The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, March 25, 1914, Image 11
VOLUME XXIX. LAUL1INs, +4foh t1 CAiWOIN.', WII)NESDAY, M \RCH 25, 1914. UMBER 35
ALIANTS
di/~IALLIE TI1
ILLU3STRAT[D - I
TVPrR/MT Nw2 BY OD0-Muni. - '
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTERl I--John Vnliant, a rich se
ciety favorite, nutitlenly ,uincovers that the
Valiant corporation., which his fatheor
founded and witch wan the prhacipatl
sourco of his wealth, has failed,
CHAPTER II-Ifo voluntarily turns
over his private fortune to the receiver
for the corporation.
CHAPTER III.-Ills entire remaining
ssessions consist of an old motor car.
a whted bull dog and Dntory court, a
aneglectecI estate in Virginia.
CHAPTER IV-He learns that this es
tate came into the family iby royal grant
and has beon in the possession of the
IValiants ever since.
CHAPTER V-On the way to Damory
court he meets Shirley Dandridge, an au
burn-haired beauty, and decides that he.
is going to like Virginia imnmetsely.
CHAPTER VI-An old negro tells Shir
ley's fortune and predicts great trouble
for her on account of a man.
CHAPTER VII-Uncle Jefferson, an old
negro, takes Valiant to Damdry court.
CHAPTER VIII-Shirley's mother, Mrs.
,Dandridge, and Major Bristow exchange
teminiscences during which it is revealed
that the major, Valiant's father, and a
man named Sassoon, were rivals for the
and of Mrs. Dandridge in her youth.
assoon and Valiant fought a duel on her
ecount in which the former was killed.
CHAPTER IX.
Damory Court.
"Dar's Dam'ry Co'ot smack-dal
ahaid, suh."
John Valiant looked up. Facing
them at an elbow of the broad road,
was an old gateway of time-nicked
'stone, clasping an irone gate that was
quaint and heavy and red with rust.
Hie put out his hand.
"Wait a moment," he said in a low
voice, and as the creaking conveyance
stopped, lie turned and looked about
him.
Facing the entrance the land. fell
away sharply to a miniature valley
through which rambled a willow-bor
dered brook, in whose shallows short
horned cows stood lazily. Bleyond,
whither wound the Red Road, he
could see at drowsy village, with a
spire and a cupolaed court-house; and
farther yet a yellow gorge with a
wisp of white smoke curling above
it marked the .course of a crawling
far-away railway.
"Et's er moughty fine ol' place, sub,
mid dat big revenue ob trees," said
Uncle Jefferson. "But' Al reck'n et
ain' got none ob de modern conniv
ances."
As Valiant jumped down he was
possessed by an odd sensation of old
acquaintance-aad if he had seen those
tall white columns before-an illu- I
sory half-vision- into some shadowy,
fourth-dimensional landscape that be
longed to his subconscious self, or
that, glimpsed in some immaterial
dreem-picture, had left a faint-etched
memory. Then, on a sudden, the vista
vibrated and widened, the white col
uzhns expanded and shot up into the
clouds, and from every bush seemed
,to peer a friendly black savage with
woolly white hair!
"Wishing-House!" he whispered.
The hidden country which his father's
thoughts, sadly recurrinp, had painted
to the little child that once he .was,
'in the guise "of an endless wonder
tale! His eyes misted ever, and It
seemed to him that moment that his
father was very near.
Leaving the negro to unload his be
longings, he traversed an overgrown
path %d messed gravel, between box
rows frowvsled like the manes of lions
gone mad and smothered in an ac
cumulation of matted roots and debris
of rotting foliage, and presently, the
bulldog at his heels, found himsel'f
in the rear of the house.
"Mine!" he said aloud with a rueful
pride, "And for general run-down
ness, It's up td* the advertisement."
