The National tribune., 1901-05-16

her sad and anxious face that day. The
children, if living, are now middle-aged
people, and perhaps some of them remem
Der our little visit, which was to me one
of the most pathetic personal incidents
of Aid Society work.
In another home we found an old lady
with her chest of homemade linen. There
were table-cloths woven in dainty birds
eye and snow-drop pattern. and sheets and
pilow-cases, fine and soft and white as
STOW. Some she spun and woye with heI
own hands when n young girl, twisting
into each thread sweet thoughts and bright
hopes, and weaving into all happy dreams
and fancies, wherein were no hints of war
time sorrow; some her mother, long since
dead, gave her on her wedding day; some
were the work of q dear sister. and all
lovingly cherished as precious mementoes
of the past. But" said she, laying aside
| two well-worn sheets, after giving us the
history of each, and there was a pathetic
| little catch in her voice as she said it,
There is nothing too good to give for
the comfort of our soldiers"
She had two grandsons in the army.
And neNt day that old linen, that would
now be worth almost its weight in gold
to relic lovers, was torn into bandages or
scraped into lint; and some poor wounded
| lad was made more comfortable, let us
hope, by its dainty softness.
In another home the busy housewife,
W uDDtditt tb, SACidllEtu, ". llle poor
boys; how | wish they had some nice jelly
| this hot day. l will go at once and make
| some to send them," and all the rest OF
| that September day she spent gathering
fruit and making and canning jelly, that
our boys, parrhed with fever in Southern
hospitals, might have taste of the re-
freshing dainty.
We found sympathy and kindness every
where. Were there no copperhead fam
| lies in our town. you ask. There may
have been; but there were tender mother
hearts there, too, which achcd for the suf-
fering boys. Said one woman, Il hate
this old Lincoln war, but l feel sorry for
| the poor, deudcd boys enticed from their
homes to fight for they know not what.
Yes | will send something over TO the So
ciety tomorrow, or, maybe, come myself,
if there is anything l can do and, sure
| enough, she was there with an -armful of
gifts, including a 25-cent "shin-plaster,"
working away as busily as anybody. She
wore II grim little frown at first, which
gradually melted away, as the talk around
her drifted from the needs and sufferings
of the men in the field to the common
place incidents of home life and back
again, not once touching upon the politi-
cal animOsitieS that were at the bottom
OF it all, just keeping in view our love
for the dear old flag and our sympathy
for its defenders. And as long as there
was need Of such work she was an earnest
helper, and by her side was often seen her
sweet young daughter, whose wistful eyes
told the tale of a heart full of anxiety for
certain loyal boy in blue.
From my own home | carried large
bundle of supplies and | noticed, a few
days later, that, in place of the pretty
white table linen we had always been ac-
customed to, we were using tablecloth
made of unbleached cotton, edged with
coarse cotton fringe. We all refrained
from commenting upon it, for we saw
little troubled look creeping between the
dear mothers eyes, if she caught us even
looking at it too closely. There was one
of 'our own" somewhere in the far South
land, and what to us were these minor
discomforts when we thought of that?
But, o, how those old cotton tableclOths
did last. We children thought they never
would wear out.
Some laughable as well as pathetic in
cidents occurred that day. In one farm
house we found the family at dinner and
by the side of the oldest daughter, in all
the glory and glitter Of a bran new uni
form, was seated 4 recruiting officer. A
recruiting officer in n home where there
were no boys to recruit. His presence
of our poor, suffering soldier boys before
such a glittering specimen Of the military
gentleman? But if we were embarrassed,
he was not, and at once came to the res
cue with such n burst of eioquence that
we received twice as many gifts as we had
hoped for, he himself adding a generous
sum of money.
a few days later we were all startled
by hearing that Nellie. the pretty Oldest
daughter, referred to, had married the re-
cruiting officer.