The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-10-26
PRIVATE WM'S RETURN.


along the hall to the door on the
right, Mt the end, she murmured TO
herself 80 softly that the words were
lost in the noise of her footballs
"Jim'll be here tomorrer Heow |
wish Ezry had a-lived till meow, to
see his boy a-comin' home from tn
war t me like he come t. me more'n
thirty year ago"
She hesitated an instant before
opening that last door, and then, as
though it were an effort, she turned
the knob and stepped into the room.
Everything was just as he had left it.
The pin cushion top on the dresser
was a little dusty, and there were
flecks also on the woodwork of the
old bed and on the commode top.
His brush and comb lay on the bu-
reau, Just where he had left them when
he went away with the Thompsonville
company. A vest, even, hung over
the back Of cane seated chair, aud at
the head Of the bed on the floor three
pairs of shoes and one of rubber
boots were ranged in straight line.
The September sun entering the
room through the east window fell
upon the face of Mrs. Springer. 1t
was not the old face that had hung
over the dough downstairs. 1t was a
younger face now. The eyes were
not so tired. Maybe the moisture
made them look brighter. And she
smiled sweetly through the gathering
tears as she looked around that room
-Jim's room.
She stood there by the head of the
bed for moment, silent and unmoved;
then she laughed aloud aud going to
the closet door threw it open and
peered inside. From the pegs she
took down black cashmere suit,
Jim's best suit. "He'll need it meow
Tain't nothin' but homesickness, I'll
bet, an he'll be all right in day Or
two."
She laid the garments out on the
bed and brushed them with the stubby
whiskbroom that had hung on the
wall, over the washstand. 1t was u
labor of love. When busted, the
clothes were folded and laid ON the
spread at the foot of the bed.
Mrs. Springer covered them with n
newspaper and going down stairs for
the broom, stopped minute in the
doorway to smooth the "sham" that
hung from frame over one pillow.
Returning, she swept the room thor
oughly, then busted it and opened the
window and pulled back the chintz
curtains.
Then she went back downstairs.
All the rest of that day there was no
sharp word spoken to Jane, and as n
consequence the girl walked even
slower than was her usual custom.
Budd came up from the spring lot be-
fore the biscuits were ready to be
slipped into the oven, and his mother
met him in the kitchen doorway.
"Jim's comin'," was all she said.
"Who tol ye?"
''Zeke brought telegram T. me
beout an hour ago. 1t said Jim was
sick an two soldiers wus comm with
him an that he'd be here on that six
thirty-eight train in tn mornin'."
The younger brother of the soldier
thereupon relapsed into dream of
the stories that would be told him ere
another week had passed. "Dew yew
suppose he'll bring any Spanish bull
lets?" he asked, finally.
That night when the rest of the
family and all the help were asleep
Matilda Springer lay in her bed and
dreamed awake.
In her mind the years unrolled be-
fore her like panorama. She thought
of the day Ezra Springer had asked
her to be his wife, of her acceptance.
1t was under the big shag hickory
tree down by the spring lot, and they
had gone a-nutting together. And
then the war and his return.
And then their marriage and their
long, happy life thereafter. And Jim
the boy who twenty-five years ago
had come to them.
And then the war.-she thought
longest of that. Four months before
Jim had come to her, infamed with
enthusiasm. All the boys in the
Thompsonville company had signified
their willingness to go to the front at
the call of the president. There
were ten vacancies in the company,
and could he go? 1t would be all over
in a month, and then he could come
back. Yes, he could il his country
needed him. She remembered how
she went down to Thompsonville one
summer morning with Budd to see
Jim of TO camp with his comuany.
He wrote her the night before the
regiment left for Cuba. Letters came
to her regularly for while, and then,
OF sudden, they ceased. She thought
of those endless days OF waiting fol-
just word from him, her boy, her
Jim. And then ut last, after centuries
1t seemed to her, came the letter say,
ing he had been IN the hospital with
the fever. She remembered how near