The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1915-04-08


Mary sat by the front window,
crouched down. watching. Her eyes
were red with recent tears, but she
spoke bravely and without a tremor to
someone in the other room.
There are some boys out here play
ing tag" she said with poor imita-
ton of a laugh. Zone of them just
fell into a puddle. He looks so funny"
when Billy went to West Point he
said there wouldn't be anybody to
fight" the littlest brother submitted
shakily. LESS it was Indians. Now
they send him to war"
Mary drew a quick breath. Their
mother was sewing in the library
while Lionel read aloud to her, and
she must not hear. She must not
think they weren't being brave. too.
"Come here. Bobbie." Mary said
softly From here you can see way
up the street"
The littlest brother came gladly, be-
cause he was lonely and forlorn. On
the wide windOw-seat 1t was brighter,
and one could see telegraph boy a
block away if one came. Then, too,
Mary would talk, and mother was so
silent 1t frightened body. Ever since
the newspaper had said, yesterday,
that an officer, a lieutenant of the
Forty-second, had been killed away of
there, mother had not slept, and she
was so white 1t seemed there were
not many neutenants in G company Of
the Forty-second, and somebody
named Censor had held back the name.
"Will the president telegraph,
Mary?" he asked in whisper. 'Do
you think It's Billy, do your"
Mary was gazing wild-eyed at a boy
in blue who came whistling down the
street. What should she do If he
came to their steps? Could she get
there before he rang? How could she
tell mother, how could she?
'.If it is Billy, will they put flowers
on his grave. Mary?" the littlest
brother asked. MARY, is that boy
coming here, is he?"
NO." Mary said with little gasp.
He's gone to Mrs. Winthrop's. sup
pose their aunt Is coming to visit. Go
open the door for the postman, there's
a good boy. The postman is coming,
mother" she called. "Bobbie is get
ting the mail"
. Thus would mother be saved the
fear that a message had come Lionel
closed the book, and she could hear
him speaking with brave jocularity.
We'll, we'd have heard by this time,
anyhow. said alI alonk thoro Z
anything to worry about, It isn,t sasn
he were all alone. He's got q .- as II
friends in the regiment, you know, and
somebody'd wire. They'd have plenty
Of time. because they never do much
the day after q fight"
Bobbie brought in the mail, all cast
aside for the picture postals from Billy |
which they admired while mother read
MS fat letter in silence. It was the |
custom to read Billy's letters aloud, |
put no one wanted the task now. Each |
could read by himself, except the lit
lest brother, and Mary read it to him |
n whisper on the window-seat. Deep |
Town in their hearts they knew they |
night have worse than this to bear,
With Billy's CHEEKY letters coming
'very little while, even though Billy
himself were lying silent in another T
and, under the flag of the alien, the
'nemy. How could they bear it then?
The telephone rang insistently,
larshly, and Lionel, who was not wor-
led, sprang with one leap to answer
t, his one awful thought being that
hey did telephone the kilograms some
ines. The color came back to his
ace as he listened.
Its father" he said at once. "he
avs" Lionel added after moment,
he says that headquarters has had no
ews. and he thinks that is encourag-
ne. They would have heard. he thinks.
lie is coming home early"
Father could not do any business,
hen? What mattered it whether there
1as any business done any more;
hat mattered anything? Mary, on
ne window-seat. her arm over Bob
les shoulder, could see, hundreds OF
lilies away, the little group OF men
Citing desperately against the ad-
ancing hordes and one by one falling
here they had stood. guarding the
torres. A lieutenant was very young, ]
lst out Of the Point. gay. debonair. af. {
sctionate. home-loying boy that he
as! Ii
So the time dragged along and Ia ,
Ter came home. He talked about /
nsiness and the men who had been {
! to see him, about a runaway horse I
lat had upset q banana cart. and q
bout story In a magazine. but he I
lid no word of Billy. He and mother s
it side by side as he talked, and 4
hen mother laid her hand on the I
I'M Of his chair he put his hand over s
srs and held it. The papers tossed $
49, l.