Middletown transcript., 1907-07-13

thlnk q I6il0W mignb as Well be q
slave as not.
q She thinks that Dinon and
Blett are not square, said Rob
gloomily. Rob's brow was very
gloomy as they trndged along
You know they were prosecuted
! once for selling adnlterated
things; and then, you know, they
sell
Of course; all druggists do,
said Tom, filing in the significant
pause. I guess you re not a baby
Your uncle never will make q
slave of you again And look
at my hands, all blistered from
! blowing. Tom set down his
leather bag to ease his arms
and the better to show his
wounds. I'm glad l don't have
to hoe those long rows of corn
and beans and potatoes! Driv-
ing team is nothing but play.
I've got to sweep out the whole
place to-day. I'd just as lief work
Memorial Day as not, wouldn't
| you? Tom cast a somewhat
doubtful glance at his companion,
Anyhow it ISM t as bad as having
to chop wood.
Rob uttered a sudden ex-
clamation of dismay. I didn't
fill the wood box! he stammered.
1t would be just like Patty to try
to use the hatchet herself!
She'll get somebody;don't you
worry, said Tom easily. She
may make a fuss for a while, but
she will be all right when she
finds that you never are coming
back again.
Never coming back again!
The ruddy color slipped out of
Robs' cheeks. Well, a fellow
must have courage if he was
going to make a man of himself!
He remembered the time that
Uncle Aaron had made him pile
up logs until nine o'clock at night
and held his head up and walked
determinedly.
The sun was locking over the
top of old Blue Hill by this time,
and the bells were ringing in the
church steeples. There were
curls of smoke from every Chin
ney, and in two or three gardens
people were already gathering
flowers.
After they had turned into the
road that led to the station, Rob
looked back at the burying
ground under the shadow of old
Blue Hill. He wondered if the
yellow rosebush had begun to
bud.
The boys took the cars for the
Junction. 1t was only ten miles
from Cherryfeld, but it was d
large and bustling town and
seemed like the world to them.
They came upon a great,
tlower.laden procession as soon
as they reached the main
street. Flags were flying and
the band was playing. See, the
conquering hero com es, as if it
were festal rather than a me-
mortal, day.
Rob's heart swelled high.
His father had been a soldier;
he had enlisted as a drummer
boy and came home, when the |
war ended, with a lieutenant's ep-
aulets on his shoulders, and with |
a physical weakness, the result
OF a wound that hampered him
all his life. He had been a hero
in battle, a hero in the way he
bore his infrmities, so everyone
had said.
AS he remembered all this, /
Rob's face suddenly flushed
guiltily. He was the son of
a hero! Was be acting a hero's,
or only a cowardly deserter
part? And yet wasn't it more
than boy could be expected to
bear to pile logs every afternoon
until his back ached, for Uncle
Hadn't any boy a right
to take a chance that had offered
itself-almost? He and Tom had
secured situations at the juno
ton with very little effort. He
had answered an advertisement
and had been hired at once, and
Tom had found place as ''boy''
in a manufacturing house.
The band played, To arms, to
arms, ye brave! The Marseil-
laise always made Rob's pulses
thrill. The band at Cherryfeld
played more funeral marches on
Day. Itwould be lone.
some for Patty to-day up in the
cemetery by their fathers un
marked grave. -Rut PATTY l;lzod