Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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FAGS fti tf ip e? £ & r“ r I 1» M arie la farce was the prettiest girl in Beaulalre. Her dark eyes sparkled; 4ier bWk hair framed a lovely, viv- <id face. - It was inevitable that jmany young men .should fall in jk>ve with h^r. Which they did. But chief among them was tall handsome Jules Gareau, the son of a v/ood-carver. : Marie’s mother was a small !hard-working woman whose beauty {differed from the girl’s. Strong ilines were graven on her face; and • in her eyes shone clear fortitude, j Madame La Farge’s eyes looked steadily at everything, whether it : was the snow which lay so many months about the small tight cabin, ,or at one of her children who had, j perhaps been angry or selfish. So, : while Marie’s face was sweet and winning, her mother’s expression : was full of character. It could hardly fail that Marie should grow a little arrogant un der the circumstances. “You are unkind to me,” said Jules one day. '“I have loved you always, yet you Jact as if it did not matter. And now you tell me you are going jaway from here.” He waved his •arm. ( "What is that to you?” Marie • was dressed in bright jacket, full woolen skirt and high, laced boots. A red knitted cap was pulled jauntily over her curls. ‘•How can you ask such a ques tion of me?” Jules reproved her. “A girl cannot stay in this sim- | pie village forever!” “But Mane.” He reached for her mittened hand. His eyes, looking down at her, were filled with be seeching love. “We had plans to- i which related how her father had cut his hand chopping wood. How her brother had fallen through the Ice and was rescued. How her mother was just the same. “Every* one loves her,” wrote Jules. Then one day Marie happened to meet an artist named Tom Santos. “You sure so very beautiful. I must paint you at once,” declared this impulsive young man. Marie laughed at him, but it soon happened that she posed regu larly for this brilliant painter. She liked his queer, Jerky way of talk ing while he worked. She felt that she was lucky to be admired by him. One day in the studio he asked about her home. Marie told him a little, rather grudgingly. “You say you were bom in Beau- laire?” cried the man. “How odd!”. He laid down his brushes and went to a shelf. “One of the finest wood-carvers in Quebec made this. A young man called Jules Gareau.” He picked up a small figurine and held it in his hands. # Marie felt a quick trembling run all over her. “Oh,” she breathed, “Jules never told me he had taken up his father’s work!” “You know him then . . , this artist Jules?” “Yes,” she answered stepping down from the dias where she posed. “Let me see, please.” Tom gave her the small figurine as if it were something precious. DR. HENRY J. GODIN Sight Specialist / Offices 956 Broad St. AUGUSTA, GA. PBOPLB-SBNTINRL, BARNWELL, SOUTH CAROLINA I * "We Had Ptaas Tegrlher, You and I.” Hr Hatd. i gether, you and I Already father .has given me the land /Already 1 have cut the Umbers for our house . . . have you forgotten?” Mane laughed guodnaturedly. "You handsome stupid . . . ! I ' must see a bit of the world before •ruling down to . she nodded ; towards her own house where her mother stood in the door, calling to one of the children. "You see?” said Marie, "she's worn out with .work. She s old before ! ei time. She wears old clothes and thinks old thoughts ... It cannot be otherwise, here in Beaulaire.” “Your mother," replied Jules sternly, "has the most truly beauti ful face in the village'. My father says so.” Mane raised her long lashes in surprise, and shrugged her shoul ders. A week before Christmas the girl left the village. "I have a position. During the holidays extra girls are needed in the stores. Soon I shall have money of my own. Soon I shall dance and go places with many fine people.” "So that is what you are think ing,” said her mother. But she added no words of advice or repri mand. "Don’t forget us, child. Think of us at Christmas with the white snow about us, and the green spruces on the hills. Think of your father in the woods, chopping. Think of me cooking, and mend ing and singing to the baby . . . and nothing shall go wrong with you. Come home when it seems best. We love you.” But Jules was silent and heart broken. ”You’ll never be the same to me, Marie, again. Your head will be filled with idle notions. And to think you can go and leave us at Christmas!” But Marie vent. And if they missed her sadly in the village where she was born, she worked hard. And because of her energy and lovely face, she was kept on m her position after the holidays. She sent presents home but she did not go there. She liked' her new life. One year. Two years. For one reason or another she never found «.m* to visit her people. She was well. She was thrifty. She went about with this or that admir ing escort. And she smothered the pangs of homesickness in her heart. 