Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-05-31
HER TWO BOYS.
An incident of Decoration Day.

III 'ii' W - i'<NA -'A@s
She was stern -visa-el woman, with
many lines craven deep on her face bJ
those two sculptors, time and care. Her
form was somewhat bent with the weight Of
years. but it bore the uprightness OF resist
ance yet. Her hair. drawn back under
mourning VEIL was as white rs snow. She
did not look tender, loving and loyal. but
she was I'll three.
Acc )mpanicd by young gill, she moved
slowly through t e crowded ceme,er. TO
the lodge the cd sexton.
GLOW are my two boys she asked when
they reached him.
Her lips cuivered. and you saw then
that the lus,cr had gone out of her
eyes forever, an that the little maid
whose hand she held wa> eyes for the
blind.
1.-THE boys are all right, ma am, said
the seXton with deep respect, they re safe
and tidy. I've put bit of dc Grafton
there myself, for rhOug I mebbe We
might not come to- ay
"Wh do II u cOmc it will be beca SO
my feet are stayed here, an~wcrc The
blind mother. have the hag' AID : o.
ers with me. Are t cir graves green
'As green, ma am, as .une. which
1t nearly is. An the overs - ow-
in of their own accord as thick as
stars in a clear sky.
They moved ether 10 the part OF the
cemetery where the little ags studded the
grass above the boys in blu.
Here they are; Just feel OF them a biz,
ma am. The grass as soft ) a bays
cheek to the touch, ma am, w-rran'
TIE mother knelt reverently by the o
graves that were so exactly allie II eye
co ld detect the difference. She laid her
withe ed fac against the coo growing
grass, and remained motiolIe,s a long
time. And she were crying ont in re-.
belllon in her heart, or il she were p-ar-
ing, there were none to know, save God,
who could see and hear.
Boys she called softly at last boys,
mother Gomez
Other mourners cane bringing thir
flowers and passed on. I'm Old man whose
four soldier lads slept near stopped 20 look
at this lonely. crouching figure
The sexton inf rmed him in pantomime
that she was not in her rig t mind udt
Of her head.
"She doesn't know the difference. he
said in an undertone "but the two soldier
boys buried here ere not hers. They are
rebs. They came north and died in the
hospital. They knew o. her boys, and
were the first to tell her thu. they died at
Chattanooga. She was sick a LONG time
after that and has ne,er been right since.
When these two died of their wo- nds anil
were buried here, she found IL out and said
they were her boys and she alW avs be-
lieved it. An It, don 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 dt coratiOns, even to the
two flags crossed at their heads. my
boys" murmured t e stricken mother.
''my dear, dea soldier hoys, 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 lie will tell you that mother
is coming soon. -
Oh! divine passion of human
love and sorrow, Who shall say
that Thou, too, hast not a miraols Of
transubstantiatiOn for this mothers faith.
That while she weeps by these two graves
wherein lie sleeping he two brave soldier
boys, some unknown mother may not be
watching her brave lads in some southern
bivouac OF the deal. Md that for this
day and hour, each was given to his own,
by order of tie Great Commander, to
whom the soldiers Of the south and the
soldiers of the north, the boys in gray and
the boys in blue, have alike surrendered