Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-05-29
and right eloquently did it plead for the
sick stranger Mt her door.

unu AiSut ulu ~ PlSuu AOA liz
sick stranger at her door.
Poor boy! should not wonder IL he
were starving, his face looks SO white
water to battle his pallid brow.
As soon as he recovered from the
swoon she helped him into the house
and laid him on her soft bed. Though
it vexed her that he could not eat a
morsel Of the dainty food she brought
him. she lay down hoping. that by morn
ing his appetite would have returned
and he would be able to continue his
journey in safety. But in the morning
he was not able to lift his head from the
pillow, and many mornings came and
went before he was able to tell his
name, or where his kindred dwelt.
All this time Susan kept him in her
house, and cared for him tenderly as il
she had been his mother. Perhaps she
would have sent him to the hospital that
first morning had not small gold locket
she found suspended around his neck
touched the one tender spot in her
heart. She had seenethat tiny locket be-
fore, aud even before she opened it she
knew that she held in her hand n key
which would unlock the mystery sur
rounding her lost grave.
As soon as the hoy was able he told
her that the locket had once belonged to
a so!dier-a dark-haired young man who
was mortally wounded at Chancellors-
yille. After the battle was over his
mother. who lived near the battle field,
had ministered to the dying stranger, and
though he could not speak nor give his
name, the poor young man had put the
locket and package of pictures into
his mothers hands; but as there was no
address on anything left in her posses
sion, it had been impossible for her to
return the property to the friends for
whom it was intended. He told her, too.
that his mother had buried the dead
stranger under large elm tree in sight
of the battle field, and that every Dec
Grafton Day she covered the solitary
grave with the most beautiful flowers
she could find.
Susan listened with dimmed eyes to
the touching story, and just as soon as
the boy, whose name was Willie Rae,
was able to travel, she cut the finest of
the roses. and went with him to his
home to learn all that his mother could
tell about the stranger she had minis
tered to before Willie was born. Among
the pictures she found her own-an old
fashioned ambrotype. stained with poor
Luke's heart-blood. and, as she looked
upon it, for the first time in score OF
years tears came to her relief. There
was no doubt about the graves being
her own: SO Luke's roses were tenderly
laid upon 1t, and Susan. after rewarding
the poor widow for her kindness to the
dead. took Willie with her, and went
back to her Northern home in time to
keep DECORATION Day by sending
wreath of Luke's roses to lay upon every
soldiers grave in the village cemetery.
What mistake l have been making
all these years in shutting out from my
life SO much human love and sunshine!"
she said to herself, when she saw how
gratefully her tribute to the dead was
received. II have certainly been very
selfish in my grief, never thinking that
other hearts might be us heavy us my
own. With the help of my Father in
heaven, the remainder of my life shall
be spent in helping others"
And she has kept her vow. Once n
year she takes Willie back to see his
mother, and lays wreath of roses on
Luke's grave; but there are always
enough left to decorate the sixteen graves
made for the boys in blue who are sleep
ing in the old cemetery near her home.