The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1903-03-26
AN ARMl'
MERCURT
Aac Sorry Of on Undelivcrcd
Love Letter.
7 lie Major'S son had made his
f"''rrF FII'fl IIIOT1I1lE.
lIC KNOW Ii ANlS Inn fnn

llc knew 1t waS tcIl for
hadn't Miss Daily taught him
70 count shat many: lie was thinking
| ol thc rCu and black beads ON the Yir,s
now rs he walked with his gun ON his
| shoulder. Perhaps it was the littl,
wiSglrS in the air that reminded him
OF the beads Miss Daily told him one
day that tn" little wi-.lrS were hon;
Hil!y knew all ar"u; heat. he though,
'h'y had it out there on the islands.
! ana II WAS there that Miss DAILY had
| told him about the wig4lr>.
HhlE'S gun grew heavy on his Shoul.
| der. hui he Straightcnctl himself rs ho
! thought o! young Mr.. Hard. Just from
| 'h' i"iNt. He remembered how Mr..
| ii;rI !Id looked Oh the evening" when
i'liIE h"hrd him tell Miss Daily that ne
"aS never really. truly tired Billy
meant t" u" !ik" that. never really. iru.
~ t'r'd. II" thought that perhaps hi.
shoulder achrG because Ii" wa. nuly six
ana nrcauS" of til" gun Bu; the .r,ar,;
, du'y WAS Solf-imro>yd, and the Gun he
Nad asked for in his prayers. Billy
trudg"d on. past tn" pa"aGc ground
! past tn" band stand. TO tin bend in tho
walk. where. it seemed to him. All the
Ea%cd on anL Oh. and sometimes men
took off their hats and stood uucoy
cred.
When Ii" came to tn" ColoncrS house
hilly lowered his gun 2nh took off his
nat. for he saw Miss Daily Oh the
porch.
lie knew his reward had come. Miss
Daily was alone and would talk 70 him
and would tell him things he was SURE
no one else knew. That about the Wig.
giles he considered very interesting.
tn" girl took both OF the boys little
hot hands and then pushed back the
damp hair from his forehead. This
was the one thing that always n!nhar.
rASsed Billy. II" almost resented il.
Miss Daily didn't treat young Mr..
Hard and The others thav wcy. he -.
t'"ctcl Why ii! So. !us,,., his ,l::.
nifty by treating him a> 81" would Ms
BCowI.'S Mtt." .o!.c.r.o,,"S baby: Tu@-.
was On" thin: >ur" IN l!.!.y'> mind. No
"ur else should 90 that H. 81: cc 2
straw mat q: Miss Datly'S t""1 az!
contemplated Il" I,:c:,"S -. M"- shoes
Th" rive. Town ho,qw "a. N.uN
sraC!lcI in ll..- >u">A.,.". ana here and
t!.o", 2 white sal! cau:;., oh- lich, wind
that blew.
tn" hills Were gre"a and gu!"5. and
there was no sound hu, The drone OF
tn" bees in tn" Loncysuck,"
Tn" girl spoke 70 the child now and
then. but gazed ahSontly over his head
across the river and beyond the green
hills. across the prGir!"S and beyond
the stretch OF ocean.
dicr who was trimming the grass hy
the steps: perhaps IL was the little hoy
at her feet who made II seem 50 real.
Both had been part in the drcam-life
over here, beyond the ocean.
There was the row Of low rooted
houses, the women In white with barred
throats, the officers in duck and kakhl.
There was the bay where the great
Admiral had destroyed a feet.
Here on the parade ground battal-
Ion was drilling. The men had seen
service and their faces were brown and
scanned. Only few weeks before they
had lived under tropical skies.
But there beyond the hills the girl
saw the same men drilling. In front
of his men, the white OF his uniform
showing against the yellow OF the pa
rade ground was the vision Of young
MY. Hard rs she had seen him that last
day before they sailed.
She had walked home with Billy.
she remembered. He had slipped his
hand into hers at their parting. and
| with 1t n little package Of sachet pow
der wrapped in one Of his little red
bordered handkcrchiefs. She had un-
| Jurp x.lf raI
down the street. She had wondered If
sachet powder could fill all the empty
corners IN any ones heart.
All this seemed so far away. Some.
times she wished she could forget the
dream-life over there. The, morning
the ship had sailed she could see from
the deck rail the little group Of officers
who had come to bid her goodbye. All
but one had hurried over the gahgway
as they saw her. That one had stood
and looked eXpcctant. He seemed to
be waiting for her to summon him.
Miss Daily wished she could forget
, that part OF the dream.
BILLY had discovered n piece Of pre-
served ginger in the pocket Of his
i plouse. He asked Miss Daily If she
Y iemembcred the last time he had worn
@ r,,at suit. Yes, It was "out there"
= n'nS always referred to Manila as
"out thcrc.'
y ana would she like to see what else
n lie mad in his pocket? Well, there was
y piece OF tinfoil, smoothcd and folded
q Ilke kindergarten paper. Could Miss
naily guess where that came from :
Mr. Hard had given him that. Hc
l. took it of Of piece of soap one day
j.. whcn he was shaving. Billy told Miss
h DAILY that he used to help Mr.. Hard
with his shaving, for Mr.. Hard said so
Could Miss Daily guess where that
tOD CQmo frOm2