The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-10-20

been without warrant in asking for a
solution of h emystery, especially from
her. Sometimes in the west it becomes
a matter of much seriousness to ques-
ton one closely about ones antece-
dents. And in Texas, it is said that
the common law at once .justifes the
summary killing of any man there
who presumes to inquire what ones
name in the land of his nativity, and
especially if there be a hint that there
might be a want of exact CORES
]pOndence in the original patronymic
and the Texas appellation! OF course
| could make no intimatiOn Of such
a contingency applying tony heroine!
Our game Of chess was suspended
long enough for the woman to tell me
her history in brief-for her to tell
me why she was upon the plains
in "u~ncivilized Amortization this
seemed a burden which demanded
removal from her mind. She must
rid herself of this burden to me-to
me alone.
But here is her story:
She was once the wife, now the
widow, of an eminent officer in the
British army. Her husband dying at
| Zanzibar or the Cape of Good HOpe-I
have forgotten where-she was left
with three sons. The eldest of these
had received an education, and held
a surgeons commission in the British
service at Singapore. With the other
two-mere lads-she went to Switzer-
land for their education, and to be near
friends and kindred.
The youngest of these sons was some
sixteen years Of age when the civil war
broke out in America. The European
papers were full of it's thrilling incl
| dents and of their abnormal character.
1t was nothing new for foreign powers
and antagonistic governments in the
old world to fall out and go to fight
each other. But the war of brothers
in democratic America-in the new
land of liberty-that matter was in
vested with q peculiar and profound
interest. The lady-whOse husband
had been a military oficer-and who
herself had seen so much of war,
naturally joined in that interest. The
| stories of blood and tragedies unpar-
alleled were not without their effects
also upon the young minds in that
school in Switzerland.
One day the younger of the two boys
disappeared. It was supposed that he
would return on themOrrOw, and hence
no diligent search was made for him
on the evening of his disappearance.
The morrow came, but it brought no
tidings of the missing youth. Inquiries
were made, and it was learned that
the boy had fled from the school. His
track led in the direction of London.
To London the mother went with all
| possible speed. She was well known
to the authorities of the British gov
eminent, both military and civil; and
soon all the police forces of the island
were engaged in efforts at discovering
the whereabouts of the young man.
His was a well-known name, and
universal sympathy for the mother
was aroused all over England.
Amonth rolled around and no tidings
Of the lost boy came. The mother,
satisfied that her son had never left
the soil of Britain, prepared to return,
heartbroken and bereaved, to Swizer-
land. The register of departures for
America especially had failed to reveal
TIE name of the missing once, and she
left England in the sincere conviction
that her son had been lost forever in
some of the fatal traps of crime in
London. If he were alive-by chance
she rested her hopes in the efficiency
of the English secret service.
In this state of uncertainty and
almost despair, she returned to Swift
zerland, resolved to devote her life in
future more carefully and zealously to
the remaining son in school there.
Four years rolled around and still
there were no tidings of the lost. One
summer day in 1865 she found in her
mail a package pOstmarked at wash
ington City, U. S. A." Opening it
hurriedly and curiously there was
revealed a large fine photograph Of
a young man in uniform of a United
States soldier. Though small beard
was seen covering parts of the face,
there was no mistaking the familiar
expression of the fine gray eye; it was
her own long lost boys picture.
Oh the joy in that mothers heart!