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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1893-04-07, Page 2,w xywax^e:,av,„nea,.14pc.,Ys. o /44 gfi'trYOE ate 13 RET PIAI T ..= cql rw HT 18920111E/WPM CONTIN 1i A • ;r Mars 'm not Miss Miranda Bows," said vision, with a frankness that was childlike and half practical, as she sided a little hand, `"but I can talk, m' with yo' about aslwell as aunty, reekon: from what°Iaj. Reed says holding up the letter between fingers, "as long as yo' get per- ms yo' don't mind what kind o' yo' 'mock 'em down with." e voice that carried this speech, so fresh,, so clear and sweet that 1 afraid Courtland thought little of oddity or its dialectical transgres- s. But it broughthim his own +: quite unemotionally and is ziet- 1 don't know whiit was in that , Miss Dows, but I can hardly be- e that Maj. Reed ever put my pres- ood fortune quite in, that way." s Sally laughed, ' Then with a ming exaggeration she waved her ' hand toward the sofa: "There! aaturally wanted a I the room for co'nnle,. but now that yo've got it and mighty pooty it was, too yo' it clown." And with that she sank at one end of the sofa, prettily nged a white billow of skirt so as ave ample room for Pourtland, and, mg her fingers over her knees, ed demurely expectant, • ut let me hope that I atm not dis- ing you unseasonably," said Court- , catching sight of the fateful little or beneath her skirt and remem- g the window. "I was so preoccu- in thinking of ygiir aunt as the ess manager of these estates that to forgot that she might have a s hours for receiving." e haven't got any company hours," iss Sally, "and we haven't just any servants for company main= for we're shorthanded in the fields arns. When yo' came I was nail* up the laths for the vines outside use -we couldn't spare carpenters the factory. But," she added, a faint accession of mischief in her "yo' came to taut about the farm?" es," said Courtland, rising, "but to interrupt the work on it. Will et me help you nail up the laths on all? T have had some experience way -land we can talk as we work. i lige me." e young girl looked atthim brightly. ell, now, there's nothing mean ' t that. Yo' mean it for sure?" erfectiy, I shall feel so much less I I Was enjoying your company r false pretenses." ' just wait here, then." jumped from the sofa, ran out of om, and returned presently, tying trings of a long,. striped cotton THE WINGHAM r1 Ai.Yjj "►, APRIL s, 1893, ""when he isn't; tafsiri 'iigiis11, see n English, thinking! nglish,dressingEli Usti and wondering why God clidn' stake everything English -is tryiu to do the same for ata folks. hi Champney---Co'nnleCourtland, Cows! ... Courtland-fr. Chaiupuey!" The tw men bowed formally. ""And no co'nnle, if yo'11 coin Mr. Champ ney will show yo' round the fahm When yp've got through yell find m here at work." Courtland would have preferred, an half looked for her company and co inentary on this round of inspection but he concealed his disappointmen and descended. It did not exact please hila that Champney seemed re• - g t And--er---or--i you're--er-_er staying' long in this part of the country ride t over and look ine up -.-don't you know, g and haven snake and a julep; I have a ra boy who knows how to mix them and O I've some old brandy sent Ise from the o other side, aced-byhis ," n cl�v, !Fiore awkward in kindliness than in his simple business confidences, but • apparently equally earnest in both lie e shook Courtland's hand and walked away, Courtland turned towards the d house. IIe had seen the farm and its m- improvements; lie had found some of , Itis own ideas practically discounted; t clearly there was nothing left for him, Iy to do but to thunk his hostess and take his leave. But he felt far more uneasy than when he had arrived; and there was a singular sense of incompleteness in his visit that he could not entirely .account for. His conversation with Champney had complicated --he knew not why--. his previous theories of Miss Dows, and although lie was half conscious that this had nothing to do with the busi- ness that brought him there, he tried to think that it had. If Miss Sally was really a -a --distracting element to contiguous maseulinit'y, it was some- thing to be considered in a matter of business of which she would take a managerial part. It was true that Champney had said that she was "not that sort of a girl," but this was the testimony of one who