Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-04-19

go UCY got up and went to the head OF the
stairs. The light was low in the hall
~ beneath and she man standing
there, But she still wore her reading glasses,
and she saw at first hardly more than
figure.
as that you, Doctor Reynolds" she asked
in her high old voice.
Then she put her hand to her throat and
stood rigid, poised, dramatic For the man
had whipped off his cap and stood with his
arms wide, looking up.
Holding to the stair rail, her knees trem-
bling under her, Lucy went down, and not
until Dicks arms were around her was she
sure that it was Dick. She chung to him.
tears streaming down her face, still in that
cautious silence which governed them both;
she held him on and looked at him, and then
strained herself to him again, as though the
sense Of unreality was too strong, and only
the contact of his rough clothing made him
real to her
1t was not until they were in her sitting
room with the door closed that either of
them dared to speak. Or perhaps, could
speak. Even then she kept hold of him.
Richard she said. "Richard!"
And that over and over.
How is he?" he was able to ask, finally.
"He has been very i'll. 1 began to think
Dick, I'm afraid to tell him, I'm afraid he'll
die of joy
He WINGED at that. There could not be
much Joy in the farewell that was coming.
WINGED and almost staggered. He had walked
all the way from the city, and he had had
no food that day..
well have to break it to him gently"
he said ''And he mustn't see me like this
If you can find some of my clothes and Rey-
nolds' razor, I'll" he caught suddenly to
the back of chair and held on to it. Il
haven't taken time to eat much today he
said, smiling at her. II guess l need food,
Aunt Lucy"
For the first time then she saw his clothes
his shabbiness, and his pallor, and perhaps
She guessed the truth. She got up, her face
twitching and pushed him into a chair.
"You sit here" she said, "and leave the
door closed. The nurse is out for walk,
and she'll be in soon. I'll bring some milk
and cookies now, and start the fire. I've got
some chops. in the house"
When she came back almost Immediately,
with the familiar tray and the familiar food,
he was sitting where she had left him. He
had spent the entire time, had she known it,
in impressing on his mind the familiar de-
tails of the room, to carry away with him.
She stood beside him. a hand on his
shoulder, to see that he drank the milk
slowly.
"I've got the fire going," she said. "And
I'll run up now and get your clothes. +
had put them away" Her voice broke a
little "You, see we-You can change in
your laboratory, Richard can't you? If you
go upstairs he'll hear you"
He reached up and caught her hand. That
touch, too of the nearest to a mothers hand
that he had known, he meant to carry away
with him. He could not speak.
She hustled away, into her bright kitchen
first, and then with happy stealth to the
store room. Her very heart was singing
within her. She neither thought nor rea-
soned. Dick was back; and all would be
we'll If she had any subconscious anxieties
they were quieted, also subconsciously, by
confidence in the men who were fighting
his battle for him, by Walter Wheeler and
Bassett and Harrison Miller. That Dick him
self would present any difficulty lay beyond
her worst fears.
She had been out of the room only twenty