Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1922-02-03

had invested money IN the business
Her brother had decided 70 bring his
family West and settle in Sangamon
county.
Agents Of the store were travelling
in Wisconsin. Illinois and Indiana
selling its goods 10 country dealers
They carried with them the progress
i've and enlightened spirit Of the city
and the news. Everywhere they in
sisted upon a high standard Of hon
esty in business A man who had no
respect for his contract was struck
of the list. They spread the every
day religion of the counting room.
They were a welcome unifying and
civilizing force in the middle country.
The lovers stopped in a grove al
noon and fed their horses and Harry
built a fire and made a breach of
green sticks on which he broiled beef
steak
A letter from Harry 10 Sarah Tray
lor tells of the beauty n the DAY.
1T was my great day of fulfllment
all the dearer because l had come back
to health and youth and beloved scenes
out of those years Swallowed with
loneliness and despair" he writes
The best part OF it, l assure you
was the face / loved and that musical
voice ringing like a bell in merry
laughter and in the songs which had
stirred my heart in the days Of its
tender youth. You-the dear and gen
tie mother of my later boyhood-are
entitled TO know of my happiness when
l heard that voice tell me in its sweet.
er tone Of the love which has endured
through all these years Of stern trial
We talked Of our plans as We sat
among the ferns and MOSES In n
cool shade sweetened by the incense
Of burning fagots, over that repast to
which we shall be returning often for
refreshment in poorer days. We had
thought of you and of the man SO
well beloved Of you and US in al these
plans. We shall live in Springfield
so that we may be near you and him
and our friend. Honest Abe"
1t is a long letter presenting minute
details in the history of that senti.
mental journey and allusion to mat
ters which have no part in this record
It's substance being fully in the con
seriousness of the writer. he tenderly
folds it up and returns it to the pack
age-yeuOw and brittle and faded and
having that curious fragrance OF pa
pers that have lain for scores of years
in the gloom and silence OF a locked
mahogany drawer. So alive are these
letters with the passion of youth in
long forgotten years that the writer
ties the old ribbon and returns them
TO their tomb with a feeling of sad
ness. finding a singular pathos in the
contrast of their look and their con
tents. They are turning to dust, but
the soul of them has gene into this
little history.
The young man and woman mounted
their horses and resumed their jour
ney. 1t was after two o'clock. The
Grand Prairie lay ahead Of them. The
settlement Of Plains End was twenty.
one miles away on its farther side.
They could just see IT'S tall oak trees
in the dim distance.
we must hurry, if we get there
before dark" said the girl. above
all, we must be careful TO keep our
direction. Its easy 10 get lost down
in the great prairie"
They heard a cat-bird singing in
a near thicket as they left their camp
II reminded BIN of her favorite bal.
lad and she sang it with the spirit Of
old:
My sweetheart. come along
Don't you hear the glad song
AS the notes of the nightingale flow
Don't you hear the fond tale of the
sweet nightingale
As she sings in the valleys below?
As she sings in the valleys belowF'
They went on, shoulder-deep in the
tall grass on the lower stretches OF
the prairie. Here and there it gave
Harry the impression that he was
swimming his horse in NOISY. vivid
green water" They startled a herd
Of deer and a number Of Wild horses
When they lost sight Of the woods
at Plains End the young man, with
his cavalry training. was able to ride
standing on his saddle until he had #
located.
It reminded him of riding in the
Everglades and he told Of his adven.
lures there as they went on. but very
modestly. He said not a word Of hi:
heroic fight the day that he and sixty
Of his comrades We're cut of and sur,
rounded in the '1and OF the grassy
waters Bur BIN had heard the story
from other lips.
Late in the afternoon the wood.
doomed in front Of them. scarcely a
mile of. Near the end of the prairie
they came to a road which led then
T past the door Of a lonely cabin. II