Wes clearly under her influence. He entered the house through the open French window. The parlor was deserted. He walked cued eau.d apneareci,to accent him, as i er bona fide stranger who condi! net possi er bly interfere with auy confidential re - en Iatious that ho might have with Miss lin, Sally. Nevertheless he met the Eng- th glishman's offer to accompany him with s- polite gratitude, and theyleft the house out together. er In less than an hour they returned, d I't had not even taken that time for as Courtland to discover that the real im- provements and the new methods had n originated with Miss Sally; that she g was virtually the controlling influence to there, and that she was probably re- t tarded rather than';assisted by the old- fashioned and traditional conservatism of the company of yvhich Champney was w steward, It was i,equally plain, how - w ever, that the young follow was dimly ays conseiaus of this and was frankly cont- ar,, munieative about it. to "You see, over there they work things m; in a different way, and, by Jove! they d• can't understand that there is any other, don't you know? They're always - wigging me as if . I could help it, al- " • though I've tried to explain the nigger f business, and all that, don't you know? They want Miss Sallie to refer her plans - to me, and expect Me to report to them, or and then they'll submit them to the - board and wait for its decision. Fancy e Miss Dows doing twat? But, by Jove! e they can't conceive:of her • at all over d there ---don't you know?" v?" "Which hich Miss Dows do you mean?" - asked Courtland dryly. e "Miss Sally, of course," said the fid young fellow, briskly. "She manages everything -her aunt included. She as to excusa his delight in it and Ti ' own fascinating propinquity, Wheth she stopped to take a nail from betwe her pretty lips when she spoke to hi or whether heading on perilously wi 1 one hand to the trellis while she ge I ticulated with the hammer, pointing the divisions cif the plantation from b coign of vantage, she was as clear an convincing ta, his intellect as she w distracting to 'his senses. She told hire -!tow the war had broke up their old home in Piuevilie, sendin her father to serve in the confedera councils of Richmond, leaving her aun and herself to manage the property alone; how thq estate had been devas tated, the house destroyed, and hothey had barely time to remove a fe valuables; how although she had alw been opposed to secession, and the w she had not gone north, preferring stay with her people and take with the the punishmerit of the folly she ha foreseen, Now after the war and her father's death she and her aunt had de termined to {;"reconstruct themselves after their own.; fashion on this bit o property which, had survived their for- tunes because it had always been con siclereci valueless and unprofitable fo labor. low at first they had un dergone serious difficulty through th incompetence and ignorance of th freed Iaborer and the equal apathy an prejudice of their neighbors. blow th had gradually s ° eeeeded with the adop tion of new methods and ideas that sh herself had conceived, which she now briefly and clearly stated. Courtly listened with a new, breathless and al most superstitious interest; they were Ms own tlteortea-perfected and demon strated! "But you must have had capital for this?" • Ali yes! that was cohere they were fortunate. There were some French cousins with whke she bad once stayed in Paris, who aclivanced enough to start the estate Th re were some li s g' friends of her "father's --old blockade runners -who had taken shares, pro- vided them with more capital and im- ported some skilled laborers and a kind of steward or agent to represent them. But they were getting on, and perhaps it was better for their reputation with their neighbors that they had not been beholden to the .no'th. Seeing a cloud pass over Courtland's face, the young ady added with an affected sigh and the first touch • of feminine coquetry which had invaded their wholesome camaraderie: `: "Ye' ought to have found us out be- fore, co'nnle." '' For an impulsibe moment Courtland 1elt like telling her then and there the story of his ruma>;itic quest; but the re- flection that they, were standing on a narrow ledge with no room for the emo- tions and that alias Sally had just put a nail in her mouth and a start might be dangerous, checker! him. To this inay be added a new jealousy of