Tom was delighted with this warm reception, but more by meeting his mother and his brother and sisters at the station.

It was a joyous and yet a sad meeting.

Mrs.Somers wept; and what mother would not weep to see her son go forth to encounter the perils of the battle-field, and the greater perils of the camp?
It was a sad parting; and many a mother's heart was torn with anguish on that day, when she pressed her noble boy to her bosom, for the last time, as she gave him to his country.

Cold, stern men, who had never wept before, wept then--the flesh that was in their stony hearts yielded its unwilling tribute to nature and affection.
"All aboard!" shouted the officers, when the train was ready to depart.
"God bless you, my boy!" sobbed Mrs.Somers, as she kissed her son.

"Be good and true, and don't forget to read your Testament." "Good by, mother," was all that Tom could say, as he grasped his musket, which John had been holding for him, and rushed into the car.
The train moved off amid the cheers of the thousands who had gathered to witness their departure.