St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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's si ig -I i i -f-33.11-QR: ': ,ii 4. 'r I J 'r ? 1 2 1 3 1 S ? 5 z U ' 4 i ,l I Fl i l s her pell-mell, seized her withered hands, demanded a kiss each, and altogether showed such manifestations of delight that they unwittingly formed the centre of attrac- tion for more than one pair of eyes. That was all he saw of them 3 for just then the command ' all aboard ' was given, and he had to run to mount the train just begin- ning to move off, and accordingly the happy trio were lost from view. Nor did he ever see them afterwards 3 but through- out his trip he kept musing on the scene which had attracted him as being ludicrous, but which had termin- ated so pathetically. The gladsome faces of the young- sters with happiness even shining through the grime ever rose before his mind, and the pinched, trouble-suggesting countenance of the woman, also illuminated with joyful- ness, was no less to him an object for reiiection. The monotonous rumbling of the wheels, the swaying of the train, and the swiftly flying landscapes were excellent accompaniments to his sober meditations, and he recalled pensively the scenes of bygone happier days, and also the image of one long since left in sunny Maryland, and whom he once delighted to call mother. He recalled his boyhoodis life of peaceful tranquility, and contrasted it as best he could with his present restless struggle for position 3 and for the first time in many years, a tear-drop glistened in his eye. Two weeks later an east-bound express contained a man who seemed to be all impatience, fretting at every I stoppage, and restlessly pacing from place to place. It was john Hielt going to search for his long-forgotten home. He found it, but what a change had taken place I The house was unoccupied, and was in a tumble-down condition 3 and the once fertile fields were nearly as you now see them, a mass of rank weeds. Cn inquiry he learned that his father had died during the war, and that his mother was then living with a neighbor living at a distance of a mile and a half. Greatly grieved, and not waiting to hear particulars, he started on a run across the fields to the neighbor's house. As he approached the dwelling he spied an aged woman just returning from the spring with a pitcher of water, and soon recognized in the bent form and withered features the guide and inspiration of his youth. Checking his desire to rush up to her, for fear of startling her too much, he first called to her and asked her some question, and then approaching her little by little, and meanwhile keeping up the con- versation, he at length made himself known. Then all the anguish pent up in that mother's breast for a score of years was liberated in floods of tears, and mingled with the tear-drops of remorse which fell from the eyes of that brawny, bearded man. They talked for a long time, past woes cast aside, and both filled brimful witlf the sweetness of reunion. john then found out what had transpired during his pro- tracted absence. The farm had been overrun during the war, and after that, the father being dead, it was rented

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our whole nation in the folds of civil strife,-the great Civil XYar of rS6r. NVhat could have better satiated a spirit of recklessness than participation in such exciting scenes P So john enlisted, and owing to the military dis- cipline he had received at college, soon obtained a lieu- tenant's commission. Amid the stirring events of war- fare there was great difficulty in sending messages at 3 distance 3 and so through all the four long, weary years not a word was heard of john Hielt, excepting now and then a mere rumor. Once, indeed, as was ascertained afterwards he had written home, but the letter was unfor- tunately lost. Afterwards he was either offended because he received no answer, or he had lost sufficient regard for the home of his childhood 3 for he never wrote again. After the four years of service had rolled slowly around, john seemed to have been imbued with Bishop Berkeleys idea that Westvvard the course of empire takes its way,' and accordingly he is soon on his Way to California. He openedalaw oflice in San Francisco, and started into work with his characteristic vim, and with the intention of rising in his profession, and thus making up for the lack of applied energy while at law school. But john was not happy. His better nature was, as it were, shut upivvithin himself, and he had ver- itably become a scheming man-of-the-world, teeming with ambition, his every thought being directed toward success in his profession. . Twelve years sped by. john had acqulred the IGP' I utation of being an able, enterprising lawyer, strictly accurate in his business transactions, yet little caring if other people suffered by his dealings. His opinion was respected, but he did not possess the genial warmth of feeling which makes one generally beloved. Reaction at last came. A commonplace circum- stance Was the means of leading john to reflect, and that was just the revolutionizing agent needed. Une day, While Waiting for the trai11 which should take him some miles out of the city to visit one of his clients, his atten- tion was attracted to two not overly well dressed urchins who were talking near him in mysterious whispers. They Seemed to be greatly pleased at something. One would make a remark, and then both would laugh as if it were the funniest joke in the world. The ludicrous aspect of the scene first caught his notice, and as he had nothing more profitable to do while awaiting his train, he allowed them to occupy his whole attention. He soon learned that somebody was expected on the incoming train, and that the whisperings and peculiar actions of the boys be- tokened the expectation of rare joy at the meeting. At length the train came shrieking into the depot, and the expectant air of the boys was even more ludicrous than before. They kept nudging each other with their elbows, all the while keeping a sharp lookout for the expected newcomer. john was interested, and watched them until a middle-aged woman alighted from one of the cars, whom the boys had no sooner seen than they ran up to

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to several persons in succession, all of whom took all they could from the soil without expending anything in its fertilization. The result was, the soil soon became sterile, and as nobody was then willing to cultivate it, it at last was sold for a mere trifle. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hielt had lived at the neighbor's house., paying her board from the farm rent and from the interest of the proceeds of the sale after the farm was sold. The boarding fee was nominal, else in her old age she would ere long have been entirely left to the mercy of the world. john remained a few weeks with his mother, and every clear day searched out some of the haunts of his boyhood, seeming to draw from them new life and inspira- tion, yet all the while filled with bitter contemplations of what might have been. Then he rewarded the kind neighbor for the kindness towards his mother, and fondly bidding farewell to the old homdstead, took his mother with him back to San Francisco. john was henceforth a changed man. If perchance he was tempted to grind down a fellow-creature, one I 1 glance at the loving countenance of his iniirm old mother was suliicient to dispel those thoughts 5 and although she has since passed away, still her influence lives, and john has realized that he has a different mission in the world than that toward which he worked for so many years. He has again become as of yore, the loving, sympathetic john Hielt, whose delight it is to help others 3 and if he has not risen to fill the highest positions in the land, his conscience is clear that he tried to succor the oppressed rather than spend his time and energies in the acquisition ofhigh political honors. Although he was in the meridian of life when he made his choice, he married, and from the letters he sends me occasionally, I am happy to state that he now enjoys life as keenly as when we were boys together. Thus ended the old man's tale. After thanking him warmly for his kindness, I bade him adieug and as I wended my way homeward on that eventful day, I felt more than ever that, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. A