The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, March 04, 1914, 12 PAGES. PART 2, PAGES 9 TO 12, Image 9
1ALIANITS
JLLJ5TRATED 4j/ I
rW'Mar ern ar aoos-/r-Ma. es
SYNOPSIS.
CHlAPTER T--John Valiant, a rich so
iotty favorite, suddeanily discovers that the
Valiant corporation, which his father
ounded and which was the pholpal
~ourco of his wealth, has failed.
CHAPTER IT-He voluntarily turns
rthis private fortune to the receiver
[rtecorporation.
CHAPTER III.
The Turn of the Page.
John Valiant stirred and laughed, a
the self-consciously, for there had
ten drops on his face.
,Presently he took a check-book from
his pocket and began to figure on the
stub, looking up with a wry smile. "To
come down to brass tacks," he mut
tered, "when I've settled everything
(thank heaven, I don't owe my tailor!)
there will be a little matter of twenty
eight hundred odd dollars, a passe mo
$or and my clothes between me and
.$he bread-line!"
Everything else he had disposed of
-everything but the four-footed com
made there at his feet. "But I'd not
sell you, old chap," he said, softly;
"not a single lick of your friendly
pink tongue; not for a beastly hun
*red thousand!"
He withdrew his caressing hand and
looked again at the check-stub. Twen
-teight hundred! Ie laughed bleakly.
,,Why, ho had spent more than that a
month ago on a ball at Sherry's! This
morning he had been rich; tonight he
was poor!
What could he do? le could not
remember a time when he had not had
all that he wanted. He had never bor
rowed from a friend or been dunned
by an importunate tradesman. And
hie had never tried to earn a dollar in
his life; as to current methods of mak
4ng a living, he was as ignorant as a
.Pueblo Indian.
lie rose grimly and dragged his
chair facing the window. The night
as balmy and he looked down across
he darker sea of reefs, barred like a
gigantic checker-board by the shining
lines of streets, to where the flashing
electric signs of the theater district
d their wide swath of colored ra
iance. The manifold calls of the
treet and the buzz of trolleys made a
1dnll tonal background, subdued and
far-away.
To be outEde! All that light and
color and comfort and pleasure would
um and sparkle on Just the same,
though he was no longer within the
cle of its effulgence-slaving per
ps, he thought with a twisted smile,
some tawdry occupation that called
tar no experience, to pay for a meal
some second-rate restaurant and a
let in some shabby-genteel, hall
room, till his clothes were replaced
ill-fitting "hand-me-downs"-till by
r retched gradations he arrived finally
at the status of the dime seat in the
gallery and five-cent cigars!
There was one way back. It lay
through the 'lackneyed gateway of
maarriage. ';.mth, comeliness and fine
UInen, in the world he knew, were a
ferir exchange for wealth any day.
**'Cutlet for cutlet"-the satiric phrase
tan through his mind. Why not?
jtera did so. And as for himself, it
Noe Had Suddenly Remembered That,
it Was Nie Twenty-flfth Birthday.
grhnDB heed bo no question of plain
ad spinstered millions--thore was
Mattbarine Fargo I
'In 'his heart John Valiant was aware,
bf those subtle signs which men and
'omien alike distinguish, that while
:Xnitharine Fargo loved first and fore
most her own wonderful person, ho
had been an easy second in her .re
MPQ l FyW Pos
AUREN $TOUT
gard.
John Valiant looked down at the
bulldog squatted on the floor, his eyes
shining in the dimness. A little hot
ripple had run over him. "Not on
your life, Chum!" he said. "No shame
less barter! Thero must be other
things besides money and social posi
tion in this doddering old world, after
all! We're going to begin something
for ourselves, if it's only raising cab
bages! And we're going to stand it
without any baby-aching-the nurse
never held our noses when we took
our castor-oil!"
It was folded down, that old bright
page. Finis had been written to the
rose-eolored. :hapter. And even as he
told himself, he was conscious of a
new rugged something that had been
slowly dawning within him, a sense of
courage, even of zest, and a furious
hatred of the self-pity that had
wrenched him even for a moment.
