St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-05-30

down to his side.
at means that we can't be blind to
the sorrows and sadness of other lives.
little one They rise up and confront
US wherever we go. Very likely we
shall never know anything more about
Abner Pettis than we know now. but
this glimpse Of his history Is enough
to convince me there must have been
a reason why they laid him in this
lovely spot. And | am sure it was by
his own desire. Dear, you can't grudge
it to him."
81 don't know" returned Mrs. Len
nard slowly. ut seems to me a cow
ard is a pretty poor specimen of hui
mainly. And to have it on his tomb
stone toow
''The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft inferred with their bones"
quoted the professor. "We are igno-
rant of the circumstances. Perhaps in
his place you and / would have been
towards too"
Your She broke into soft, incred-
ulous laughter. His manliness and.
courage had appealed to her above ev-
erything else. They were the very
foundations of her love for him. "You
run from an enemyW
Sometimes the coward stays and
fights, the brave man walks away"
answered Lennard, fixing long gaze
on the misty hills.
But not in battle, Robert! she pro-
tested. THAT is only in a moral
scrap"
"The moral scraps are the mighty
battles of the world, sweetheart, and
they are being fought all about us eV-
cry day, unseen, unheard. Their VIC
tins fall by thousands. Even those
who come out Of them bear scars they
carry to their graves"
He spoke very earnestly, and Gym
thia, wondering in her turn, went on
with energy:
"Well, Abner Pettis may have been
that sort Of coward. don't believe
1t, though. He was a soldier in the
army, mark my words, did something
to be ashamed of, and his family would
not have him put in the lot with those
whose name he had disgraced. Let US
ask some one in the village about it,
Robert. If am right, then you sure
ly cannot object to having this remov-
ed"
The professor drew a deep breath
and buried his face in handful of the
fragrant clover that he had been pull
ing absentmindedly while he talked.
Then he shook his head, and round his
mouth crept the determined expression
that she had cause to know so we'll.
When she saw that, she realized that
she had run up against an iron will,
rigid, inflexible, not to be bent by love
or broken by time.
mo-" he said. II have made up my
! mind that we will not ask any one in
the village. Let the dead past bury its
dead. Many man is honored by his
| fellows as a hero who is a coward at
| heart, and there may be some towards
who would wear the proudest laurels
and sit on the thrones if the true story
of their lives was known"
$50 there's no credit in facing can
mons MOUTH? said Cynthia sarcas-
tically.
Credit, yes. 1t takes brave spirit
to march into the jaws of death, into
the mouth of hell, but that's only for
one mad, excited day, when one may
be swept along by a torrent and have
no chance to choose deliberately what
he shall or shall not do. Can't you see,
CYNTHIA, what a finer, nobler kind Of
courage it is that turns away day after
day from fierce temptations, not even
yielding to the satisfaction of fighting
them, sure as one may be of coming
+ off conqueror in the endT"
She scrambled to her feet
"Are you going to be quiXotic, Rob-
ertY" she asked, brushing back ner rur-
fed curls and looking particularly
young and girlish as she stood before
him. "You can't forbid me to ask
questions, and when l learn the ro-
nance of Abner Pettis, aged 20, which
is sure to be quite commonplace, you'll
have to hear it. Hark! Is that mu-
sic"
The sounds of fife and drum were
blown distinctly to their ears from the
winding road, of which they could
catch glimpses here and there through
the trees below.
"Oh, yesv' she pursued. ut Is Me-
mortal day. The procession must be
going to the cemetery. 1t sounds as II
it were very near"
She ran to the brow of the knoll ana
peeped again.
"Robert, they are turning down our
lane! What does it meanY
She looked over her shoulder at him.
all excitement, her lovely face flushed,
her golden hair flying in the breeze.
Lennard rose up and saw that she
was not mistaken. Louder and louder
grew the music. The stars and stripes
cleaned among the boughs, advancing
steadily toward them, and presently
out into full view across the meadows
struggled a small, scattering company
of soldiers attended by swarms of chill
dren and idlers.
"They are coming herev' cried Gym
thia, astonished. Then sudden illuml
nation burst upon her.
Robert, it is Abner Pettis! Bull
no was q coward WHY do they decorate