herprevious experiences which .he had not felt be- fore. 1\''evertheles's be managed to say with some effusion: "But I hope we are not too late now. I think my princiti"xls are quite ready and able to buy ;`up any English or French investor now or to come." "Yo' might try ye' hand on that one," said Miss Sally, pointing to a young fel- low who had just emerged from the of- fice and was crossing the courtyard. "He's the English agent." He was square shouldered and round - headed, fresh and Olean looking in his white flannels, but with an air of being utterly distinct andtalien to everything around him and mentally and morally irreconcilable to it.;t As he passed the house he glanced shyly at it; his eye brightened and his planner became self-. conscious as he caught sight of the young girl, but ohafigecl again when he saw her companioik. Courtland like- wise was conscious elf a certain uneasi- ness; it was one thing to be helping; Miss Sally alone; but certainly another thing to be doing sounder the eye Of a stranger" and 1 am afraid that he met the stony observatii n of the English- man with an equally cold stare. Miss Sally alone retained her languid ease and self-possession. i She called out: "Wait a momenta Mr. Champney," slipped Iightly doWh the ladder and !eating against it with one foot an %ts lowest rung awaiteci;his approach., "I reckoned yo'might be passing by," she said as he came forward. "Co'nnle Courtland" --with alai explanatory wave of the hammer towit id her companion, who remained eree and slightly stif- fened on the cornice -"is tie relation to ttth ose figures along the €ries° Of7 the Hands eourthoti'se but a Inaba: officer, a friend of :F1aj. heed's, who's conte down hear toiltoolc after so'th'n lsroporty for seine 4io'th'n capitalists. Champney," sheesontinued, turning . d Iiftf zsg her eyes to Courtland as she adieated Chamnner with, her hammer,. flees- cd 0! bolt -.-= usTEaTANT. e -.- evidently a habiliment of r's-behind her back as she re- d. It was gathered under her tin by a tape also tied behind her, s her fair Bair was tucked under suai red bandana handkerchief of iegro housemaid. It is scarcely sary to add that theaeffoot was be- i,. a," said Miss Sally, eying her 'S smartly -fitting frol;k coat, ""t'o'll ya'r pooty clothes, sere! Take off oat -don't mind me -and worts in Birt sleeves." .rtla:ict obediently filing aside his and followed his active hostess {flz the French. window to the plat - outside. Above them a wooden or cornice, projebting several s. ran the whole length of the ug. It was on this that Miss Sally tadently tetrad a foothold while ars nailing up a trellis work of laths en it and the windotee of the ret- oor. Courtland found the ladder, ted to the ledge, /allowed by the girl, who smilingly waved his redhead to hells her up, and the two 4Y' s et to Work. But in the inters ri amrnering and tying up the Mhz Sally's tongue WAS riot idle, a was as fresh, as quaint, as ad as harrself, and yet so practical sr,m the traose of Courtland'ltyvielt, i_ can make those niggers work when no one else can -a word or smile from her is ' enough. She can make terms with dealers and contractors -her own terms, too -when they won't look at my fig- ures. 13y Jove! she ',gets points out of those traveling agents and inventors, don't you know, who come along the road with patents :and samples. She got one of these lightning rod and wire fence menshow to Her how to put up have been on the 1 okaut for him -she rr • "I TBINs I WON'T GO IN," CONTINUED CB:AMPNET. through the front hall and porch; no one was there. He lingered a few mo- ments, a slight chagrin beginning to mingle with his easiness -she might an arbor for her trailing roses. Why or Sophy must ha a seen *Ira rete when I first saw you up on the cornice, 1 thought you were some other chap - don't you know? that she'd asked -that is, at first. of. coarse, you know what I mean --Iia, , by Jove! -before we were intro .need -don't you know?" "I think I offered fp help Miss Dows," a said Courtland, with quickness that he at once regretter. " So did he, don't you know? Miss Sally does not ask anybody. Don't you see! a fellow don't like to stand by an see a young lady like her doing sue work." Vaguely aware of some inf licity in his speech, he awkwardl turned the subject., "I don't think shall stay here long, myself." "`You expect to return to England? asked Courtland. > "01, nol But I shall go out of th