He turned from the win'dow, picked
up his letters, and followed by the dog,
went slowly up another flight to his,
room.
* * a " " " 0 0
He tore open the letters abstracted
ly: the usual dinner-card or two, a:
tailor's spring announcement, a
chronic serial from an exclamatory
marble-quarrying company, a quarterly,
statement of a club house-committee.
The last two missives bore a nonde
script look.
One was small, with the name of
a legal firm in its corner. The other
was largish, corpulent and heavy, of
stout Manila paper, and bore, down
one side, a gaudy procession of post
age stamps proclaiming that it had
been registered.
"What's in jaat, I wonder?" he said
to himself, and then, with a smile at
the unmasculino speculation, opened
the smaller envelope.
"Dear Sir," began the letter, in the
most uncompromisingly conventional
of typewriting:
"Dear Sir:
"Enclosed please find, with title
deed, a memorandum opened in your
ntalle by the late .lohn Valiant some
years before his death. It was his
desire that the services indlieatd in
connection with this estate should con
tinue till this date. We hand you
herewith our check for $236.20 (two
hundred and thirty-six dollars and
twenty cents), the balance In your fu
vor, for which please send receipt,
"And oblige,
"Yours very truy,
"Emerson and Ball."
"(Enclosure)
He turned to the memorandum. It
showed a sizable Initial deposit against
which was entered a series of annual
tax payments with minor disburse
ments credited to "inspection and
care." The tax receipts were pinned
to the account.
The larger wrapper contained an un
sealed envelope, across which was
written in faded ink and in an unfa
miliar dashing, slanting handwriting,
his own inmo. The envelope con
tained a creased yellow parchment,
from between whtoso folds there
clumped and fluttered down upon the
floor a long flattish object wrapped
in a paper, a newspaper clipping and
a letter.
Puzzled he unfolded the crackling
thing in his hands. "Why," he said
half aloud, "it's--itsa a deed madle over
[o me." lie overran it swiftly. "Part
of an old Colony grant * * * a
plantation in Virginia, twelve huni
dred odd acres, given under the hand
of a vice-regal governor in the nix
teenth century. I htad no ideca titles
in the United States went back so far
as that!" His eye flied to the end.
"it was my father'a! What could ho
have wanted of an estate in Virginia?
It must have comne into his hands in
the course of business."
lie picked up tihe newspaper clip
ping. It was worn and broken in the
folds as if it had been carried for
months in a plocketbook.
"It will interest readers of this sec
tion of Virginia (the paragraph be-.
gan) to learn, from a recent transfer
received for record at the County.
Clerk's omeie, that Damory Court has.
passed to Mr. John Valiant, minor-"
He turned the paper over ,and found
a date; it had been printed in the year
of the transfer to himself, when ho
was six years old-the year his father
had died,
"-John Valiant, minor, the son of
the former owner.
"There are few inideod who do not
recall the tragedy with which in the
public mind the estate is conne'eted.
The fact, moreover, that this old home
stead has beenm left in its present, state
(for, as is we'i kinown, thme house has
remained with all its contents and fur
nishings untouched) to rest during so
long a term of years unoccupied, could
not, of course, fail to be commented!
on, and this circumstance alone has,
perhaps tended to keep alive a melan-I
choly story which may well bo for
gotten."
He read the elaborate, rather stilted!
phraseology in tho twenty-year-old par
per with a wondering interest. "An
old house," he mused, "with a bad.
name. Probably he couldn't sell it,,
and maybe nobody would ever live in,
it. That would explain why it re
mained so long unoccupied-why there,
are no records of rentals. Probably'
the land was starved and run down.
"It's an off-set to the hall-bedroom;
Idea, at any rate," he said to himself!
humorously. "It holds out an escape
from the noble army of rent-payers.
When my twenty-eight hundred is;
gone, I could live down there a landed.
proprietor, and by the same mark an
honorary colonel, and raise the cab
bages I was talking about-eh, Chum?!
