasured and Gained her fears, and
| made the invasion as pleasant as possible
under the circumstances The troops were
quartered in the vicinity for fortnight,
\ and, when they were ordered on, HolrOyd
| Graham carried the heart of the fair
/ southern girl away with him RId left his
own in her keeping.
! The fathers wrath may be imagined
| when. upon his sons return from the war,
| SCARED from honorable service, he lcarne5
| that ne was determined to make the PENN
! less Southern girl his wife; but the son had
! his share Cf his fathers tirmncss, and after
I fierce quarrel, they parted, the son leav-
| ing wealth and home for the sake OF her
whom he loved.
| The breach Mad never been healed. and
! Hnl'Nrd Graham, after ten years of happy
! married life. died lingering and painful
death, in consequence of injuries received
during his army life, leaving hi. heart
| broken wife with Grace. mere chii1, and
! the twins. helpless .nfauts, upon her hands
! to rca" ard educate.
| The widows pension, which fortunately
I was a liberal one 1uhiccd with the little
which ther lad accumulated to keep actual
/ war: from the door and the delicate hands.
! which had never been brought up to labor,
| performed many an uuwonted task for pay,
| and she had managed to struggle along un-
! til the children were able Ga assist her in
/ small ways; bat the memory of her soldier
! hashand was ever kept green in her loyal
| heart, and, though she had received advan-
| tareOus uffera, She had refused them all
! for his sake.
! She had only written once TO the grand
! father of her children. telling him when
and where his son was buried, and opening
the way for a reconciliation if he wished it,
but he did not reply, and Grace, too Wide.
| the pressure of actual nC"A when she saw
g! her bcloy Cd mother failing under her bur
| dcns, had vonturcd little pleading letter,
| which also went out upon its way, but
! brought no response.
1t was evening. and the lamps cast a soft
! glow over the elegant room which was
fitted up for library in u lNsNtiBus nome
many miles from the widow and her chill
| drcn. Onp side was filled with valuable
! collection of choice books. the other was
| devoted to rare specimens of art in paint
| ing and sculpture. while in a corner niche
| stood Il grand piano, bearing mute testi-
mony to the fact that the room had echoed
to music i'll other days.
The owner Of all this luxury sat bt Cen
ter table, MS face buried in his hands, and
! his eyes fixed upon a letter which lay be
fore him, accompanied BY picture upon
! which he looked with moistencd eyes. 1t
was thu Widows letter, and Holroyd Ora
! ham looked upon it as one i'll a dream. "All
! alone All alone" he said aloud, at last,
and he whom | relied upon as a staff for
my dcclinnL years is buried far away from
| me, and | have never ever sren the spot
! where no lies, or the faces Of those whom
! he loved most
! He looked sadly about him. "All this
! wealth and luXurv Is as empty !IusKs tc
me in my lcirehness, an would give it all
! fer one look into the honest blue eyes Of
my boy, one grasp of his warm hand, but
have nothing but his distant grave which
other hands than minC win decorate on
Memorial Day; others will honor 'hr brave
boy whom | sent ont from my heart and
home for his Gtuatrt's sake
An i"lt sGrbable longing came into his
ECdrt to see for himself the spot where his
| son lay, if no ore, and tonight, in his
| softcncd mood. there was no hardness il
his heart toward the widow and the father
less children of his son. 1t was not large
town Where the widow Graham lived. so il
was not large or imposing procession
which filed away to the cemetery on Me
mortal Day. 1t had been patriotic town
as the number of little flags flying above
the graves testified.
1t was always a sad day for the widow
and to-day she shed bitter tears as the mar
tial music announced that the prarossipt
had started for the cemetery,
These sounds always smOte upon her ca
like - kn1ti, reminding her Of the dreadful
var times, when father. brother and loveC
ones We're every day adding their names t
the roil-cali Of regiment and companies a
(.se sr"Uruiting Offices. True. she had bccl
more fortunate than many, being NOR,
neari; alone in the world, but even she haC
seen Beloved father brought homo
to die, ana On invalid mother fsir away
like shadow ~SIder the at]iction, and thi
fife and drum h. j a weird, dark memory in
its notes Tor h0r which time could ncvc
cffuCe
The flowers We. - lavishly scattered, til,
salutcs were fired and the main body Of tn,
procession slowly filed out of the rcnieteF,
gates, but still the twins fingered by tn,
grave which they r,i'ecially loved to homo
in memory of the fat@r whose form an,
face had long since passed from their re
membrance 1t was pleasant place Il
them, shaded by many trct's and watered b.
a purling brook, from witch the grounC
took its name, "BrOOkside.n
| Loving hands kept it in ntat repair, ant
rustic seats and letting fountains made il
pleasant spot in which to spend medita
tive hour.
They were picking away few stray
weeds AID polishing the white marble =
the neat stone which marked the crave
~'hen st"aLger appeared: he was t.m, ant
Greet, with snowy ..air and keen eyes, anC
! as lie lew near he fixed his gaze on HOll,