Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-02-26
Old
homestead
pepyrsxae 1919. 81 westera xsuasasss usioag
81 ALIEN CHA An

Martin Frey 10 his oidtime friend.
Judge Bartlett
.''Syell. Mary is not q denonstrasiye
person. = said the Judge Don't get =
lot OF nonsense into your head. Mar
tin. You have provided beautiful
home. the children are healthy and
happy what more can you expect ~
But lIartin Frey sighed and shook
his head. and although he did not puy.
sue the subject II remained Id Ills
mind. He had married Mary back at
their home town. Leighton. twenty
years since. Never had there been
more loyal and Industrious heipmeef
And now, only d month before he Ind
Confronted Mary with the surprise af
her life.
For years he had planned 1.-THE
building OF model home as good as
any In the town. lie had cherished
the idea, saving. scraping. for nearly q
decade. He had never LET Mary even
surmlise what he w0s at. When the
beautiful house was all completed and
newly furnished lie had appeared ID
i brand-new automobile and had piled
Ia the delighted children, with the
brisk. CHEEKY hail
Come. Mary. I'm going 70 take =
drive II
And then. as they reached the new
home ne had so proudly acquired, he
drew d key from his pocket. handed It
to her and said, grandly waving his
hand toward the pretty house
There's your new home, Mary. and
no one ever deserved one as you do Y
Mary was pleased, there was no
doubt Of that. She admired all the.
fine points of the handsome residence
and her eyes heightened as they noted
the comfortable and even luxurious
furnishings.
You are good man, Martin, she
said. and her voice qulyered With eno-
ton. and then she kissed him, and his
heart warmed toward her.
For all that, as time went on. Mar
4 tin noticed that Mary did not seem to
exactly fit into her new environment.
They were able to keep a mud now.
but Mary was welded to her old
housekeeping ways. shes missed the
old kitchen stove and the shining gas
range troubled her. She missed wash
ing the children every Saturday night
In the oIdsfashioned wash tub.
SITS beautiful, Martin" she would
say, but can't help thinking of the
old home back at Leighton Don't
you remember the view from the old
open piazza there, Just far and grand7
And the cool well water. and the
honeysuckle vine, and the little school
house just beyond our LOTT
Il do, indeed" Martin would reply.
'and it's tce sweetest picture Id the
world In my memory. But ways have
changed, Mary. And the old placer
Twenty. years why, / suppose Leigh
ton is just bnstling little city now,
and you wouldn't recognize If, with all
the old landmarks gone.
still Mary cherished her dream. Ii
WAS not difficult TO convince her that
the children were given great advnn-
tages under the new order Of affairs,
but the old home seemed to beckon
her. 1t was a shrine In memory and
devotion and she iongeti for a sight OF
It once more. How much, Martin never
knew until Mary was under spell Or
sickness. He was spelling the nurse
one evening and seated IL the half
darkened room where Mary lay, when
he knew from her restlessness that she
was fevered and incoherent. He
caught some words that enchanted Of
tention and interest. In her deliriuIn
Mary fancied she was eonyersing with.
an old-time girl friend.
II don't want Martin to know, dear, 4
Mary was murmuring. He ii 50 good
and kind to me, but II has seemed 10
me for years that the greatest boon /
could ask would be To visit the dear
old home again. III tt Is only To
freshen my memory and help the long
ing cannot repress, It would be
blessing to me. hope some time be
fore die Martin will visit leighton
and I will get my wish
You poor, romantic. sentimental
deari That ron shall = whispered
Martin to himself, and until the day
far ahead when Mary rcgained her old
strength the idea never left hts mind.
The glad look Id her eyes fully re-
paid his care and thonghtfnlness.
when he one day announced TINT he
was going TO take i trip to Leighton
In the automobile. children and all.
With eager. expectant eyes Mary
leaned fron the vehicle as the ma
chine turned into the street where she
had passed her early childhood. Slow
II hers face lost Its token Of delight.
There were stores where the houses
Dc her youth had been. The 0Id-time
green lawns we're gone. The quaint.
welI-remembered little schoolhOnse
was occupied as repair shop. the
grand valley view shut ont BY the
smoke Of great factories, the honey
suckle vine was no more, and the
house. always 10 neatly painted ard
kept. seemed ready to collapse with
the 1irst strong wind and was given
over TO poor mill VOTERS.
1Kary drew do~n her veil Cd hide