Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-04-23

! "And you, Sam, I can sec yo'
and Alice leaning against the mason
ny there on the left corner. Hav,
you ever stopped to think, Sam, tina
you and Alice were the only two GU
of all that crowd who married ant
lived happily ever since"
There was there was
Jack and Mary Purse" suggested thu
editor.
Don't let's talk about them, Sam
it hurts"
After time Sam said:
"Thirtccn young folks, typical
ly-American young folks, on {
soft Spring night, off in the
woods after May flowers, They
group around it, lovers and sweet.
hearts. and they sing old love-songs
and tell yarns and watch the pictures
in the flames.
"And the talk drifts around to the
happiness of the moment, of the
threshold of life where they all stand
healthy young ,mortals, rejoicing in
their youth and strength as a strong
man to run a race, And laughingly
one takes gold-piece from his peck
ct and makes proposition: They
are to bury the gold piece beneath
the hearthstonc, miscr-fashlon.
Through the years of their life.cn-
deavor it is to lie there. And when
thirty years have flown, if they be
alive, they are to dig that coin up
and it is to be a medal of honor
for the one who has made his life
the most successful"
Again the woman shivered. But it
was not cold. The editor went on:
1--WE won't go through the careers
of those thirteen young folks; we
know them too we'll, Mibb. But
thirty-three years have flown, three
years beyond the number proposed.
Three of those boys and girls have
gone to their graves. Of the seven
living, two have amassed fortunes
-"
(Which isn't the measure Of sue
cess at all, Sam"
"You thought it was once, Mibb."
"I'vc learned differently, SAM" she
replied quietly.
"Then you think they can be eli.
"Thcy can be eliminated" she said
sadly.
Sam pokcd the fire several times.
"Mibb," he said softly at length,
tell me, to whom does the
medal Of honor bclong?"
She turned her lifc-worn counter
ancc to him then. In a soft, soft
voice she said:
81 think we know to whom it
belongs, SAM"
The editor felt in his pocket for
cigar. He lighted it in an ocean of
time. He rot it going comfortably.
He took it from his mouth and stud
led it's ash.
81 think we d." he said.
"Shall We dig it up, Mibb?" he
asked
81 don't suppose anyone ever will,
if VIC do not"
Sam Hold produced his pcnknifc.
Hc dug away the dirt by the light
Of the dying flames.
at is here, Mibb," he
laid rcvcrcntly.
Under the hearth brick was found
he cavity. In the cavity lay Dick
lobinson's match-safe. Thirty-threc
ears it had laid in that hollow and
t was eaten with rust. But when
Sam shook it, the tinklc came inside
"Sam!" cried the woman with a
Job, "--oh Sam, we've commit
cd a sacrilege!"
The woman broke down and Sob
,cd
"Thirty-thrcc years ago tonight,
'libb. Thirtythree years of joy and
orrow, of work and of play, of
aughter and grief, and sorrow and
Offering and death. And some have
.iven their lives to gold and bowed
heir shoulders to its slavery. And I
ONE have given their lives to ambi-
ion. One has given his life to his
ountry and some there have been
Who gave their lives to pleasure.
And. some" ..+ .>
"And some have given their lives
o little children, SAM, to the ben
fit of the race and the glory of God.
Jam, Sam ;. my cup of misery's
rained to its drcgs," +
They went home under the soft :
pring moonlight. 1t seemed strange
0 think, as they quilted that glen,
hat the same moon had lighted the
Jay of . that happy carc-free light
cartcd party thirty-three years be-
orc. They went home in. silence,
he man helping the women over the
ifficult, places. They went out of the
cln, =. out of the trysting place of
Their, better and brighter and happier
ays, >. back along the country
Dad and the brook and the streets