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Show (Iljr Homer flrccnc ) A few years ago, when I was In Washlnrton ns the representative. In Congress from una of the eastern ills- J Iflcts of Pennsylvania, the monotony I of a somowbat uninteresting session I was broken for me one April nftcr- noon by the appearance of a doorkeeper doorkeep-er it my desk with a visitor's card. It iwas simply a scrap of paper on which was written In n woman's handwriting, old fashioned and nwknard, "James Hope's Widow." ,"I think she's n little queer, sir," said tho doorkeeper, as I followed him up the alslo. ' In the lobby, waiting for me, was a little woman apparently about sixty years of age. She was dressed neatly In btick, but I noticed that her clothing cloth-ing was faded, and somewhat worn la spots. Her faco was pale and wrinkled, and In her eyes, as she came forward to meet me, was that searching, wistful look that one always finds In the eyes of those who have long pursued a cor-tain cor-tain object without success, "I've been a goal while getting my courage u i to come and seo you," sho said, smiling. "Uut I couldn't mako out to wait any longer. I'm from V" , naming a small village In one of ths counties of my congressional district. People were pushing heedlessly past her, and pressing about the door. "I'd like to seo you alone. If I can," sho said, looking timidly about her. "It's i so noisy hero It kinds of upsets mo." I I led the way to ono of tho nlcoros H In the House library, and gave her a chair at one side of the small table, while I sat at the other. Sho came at once to tho object of her visit. "My husbind was killed at the bat- tlo of Chancellorsvllle," she said, "or H died of his wounds.I don't know which. j Or maybe he. was taken prisoner and died In tho South. 1 never heard any- thing from him after that battle Hut nnyway, he's dead I know Jim's dead, and 1 know he died fighting for his country; and I'm Jim's widow." j I supposed, of course, that she had H made application for a pension, mid B) had found difficulty In establishing her SV rlnlm Rn I MM In heel r jj "I presume tho department requires HB moro exact data conrcrnlng tho time, Wi plAco and cause of your husband's rmj death. Is It sot" ?H "No," sho replied, "It Isn't hardly H that. They won't acknowledge that ho's H dead at all. I can't seem to mako them H bcllcte It Not dead!" sho exclaimed, R softly, "not dead! and I living for 30 fi years In the old home! Ho thought Hfi the world and all of mo, Jim did!" H "Ycs.but, my dear lady," said I, "you H must prove his death In tho way ro- H quired by the depirtmcnt beforo you ran hopo to recelvo a widow's pen- HV "I don't want any pension!" she ex- U claimed. "I don't need It; I wouldn't take It. The nil mako that mistake. B Hut that's not what I'm after." jH "Vou don't understand," sho contln- H tied, rapidly. "I ought to have told H you before. Can any one hear me?" B Sho glanced nervously around tho I H nlcovo, and out Into tho nlsle. I as- H sured her that no ono was listening, Jj and then sho bent over the tnble and H whispered to mo; B "Woll.you know.down hero In Wash- ;HB Ington they'vo got Jim marked on tho 'HB hooks as n deserter. Hut It's not so! It's false! Jim was no coward He's dead. Ho died fighting. I know It! I BJ. know It!" "Well," I said, a little wearily, l" "what can I do for you? As the caso I HJ stands, I don't see how I can bo of any L Hh assistance to you." H She relapsed Into her former timid HK manner as sho replied, "Why, they told H mo they told me that I must seo my H congressman, and maybe he could get n It all changed for me." HH I now comprehended her object In HB seeking my aid, and further questional question-al Hj Ing drew from her tho facts. H On the books of the war department iB her husband was set down ns a deser- H tcr. She wished to have that record H blotted out E "If you could only make out to do M that for mo," she said, rising to take HH ber leave, "If you could only make out ,rs H to do that, I'd I'd I'm not rich, I H haven't got money. Thero's only my H little placo up In W., but you can bavo H It and welcome" P K Tho next day I went down to the war ' iHt department, and with the help of tho 30 H data she had given me, looked up her rn H husband's record. Sure enough, there H opposlto James Hope's name, I found HH the hateful entry, "Deserted April 20, H It appeared also that there had been H some correspondence on the matter un- . iH der a claim that the entry was Incor- , i H rect, and the clerk produced from tno 1 H flies, and showed to me, aflldavlts of I H men of Hope's company and his regl- i H mental officers, which left no room for . HH doubt that he was a deserter. f B I went out from the office with a sad ler B heart. I dreaded to meet her again, ts. HB When she did come I saw pleasant an i tlclpatlon shining In her face before a word had been sjiokcn "It was n mistake, wasn't It7" she naked quickly "I'm afraid not" I replied. "The record seems to bo about as ou told me and there Is oery reason to believe be-lieve that It Is correct" It was cruel to hurt her In that way, but It would have been more cruel to deceit o her When I had finished she snt for a long tlmo ery still, looking out from the window Into some vague distance Then she straightened herself up again In her chair nnd spoko without the least hesitation nnd without the slightest slight-est tremor In her voice1 "Well, I'm obliged to you I'm very grateful to you. Indeed Hut ns for Jim Hope, he's dendl And ho died ns bravo as any of them I haven't anything any-thing to say against those that sny be deserted They nro Just simply mistaken mis-taken " Then again flro came Into her rolce. "Jim Hope desert his country) Jim Hope desert his wife! He might Indeed In-deed have deserted one of us for tho other. He was Just wrapped up In each of us. Dut to desert us bothl Never! Never! They don't know Jim Hope, they that t.ty that they nover knew him!" "I'm going to live long enough to show them they'ro mistaken! I shall find somebody who saw him die I shall find his grave. Ood will help mel I shall provo to all tho world that Jim Hope was a hero." Six weeks later I saw her In tho National Na-tional Cemetery at Arlington. It was "I'O LIKU TO SHU YOU ALONE." Memorial day. I was passing down tho walk from tho main entrance toward tho Lee mansion when I came unexpectedly unex-pectedly upon ber. She was standljfj alone, reading from ono of the tab!, that lino tho walk, n verse of O'ilrJT , noblo pocm,"Tho Illvouacot thoJJJjr "Ivo read 'cm all," she sald.jjf," . astlcally, after surprised a;reUi'" ery one of "cm. from tho tuirM V" I think this ono Is very beaut; t0 ,""- Slowly nnd with Impressive" she repeated tho famlllarlM.X' emph"1' "Itest on, embalmed nndslWc,: Dear ns tho blood ye avo.PlleJ dead! No Impious footstep hrt""shfr a'3 The herbage of your jrayiS8 "nut about your huyhand," I said; "havo you found "ByfyVccord of bis death or burial?" Sho looked up nt Saywearily, and I could see that In tbfew weeks that Intervened since ourjwuit meeting sbo hid visibly faded no t failed. "No," sho rcplledHl "adly, "no; I've got to bo almost ofroM I that It's a hopeless hope-less task, l'vo been t jo all those government gov-ernment cemeteries III the South. He Isn't In any of them, and they tell mo positively ho Isn't hefe0-" 8he raised her oycsi'""l looked wistfully wist-fully oer the long " ' little mar-blo mar-blo headstones stretcan,n8 awny under the green trees In enf"" Perspective. "I was afrnld," l ald. "that you would find It a frultlctf" lok. Tho gov-ernment gov-ernment records aro Visually correct," Again thcro came V her faco tho same look of faith ofi determination, of persistence that I hf,fd e" In It on tho occasion of her vis' to mo at the capital. ) "I know," sho said, sot". "' know It doesn't look reasonable, ),bu' I'm "tie-fled "tie-fled that Jim's dead, ard '"'n Just r.s well satisfied that he die'1 ln "o orv-Ice orv-Ice of his country. Nob"')r ca ever mike mo believe nny dl.ently, and some day I feel It In m oul somo day I shall lay flowers o(n his grave. Maybe today Stranger fthlngs havo happened. Seo!" She hel d UP great bunch of old-fashioned f lowers. "I thought I'd bring 'em alt" anyway; one never knows, and I tb.0UKht maybe Ood would tako pity on, mo loday-today loday-today and show mo Jim's Brnye here " After a moment we staged to walk on toward tho monslon. Wo ""ne at last to tho massive stonol tnat marks tho resting place of the Ifones of the unknown dead, and at hor request I read for her tho Inscrlptli n- eloquent In Its simplicity and thrllll "S w"h P- "ncneoth this stone repos '' tn8 hones of two thousand ono hundp d "nd cloven clov-en unknown soldiers, gathered, after the war. from the fields if' n" nun and tho route to the HafPanlnnock. Their remains could not U Identified, but their names and derftl1 nra corded In tho archives of tr?clr eouutry, and Its grateful cltliens Ji0nQr '''em 1 as of their noble army of martyrs. May they rest In peace September, A. D. 1865 " When I had finished she looked tip nt me with tears In her eyes and on her cheeks "Msylie Jim's there." she said, "nailer "na-iler that stone Maybe they found bis body and couldn't tell his name. 1 know he