Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1898-07-29
THE RETURN
OF ULYSSES.
r osEPH BINNs walked rapldly

r OSEPH BINNS walked rapidly
away. Excitement Redeemed his
- cheeks. His eyes glittered.
Gradually the mood worked off, his
steps slackened, and he sighed hard
from time to time.
He and his Anne had married too
young. He acknowledged the wrong to
his wife, and when earning good wages
across the seas e money home to her.
But his letter came back through the
dead letter Office. He walked along the
winding lane, not needing his way. He
never thought of Anne as IN old wo-
man, nearly US old as himself. He could
see her in his minds eye Us, she ap-
peared In their counting days. A pref
tier lass there had. not been in the
whole country side. Fleet as, q deer,
timid ms a fawn, with soft blue eyes,
and such pretty fluffy hair. Sweethearts
had plagued her enough, but she tiOut-
ed them all for Joe's sake.
Then how pretty she had. looked when
her baby came. He had taken Off his
boots and crept in on tiptoe to see them.
She was lying back on. her pillow, her
arm round a little bundle Of clothes.
Her face was white. but lighted with
such a beautiful smile, he could think
of nothing but a picture he had once
seen Of the Mother Mary and the Holy
Child. The peevish moods. the fretful
baby We're all later developments, and
he had not been patient. God forgive.
him! the girl was only 20 when he, left
her! What a fool he had BEEN.
The night advanced. One by one the
stars came out and the glow-worms,
shone in the grass below the hawthorn
hedge. All nature seemed nearer to,
the heart of God. The old man felt
himself drawn into the mystery of that
magic stiffness. A soft, an overwhelm-
Ing sense of something he had missed
through all his life took possession of
him. He lifted his white, lined face to
the starlit sky Of the. summer night.
Our Father" he whispered, "Our.
Father which art in heaven, SO help me
I will find her and do my duty by her
till l die" He went on talking to him
self under his breath for a few minutes,
then he gripped his stick, squared his
shoulders like an old, soldier, and
marched steadily ahead into the dark
ness.
A few days later Lucy Flaws set out
to pay another visit to her uncle. She
walked slowly as she approached a
tiny cottage standing back from the
lane behind q low briar hedge. The
diamond -paned easements were bare,
the door nailed up. the garden gate
broken on its hinges. 4n air Of neglect
and desolation pervaded the little
dwelling place. Peering over the hedge
with keen curiosity was a man, whom
Lucy mt first glance took for a tramp.
She. could have vowed he was crying
when she first looked at his side face.
but when he turned at her approach
there was such cagerness and hope in
his whole mein that she thought she
was mistaken.
"Can you tell me who lived here,
mtssr' he asked. touching his hat DO
litely.
Eyes, certainly" said the girl; "old
Widow Jones. Poor thing. she's in the
Union now, and there's none to look
after her bit Of garden. It's in a bad
state. She'd fret awful to see It"
"Is 1t maybe the Widow Jones that
was once known as Anne Binns?" he
asked, after a quick look over the hedge
at the bit Of garden.
"Yes, but that was years ago, before I
was born; but folks have been talking
a great deal about her lately"
Again the man stared over the hedge.
Lucy liked the look Of him, and waited
for him to speak again. But he seemed
to have forgotten she was there, &c
after a last specializing look at has
white hair and tall figure she went on
her way.
Joseph Binns walked up the path and
round the cottage, pceping In at the
window back and front. He surveyed
H ~.