Evening star., 1928-10-17
Just Hod. but Worth While.

TIMER minds opened rapidly
Neither had been to town ex-
cept on limited buying and cir
i Gus trips. and sidewalk knowl-
edge is not like that CLEANED
| from the inside of homes.
| The be sure, Holds was only the in
side of cheap boarding house, but
| that was something, and he talked with
his fellow boarders and had good eyes
and a pretty sound heart and a mind
behind them. Even though all he
wanted was Lizbut, he soon realized
that she could expect more than could
be got for $100, which he had planned
to earn for the wedding.
Up in the mountains she had been
a beauty, the object of all unattached
men, until Hod came between.
! Down here she was beauty still
even among the greater number and
more adorned Hoo was not surprised
| but he felt worried that admirers here
| didn't seem to care a whit that he was
between. And especially so was 1t with
big, blond Harnet, fioorwalker in the
store where Lizbut bought her first hat
| Two evenings later Tarnet went with
her to a moyie.
! BY this time Lizbut was coming into
her own. Close questioning of her par
ents disclosed the fact that her true
name was Elizabeth. and that a La
had been dropped by her father as
superfluous He even hunted up an ole
| letter, after which she signed herself
| Elizabeth Latrobe" in the crude hanc
that night school was improving. Al
the same time she made Hod evolve hi:
to its rightful spelling "Houghton Bur
rows" But Houghton Burrows cared
little for a name just now. He was
having his big fight, in which a sound
heart won above desire. He made ex-
haustive inquiries about the hoorwalker
| then enlisted
The morning he started for the front
| he posted this letter:
Deer Lizbut: I'm off to fight, which
can likely do pretty well. considerin
I'm so big an strong an can hit any,
thing in sight. An, Lizbut, I've founc
out Harnet is all right. He's eddi.
Gated fine an has good folks an is q
| gentleman. A girl couldn't find thi!
out very well, so done it for ye.
"Mebbe won't come back, for I'm
bound to get into lot of flghtin'-l
mean I'm bound to try hard, for fee
| like fightin'.
An. Lizbut, don't think I'm whinin
| when / say l shall be thinkin' of We all
the time when I'm tuSSlin' with them
Germans. That has to be. Likely ye're
more beautiful with the proper dressin'
an settin' of, for they all say so. But
ye can't ever look amy more purity to
me than ye did up in the mountain.
barefoot. I try.tto think of ye back
there.
"All of which don't mean but Har-
nets the best man for ye. He is. I've
threshed it out, an know. So good-by.
"HOD."
He was sent to training camp But
he was pathetically eager to go for
ward, and made his one thought the
hitting of himself for it as rapidly as
possible. Soon even the dulleSt of those
over him recognized in Hod the making
of an unusually good soldier When
finally he went he wore on his arm the
rank of sergeant. A month later he
was In a trench. ts@
Back on his mountain the sight of a
squirrel, of an occasional bear, of a
game bird ZigZagging across the sky or
through brush tangle meant quarry
II he desired it. A scattering covey of
quail was brought to bag by swift,
cool shifting of his rifle muzzle from
side to side, the last being sometimes
brought down almost at the limit of
vision.
This helped him In his man hunting.
as did the knotted muscles of his big
arms the hurting of bombs. Death was
or little moment, so unexploded bombs
OF the enemy were caught up and
hurled back with a GOODNESS that often
made of them a boomerang success
Also mountain hunter is always wary.
and the wariness stayed with him here,
not as caution of safety, but as second
nature. His little squad of the COM
mand dropped out one by one, and
were replaced and replaced again. A
bullet went through his shoulder, a bit
OF shell entered his head a hand-to-
hand charge left O frightful cut on one
leg. He was carried to a hospital and
came back: carried again and came
back. All the men Immediately about
him became new faces, and then. with
the exception OF two or three, changed
to third set of faces. BY that time
he was referred to as authority and
given extra work and danger on that
account. 80
One night number of them crawled
through the mud. dropped into an en-
emy's trench, fought a while there, and
then slid and wormed on to another
line of trenches, into which they
tumbled and fell.
But the enemy was too strong for
them there. and searchlight rockets be-
gan to cross the sky or explode over
head. making visible the mud covered
assailants. They fought desperately,
and those who could struggled from the
trench in retreat. Hod's muscles and ,
huge fists and GOODNESS soon cleared
space which enabled him to throw him |
self from the trench. Just beyond the |
ridge he stumbled over form. In the !
men of several commands
had got mixed together, but a flash |
light showed this form to be in khaki !
and a sudden movement that it was
alive
Without hesitation Hod grasped and |
flung the form across his shoulders, |
then stumbled on. Shot and shell spit |
covetously around him. Something |
stung a fleshy part of his rounded arm |
q piece of shell struck his ~ifle barrel |
and slanted away with hisSIng ;:apo-
tence. Then he sprawled headlong x.Sr |
his own trench, his burden falling on !
top of him.
When he regained consciousness the |
body was still there, and in his weak |
ened condition he rolled it off with |
difficulty.
stop that!" whispered a protesting
voice with a groan. I'm shot up and |
It's cowardly to maui me now."
I'm shot up, too" gruf1y. 'an' it's
askin' too much to lie across me when |.
that soft mud's just as easy. Soons I /
get to feel little stronger. though. I'll
look over your wounds an see what /
can do"
There was short silence. then:
You the fellow who brought me back
from the trench?"
Yes, I'm to blame"