or stump seemed to have been removed.  At length he reached the bend in the road which brought him in sight of his home.  He stopped to gaze upon the scene.  Not a thing about the house or orchard had been changed.  He noticed that a part of the rose-bush which covered his window, and which had been broken off in a storm the night before he left, still swung loose in the wind; and even his fish-pole, which he had hung up under the eaves of his museum, had not been touched.

While he stood thus, trying in vain to choke back the tears, he was aroused by a well-known bark; the next moment Brave bounded over the fence, and came toward his master at the top of his speed.  He had been lying in his accustomed place in front of the house; he had seen Frank approaching, and had recognized him in an instant.  Frank wound his arms around the faithful animal’s neck, and, after caressing him for a moment, again started toward the house, Brave leading the way, with every demonstration of joy.  As soon as Frank succeeded in quieting him, he walked through the gate, noiselessly opened the door leading into the hall, and paused to listen.

He heard Julia’s voice singing one of his favorite songs, while a loud clatter of dishes told him that Hannah was still in charge of the kitchen.

Brave ran into the sitting-room, barking and whining furiously, and Frank heard his mother say: 

“Julia, I guess you did not close the front door when you came in.  Be quiet, Brave.  What is the matter with you?” and Mrs. Nelson, dressed in deep mourning, came into the hall.  The next moment she was clasped in her son’s arms.

* * * * *

Let those who have sons and brothers in the service imagine the joy that prevailed in that house!  They had heard of Frank’s capture, through Archie and the captain of the Ticonderoga, and, afterward, that he was killed at Shreveport, while attempting to run by the guards.

“Mother,” said Frank, as soon as the greeting was over, “you told me, when I went away, never to shrink from my duty, but always to do what was required of me, no matter what the danger might be.  Have I obeyed your instructions?”

Reader, will you answer the question for her? and will you follow Frank through his adventures before Vicksburg and on the Lower Mississippi?

The End