Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1904-05-28

- TIE was sweet facol. sweet
0A voiced woman, witA brown
hair that had hardly Il gray
thread in it and that had not
lost its pretty trick of curling around
tie temples. There wee very few
lines on her face none that discomfort
or weak repining had caused, and
there was delicate rose tint on her
cheeks that had defied time in Il way
not usual with rose tintS. she was
1fty-siX years old. though she did not
look it, not by ten good years; even
her enemies said that, or they would
have said it, if she had had any enc
mics. She was country bred. ana ten
years in the city had not rcconcilcd her
to the big apartment buildings which
her friends and relatives thought so
delightful. SO she lived. like st. Paul,
in her own hired house in a charming
suburb. There was dear little lawn
in front where in their season. red
geraniums and doubl" petunias BIOS
somed in the generous fashion of the
old home garden in York state" In
the rear We're rows of hollyhcckS
against the fence and grass plot that
was even doarer to her than the one
in front She said it looked honey. In
order to maintain her own establish
ment and not lose herself in the fam
lilies of nieceS and second cousins she
rented out couple of rooms. \ card
with the legend "Furnished Rooms
was, rs occasion made necessary,
placed in window that in SideWise
fashion faced the street.
On the morning of this Memorial
day one of the two ro0merS uncNpoct-
edly went away. The lady expressed
much regret ut leaving without no.
tice, but Miss Bassett said: Never
mind. my dear. If you are called to
60 some one else will be called to
come" Then with unrulcd serenity
she set the card in the window.
AS was her custom. in honor of the
day she hung a cherished old flag out
on the porch. She heard the music OF
band in the distance and wondered
II it would pass her door; then, re-
membering her promise to veterans $
widow, she went out to gather such
flowers as the garden yields to the
late May in the northern climate. Ii
lacs, syringas, viOletS, jonquils - her
generous basket made Il brave showing
us the waiting messenger took it.
"For memory's sake she said,
thinking of the old village buryin9
ground where her soldier dead were
sleeping She had pinned II tiny flag
on her white gown just as she did, so
many years ago, VIXEN Company X
marched down the street of her little
native town. The young lady next
door, whose lover was in the Philip
pines, smiled at her from her own
porch, and the gay siXteen-yea
girl across the street said she supposed
Miss BasSctt was one of the girls who
got left in 1864, that war grandpa
served in.
Then tall, fine looking, elderly man
with Grand Army button on his coat
and rose pinned close to it. passing
along, saw the woman in the garden
and an instant later the card in the
window. He hesitated Il moment. then
a moment more, and Miss Bassett was
saying in response to his question:
I'm sorry. sir, but take only Ia
dies. l find it pleasanter. I'm sorry"
she repeated. noticing the button, land
you n soldier too
Don't feel bad on that account,
madam. | was soldier, but I'm not
bearing gun and knnpsack now. Busi-
ness keeps me in Chicago for a month,
and it occurs to me that it would be