had found
the body of a man. The coroner and the sheriff were notified, and next
morning went out for the body, but the wolves had almost destroyed it.
High up in a willow, under which the poor man had lain down to die,
they saw a small bundle tied in a red bandanna and fast to a branch.
They found a letter addressed to whoever should find it, saying that
the body was that of Benny Louderer and giving them directions how to
spare his poor old mother the awful knowledge of how he died. Also
there was a letter to his mother asking her not to grieve for him and
to keep their days faithfully. "Their days," I afterward learned, were
anniversaries which they had always kept, to which was added "Benny's
day."

Poor boy! When he realized that death was near his every thought was
for the mother. Well, they followed his wishes, and the casket
containing the bare, gnawed bones was sealed and never opened. And to
this day poor Mrs. Louderer thinks her boy died of some fever while yet
aboard the transport. The manner of his death has been kept so secret
that I am the only one who has heard it.

I was so sorry for the poor mother that I resolved to visit her the
first opportunity I had. I am at liberty to go where I please when
there is no one to cook for. So, when the men left, a few days later, I
took Jerrine and rode over to the Louderer ranch. I had never seen Mrs.
Louderer and it happened to be "Benny's day" that I blundered in upon.
I found her to be a dear old German woman living all alone, the people
who do the work on the ranch living in another house two miles away.
She had been weeping for hours when I got there, but in accordance with
her custom on the many anniversaries, she had a real feast prepared,
although no one had been bidden.

She says that God always sends her guests, but that was the first time
she had had a little girl. She had a little daughter once herself,
little Gretchen, but all that was left was a sweet memory and a
pitifully small mound on the ranch, quite near the house, where Benny
and Gretchen are at rest beside "der fader, Herr Louderer."

She is such a dear old lady! She made us so welcome and she is so
entertaining. All the remainder of the day we listened to stories of
her children, looked at her pictures, and Jerrine had a lovely time
with a wonderful wooden doll that they had brought with them from
Germany. Mrs. Louderer forgot to weep in recalling her childhood days
and showing us her tr