The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-05-17


clung to the task with feverlsh eager.
ness. The man within him protested
that he was still good for something,
that old age had not robbed him of ev-
erything.
On the morning of Memorial day the
whiting was all finished, but there
remained the task OF attaching the
straps, and Uncle Luther knew that
he could not hope to complete the lee
in time for the exercises. SO he laid
it away, and toward noon he dressed
up in his best blue clothes and put on
his wide brimmed black hat with the
| gold cord around the crown. Then he
hobbled out of the door and dropped
| down on n box by the fence With his
back resting against a post. Where
| Uncle Luther sat he could look up the
yellow stretch Of roadway, and he
knew that he could see the parade al.
most as soon as 1t left the town. II
would pass the end of the lane on its
way to the cemetery, and he hoped
with the optimism of the very old and
| the very young. that 1t would come
| back by the same road. Seeing II
| was next to marching with it.
| Uncle Luther put on his long dis
| tance glasses. and he saw a blur of
blue moving along the road from the
| village. Above it there was blur OF
red and white. A moment later they
resolved themselves into a knot of old
soldiers. with the flag tapping above
! them. Uncle Luther took long
| breath, and his eyes shone. Suddenly
band began to play the stirring mu-
sic of marching Through Georgia"
They've got the band" exclaimed
| Uncle Luther in voice that choked
with ecstasy.
| Unconsciously he rose on his one good
foot and took off his hat. His eyes
| dimmed. and as the enlivening strains
of the music came up to him another
| picture formed on his misty glasses.
He saw the boys in blue-not a meager
handful of gray and STOPPING remnants,
| but boys with fresh young faces and
broad shoulders and proud chins. They
were muddy to the knees with march
ing, they were ragged and tattered,
but they swept by to the drums and
flies, regiment after regiment and bri-
| gade after brigade, and OrderlieS clat-
tered up and down with yellow envel-
opes stuck in their belts, and the shells
were screeching from the Confederate
heights. He saw the companies wheel
and deploy. He saw them strip down
and form in line at charge bayonets.'
The big black guns were leaping the
ruts in the road, with the gunners
clinging desperately to the caissons.
Then he saw the long line of gray rise
up over the hill and pour itself down
the slope. He saw the ragged, mile
long flash of the carbines, and he
would have leaped forward to the
charge if for a single moment he had
heard the buga's shrill summons.
Uncle Luthers spectacles were dim
med He polished them off with shaky
fingers and looked again. Behind the
band there was a stretch of white
that seemed to twinkle in the sunshine.
They've got the children, too" he
faltered.
Then the old fellows in blue swung
at the corner. They were keeping mill
tary line, and something of the old
spirit had thrilled their steps into an
unwonted precision. The band, wheel
ing with them, swept into Rally
Round the Flag, Boys" Uncle Luther
leaped forward on his one good leg,
waved his hat around his head and
shouted, "Hurrah, hurrah!' His head
was thrown back, his eyes flashed, his
breath came back quick and hot.
Now they had reached the end Of
the lane, and Uncle Luther could make
out the full length of the parade. 1t
was by far the greatest celebration
that the town ever had known, and his
heart swelled with pride at the thought.
Not once did he recall his own disap-
pointment and sorrow. 1t was all for
the glory of the day.
Suddenly Uncle Luther shrank back.
What were they trying to do? He felt
an impulse to run forward and tell
them that they had missed the way to
the cemetery and that the lane ran
only as far as Jonathan DowelPs
house. But before he could decide
what to do the old soldiers stopped
almost In front of his own little shop.
The band had swung out to one side.
1t was playing America" and the
sweet, shrill voices of the children rose
and fell with the music. Uncle Luther
sank back on his box, trembling.
Through a mist Of great happiness he
saw Uncle Tommy and Captain Enoch
, advancing toward him side by side.
He couldn't believe it at first; he didn't
pretend to believe it.
: I'm gettin' old" he muttered, IAN
I'm not steady in my mind"
But he rose to meet them. Uncle
Tommy carried an odd shaped pack
age in his arms, and when he was
near to Uncle Luther he stopped and
cleared his throat. Every one was 81
lent, listening.
: 81 calc'late to make a speech" he
! stammered, but we thought we'd dec
crate the livin' this year. Luther
| here's u new leg"