Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-26

known for miles around as Aunt Sally. Her
son. lad of twenty. whom everybody called
cially with Major Goolsby. wealthy plant
er. whose dead wife had been tenderly
nursed by Aunt Sally. When. therefore, the
boy was taken as a recruit to the confed-
crate army. the major threatened and de-
fed the conscrpt officer, but it was Of no
avail, and little Billy was forced to go.
OF course, everybody sympathized with
Aunt Sally, and their sympathy added to
her grief, for she was a tender hearted wo-
man. Moreover. when she found herself
the object of so much coincidence. she
naturally concluded that her trouble was
a great deal worse than she had any idea Of,
and she sat in her humble home and wept.
and, like Rachel. refused to be comforted
But the situation was not nearly so bad as
Aunt Sally thought 1t was, or as Major
Goolsby expected it would be. The major
himself sent her little negro girl to keep
her company, and the neighbors for miles
around contended with one another in their
efforts to make her comfortable. Not day
passed, except Sundays, that Miss Mary.
the majors daughter, didn't drive out to
Aunt Sally's little place and spend an hour
or two with her Miss Mary was eighteen.
as pretty as a peach. and as full of fun as
egg is of meat. She was brunette with
blue eyes. and, although they were laugh
ing eyes, they could look very sad and ten
der when occasion called for 1t.
She made herself very useful to Aunt
Sally She read to her the letters that lit
tie Billy sent back from the camp of in
structiOn at Loudersvi1le. and answered
them at Aunt Sally's dictation. In this way
she came to feel that she knew little Billy
better than any one else except his mother.
She was surprised to find that. although lit
tie Billy had had few advantages in the way
of schooling, he could write a beautiful let
ter. She took the fact home to her innocent
bosom and wondered how it could be that
this country lad had the knack of putting
himself into his letters along with so many
other things that were interesting. She was
touched. too by the love for his mother that
shone through every line he wrote Over
and over again. he called her his dear
nanny, and tried to comfort her, and some
times he spoke of Miss Mary, and he was so
deft in expressing his gratitude to her that
the young lady blushed and trembled lest
some one else was writing little Billys let
tiers. as she was writing his mothers.
And then. somehow, she never knew how,
his face came back to her memory and
planted itself in her miTiu and remained
there. Little Billy was no longer the
green, awkward and unGainly country boy,
peddling the Scanty fruits of his poverty
about the village. but hero. who had no
his dear old nanny.
AS the cold weather came on little Billy
wrote that he would feel great deal more
comfortable in the wind If he knew where
he could get thick suit of clothes and a
heavy pair Of shoes. But he begged his
dear nanny not to worry about that. FOR
he had no doubt the clothes and shoes
would be forthcoming when he needed
them most. Miss Mary skipped this part
of the letter when she was reading it aloud
to Aunt Sally. but 1t wasn't long before
the clothes we've made. with the aid and
under the direction of little Billy's mother,
and the shoes We're bought, costing Mai.
GoolShy pretty round sum in confederate
currency. Moreover, Miss Mary baked a
fruit cake with her own hands. and this
was to be put in the box with the clothes
and SheoS.
The next thing was to find out if any
body from Hillsborough from the coun-
trySide was going to the camp of instruc-
ton, where little Blly's headquarters were.
But right in the midst of expectation and
preparation Aunt Sally fell ILL., She had
never reconcled herself to her separation
from little Billy. Until the conscrpt law
tore him away from her side she had never
been parted from him day since the Lord
sent him to her arms.
The strain was too much for the mother
" heart to bear. Aunt Sally gradually
pinned away. though she tried hard to be
cheerful, and, at last. just before little
Billys Christmas box was to be sent, she
took to her bed and lay there as helpless
as a child. The doctor came and prescrib-
ed, but little Billy was the only medicine
that would do Aunt Sally any good. So
she kept to her bed. growing weaker and
weaker, in spite of everything that the
doctor and the neighbors could do
At last. when an opportunity came to
forward the box, Miss Mary wrote a note
and pinned it where it could be seen the