Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-05-29

not believe it, and instantly put the un
worthy thought aside.
Orville Lane was not that sort of person
True, she had never seen him; he had beer
her fathers foe; they had met in battle
and the confederate had conquered. Why
his letter, If he wanted to wiring anew the
hearts of a soldiers family?
When Bert looked up after finishing the
wreath, she caught sight of a figure where
she had seen the one the night previous.
Moving among the pines a short distance
away was a nan who seemed to be looking
for q certain spot.
Bert unconsciously drew back and watched
him.
She could see whenever he Strengthened
up that he had the bearing of a soldier, and
that he was still young, as if he had entered
the army when but q mere boy.
She saw him lean eagerly toward a tree
and fix his eyes on a certain spot in the
bark.
For several minutes he stood thus, run
ting his hands over the surface, as il con-
hrming by this means the evidence of sight.
When he Strengthened again he turned his
face squarely toward the ford.
Bert saw that he carried in his hand some-
thing wrapped in a dark fabric, and it
seemed to her that he carried it reverent-
", as a hero would carry a furled and sa-
cred banner.
The soldiers child met the stranger face
to face as he rounded tie big rock, and the
nextmoment, with dotted hat, he was bowling
to her. Bert felt a flush suffuse her cheek
in his presence, and his voice recalled her
to the present.
"Miss Parker, is it not?" said the young
man. for young he was, despite the fact
that he had followed the fortunes of the
confederacy through four years Of varying
war.
Il am Miss Bert Parker, only child of the
late Capt. John Parker, of company A,
til Ohio. I am the person to whom a let
ter signed 'Orville Lane was Addressed"
And l am the writer" interrupted the
young man.
Bert stood silent in his presence; she felt
that she was to have revealed to her the
fate of her father, and by the enemy" who
had come up from southland for that pur-
pose.
"This Is one of the prnndest yut eauur..
momants- Of my life" continued the young
soldier. "Your fathers last resting place
need be a mystery no longer. I came down
here last evening hoping to locate 1t, but
the shadows of the pines prevented. It is
all plain now. The cross l cut in the pine
underneath which We buried Capt. Parker
after the gallant defense Of the ford Is Wis
IDLE yet, and II you will come with me, Miss
Parker"
Bert started forward with a light cry
which she could not suppress.
AT last! She thought Of the sacredneas
of the day; she looked down at the wreath
in her hands, and then glanced UP at her
companion.
You were his enemy, them" she said,
suddenly disengaging one hand, which she
thrust forward.
I'VE are friends now" was the quick an
swer. ut is reunion beneath the battle
pines. 1t is here!"
They had halted beneath one of the pine
kings of the wood, and the young confeder-
ate was pointing to a certain spot where a
wood pemon lifted her head to the cones.
Bert knelt down and placed her wreath
where there seemed to be the semblance
of a mound, and in another moment, across
the mingled emerald and bloom, lay a sword.
Though he cannot wear the blade he
did not disgrace, it shall lie upon his
BOSOM" said the confederate. "There is
no north, no south; there is one country,
thank heavenl"
Bert Parker heard these words as in a
dream, and when she looked up a man with
folded arms stood beside her, looking down
at the welded sword and chaplet.
Slowly and almost speechless, two persons
went up the w%ell-known path leading from
the ford to the house among the pines. The
mother saw placed in her lap her hero's
sword; she looked at the handsome couple
standing over her. and her heart thrilled
with the prophecy of new love.
The day waned; the sword hung beside
the portrait on the wall; the pines swayed
gently in the twilight breeze, and two
young people at the ford looked into each
others eyes and read therein the page of
love and peace.
Bsrt's romance had just begun, and year
by year it ripened more and more, as two
little children each Memorial day bore to
the grave beneath the pines a sword which
they placed thereon, watched by their
parents, one the soldier of the confederacy
and the other the union captains darling.
Andrew Carnegie. multi-millionaire
and mogul of the steel trust, says if
Bryan is nominated he will not support
him. No doubt Rockefeller, Pierpont
Morgan, John w. Gates and other
multi-millionaires and trust magnates
are OF the same opinion. Should they
decide to support Bryan honest men
might Justly conclude there is some
phlng the matter with Bryan.