The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1902-10-03

said Layburn, with a sigh.
"Ain't yo' got no money, Marse Alf?"
asked the old man apprehensively.
Layburn reached down in his trou-
sers and distracted a slabsided pock-
etbook.
"How much money do you reckon
there is in this, Uncle Ben"
"a gentleman OBJ de quality, Marse
Alf, ought to tote fifty or sebenty-fve
dollars. Ole marser alters did"
"Uncle Ben, there is SIS in this pock-
etbook, and it is all the money l have
in the world"
With this conversational sumner
Layburn left old Ben in a state of men
tai collapse and returned to the house.
Before meeting his mother the young
man with an effort forced his features
to assume something that resembled
cheerfulness or at least resignation,
and the remaining traces Of low spirits
passed with Mrs. Layburn as inevitable
sorrow for the "lost cause"
But it is difficult to wear a mask for
any length of time, and, feeling the
need of wider outlook, after q few
minutes spent with his mother Lay
burn took his way to the town. Misery
loves company, and it seemed to the
soldier that to meet and talk over the
present ills with some Of his comrades
might not only clarity his views of the
present, but also might suggest some
plan for the future.
AS he went along his mind reverted
to his conversation with old Ben. The
magic wand of fifty cent cotton fired
the young mans fancy. He had thou
sands of broad acres. The clouds would
scatter down their crystal store and the
southern sun lavish its golden and fruc-
tifying rays. The homicidal forces of
war might tarnish the sky and crimson
the sod, but their power was only spas
modic. Mother Nature, with her tears
and smiles and divine forgiveness,
stood ready to bless the warworn vet
eran and crown his peaceful labor with
every fruit of the soil.
''If 1 had only $780," sighed Layburn.
He could not keep old Ben's dream
of wealth out of his head. With $500
he could at least sustain himself and
his mother till the autumn and make
the beginning of a successful struggle,
petence.
Besides filial affection and the in
stinct of self preservation, there was
another cause not less strong that act
ed as stimulus to Layburn's energies
at the present juncture.
Who ever knew a soldier who was
not husband or a lover? AS the hope
for success in the civil war grew less
and less toward the close of the fearful
struggle the future would have ap-
peared much darker to the southern
soldiers but for the thought of their
Sweethearts aud wives. The lamp of
love and constancy would burn but the
brighter for the gloom.
Business before pleasure" runs the
adage, but love takes precedence of all.
1t will not excite surprise that Lay
burn on his downward way stopped to
spend an hour with his betrothed, Mary
Edgewood.
"Oh, Mary" said he after the first
greetings were over, ''this isn't the re-
turn that my imagination pictured
when l went to the front four years
agow
Layburn had put off his tattered uni
form Of Confederate gray and donned
castoff suit that he had thrown
aside before he enlisted. Under other
circumstances the effect would have
been decidedly humorous, and the serio-
comic glance which the young man
gave his clothes brought an answering
smile to his sweetheart's face.
"Nonsensep' exclaimed the girl. eff
you were woman, you would see that
am quite as far from the mode"
Layburn gazed upon her apple BIOS
som face, with its dimple, and her soft
gray eyes and noted nothing else save
that her gown was of a neutral tint
and fitted her slender figure.
81 don't know anything about the
mode" replied the man, with admira-
ton in his glance. 81 only know that
you are ten times prettier than ever
you were. But as for me, Mary, my
clothing is most appropriate. I am a
pauper, or very near it. l have come
home to find the plantation destitute
of mules and supplies and my mother
almost lacking the necessities Of life,
and l have but $5 between heaven and
EARTH"
Then the young man gave detailed
account Of old Ben's scheme for re-
endorsement and of his own despair
at being unable to obtain the necessary
capital to carry it out, to all of which
the young girl listened sympathetically.
Meantime her woman's shrewdness had
discovered the keenest pang, which Lay
burn had forborne to mention, In the
fact that his poverty forbade him, aft
er four years of war and waiting, to
ask her to set the day of their wedding.
With the facile tact of loving wo-
man she endeavored to cheer Layburn
by changing the theme of conversation
and telling him some of the hardships
endured by herself and mother and CIV
ing them in the relation SO humorous q
setting that the man almost uncon-
sciously came to regard his own trou-
bles from more hopeful point of view.
Finally, when she had brought bright
sr look to his face, she exclaimed: