Page:The Story of Aunt Becky's Army-Life .djvu/63

Rh women were not adepts at capturing the lank specimens of porkology which only needed kinks tied in their tails to keep them within the bounds of a rail-fenced wood-lot.

One of our men—Private A. M. West, died in August, and his father and wife came on in time to catch the last fleeting breath, although he was too far gone to recognize them. Still it was a comfort to be with him in the death hour—perhaps his spirit was conscious, if the body made no sign—and in after years they will remember when the grass is thick with many summers' growth, that hands which he had clasped in love, closed his dead eyes, and bore his pale clay back to the quiet churchyard, to sleep far from the shock of coming battles.

September returned, and I had been gone from home one rolling year. The golden haze hung over hill and wood top, and a homesickness came over me, which I could neither reason away nor subdue. I longed for the dear old spot again with childish furor;—I could not be witheld longer, except I saw for a while the faces of friends and children, and felt once more the surging waves of civilization sweeping around me again, far from camp, and hospital, and battle array.

I took the cars, having obtained leave of absence for a few days, and hurried home. Still my heart was with its work, and the visit which I thought would be so pleasant, was crowded with anxious thoughts of the boys, who might any day be ordered to the front, or might sicken and die, and I away.