The Climax-Madisonian. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1914-1917, 1915-08-18
. NoOeE~o5NStsIsSsIe{s Es{sEeESIeIoIeIolelNoI
Copyright, The Frank A Munsey COD


Mary sat by the front window,
crouched down, watching. Her eyes
were red with recent tears, but she
spoke bravely and without tremor to
someone in the other room.
There are some boys out here play
ing tag" she said with a poor imita-
ton of a laugh. "One of them just
fell into puddle. He looks so funny"
when Billy went to West Point he
said there wouldn't be anybody to
fight" the Iittlest 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 it was brighter,
and one could see telegraph boy a
block away if one came. Then, too,
Mary would talk, and mother was so
silent it frightened body. Ever since
the newspaper had said, yesterday,
that an officer, a lieutenant of the
Forty-second, had been killed away off
there, mother had not slept, and she
was so white 1t seemed there were
not many lieutenants in C company of
the Forty-second, and somebody
named Censor had held back the name.
''Will the president telegraph,
Mary?" he asked in a whisper. do
you think it's Billy, do your"
Mary was gazing wild-eyed at 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?
of 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 a little gasp
Hes gone to Mrs. Winthrop's. l sup
pose their aunt is coming to visit. &C
open the door for the postman, there's
good boy. The postman is coming
mother" she called. "Bobbie is get
ting the mail"
Thus would mother be saved the
fear that message had come. Lone
closed the book, and she could heal
him speaking with a brave POPULARITY
well, we'd have heard by this time
anyhow. 1 said all along there WASH
anything to worry about. 1t isn't as il
he were all alone. He's got a lot o.
| friends in the regiment, you know, anC
somebody'd wire. They'd have plenty
of time, because they never do mucf
the day after a fight"
Bobbie brought in the mail, all cas-
aside for the picture postals from Billy
which they admired while mother reaC
his fat letter in silence. 1t was the
custom to read Billy's letters aloud
but no one wanted the task now. Eacf
could read by himself, except the lit
tlest brother, and Mary read it to hin
in a whisper on the window-seat. DeeI
down in their hearts they knew they
might have worse than this to bear
with Billy's CHEEKY letters coming
every little while, even though Billy
himself were lying silent in another
land. under the flag of the alien, The
enemy. How could they bear it then
The telephone rang insistently
harshly, and Lionel, who was not wor
ried. sprang with one leap to answer
it, his one awful thought being tina
they did telephone the kilograms some
times. The color came back to hi!
face as he listened
TITS father" he said at once. "f1t
says" Lionel added after a moment
"he says that headquarters has had M
news, and he thinks that is encourag
ing. They would have heard, he thinks
He is coming home early"
Father could not do any business
then? What mattered it whether Their,
was any business done any more
what mattered anything? Mary, OF
the window-seat, her arm over Bob
bie's shoulder, could see, hundreds O
miles away, the little. group of mel
fighting desperately against the ad
vancing hordes and one by one falling
where they had stood, guarding tn,
stores. A lieutenant was very young
just out of the Point, gay, debonair, al
fectionate, home-loving boy that h.
wasl
+ So the time dragged along and ia
ther came home. He talked abou
business and the men who had beef
in to see him, about a runaway hors
that had upset banana cart, an,
about story in magazine, but h,
said no word of Billy. He and mothe
sat side by side as he talked, an,
when mother laid her hand on tn
arm of his chair he put his hand owe
hers and held it. The papers tosse,
on the library table no one ha,
touched. The wild excitement owe
} the war, the thrill at news of battles
the patriotic anxiety to do something
to help had left them under the clou'
of possible personal loss Billy
Why. it was only last winter he ha
been with them, acting like a SINAI
boy. with more charming pranks in