-while you stalk rabbits. How does
that strike you?"
He laughed whimsically. He, John]
Valiant, of New York, first-nighter at,
its theaters, hail-fellow-well-met in itsi
!club corridors and welcome diner at'
any one of a hundred brilliant gl
and-silver-twinkling supper tables,, en
.ombed en the wreck of a Virginai
plantation, a would-be country gentle-;
-man, on an automobile and next tol
nothing a year!
He bethought himself of the fallen
letter and possessed himself of it
quickly. It lay with the supersorip
tion side down. On it was written, in,
the same hand which had addressed!
the other envelope:
For my son, John Valiant,
When he reaches the age of twenty.
five.
That, then, had been written by his
ifather-and he had died nearly twentyi
years ago! He broke the seal with at
strange feeling as if, walking in some!
familiar thoroughfare, he had stum
bled on a lichened and sunken tomb
stone.
"When you read this, my son, you:
will have come to mans estate. It is;
curious to think that this black, black
ink may be faded to gray and this!
'white, white paper yellowed, just from
lying waiting so long. But strangest
of all is to think that you yourself
whose brown head hardly tops this
desk, will be as tall (I hope) as I!
How I wonder what you will look like
then! And shall I-the real, real 1, 1,
mean-be peering over your strong
broad shoulder as you read? Who
knows? Wise men have dreamed such
a thing possible-and I am not a bit
wise.
"John, you will not have forgotten
that you are a Valiant. But you are'
also a Virginian. Will you have dis-.
covered this for yourself? Hero Is the
deed to the land where I and my
father, and his father, and many, many
more Valiants before them were born.
'Sometime, perhaps, you will know why
you are John Valiant of New York in
stead of John Valiant of Damory
Court. I can not tell you myself, be
'cause it is too true a story, and I have.
forgotten how to tell any but fairy.
stales, where everything happens right,;
where the Prince marries the beautiful:
'Princess and they live happily to
gether ever after.
"You may never care to live at1
Damory Court. Maybe the life you,
,ill know so well by the time youj
;read this will have welded you to it-'
self. If so, well and good. Then leave|
the old place to your son. But there Ist
such a thing as racial habit, and the'
call of blood. And I know there is,
~such a thing, too, as fate. 'Every
man carries his fate on a ri-i
band about his neck;' so the!
Moslem put it. It was my fate to
go away, and I know now-since dis-;
tance is not mado by miles alone
that I myself shall never see Damoryl
'Jourt again. But life is a strange,
wheel that goes round and round and
comes back to the same point again'
and again. And it may be your fate to'
go back. Then perhaps you will cry
(but, oh, not on the old white bear'sI
skin rug-never again with me holding
your small, small hand!)
"'Wishing-House! Wishing-Hlousel,
Where are you?'
"And this old parchmnut deed willb
answer
'Here I am, Master; hero I am!'
"Ah, we are only children, after all,
playing out our plays. I have had,
-nany toys, but 0 John, John! The
ones I treasure most are all in the
Never-Never Land!"
CH APTER IV.
A Valiant of Virginia.
For a long time John Valiant sat
motionless, the opened letter in his
hand, staring at nothing. lie had .the
sensation, spiritually, of a traveler
awakened with a rude shock amid,
wholly unfamiliar surroundings.
ie was trying to remember-to putt
two and two together. is father had!
been Southern-born; yes, he had
known that. lBut he had known noth
ing whatever of his father's early days,
or of his forebears; since he had been.
old1 enough to wonder about such
things, he had had no one to ask
questions of.
Phrases of the letter ran through.
his mind: "Sometime, perhaps, youl
will know why you are John Valiant
of New York instead of John Valiant
of Damory Court * * * I cannot
toll you myself." There was some
tragedy, then, that had blighted the H MADE GOODS
place, some ''melancholy story," as the
clipping put it.