Hie l8ged musingly at the piteous
wreck and ruin, his gaze sweeping
down across the bared fields and un
-kempt forest, "Mine!" he repeated.
p "All that, I suppose, for it haS the
same earmarks of neglect. Between
those cultivated stretches it looks like
a wedge of Sahara gone astray." is
gaze returned to the house. "Yet what
a place it must havie been in its time!"
ie~ went slowly back to where his con
ducter" sat on the lichened horse
'block,
"We's- heah," called Uncle Jefferson
cheerfully. "Whut we gwinter do
nex', suh? Reck'n Ah better go ovah
ter Miss Dandridgo's place for or
'crowbah. I,,awd!" he added, "of he~
ain' got do key! Whut ye' think ob'
dat now ?"
John Valiant was looking closely at,
the lyig key; for there were words,'
which ho had not noted before en-'
graved in the massive flange. "Friends1
all hours." He smiled. The sentiment
pent a warm cnrrent of ,nlaaure to
1oPOT W EEM.R)
.AURLN $TOUT
his flng r-tips. Tiere was the very
text of hospitality!
A Lilliputian spider-web wan
stretched over the preempted keyhole,
and ho fetched a grass-stem and poked
out its tiny gray-striped denizen be
fore-he inserted the key in the rusted
lock, lie turned it with a curious
gense of COt+,(11y. All the strength of
his lingers was necessary before the
massive door swung open and the lev
eling sun sent its late red rays into
the gloomy interior.
He stood in a spacious hall, his nos
trils filled with a curious but not un
pleasant aromatic odor with which the
place was strongly impregnated. The
hall ran the full length of the build
ing, and in its center a wide, balus
traded double staircase led to upper
darkness. The floor, where his foot
prints had disturbed the even gray
film of. dust, was of fine close par
quetry and had been generously
strewn everywhere with a mica-like
powder. He stooped and took up a
pinch in his fingers, noting that it
gave forth the curious spicy scent.
Dim paintings in tarnished frames
hung on the walls. From a niche on
the break of the stairway looked down
the face of a tall Dutch clock, and on
one side protruded a huge bulging
something draped with a yellowed
linen sheet. From its shape he
guessed this to be an elk's head. Dust,
undisturbed, lay thickly on everything,
ghostly floating cobwebs crawled
across his face, and a bat flitted out
of a fireplace and vanished squeak
ing over his head. With Uncle Jef
ferson's help he opened the rear doors
and windows, knocked up the rusted
belts of the shutters and flung them
wide.
But for the dust and cobwebs and
the strange odor, mingled with the
faint musty smell that pervades a sun
He inserted the Key in the Rusted
Lock.
less interior, the former owner of the
house might have deserted it a week
ago. On a wall-rack lay two walking
sticks and a gold-mounted hunting
crop, and on a great carved chest
below it bad been flung an opened
book bound in tooled leather. John
Valiant picked this up curiously, It
was "Lucile." Ho noted that here
and ther-e passages were marked with
penciled lines-some light and femi
ninely delicate, some heavier, as
though two had been readilng it to.
gether, noting their individual prefer.
ences.
He laid it back musingly, and open
ing a door, entered the large room it
disclosed. This had been the dining.
room. At one end stood a crystal
knobbed mahogany sideboard, holding
glass candlesticks in the shape of
Ionic columns-above it a quaint per.
trait of a lady in hoops and love
curls-and at the other end was a
huge fireplace with rust-red fire-dogs
and tarnished brass fender. All these,
,with the round centipede table and
the Chippendale chairs act in order
against the walls, were dimmed and
grayedi with a thick powdering of dust.
The next room that he entered was
big and wide, a place of dark colors,
nobly smutched of time, It had been
at once library and living-room. A
great leather settee was drawn near
the desk and beside this stood a read.
ing-stand with a, small china dog and
a squat bronze lamp upon it, In con
trast to' the orderly dining-room there
was about this chamber a sense of
untouched disorder-a desk-drawer
jerked half-opnn a vellowed news.
paper torn across and flung into a cor
ner, books tossed on desk and lounge,
and in the fireplace a little heap of
whitened ashes in which charred frag
ments told of letters and papers
burned in haste.