1 five years sway. Now and then { beard from Jtdss, short fetters i “Oh,” Shi Breathed, “Jules Never Told Me.” 1 “Look at the pose,” he said, “Look kt the old woman’s face. Isn’t she wonderful . . . and beautiful in character? I’d like to meet her.” “You shall,” murmured Marie in a low voice, and added, “I must stay away from home for years, before I discover from a stranger how fine my mother is. Come . . . we can catch the evening train.” Snow lay thick on Beaulaire that Christmas eve. Bright lights shone from the houses. The mountains were dark with purple shadows. ; Two figures walked along the squeaking snow. “How could you have left all this for an ugly city, Marie?” The girl answered nothing. She hurried faster and, her heart beat furiously. “I cannot wait to get there,” she thought. “Over there,” she said aloud, “is the .Garesw honje, pnd r.pw. here we come to our house. Hurry, hurry!” ; They pushed through the gate; . they entered the house without knocking. A huge fire blazed on the hearth. Singing and dancing filled the low-ceilinged room. Marie pulled her friend towards a slight figure sitting in a chair. “This is my mother,” she said. At once the room was in an up roar. People flocked about the new guests, all talking together, kissing Marie, laughing and shouting. ' But Tom Santos bent low over Madame La Farge’s hand. ‘ “I’m proud and happy to know you. Yes—” looking at her critically, “Gareau is a genius.” Marie with a new light and radi ance about her next pulled him to a tall young man standing by the fire. “And this is Jules,” she ex plained simply. “Jules Gareau.” The two men shook hands. “Please, please, all of you,” she cried, “be quiet!” The room fell into silence. “I , have been away a long whilel” began the girl, “But I am home again. I have neglected you alf, but chiefly my family. But now, on Christmas eve, I come to my senses . . . and you!” Her lovely smile encircled them all. “Mother, the figureine which Jules carved of you, brought me back. I could not wait, for then I knew how I’d missed you.” . A murmur of pleasure ran about the room. “Jules,” her voice faltered, blushes rose in her cheeks, “are you still . .?” She could not fin ish. The tall handahne young man, as If in a dream, strode close U> her. “Nfi, Marie, I’m not married. I’ve waited so long for you.” And then uproar rose again. They danced. They feasted. And Marie sat close to her mother, and looked and looked at that kind, strong, for giving face. And all the children fell asleep and were waked up again, and Ma rie’s father roared with laughter. Thus Marie La Farge came back to the village of Beaulaire . . . and Jules. C Wettern Newspaper Union. Old Christmas Market For the last 238 years, a Christ- child market for toys and Christ mas gifts has been held in Nurem berg, the real old-fashioned Christ mas city of Germany. , Frank Gower West. Blackvilie, Dec. 23.—Frank Gower West, only son of Mr. and Mrs^Ed win F. West, died Friday at Indian apolis, Ind., where he had practiced law for a number of years. Surviving besides his mother and father are his widow and four sisters, Mrs. 0. D. Hammond, of Blackvilie; Mrs. E. A. Early, of New York; Misses Ruby and Leila West, of Darlington. Funeral services were conducted in Blackvilie Tuesday morning by the Rev. Theodore Porcher, of Bennetts- ville. The body arrived in Colum bia Monday afternoon and was brought to Blackvilie Tuesday morn ing. ADVERTISE \a The People-SentinaL UffiM Auxiliary MeeU. Williston, Due. 21.—The American Legion Auxiliary held its December meeting in the Legion Hut Thursday afternoon, December 10th. The hostesses were Mrs. A. S. Blanchard, Mrs. Horace J. Crouch and Mrs. Alonzo Bates. The president, Miss Ruth Hoffman, of Blackvilie, presided over the business session. The pro gram on “Rehabilitation” was led by Mrs. L. S. Flenniken. The aim of the Rehabilitation pro. gram is to keep contented the dis abled, who fared so badly in the for tunes of war. To do this, the Family Contact plan is used. Both the dis abled and his family are wished a Merry Christmas. Again, more far- reaching is this program because it also takes in the unfortunate ones in the coitmunity who have not been connected with tile war. This program, which is not new and which has been carried on success fully for the past few years by mem bers of the Legion Auxiliary, is now under way under the direction of Mrs. Sam B. Ray, rehabilitation chairman. checks COLDS and FEVER first day Salve, Nose Drop*. Headache 30 mins. Try “Rub-My-Tiam”— World’s Best Liniment. 4