The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-05-24

from wife and child, from success, ana
he had drifted at last TO this quiet
haven with no outlook save an I'M
named mound in the hillside grave
yard. These was Josh. ne had died be-
fore he had seen his sister-hOW he
would have liked to see her, and she
The sergeant saw the anxious face and
heard the patient words: WED
ouShter make the best of it
He looked over at the crea sed cOun-
terpane on the bed where the tired lit
tie figure had been sitting. Yes. we'd
oughter." he said aloud gently. Then
the color came into his face as he re-
membered-what he had forgotten for
the moment-that he had taken Josh =
place, had let her kiss him and so of
with tears in her eyes and gladness in
her heart, because she had seen Josh.
and Josh's room was so pleasant.
Would that silent. turf bound chamber
where Josh now slept have pleased her
as we'll?
The sergeant rose and went to the
window. "She said she wasn't long for
this world l guess when she meets
Josh in heaven, he'll make it all right F"
The sergeant looked "A long time on the
prospect that soon became blur Of
green and white
As the days passed the sergeant
brooding over the loss 81 his roommate,
grew more and more dissatisfied with
the home. He forgot the comforts that
were making the soul of many an old
soldier glad: he fused over the I'M
doubtedly mOnotonous bill of fare, and
fumed over the somewhat irksome but
necessary regulations, until he seemed
changing from a popular inmate of the
house to one of those terrors of all in
- D.. III
There's nothing left 10 look forward
to but the graveyard with no mOnu-
ment. nor headstone nor nothing" he'd
mutter in the solitude of his own room,
for he had not vet been assigned a
roommate. 'If / could only cit to So
phrony's now" Then he remembered
what Josh's sister had said about her
children. But SophrOny's real good
hearted if she is poor, and if she
couldn't keep me all the time she'd
make me have a real pleasant visit. Ii
just seems as if I couldn't stay here
any longer I'm tired of SEEM old sol
diers, and nOthin but old soldiers, To
think 1 should have come TO this"
And the sergeant groaned aloud in bit
terness of spirit.
The days went on TO warmth and
but the sergeants world
only himself, but every more hopeful
inmate of the home.
At last one day in early May a letter
was brought 10 his room. addressed to
Mr.. j. Brown. The sergeant sitting on
the edge of JOshs bed, turned il over
and over in pleasurable excitement
and examined the postmark. The name
Of the town he could not make out, but
the state, the sergeant was sorry 10
note, was far distant from SOphronia 5,
and the handwriting, feeble and
was unknown.
The sergeant opened the letter and
there fell out some neatly folded bills
He picked them up and counted them;
there were three 500 bills.
MY gracious, that's risky" cried the
with a mingled thrill of fear
and delight.
He held them in his hand for a mo-
nent. simply for the pleasure of feeling
so large a sum. Then he read the let
Ter, holding it close 10 his old eyes with
a shaking hand. The penmanship was
irregular but the meaning was clear
Dear Joshua-I send you this money
10 do anything you want to with. It's
some I've saved up all these years by
myself and I've had 1t changed into
these bills. It's a good deal to send i'm
a letter, but ] guess the Lord will see
hat you get it. The children don't know
anything about it and they don't need
10. They've got enough, anyway. You
don't know how glad j WAS to see you
50 pleasantly situated that day; II has
made me happy ever since. can't
write long because it hurts me; | am
sick and I shouldn't be surprised if
when you get this letter ] had passed
beyond | know how proud YOU are
but don't send this money back, be-
cause the children would scold me, and
don't want them 20 have il anyway.