The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-02-17
THE WANDERER
RETURNED
BY GENEVIEVE ULMAR

years narrow-gauge cut OF had run
a baggage and a second class passen-
ger coach once a day; now the trunk
line direct operated twenty. The estab-
iishment of four great plants at Vir-
den had come about, and Donald Bruce
strained his gaze to find something IA
miliar, and experienced strange
sense of disappointment, of loneliness
and OF fear, for he knew not how
many of those he had come back hop
ing to find might have passed away
with the new order of things.
He was bronzed, bearded, uncouth
as to dress, and his pose was not that
of man attended by fortune. He
met no one he knew as he left the
depot. He passed the site of the old
Railroad house to find it occupied by
4 magnificent hotel Where a minia-
| ture lake had covered the center of
the public square there was an ornate
city hall.
Donald checked his steps as he
| turned a corner round which he had
played hunt the gray" in his boy
hood days. His eager glance sought
the pleasant porticoed structure he
had known as home. Il was not there
A public garage had superseded it.
His heart sank. An oppressive, brood
ing chih assailed him. Home, father,
mother-these he had dreamed of, and
had longed for-and now the initial
augury was one of menacing despair.
Eight years exile, long, weary wait
5 ing He turned from the spot feeling
like a stranger in u strange land
square farther on his glance swept
neat little cottage, set in a charm
ing nest of greenery. 1t was the first
remaining token of the past that had
met his view. There was the old-time
garden, and even the horse block upon
which he had often rested Donald
sat down upon it now, his head bowed
in reverie.
His mind went back eight years to
the old home now swallowed up by
the monster of progress His father
conducted a village general store
| slow, methodical, a plodder For two
| years Donald worked there He was
Il paid no wages. He rebelled at strict
II ness ana discipline.
! Father talks Of slow but sure 1t
isn't the worlds way nowadays" he
had one day told his great friend Lucy
\ Gray, the daughter of the village ply
n stefan, whose house he nov faced.
I'm tired of it! I'm going away to
t, see real life and earn real money"
k And then and there he and Lucy. mere
r children that they were, pledged them
6 selves one to the other and parted with
II a kiss
How he had dreamed of pretty, low
ing Lucy all those succeeding years
10 How he had built up fabric of gaudy.
10 gilded ambition-a fortune won, re-
k turn to his native town loaded down
with riches, to prove TO his methodical
t, father that dull ,grubbing was a poor
lie business Systemt
a But his was not the path of for
y tune. He had worked hard, but sue
cess had always eluded him. He lost
:, his grip-his nerve-at last. He was
homesick, dispirited. >all broken up.
Without a dollar lie had left Firden.
without dollar he had come back.
IL Contritely, humbly, he was ready and
o willing to assume the burden he had
once disdained, to acknowledge that
le his father was right and he himself
u wrong. longing for the old sweet home
life, with all its loneliness as the
greatest boon in the whole world.
And now? His soul shrank within
:. him. His parents were probably dead,
id the little business enterprise of his IA
< Their engulfed by the rush and havoc of
id the new rule of advancement. He start
;. ed up as a step sounded near him,
IS and a kindly voice spoke:
"What is it, my man?'
d. Donald thrilled as his eyes rested
Il on the speaker. He recognized him
m in an instant. 1t was Doctor Gray.
N changed, grown old. but the friendly.
X sympathetic face was the same AT
that moment a speeding automobile
passed by. It's electric lights focused
ID on his face.
= "Why. it is Donald Brucew ex-
claimed the doctor. He sat down on
: the horse block, retaining his hearty
grip on Donald's hand. "Where have
you been all these years? Get in, |
D want to talk to you"
Doctor Gray led the way to the
-, gravel roadway where his old-fash-
toned phaeton stood ready for him.
Slowly the ancient horse attached took
them down the street. With manifest
interest the physician listend to the
story of the wanderer. As they reached
the city hall he said:
Your father passes most of his
time there-just elected mayor for a
second term"
Then, after urging up the laggard
steed and reaching a handsome man
sion on the principal residence street.
he added: There is where your fa.
Their and mother live. Ny old friend
Bruce made his fortune when the town
boom came. Go in now, lad. The
prodigal son? That's no shame. You
will get a sure welcome from those