Io bent over the deed spread out Are The Cheapest and The Best
upon the table, following with his flin
ger the long line of transfers: "'To .
John Valyante,,'" he muttered: "what '
odd spelling! 'Robert Valyant'-with- We always have on in;1iu a stor (,:, iq'-l11:;(1( '&t1 ,ii anti *
out the 'e.' Here, in 1730, the 'y' be
gins to be 'I.'" There was something * 1 iigh't ren'.;. (It( a11d two lir-a' Ihi bain-. di ht t r as
strenuous and appealing in the long " n ny wagon pir, y I' :ay zii'ed.
line of dates. "Valiant. Always a Va
liant. How they held on to it! There's iggv toia't r'eavereut 1mn( i'up:, " on short iee. I )onm'I
never a break."
A curious pride, new-born and self- 0 hrow ime old p uu' W' w>'I:x ( I as 'd mw
conscious, was dawning in him. He
was descended from ancestors who -
had been no weaklings. A Valiant had
settled on those acres under a royal.
governor, before the old frontier. * BR A M., r SO*
fighting was over and the lndiana
had sullenly retired to the westward.
The sons of those who had braved Wood Work and Blacksmithing
sea and savages had bowed their.
strong bodies and their stronger hearts Horseshoeing a
to raze the forests and turn the,
primeval jungles into golden planta.S
tions.
There stole into his mood an eery
suggestion of intention. Why should
the date assigned for that deed's de- - -- --
livery have been the very day on
which he had elected povarty? T eere
was a foreordination as pitda h,. " ( i, . +
indlex-finger of a guide-post. "'Every "A" . a. " . r. .. ,,
man carries his fate,' he repeated. EVERYBODY KNOWS
Won a riband about his neck.' Chum,
do your believe in fate?"
ForHosstbulldog, cocking an y
alert eye on his master, discontinued
his occupation-a conscientious if un
successful mastication of the v I tish
packet that had fallen from the folded Scrap Earth.
deed-and with much solicitous tailC h 'um, 1 1" ' ; (IA N O O l ( ,N 11PPER.
wagging, brought the sodden thing in .
his mouth and put it into the out
stretched hand. F'or ('Ott (ii. ii your I lanis I- P(( and (c lay VsIii 'xsi . U se 10-:i-22
His master unrolled the pulpy wad +.i ' 9-3-2.
adketricatehd thlen fojc ithad flend8'.4~
dclosed-an old-fashioned iron door-keyu sI' gray Ia111 with eluny sibsoii. for cot ton, us
" * ' * " " + Ii 'I' 1h lndl i; sandy Or it' snily t uml tfi' . Ilse' 1I0 2 4 0 1 191
After a time Valiant thrust the tean 112-"2
histrnk that lay against the wall. aor on at ipids us( 1(I-24.
Searching in a portfolio, hie took out pj It V"(t it at a iiliiliiliall h'1 4;11a1110 1a'(1 all lmands andi 111)gll as.,
at small oldl-fasiioned photograph; tif 8~c -3-3.muhbtedansol.Itaden5
c u t c hfr o m e a n s o il e d . ItS h a d b e e nk ( o rt u'u uua a O i~ ~ i ' 1 t"( +r i 1( t ist i 'i'i* I ui ; p (i : m ' i'L . A n~ i
c.f'mnalre-group and the, name h; 1; i- twl 41 ynIh" "11seiseli n s(
of the photographer had been erased
fame thr back. tle set it upright on- i1
cle d-es, and bending forward, looked
long at the face it disclosed. It was V . (1 U- L N ik IA LFO N eol itr ehdeeosse
After all imu' e alin thrPsttessey:
o his father. andriin,>en}t'a
lie turned and looked into the glass .. o f!1 ! i"';; ;i
above tri) dresser. The features were
the same, ayes, brow, lips, and strong
waving hair. But for its time-stains' - -
the photograph might have been one
of himself, taken yesterday.
(Continueth Next Wee.) It
AIYIE O IDEYSIF'ERIL r irs Tires!!1 Tires!!