company's service and try my ow hand. There's a good bit of land abou three miles from here that's in the m icet, and I thinjc I could mak© some thing out of it. A'fellow ought to se d e- 11 T ', 1/r- ; t - hi tle down and be s own master," he answered, tentatively, "eh?" "But how will Miss Dows be able to spare yop?" asked Courtland, uneasily conscious that he was assuming an in- difference. "01, Pm not much 'use to her, don't you know -at least isnot here.. But I ' might if I had my oci'n land and if we 1 1 were neighbors, t told you the runs the place, no matter whies here, or whose money is invested", "1 presume you are` speaking now of young Miss Dows?" said Courtland, dryly, "Miss Sally -of course -always," said Champney, simply. "Sire runs the shop." "Were there not some Preach invest- ors -relations of Miss Dows? Does anybocly'represent than?" asked Court- land, pointedly. Yet he was not quite prepared for th tru- ing. He would r'ng for Sophy and leave his thanksnd regrets for her mistress. IIe look d for a be11, touched it, but, on being co fronted with Sophy, changed his mind ad asked to see Miss Tows. 1n the inter el between her de- parture and the al pearance of Miss Sally he resolved to' o the very thing which he had di,missed from his thought but an hour before as ill-timed and doubtful. He h4.d the photograph and letter in his pockat; he would make them his excuse for personally taking leave of her! She entered with lifer fair eyebrows lifted in a pretty surprise. "I declare to goodness, I thought yo'cl ridden over to the red barn and gone home from there. I got through my work on the vines earlier than I thought -one of Judge Garret's nephews dropped in in time to help me with the last row. Yo' needn't have troubled yo'seif to send up for nae for mere com- pany manners, but Sophy says yo looked sort Of `anxious and particular' when yo' asked for me -so I suppose yo' want to see me for something." Mentally objurgating Sophy, and with an unpleasant impression in his mind of the unknown neighborwho had been helping Miss Sally in his place, he nevertheless tried to collect himself gal- antly. "I don't know what my expression conveyed to Sophy,' he said, with a smile, "but I trust that what 1 have to tell you may be interesting enough to make you forget my second intrusion." He paused, and, still smiling, continued: "For more than threeyears, Miss Dows, you have more or less occupied my thoughts; and, although we have actual- ly met to -day only for the first time, I have during that time, carried your im- age with me constantly; Even this meeting, which was only the result of e an accident, I had been seeking for naive change in Isis companion's face. "No. There was a sort of French cousin who used to be a good deal to the fore, don't you know. but 1 rather fancy he didn't come here to loop after the prop) erty," returned Champney with a. quick laugh. "I think the aunt must have written to his friends, for they 'called him off,' and I don't think Miss Sally broke her heart about him. She's tot that sort of 'girl -ch? She could have her pick of the stateif she went in for that sort of thin;, eh?" Although this was exactly what Court- land was thinking it pleased hire to answer in a distrait sort of fashion: "Certainly I should ,think so," and to relapse into an appar'ent'ly business ab- etraction. "I think I won't ; go in," continue Champney es they neared the house again. ""I suppose you'll have tante- thing more to say to Miss Dows. if there's anything else you want of me MAO to the office, teat she'll know, -three years. I find fort here under your own peaceful vine and., fig tree, and yet three years ago you dame to me out of the thunder cloud of battle." "My good gracious!" said;. Miss Sally. She had been clasping her knee with her linked fingers, andnowleanedbaek- ward'with affected consternation, but an expression of intense amusement in her bright eyes. Courtland saw the mistake of his tone, but it was too late to change it notw.. 1 -le handed' her the locket and the letter, and briefly, and perhaps u little mere seriously, recount; ed the incident that had put him in pos- session session of them. ut he entirely sup- pressed the more druniatie and ghastly details and his owl superstitious and strange prepossessiontowards her d. hiss Sally took the artioles'without a tremor or the least deepening or paling of the delicate faint suffusion of her cheek, 'When she