I was near it myself, for he was the first one from home
I had seen, and there was something in his voice that went through me.
"Then he unbuttoned his coat, felt in his pocket, pushed something into
my hand, and disappeared in the darkness. When I got inside and held it
out to the light, he had given me two five-dollar greenbacks!
"I was sitting by my mother the next night about ten o'clock--she
wouldn't let me out of her sight--when there came a rap at the door and
Aleck came in. I knew how my father would feel about seeing him in those
clothes. I didn't know till afterward that they were all he had and that
the poor fellow was as bad off as any of us.
"Father opened upon Aleck right away, just as I knew he would, without
giving him a chance to speak. He upbraided him for going into the Army,
told him to take his money back, and showed him the door. The old
gentleman could be pretty savage when he wanted to, and he didn't spare
Aleck a bit. Aleck never said a word--just listened to my father's abuse
of him--his hands folded over his cap, his eyes on the two bills lying
on the table where my father had thrown them.
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