Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-24

Now, after the first shock was passed,
Helen Blake never felt doubt in her bosom
that she would n good time receive some
word from Albert Merritt, and she would
have risked mucl on her conviction that she
would hear Def lre either of his parents
though she could not have told you why, and
probably would lot if she could, for the best
farm in jackson township. Yet she knew it
all the same, and visited the Merritts often,
and at each Wis it somehow fell out that
something rather singular happened
On cue occasion she grew quite hilarious in
"reminiscences of a certain school exhibition,
and told how the teacher had photographs of
the whole class taken, a set for all, and how
childish the pict Tres looked now, and how
everybody had changed, though it was but
six years ago, a al then she brought out the
photographs-chrap, tawdry things they
WERE but among them was one of "a tall fair
boy, with all the glow of class leadership in
his eye, and light hair curling around bold
forehead, and un er it, in round boyiSh script,
was the autograf h, albert Merritt"
pang shot through the fathers heart
and he longed tor her to talk of his boy; but
She ratified on about Tom and Jennie and
Matte, and soon hastened home.
But the moth r noticed that Helen 'had
forgotten her p ctures, - and 50 they lay on
the looking glass stand for many day,
where the father often saw the presentiment
Of his boy, hut h, never touched it, and they
lay there till Hell m came again.
This time she brought STORY paper" for
Mrs. Merritt, say ing that the main story in
it had interested her very much; and after
she was gone William Merritt picked it up
and pished and pshawed and ridiculed the
MI huf bs4 al Ina ~,
commonplace novelette, of a son, who had fed
from harsh fat ler and enlisted in the Fed
eral army, and who was sick almost unto
death in a southern hospital, and how in de-
lirium he bahble,. Of home, and how IA Sister
Of Charity wrote TO the father, who came
and patiently nused his boy back 10 life and
love and forgiveness. A commonplace story
one Of ten thou sand war stories of the time
but the father hand trembled as he read
and he rushed to the field and drove his work
with unusual energy and shouted louder than
ever at his team, and at night was stern and
silent and solemn TO "A degree that surprised
even his long suh ering wife.
The other children would occasionally ven
ture a reference TO Albert, and now when
Helen came the father would blame the run
away; but she only listened quietly and ask
ed if they had ever heard of him, and turned
the talk to their school days. And so two
years passed away and the third Christmas
came. In celebration of the day the Mer-
ritts were TO I've the guests of the Blakes, and
when they gathe ed in the big room of the
great farm houss it happened that all the
young people present were of that last day
class at the head Of which Albert Merritt had
stood. OF courS Helen Blake never thought
of abiding TO such a fact-''it. Just happened
so" her parent thought-bur there were
plenty in a class 4 eight young people who
could talk fas a. they could think, and
usually did It, ton. And 50 the conversation
ratified on about that glorious day, aud the
father, whose ht art was literally pounding
against his ribs, and whose Internal strug-
giles were such that he could not tell whether
he was eating turkey or oak chips, talked
loudly and aggrssively to those at his end
Of the table and quite overbore Mr.. Blake
on politics, and inally offered TO bet 1.-THE
pick of his horse agin' yearlin' calfn that
his candidate for the presidency would have
10000 majority over any man the other side
could put up mex year