4 ACORN Mrs. Hunt and Dolly were decorating the house, wrapping parcels, and finishing up the great preparations. "Jack always likes to have a fire in the parlor grate, of a winter evening. Shall I make one now? He may come on the seven, tonight," Dolly said. Everything was being done for Jack's special benefit. He had been gone since September, and oh, how they had missed him. Eut he was to be royally welcomed home. "Here's the mail," called Harry, and he ran to his mother handing her some cards and an envelope. She quickly opened the one with the familiar handwriting, and hurriedly read the pages. Her eyes slowly filled with tears. The cheer was taken from her Christmas, and her life seemed suddenly dull and gray. She sat down and gazed unseeingly at the landscape, and her heart grew bitter as she thought, "A soon as they grow up, and don't need your constant care, they pass out of your life completely. They almost forget they have a home, and mother. Mrs. King was telling me yesterday that she hadn't heard from her runaway son for three years, but was hoping and praying for his return; and I felt so happy, because I thought I was sure of my son. But I am no better off than she. No, my son is not lost, but he is lost to me." She sat for a long time, her mind occupied with such thoughts. She was broken from her revery, by the shrill shriek of the seven o'clock train. She smiled at the mockery of it all. Everyone's joy lay in his homecoming. And he had learned to think more of his pleasures than of his old home. The children must be told, and their Christmas would be spoiled. "He's selfish," she whispered; "Oh, so selfish." Through closed doors she heard shouts of delight, and again she smiled mockingly. Then the door burst open and she was caught up in a pair of strong arms, and lovingly embraced. Everyone was laughing and talking, but she was only aware of the fact that he had come. Yes, he had come after all. Jack saw the letter his mother had been reading, and picking it up, he tore it to shreds. "I thought at first I wouldn't come home," he was saying, "but I was on my way to town last night when I passed a house which was all lighted up, and people were gathering around it. I stopped and saw them bring in a little fellow about the size of Harry there, on stretchers, and one look at his pale face and bandaged head, made me sick. The mother came to the door, and I'll never forget the look of pain and Continued on Page 28 ACORN 5 A Tale of Terror Two soldiers were once traveling in the enemies' country, and as night came on, they found themselves in a large wood. After wandering around for some time, endeavoring to get out, they came to a small dark house. They entered, and found themselves in a room full of coal miners, seated around a table. The strangers were invited to a seat among them and to join them in their meal. One of the men made himself at home, eating and drinking with the miners. The other made a survey of the men and of the room itself. The room was not at all like a miner's cabin. Instead of shovels, picks, wedges, crow-bars, and other implements of the mine, the walls were hung with swords, guns, pistols, knives, and other dangerous weapons. This seemed to arouse his fears; but his companion, on the contrary, was having a good time. He even went so far in his revelry as to disclose the fact that they were the enemies of the people of this country. About ten o'clock they were shown to a room in the loft, where one of the men, half drunk as he was, soon fell asleep. The other one, more prudent than his companion, built a fire in the small grate and settled down to watch. About three o'clock in the morning he heard some one talking below. Listening at a hole in the chimney, he heard one of the men in the lower room distinctly say, "Well, shall we kill them both?" "Yes," he heard another reply. There they were, two defenseless men, against a whole room full of burly ruffians armed with all kinds of weapons. To escape from the room was impossible. The small window in the place was not very high from the ground, but below it were two savage bull dogs. In about ten minutes he heard some one mounting the ladder to the loft. Through the crack in the open door, he saw their host and his companion, the former carrying a lamp in one hand and a large knife in the other. Before entering the room, he handed the lamp to his companion, and on tip-toe crept to the bed where the other guest lay; and from his position behind the door, the other man saw the host make one big slash with the knife not at his companion, however, but at a large ham hanging from one of the beams. At daybreak their host came to awake them. They served a very good breakfast, consisting partly of two large chickens, which soon disappeared as the men dulled their appetites. "I'm glad we killed them both," said the host. "We need them to feed such a crowd." EARL WILSON. '16.