The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1940-11-22

Alice shook her head politely
I'm goin' home" continued the
old man. Il been away % years
and that's long enough. | left when
| was 20 and l kin remember the
mornin' left, like it was yesterday
I was rarin' to GO Wild horses
couldn't have held me back. MY
pap wasn't very anxious to have me
leave, but he didn't say much. he
knew the farms up here are a nara
way to make a livir.
When / got TO the city at first
vas all excited Seemed as though
everything a person could want was
there for the askin' or the work'7
for | worked hard in a factory ana
thought I'd be rich IN no time at all
But | didn't get rich. No, SIT!
made more money IN a week than
! made IN a month on the farm
out II all seemed TO go and nothn
TO show for it-unless If was room
that faced on brick wall. and three
greasy meals a day After | mar
ried, it was worse. The money went
faster
Il never owned the house | lived
in or the bit of land lived on these
so years Now I'm alone again and
I'm going back to Canaan. My
uncle'S wllled me the old place. I'll
be glad to set foot on my own ground
again.
Il used to set and close my eyes
time and time again down there,
said the old man. And | could
see Mt. Washington when it's all
kind of red and yellow at the base
and the top dark gray against the
real blue skies we get up here In
the fall. And could see the rail
road track running up its face like
a white seam and little plume of
smoke hanging in the sky over the
Tiptop house. Then I'd get this ter
rible hankerin' to see it with my
own eyes. Seems as if I'd 60 crazy
f couldn't get back
I'D get 10 thinking about the
three pine trees on the hill back OF
the house and how the moon used
TO come up behind them warm sum-
mer nights. I'd close my eyes on
dirty street and cars and think / was
Walkin' home from school again. and
I'd point out houses l passed and
the strips of woods and the fields
until II seemed like my heart would
come up In my throat and water.
You get a terrible hankerin'
said the old man, shaking his white
mead All my life I've been han
KERN for the mountain but been
tied worse than if was in jail. But
III be there tonight I'll be home
IN time for supper
He took an apple out of his
pocket, polished it on his shabby
sleeve, and bit deeply into its red
side, while Alice sat with dull ache
in her breast. The temptation to
throw everything up and go back
swept over her She could see her
mother working back and forth from
the table, TO the stove. she could
hear Myra gay voice as she raked
leaves under the brilliant maple
trees, she could smell the apple
house, filled to its roof with fruit.
A hundred dear familiar things
crowded back to her and she rose
blindly to her feet.
The Boston train was pulling in.
Alice faltered Day after day in
the little schoolhouse in the Hollow
could be awfully monotonous. Nights
when the wind whistled around the
corner and the nearest neighbor.
was far away could be long and
dreary. The thought of new delights
ahead came to her, new friends, new
scenes, theaters
The old man helped her aboard
the train.
"Good-by, goodluck," he said,
waving his hand
"Good-by," said Alice, leaning
back for good look at the hills.