The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1917-10-18
The LIT TIE LADY
BY DOROTHY DOUGLAS.

General Goodwin sighed as he
turned his back upon the little Devon=
shire village. The Jagged rocks and
the sea seemed more wonderful than
ever, but his backward glance was not
ut either sea or rocks. Instead, his
glance was riveted on a tiny vine-clad
cottage with roses climbing in at the
easement windows and a sweet little
white-haired lady dwelling within.
At least the general supposed her to
be sweet. He felt sure that one whose
eyes met the passers-by with so friend
lv an expression could not be other
wise.
The general had found no way Of
meeting the little lady during his stay
in Lee, and it was with heartfelt re-
greet that he made his way back to
London. But even General Goodwin,
in his sixtieth year, was not free to
travel fortunes path in his own pleas
ure. He was inspecting troops for the
new armies while his only son was
fighting in France.
But the train went Londonward, and
with it went the general.
! It was at the London railway station
that he bought the daily papers, but it
| was not until he had reached his own
library that he saw her picture in the
sketch" His eyes lit up with frank
amazement, so curious was the coinci-
dence.
The picture of the little lady in the
cottage by the sea was called Some
body's Mother" and a message be-
meath it asked the readers Of the
"Sketch" for information. General
Goodwin WINGED as he thought of the
pain perhaps in store for her. Per-
haps It was her only son who had
fallen on the battlefield, and this meth
cd was taken to secure her knowl-
edge of the fact.
He lost no time in telephoning to
the Office Of the daily paper. When he
hung up the receiver there was a glad
smile in his eyes. The soldier boy
in whose pocket the precious picture
had been found was lying in a Lon
don hospital suffering from loss of
memory brought on by the bursting of
shell. His memory was blank. There
had been others affected in the iden-
teal manner and they had recovered.
1t was with this hope in his breast
that General Goodwin made the Jour-
ney back to Devonshire, to the village
beside the sea.
The generals heart was not exactly
steady as he approached the familiar
cottage and went in at the White
washed gate.
Somebody's Mother" opened the
door herself and the general thought
he detected the very faintest rose hue
in her cheeks as she saw who her
visitor was.
"He is safe," the general said swift
~, anxious to save her one moments
worry. He knew that her mind would
jump at once to grasp his meaning.
Her smile was wonderful to behold,
and 1t left the general slightly awk-
ward as to speech.
ut was through this photograph"
he said, shat I have been able to To-
cate you" He knew then that she
blushed softly. ''If l had not looked
enviously in upon you among your :
roses and birds I would not have
known that Somebody's Mother was
you"
The little lady looked back at him
with a char1ningly frank look Of hap
piness in her eyes
"My boy Is everything to me-" she /
said. II want him down here when
he can be moved. Perhaps his mem |,
ory will come back in the scenes of his
boyhood."
"The sight of his mother would do
it." the general said with firm con-
viction that mother can do anything
by the mere touch Of gentle hand
or the glance Of love-lit eyes. II will
go up to London tonight and bring him
down to you-if you like" he suggest
ed, knowing well that when the boy
was beside her she would have more
happiness than she expected and that
he, the general, had helped to give 1t
to her.
"Would it not trouble you far too
much?" she asked, gazing question
ingly with those wonderful blue eyes
right at the general.
"Just you know" he said, "that it
will give me as much pleasure to bring
your brave son down here to you as it
would give you to bring mine back to
me. Put yourself in my place." he
added gently.
With that the little lady of the cot
tage smiled and put out the slim white
fingers that tended the roses and birds
so tenderly. General Goodwin grasped
them and raised them to his lips for,
after all, they both realized what the
future was holding out to them.
It was as the general had hoped.
Somebody's Mother brought memory
back to her son. His first rational
words were. "MOther-mOther. mine y"