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This story by Hamlin Garland was adapted into Special English by Dona de Sanctis.
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- The soldiers cheered as the train crossed the border into the state of Wisconsin.
- It had been a long trip from the south back to their homes in the north.
- One of the men had a large red scar across his forehead.
- Another had an injured leg that made it painful for him to walk.
- The third had unnaturally large and bright eyes, because he had been sick with malaria.
- The three soldiers spread their blankets on the train seats and tried to sleep.
- It was a cold evening even though it was summertime.
- Private Smith, the soldier with the fever, shivered in the night air.
- His joy in coming home was mixed with fear and worry.
- He knew he was sick and weak.
- How could he take care of his family?
- Where would he find the strength to do the heavy work all farmers have to do?
- He had given three years of his life to his country.
- And now he had very little money and strength left for his family.
- Morning came slowly with a pale yellow light.
- The train was slowing down as it came into the town of La Crosse where the three soldiers would get off the train.
- The station was empty because it was Sunday.
- "I'll get home in time for dinner," Smith thought.
- "She usually has dinner about one o'clock on Sunday afternoon,” and he smiled.
- Smith and the other two soldiers jumped off the train together.
- "Well, boys," Smith began, "here's where we say good-bye.
- We've marched together for many miles.
- Now, I suppose, we are done."
- The three men found it hard to look at each other.
- "We ought to go home with you," one of the soldiers said to Smith.
- "You'll never be able to walk all those miles with that heavy pack on your back."
- "Oh, I'm all right," Smith said, putting on his army cap.
- "Every step takes me closer to home."
- They all shook hands.
- "Good-bye!" "Good luck!" "Same to you!" "Good-bye!"
- Smith turned and walked away quickly.
- After a few minutes, he turned again and waved his cap.
- His two friends did the same.
- Then they marched away with their long steady soldier's step.
- Smith walked for a while thinking of his friends.
- He remembered the many days they had been together during the war.
- He thought of his friend, Billy Tripp, too.
- Poor Billy! A bullet came out of the sky one day and tore a great hole in Billy's chest.
- Smith knew he would have to tell the sad story to Billy's mother and young wife.
- But there was little to tell.
- The sound of a bullet cutting through the air.
- Billy crying out, then falling with his face in the dirt.
- The fighting he had done since then had not made him forget the horror of that moment when Billy died.
- Soon, the fields and houses became familiar.
- Smith knew he was close to home.
- The sun was burning hot as he began climbing the last hill.
- Finally, he reached the top and looked down at his farm in the beautiful valley.
- He was almost home.
- Mrs. Smith was alone on the farm with her three children.
- Mary was nine years old.
- Tommy was six and little Teddy had just turned four.
- Mrs. Smith had been dreaming about her husband, when the chickens awakened her that Sunday morning.
- She got out of bed, got dressed and went out to feed the chickens.
- Then she saw the broken fence near the chicken house.
- She had tried to fix it again and again.
- Mrs. Smith sat down and cried.
- The farmer who had promised to take care of the farm while her husband was away had been lazy and dishonest.
- The first year he shared the wheat with Mrs. Smith.
- But the next year, he took almost all of it for himself.
- She had sent him away.
- Now, the fields were full of wheat.
- But there was no man on the farm to cut it down and sell it.
- Six weeks before, her husband told her in a letter that he would be coming home soon.
- Other soldiers were returning home, but her husband had not come.
- Every day, she watched the road leading down the hill.
- This Sunday morning she could no longer stand being alone.
- She jumped up, ran into the house and quickly dressed the children.
- She carefully locked the door and started walking down the road to the farmhouse of her neighbor, Mrs. Gray.
- Mary Gray was a widow with a large family of strong sons and pretty daughters.
- She was poor, but she never said 'no' to a hungry person who came to her farm and asked for food.
- She worked hard, laughed often and was always in a cheerful mood.
- When she saw Mrs. Smith and the children coming down the road, Mrs. Gray went out to meet them.
- "Please come right in, Mrs. Smith.
- We were just getting ready to have dinner."
- Mrs. Smith went into the noisy house.
- Mrs. Gray's children were laughing and talking all at the same time.
- Soon she was laughing and singing with the rest of them.
- The long table in the kitchen was piled with food.
- There were potatoes, fresh corn, apple pies, hot bread, sweet pickles, bread and butter and honey.
- They all ate until they could eat no more.
- Then the men and children left the table.
- The women stayed to drink their tea.
- "Mamma," said one of Mrs. Gray's daughters.
- "Please read our fortunes in the tea leaves!
- Tell us about our futures!"
- Mrs. Gray picked up her daughter's cup and stirred it first to the left, then to the right.
- Then she looked into it with a serious expression.
- "I see a handsome man with a red beard in your future," she said.
- Her daughter screamed with laughter.
- Mrs. Smith trembled with excitement when it was her turn.
- "Somebody is coming home to you," Mrs. Gray said slowly.
- "He's carrying a rifle on his back and he's almost there."
- Mrs. Smith felt as if she could hardly breathe.
- "And there he is!" Mrs. Gray cried, pointing to the road.
- They all rushed to the door to look.
- A man in a blue coat, with a gun on his back, was walking down the road toward the Smith farm.
- His face was hidden by a large pack on his back.
- Laughing and crying, Mrs. Smith grabbed her hat and her children and ran out of the house.
- She hurried down the road after him, calling his name and pulling her children along with her, but the soldier was too far away for her voice to reach him.
- When she got back to their farm, she saw the man standing by the fence.
- He was looking at the little house and the field of yellow wheat.
- The sun was almost touching the hills in the west.
- The cowbells rang softly as the animals moved toward the barn.
- "How peaceful it all is," Private Smith thought.
- "How far away from the battles, the hospitals, the wounded and the dead.
- My little farm in Wisconsin.
- How could I have left it for those years of killing and suffering?”
- Trembling and weak with emotion, Mrs. Smith hurried up to her husband.
- Her feet made no sound on the grass, but he turned suddenly to face her.
- For the rest of his life, he would never forget her face at that moment.
- "Emma!" he cried.
- The children stood back watching their mother kissing this strange man.
- He saw them, and kneeling down he pulled from his pack three huge, red apples.
- In a moment, all three children were in their father's arms.
- Together, the family entered the little unpainted farmhouse.
- Later that evening, after supper, Smith and his wife went outside.
- The moon was bright, above the eastern hills.
- Sweet, peaceful stars filled the sky as the night birds sang softly, and tiny insects buzzed in the soft air.
- His farm needed work.
- His children needed clothing.
- He was no longer young and strong.
- But he began to plan for next year.
- With the same courage he had faced the war, Private Smith faced his difficult future.