Regarding the wonderful cssative
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say too much. After suffering severe- By buying and contraoting direct from taeboftios 1lo tires: InI
ly for thmree y(ears or' more withi sever'e large quantities for spot cash, we ar-e able to offer them .0%~ great
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through a testimonial I read In one o to pay the dealer's profit, the distributor's profiwe, reatqumaW' cor
the newspapmers. I was in such a con- mission and othgr highelling and overhead e e. "esl
gut AN) EACTY VEAYO Y KNOWS
I ucae ffycn otl n e bne-,mrcatlwedcoslanters G anoqi inal e
rome itIsuMadesFromIBfelt soshmSclapreliEtrth.
tha urcase a ne-ollr bttl vor knotvalue and ytreland th ei attago c huyimsil bre. w(|.
oldorpgray llnddwitrh myayasubsoil. forocld Uot.eufol8-4-4gorm-;ce-: .
a r'trec Ilaten, 0 yans l'fag, aud Ine Fis yuand otis oand orj if ality nlrts 024
anumaktimut meoniestrlonbesm filth arad feelar I
likeng har. I u forii t1:'s gnitoim e-stains'J1l4Y
thmren ho i- %otogrpmg t he een onel116
ohm self taenmcy usteay. 1.5 19013
whoegardcinge the aondeu erateive'~ 4 / 241300:.020
an me ot thattur swamp-oot i cannt Bu Your Tire:s1 3.10c at .Lwes Prices
saybttommch.md m Aftr 3ufrn eee 31y buyig 4an cotr.20 irc frm .a60re 2:r15
'anP.uedb weak kidne, I ws xnone 1avng .rie dircttoth cosue .A 2a.n40 om3
Noaly id ce o try iSwa Public. to 6 pe cen .i~o:~o:.02
thtesaer.o wsn nsc, on iso and1 oth17.8 hig1.elin an.2erea exen.80Wsl
Prton t 1hat I wambigedpto ai ron tires direc to 8.00ine 4.80ber prc.1ad 0O :i1T.40VLU
forec ter cns toe Im. eltnmc reie bakes merchants9,4 lay9,doto0 plator an3.60 allie
thmmamtonprhae, nedla N.bottralemmi i .1vho knwvau1an.e50 eth danae of0.4 'hyn 3dre.7
andtle. ith wim thswstknte Drntepatdll coin-mteaor automobileV23.0 .8 month w4seurd 0om
sleepals the cwhove an b okt h of ". aurn the5 2olo in .p40s 5.063542
am rid laer Wh0 yertinge, and AmnsuitrsartD or meoya, iaeNasu m
Ifoamitin telbent aof t athe kanee' ALL TIRMS F ARJNSIAT I' FULY NW6-O N TiDE1E VRIE
lmiemt o. ie am n'wens gladk 13' re- (5OAR'FULLY(111.
(oimm1('en mwapft-ceu n om mi u mohs tirethissliitod, soge aSoeyalrmg
atres innehf t ighze good f ilgEY est RM'MNI'R
VTILLowersvilDe, GIL. ordr.x.3% 1.8 2.m80e'ln- f1) tr('io 3o.0 1.90it hp
haveroallyeawppeared yorea me , mont 3 x3 11.00y m2.90c fumimiet 3 2r0or 1e 95ia
whoan ausrbed theobe t ytatmen kiu 34x3% 12.4. I.03320
neand adath tha the same astu n 041.1 .0'.23
lsbstnce acd in faut.m' 31x4 - ' Tire45ctorie Sales 2.35
INotary I'ublic.'33x4f14.80'3.50li.90t2.4
iriet I to, Wil H.me & oIlshm 44 68 .040026
on N. D.ayx4t725n.7 4,2h2.7
ProieWhatSwarRootWillDo Frm%'
kez lumLeriiser.
12 PAGES. PART 2, PAGES 9 TO 12
SVOLUME XXIX. LAUREiNS, SOU'Fh CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH- 4, 1914.NUBR3