The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-05-26
Miss Lucy's
Memorial Day
Romance
By CARLO TIA PERRY
copyright, 1904. by carlOtta Perry.l

- HE was a sweet face sweet
- voiced woman. w. brown
~ hair that had Lar-.' {" gray
thread in it and that had not
lost its pretty trick of curling ..round
the temples. There were very few
lines on her face, none that discomfort
or weak repining had caused and
there was a delicate rose tint on her
cheeks that had defed time in way
not usual with rose tintS. she was
ffty-six years old, though she did not
look it, not by ten good years: even
her enemies said that, or they would
have said il, If she had had any enc
mics. She was country bred. and ten
years in the city had not reconciled 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 double petunias bios
sOmed in the generous fashion of the
old home garden in York state In
the rear We're rows of hollyhOckS
against the fence and a grass plot that
was even dearer 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 a couple of rooms. \ card
with the legend "FuruiSheG Rooms"
was, as occasion made necessary,
placed in a window that in sidewisc
fashion faced the street
On the morning of this Memorial
day one of the two roomerS uncXpect-
eddy went away. The lady expressed
much regret at leaving without no.
tice. but Miss Bassett said: Never
mind, my dear. If you are called to
20, some one else will be called to
come" Then with unrufiled 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
a band in the distance and wondered
if it would pass her door; then, re-
membering her promise 10 Il veterans
widow, she went out to gather such
flowers as the garden yields to the
late May in the northern climate. Ii
laos, syringas, YioietS, iOnquils - her
generous basket made brave showing
as the waiting messenger took it.
For memory's sake she said,
thinking of the Old village burying
ground where her soldier dead were
sleeping. She had pinned a tiny flag
on her white gown Just as she did, so
many years ago, when 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-year- old
girl across the street said she supposed
Miss Bassett was one of the girls who
got left in 1854 that war grandpa
served IN.
Then tall, fine looking. elderly man
with a Grand Army button on his coat
ana a 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
moment more, and Miss Bassett was
saying in response to his question:
I'm sorry, sir but | take only la
dies. l find it pleasanter. I'm sorry"
she repeated, noticing the button, land
You Il soldier too"
Don't feel bad on that account.
madam. | was a soldier, but I'm not
bearing gun and knapsack now Bust
ness keeps me in Chicago for month,
and it occurs TO me that it would be