Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-04-13
The Argus Daily Short Story
How He Came Home-By Clarissa Maclze
Copyrighted. 1911. by Associated Literary

kle again. Then silence
The man swept the mask from his
face and crammed it in his pocket.
He tiptoed down the length Of the
hall to the stairs, where a white OBJ
ject blurred against the darkness. He
understood the situation at once. His
mother had a weak ankle. She had
sprained 1t once more and tainted
from the pain.
With trembling arms he CROPPED for
and found her slender form and lifted
her gently. Her soft hair brushed his
cheek, and he gnawed his lips to still
their quivering. Slowly he mounted
the stairs with his burden and carried
her into a front room where a night
lamp burned dimly.
He could see that the last three
years had aged her pitifully. Her
face was worn into thin lines and de-
prived Of its pretty color. Her gray
hair lay in a heavy braid over her
shoulder, and his lips touched it as he
bent above her. Then her eyes open
ed wider and with unutterable Joy
in their depths.
raymond 1t was you after all!
You have come backv' she cried. my
son! My SON."
He knelt beside the bed and sub
mitted his face to her tender scrutiny.
She kissed him and crooned over him
as If he was the baby she had wor-
SHIPPED. The three years since his dis
appearance from home had left their
mark upon his cOuntenance, and she
tried to kiss the alien marks away.
"Your father will be so happy! He
has always said you would come
back" she whispered.
"Where is dad?' he asked huskily.
"He went to Albany this morning.
He said he might return very late, so
/ did not sit up for him. 1t must be
nearly morning. / don't believe he IL
coming Tell me about yourself, dear.
Why did you go? Your father did not
mean to be so harsh with you. He
would have forgiven you, Raymond"
The young man told her I'm broken
sentences of his angry flight from
home after the quarrel with his ia
Their, of his journey to the Yukon
country, his unsuccessful search for
gold, the long winters, the return by
various stages. Now he was here.
He skipped all the period that had
elapsed since his return to New York;
how he had drifted around the great
city confident that his parents were
still living in the suburban town where
he had been born. He did not tell her
that little by little he had slipped on
the downward path until his sense OF
honesty had been blunted so that at
last he could enter the house of stran-
ger and steal his valuables. This was
his first attempt-and he had entered
the house of his own father!
She did not hear any of this as he
stepped to and fro, deftly bandaging
her swollen ankle, covering her with
the siIken quilt, administering a few
drops of her fayorite cordial as he had
been wont to do when he was at home.
At last he was sitting beside her once
more. The gray dawn was sitting
through the windows and showed his
face softened and glowing. when did
you leave SpringsideT' he asked at last
"a year ago. Your father felt that
he would be nearer his businessman
it was dull in Springside."
Raymond understood They had
come to New York. for there was a
greater chance OF seeing him II he
should be there in that maelstrom of
waits and strays from the world
He asked after one and another OF
old friends. At last he spoke hesitat-
ingly. Elsie Dearborn-what has be-
come of her, motherF'
Her hand pressed his Just the
same as ever. She has been like dear
daughter to us. Why. Raymond, she
is in the house this very moment
forgot" She Sat up in sudden excite
ment