Bali glanced over the letter, which appear ercl to be brief, she said, ,with smiling,tall pitying trati- i tluillity; , Xgst ithpoor Brooks, rrras that Chet Tl o bs, Sure! l heard that he was killed at Snake river, It was just like him to rush in and get killed at the first pop! And all for nothing, too, pure foolish- ness!" Shocked, yet relieved, but uneasy un- der both sensations, Courtland went on blindly; "But he was not tbo only one, Miss Dows. There was another man plaited up who also had your picture." "X`es .?oyoe Masterton. They sent it to ate. But you didn't bill Mm, too?" "VIET WERE BRAVE ,anon, Mass Dews," "I don't know that I personally killed either," ho said, a ;little coldly. Ere paused and continued with a gravity which he could not help feeling very in- consistent and even ludicrous: "They were brave men, Miss bows," ' "To have worn my picture?" said Miss Sally, brightly. • "To have thought they had so much to live for, and yet to have willingly laid down their lives for what they believed' was right." "Yo' didn't gothuntin' me for three years to tell ine--a sa'th'u girl -that so'th'n men know howl' to fight, didye', co'nnle?" returned the .young lady with the slightest lifting Uf her head and drooping of her blue;veined lids in a divine hauteur. '"Elisay were always ready enough for th.,t, even among themselves. It was much easier for those pooah boys to fight a thing out than think it out, or work it out. The folks in the no'th learned to do all three; that's where you ;:got the grip on us. Yo' look surprised, •co'nnle." "I didn't expect you would look at it -quite in -in -that way," said Court- land, awkwardly. "I am sorry I disappointed yo' after yo'dtakensueh a hoop„ o, trouble," re- turned the young lady; with a puzzling assumption of humiliL'jr as she rose and smoothed out her skirts, "but I didn't know exactly what yo' might be en. pectin; after three years; if I had, I might have put on moa'ning." She stopped and adjusted a straying tendril of her hair with a sharp corner of the dead man's letter. ("But I thank yo' all the same, co'nnle, ; It was real good in yo' to think of toting these things over here." And she peld out her hand frankly. Courtland took itf`with the sickening consciousness that= for the last five minutes he had been an unconscionable ass. Ile could not pr. long the interview, after she had so significantly risen. If he had only taken his leave and kept the letter and looked for a later visit -per- haps when they were older friends! It was too late now. tIe bent over her hand for ii moment, again thanked her for her courtesy, and withdrew. A moment later she heard the •receding beat of his horse's hoofs on the road. She opened the *rawer of a brass - handled cabinet and after a moment's critical survey of her picture in the dead man's locket, tossed it and the let- ter in the recesses ofithe drawer. Then she stopped, removed her little slipper from her foot, looked et it thoughtfully and called: "Soppy!" • • "Miss Sally?" said the girl reappear - 1 tth d ng a e oor. "Are you sure you did not move that ladder?" "I 'Clare to goodness, Miss Sally, I nebber teehed it" Miss Sally directed a critical glance at her hand -maiden's red -coiled head. "Xst." she, said to herself softly, "it didn't feel like wool, anyway!" OBAPTMIt III, X spite of the awk- ward terming- tion of his visit . --or perhaps be- cause of e-causeof it -Court- land called again at the plantation within the week. tut this tizne he Was accompanied by Drummond, and was received by Miss Miranda Dotes, a tali , aquiline nosed spinster of fifty, whose old-tiinc politeness had become slightly effected, and whose old beliefs had given way to a half cynieal ac-' eeptanee of new !gets. Mr. l)r'umtneltd, delighted with the farm 'and ita !marl,' agement, was no less fasoirsated by Miss Sally, while Courtland was now discreet enough to divide his attention between her and Her aunt, with the ro. . stilt that he was far from patti,ripating in Cbatripney's conviction of 1Fliss Miranda's unitnpartanee, To the freecl- tnen tjie still rehresented.the old is. Sam warm" TUE TrGaWall placable task -mi tress, and if vvus evident that they superstitiously believed that she still retained �► vague power of overriding the Fifteenth amendment at her pleasure, and was only to be restrained by the mediation of the good-humored and sensible Miss Sally. Courtland was quick to see the value of this influence in the transition state of the freedmen and pointed it out to his principal Drnmmond's previous doubts and scepticism, already weakened by Miss Sally's fascinations, vanished entirely at this prospect of beneficially utilizing these lingering evils of slavery. He was convinced -he was even enthusiastic. The foreign in, vestors were men to be bought out, the estate improved and enlarged by the company and the fair owners retained ..C.446.444„, ...