The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-09-01

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They Had I Long Day d Comfort Ii
IL Current
SHave you heard from homer Abe
asked al they padded on.
Not q word" said Harry.
you're not expecting to meet BIN
Kelso1"
'.That's the best part IT getting
home for me-" said Harry, turning
with q smile.
LET her drift for a minute" said
Abe. "I've got q letter from James
Rutledge that I want to read to you.
There's q big lesson in 1t for both Of
us-something to remember as long
az we i've"
Abe read the letter. Harry sat mo-
tionless. Slowly his head bent for
ward until his chin touched bis breast.
Abe said with a tender note in his
voice as he folded the letter:
'sThis man Is well along In life. He
hasn't youth to help him as you have.
See how he takes 1t and she's the only
child he has. There are millions Of
pretty girls in the world for you to
choose from"
II know II, but there's only one BIN
kelso in the world" Harry answered
mournfully. "She was the one I
loved"
"Yss, but you'n find another. It
looks serious, but 1t isn't-you're SO
young. Hold up your head and keep
going. You'll be happy again soon"
Maybe, but 1 don't e how" said
the boy.
There are lots Of things you can't
see from where you are at this present
moment. There are a good many miles
ahead o you, I reckon, and one thing
youIl see plainly, by and by-that it's
all for the best. I've suffered a lot my
self but / a see now 1t has been a
help to me. There isn't an hour of 1t I'd
be willing to give up. 4
They padded along in silence for a
time.
1T was my fault said Harry pres
emily. I eve could say the half I
wanted to when she was with me. MY
tongue is too slow. She gave me a
chance and I wasn't man enough, to
take 1t. That's all I've got to say on
that subject"
Some time afterward in a letter to
his father the boy wrote:
Il often think Of that ride down the
liver and the way he talked to me. 1t
was so gentle. He was q big, power
ful giant Of q man who weighed over
two hundred pounds, all of it bone and
muscle. But under his great strength
was q woman's %gentleness; under the
dirty, ragged clothes and the rough.
brown skin grimy with dust and
p~erspiration, was one Of the cleanest
souls that yer came to this world. I
don't NEAR that he was like q minis
ter. He could tell q story with pretty
rough talk in 1t, but always for a pur-
pose. He hated dirt on the hands OF
on the tongue. He loved flowers like
q woman. He loved to look at the
stars at night and the colors Of the
sunset and the morning. dew on the
meadows. I never saw q man so much
In love with fun and beauty"
1 H#t Hhnvy voo0hDl Have = 49,
and sold their canoe to a man who
kept boats to rent on the river shore.
They ate q hot supper at the tavern
and got q ride with E farmer who was
going ten miles In their direction.
From his cabin some two hours later
they set out afOot Ia the darkness.
Going home ~ the end of all Jour
neys,' said Abe as they tramped along.
did Il ever occur to you that every
Five creature has Its home1 The fish Of
the sea. the birds Of the air, the beasts
0f the field and forest, the creepers ii
the grass. all 90 home. Most of them
turn toward It when the day wanes.
The call of home Id the one voice heard
and respected all the way down the
line 0f life. And, ye know, the most
wonderful and mysterious thing ii ma
ture u the power that fool animals
have to 50 home through great dis
tances,, like tho turtle that swan from
the Bay Of Biscay to his home on Van
Dieman's Land. Somehow, coming over
u i shin, he had lblazsd trail through
the painless deep more than ten thou-