This page needs to be proofread.
56
THE FARMER AND SOLDIER.
heard calling, “boys,—go to bed." So ended their conversation for that night.
Fifteen years passed away, and the same season again returned. From the same window a bright lamp gleamed, and on the same hearth was a cheerful fire. The building seemed unaltered, but among its inmates there were changes. The parents who had then retired to rest, had now laid down in the deeper sleep of the grave. They were pious, and among the little circle of their native village, their memory was held in sweet remembrance.
In the same chairs which they used to occupy, were seated the eldest son and his wife. A babe lay in the cradle, and two other little ones breathed sweetly