• ,: "1 vow AND PROTEST, COYst,E," snz asap. • F in the management and centrol. Like most prejudiced men, Drujnmond's con- version was sudden and !extreme, and being a practical man was at once acted upon. At a second and third interview; the preliminaries were arranged, and in. three weeks from Courtland's first visit the Dows plantation, and part of Maj. Reed's were merged in the "Drummond syndicate" and placed be- yond financial uncertainty. Courtland remained to represent the company as superintendent at Redlands, and with the transfer of the English invest- ments, Champney retired, as he had suggested, to a smaller venture of his own, on a plantation a few miles dis- tant which the company had been un- able to secure. During this interval Courtland had frequent interviews with Miss Sally, and easy and r4nrestrained access to her (To n>, coNTlNvr.•.n,) r,•r'•" t11'� �} V �I %*d l % A \�. \.` .,'ri:t,,; 1/,i+ i) ' ktn.z�- ...d" hlr, Harve kfcec3 L aceyviti(t, 0. Catarrh, Heart raih.n'e, Pa- ralysis of thfe Throat c(Z 2' tan to !;rod asci .hood's S aracew ;liar-Zla for Perfect IEeaUtft," "' Oentlemeir : roe the benefit of snifering has IInanity I wish to state a few facts: lior several letiiarctokofau e, s I gtngso bd4ouldnovrnd Could Soelt'Cely Walk I had a very bad spell of ) ar .lysis of the throat some tlrno ago, My tlnoltt seemed closed and I Coulu not swoitoev4 The doctors said it was caused by heart fa!hire, aa(1 "ave medicine tvhiuh I took )ceeordlilg to dlrcetions, bet it din hot seem to de me any ond, My wito fir god ate to tele Hood's tiarsapa%%la, teltink ine of §Ir. Joseph L. smith, wilo hal been At boethIS Door but was entirely eared by rood's Saraap:rritia. After talking with Mr, S ith I concluded to icy Hood's &ars t/re �la, , ',When I had token two bntttes I felt gory uotr better, 1 tlltvo continued taking it, and a t now feollug excel- htut, 1 thank God, old Hoods Saraparifila ind ray wife fn ttealtl(.» r my tp critics to *enact FiAILV.tyY I�Li,�), LacCyVtlle, U, noon's r.tsiss do no I)ustgb,'pall or g'r p but not ptbasptiy, basil/ nitalaIently, tis. • ppy; �� 1 E�,�(CCY71UdCrYN .',)i'.ti 'G(lyd asvi 1Vn1! r,Ali U •o,(it, to the Not, .hat 11501/ t.>nion merits sharp, tarona hats 11111118 are raAdo 11 We hold a tznrltl M1i9nday of ()very A11vertlsMi, t, +whit genor(d!y Ai tea 134ltor hu apnea, for tgtr wadi seu(1 item of inters day 10 any of oar r iVation,ai, :fir 'Cilie '!*attfltrjnt Phe ivalneti trouts the 'peep shores. Men sneak ir, :,,IQ th zation, +tem to b our enrlferoas. other thing*: in and reli0uvn-. upon which th 1_!"' n;; i ish ut cc,t .4111 Wiss,. (�It?raaa,t:tl °hiuest. lidera t, vole*, tut Crit duund to thi' w Holl�,s✓ay firm euro of eise n o any Other pre' 'l'hls Appears, i ienee of lneeki world, mot hen larity of curs(• t how('vor,thet t pure+'d iii cttmir ).sentltti"•e8 11( 'S mines, 18 11 ql raediotii List(tr pi" in thmi` Vt)! ity, wPrn uu ill, •drut,'s and so rsevera1 count WPPe a+,Illtr`ut+'( 'assoul,+ctolis tet its"r,',by the *Yet they have utterly refeethi wiou'. There t0Cltntill,t, for th result of convict +ed on personal i)Hw)ee. it'he ointmen Q 119 rlru.! success liCue63 titters, and sol external dice which tt)e atly peculiarly flab! gear's tent • (:a Vast twee of gol a sttek'of tt)is i((g. plt, ,tar:tti() the dpneitgerr tend t(9 -.vitiate rUll�T, 1)1'0'5 tl)e pitabody8alai 1 ally, are wry and seriously I DI' the diggers. this class are with extraor best tnetliod o ulcers genera Ointment int around the o pores and sof talions. The p sed with lint o the Ointment. treatment, he the patient a the progress o to purify the bid matter fro Ointment is d face. -The So Trusts Are unpopular, trust against wi say. These is t reposes itt Hood of it is the bale merit of the 'HOOD'S Sarsa not purge, pain People Da 1•11a3 A`. the cons 0:tristian TE 188P the wor presented 01 the nstio sante year t.lit 14111 Nit gips:a then well kite wit widely felt; a entail trodit From her c taeght by 101, More peso