was nt Hull Itun and along the Itappnhantiock Ho used to write In me from there, and If nnybody ever belonged to the noble array of martyrs, he did" After a moment's pause, she continued, contin-ued, "I'd rather he had n grave of his own It would be more of a comfort to me tn lay flowers on It Just for him; hut oen this Is better oh' It's worlds better than to hae It true what's orltten In that dreadful book over there nt Wishlngton" She began to sub a little and folt nenously In the folds of her dress for her handkerchief When she found It she guve It a little twitch to releaso It, nnd with It earae from her pocket something which floated for a moment In the air, nnd then fell to tho ground at her feet It was a Ilttto old-fashioned card photograph of a soldier In uniform A bronzed eteran who stood near by, with an empty sleee pinned to his brenst. stooped gallantly and picked up the bit of cardboard, and was about to return It to the widow when something some-thing about the picture attracted his attention lie looked at It steadfastly for a moment, and then he looked at ber. "Was he any relation to you?" ho asked, holding up the photograph. "Why, yes," she replied, brokenly; "yes, he was my husband. Did did you know hlin?" The veteran was still studying tho picture ns he replied to her. "Did I know him? Why, I was his captiln There wasn't a mnn In my company that I knew better or loved more He was every Inch n soldier. He was deold to the flag. He was with us at Oettysburg. He fought like a like a why, he was n whole battalion batta-lion In himself He was killed there In the peach orchard. He died with his head on my arm. I think ho was the braet man, the most heroic nt dler I ever saw." The little old woman had grown taller, stralghter, younger with every word. I'rlde. Joy, gratitude Inexpressible Inexpressi-ble shone In her countenance 8h put her bnnds together, and raised them "! JTj! ?vwl Shf l"ed her grilled facsto the sky oj, i thank for thll dv'" sb, said TBs old ssMler ,nt on ,nlhu,a,. tlcsll. on his corporal's jUlpeJ W tie most daring plec. of work 1 ever Mw That was altsr he ae to ui He had been " The capuln hesluted flushed a little look-,d look-,d flret nt tie widow and then nt me DM yusnow" he said, 'did Jou ,, that U that he-oh. t have a letter here that'll tell ou all about It. I nearl; fnrot It I fmmd It In hi pocket fcrore they burled him." He drew bom his wallet a folded paper, pa-per, yellomd broken with age In ,j,e raeanttte I hid obtained a camp-chair camp-chair from i passing loy. and Induced ths widow t, ,t In It I feared that in the reaction which wui sure to come ,he would 1 stricken with famines. The vcteru handed to her the letter I have md It many times." be said -flat I ner knew more about his llfo beforo he mllited with us than this letter conuios. After thirty years of ,erch I ill given up the hope thit I should cttt deliver It to the person to whom Hi-is written It Is n merciful mer-ciful I'rorMtnco that has brought us together hire today " Ixwklnr en the faded, fluttering sheet, nnd ncogntilng, ns she looked, the famlHir hand, the widow's eyes gain flllej with tears, her vole choked chok-ed so thit lit could not speak, nnd she handed ths letter to mo with nn appealing ap-pealing Kitare I laid my hat reverently rever-ently nUi, md with nnno hut us three listening I Md tho letter written by this brsti soldier to his young wife thirty ytin before, on the eyo of one of tho iTMUst battles of tho great rebellion re-bellion Tkls was tho letter; ,, ' , I'M. near UHlytburr ty njtmt Mary I .ui'tM,., you've hfrd tbi nory liefore this time It's tuil enotjh. but the worst thins about II U that In true 1 did desert It was ""srillj In never Iry to eirii muff" mu-ff" In lubnly lull )ou liui I was rn homeilrkl vtanlnl to e you so and the Inbr I would a given my life for Jul a iHmpn of rach of ynu I Old go without lute one nl(ht 1 oIpsiii.k! mvMlf I iuie mr way tn the Nnnh I sot to tt ono nlshl afler dark rtolHhly kstv rne I went down Hie road 10 our bam I looked In through 111 window n a raited The lamp was III n ul there holdlnir tin two? on your Us, ia4 ou suns to him "1'am la a soMler brtve And you topteO anil said, Tn, and true and soo.1 and wore rrnud tf tlm. baby 'catiee he la ao bravo and lrs tnd aoud ' And It Mima over me all cf i a.(,lru what a coward I was and I Jtiit ilank away, nnd went buck to the front ind entitled In n .Saw urk rralnient. Now I i&by the name of Jamea I'oler I sol baik In lime to Haht nt I'haneel loralllla Slare that ballfe I ve rot in ba n rnrroril I like my ranialn He la very good to si I haent had the heart to |