Evening journal., 1907-06-06
e993e~98094449@99@44494@e,
Tracks In the Snow.
TCopyriRht. 1907. BY g. ID. Daniels.l


bit hunting near my fathers farm 1 /
came on q mans tracks In the snow.
The tracks had been made In the night .
and led to an old barn. 1t was plain !
that the party who had made them (
knew OF the old barn and had It In [
mind when he left the highway.
went into the barn. Presently |
I heard the snore Of sleeping man, /
ana minute later / found him cover
ed up IN the hay. His face was ex-
posed, aud ! saw his sandy hair, and
then / knew who it was. Six months
previously our nearest ncighbor on the
west had enlisted and gone to the front
In the civil war. He was not much
thought Of as a man, being considered
shlftless and without ambition. 1t
was the large bounty that had induced
him TO enlist If the man bad no
standing I'm the community, his wife
had She was an energetic little wo-
man. far too good for such a man. and
was universally respected. She lived
quite alone after his enlistment, and
the full crop. such as II was. was gath
cred for her By the neighbors. They
had also seen that she had O store Of
winter fuel ! uncovered the man
without awakening him and found that
he was sure enough Dan Scott was
about 60 arouse him when II struck
me as a curious thing that he should
have come 20 the old barn instead Of
going to bis own house. covered
hlm uD again and left the place and a
quarter Of an hour later was knocking
on his door
"weu John. what Is itT' asked the
CHEEKY little woman as / entered.
How long since you have heard
from Mr.. scottT I queried in reply,
hardly knowing how to get around to
my subject.
"Why, | showed your mother the last
letter. That was three weeks ago"
"Dld he say anything about coming
homer
Goodness. no! He couldn't get a
furlough as soon as this II | was dy-
ing! Have you heard any news2 Has
there been another battle? Has Dan
been killedT'
Then told her Of my discovery. She
turned pale aud shut her lips and trem-
bled bit. Not word ala she reply
until she had got on her things to go
out Then she said.
"Come. John. We are going to the
barn."
Not word was spoken between us
on the way. We found the husband
still asleep. and as she stood and sur
veyed him she flushed with anger.
Then she gave him a smart kick, and
he opened his eyes and sat up.
1--we come home. Jennie" he said.
"Yes?"
Il was 50 homesick to see you that l
Just had to come. l believe ! should
have died II | hadn't come"
"rhen you got furlough?' she ask
ed in a hard, metallic voice. her blue
eyes looking right through him.
"A-a sort OF a furlough- -that-is.
good many OF the boys were coming
home. You see it's got 50 late that
there won't be any more battles this
fall, and there was no use hanging
around the camp. hope you amt mad
about II. Jennie"
"You came away without leave, did
youg"
There were others too"
"To come away without leave makes
you deserter. You will be hunted
down and taken back. The papers will
say you deserted. We shall be dis
graced. Not a decent person for ten
miles around viii speak to u.s."
"Oh, come, now" protested Scott as
he reached his feet and brushed away
at the hay cllnglng to him. "You see,
you don't understand. I was homeslck,
and IT was no use for me to stay there
when there was no lighting to be done.
1t was midnight when | got along here,
and so I d'dn't so 70 the house. Let's
go now I'm hungry for breakfast
Hello, John! Glad TO see you. Come
over tonight, and I'll tell you some war
stories. Why don't you kiss me, Jennie,
and tell me you are glad TO see meT'
Mrs, Scott was q gentle little woman,
but her face grew as hard as steel.
saw her bite her lips until they We're
stained with blood. The look she gave
the man was so full Of contempt and
disgust that he fairly wrlthed under It..
She held him for a long minute and
then reached out and took the shotgun
away from me. ] had been leaning up
against a beam and saying never a
word. she looked TO see II the gun
was loaded and then turned to her hus-
band with:
There Is no house for deserters 10
go 70. There is not a family in the
state that would give one Of them a
breakfast. You cannot sit under the
same roof with me. You are going
back 10 the army"
"But, Jennle''-
"You are going now"
"say, now, but you can't mean ltT'
She stepped back and brought the
gun TO her shoulder, and on my life
believe she would have shot him dead
In his tracks IL he had not moved. lie
must have believed so, too, for after Q
few seconds he turned away and tool
his trail to the highway We botI
stood and watched him. and he nevel
looked back. Five minutes after b,
was out Of sight the woman handed
me back the gun and quietly said;
John, keep this a secret for my
sake"
Il WILL" l answered. And this is th'
first time II has been told 70 others
Both husband and wife are dead now
He went back to the army and IL
some way escaped the disgrace anl