Suddenly ho lifted his eyes. Above
the desk hung a life-size portrait of a
man, in the high soft stock and vel
vet collar of half a century before.
The right eye, strangely, had been cut
from the canvas. lie stood straight
and tall, ono hand holding an eager
hound in leash. hi.; foice proud and
florid, his single, cold. steel-blue eye
staring down through its dusty curtain
with at certain malicious ai-roganlce,
and his lips set in a sardonic curve
that sceied about to :ncer. It was
for an instant as if the pictured figure
confronted the young mean who stood
there, mutely challenging his entrance
into that tomb-like and secret-keeping
quiet; and he gazed back as fixedly,
repelled by the craft of the face, yet
subtly attracted. "I wonder who you
were," he said. "You were cruel.
Perhaps you were wicked. But you
were strong, too."
He returned to the outer hall to find
that the negro had carried in his
trunk, and he bado him place it, with
the portmanteau, in the room he had
just left. Dusk was falling.
"Uncle Jefterson," said Valiant ab
ruptly, "have you a family?"
"No, suh. Jes' me en mah o1'
'ooman."
- "Can she cook?"
"Cook!" The genial titter again
captured his dusky escort. "When
she got de fixens, Ah reck'n she do
beaten'es cook in his heah county."
"How would you both like to live
here with me for a while? She could
cook and you could take care of me."
Uncle Jefferson's eyes seemed to
turn inward with mingled surprise and
introspection. He shifted from one
foot to the other, swallowed difficultly
several times, and said, "Ah ain' neb
bah seed yo' befo', suh."
"Well, I haven't seen you either,
have I?" '
"Dat's de trufe, sub, 'deed et ist
Hyuh, hyuh! Whut Ah means ter
say is dat do ol' 'ooman kain' cook
no fancy didoes like what dey eats up
Norf. She kin jes' cook do Ferginey
style."
"That sou/..-s good to me," quoth
Valiant. "I'll risk it. Now as to
wages-"
"Al alin' specticulous as ter do
wages," said Uncle Jefferson. "Alt
knows er gemian when Alt sees one."
"Then it's a bargain," responded Va
liant with alacrity. "Can you come at
once?"
"Yas, suh, me en T)aph gwineter
come oval fus' thing in do mawnin'.
Whut yo'-all gwineter do fo' yo' sup
pah?"
"I'll get along," Valiant assured him
cheerfully. "Here is five dollars. You
can buy some food and' things to
cook with, and bring them with you.
Do you think there's a stove in the
kitchen?"
"Ah reck'n," replied Uncle Jefferson.
"Dn ef dar ain' Daph kin cook or
Chris'mus dinnah wid fo' stones en er
tin skillet. Yas, suh!"
He trudged away Into the shadows,
but presently as the new master of
Damory Court stood in the gloomy
hall, he heard the shambling step
again behind him. "Ali done neglect
uated ter ax yo' name, suh. Ah did,
fo' er fac'."
"My name is Valiant. John Va
liant."
Uncle Jefferson's eyes turned up
ward and rolled out of orbit. "Mah
Lawdi" he ejaculated soundlessly.
And with his wide lips still franmed
about the last word, he backed out
of the doorway and disappeared.
Alone in the ebbing twilight, John
Valiant found his htamper, spread a
napkin on the broad stone steps and
took out a glass, a spoon and part of
a loaf of bread. The thermos flask
was filled with milk. It was not a
splendid banquet, yet he ate it with
a great content as thte bulldog at. hia
feet gnawed his share of the crust.
He broke his broad into the milk as
he had not done since he was a child,
and ate the luscious pulp with a keen
relish bred of the long outdoor day.
It was almost dark when the meal
was done 'and, depleted hamper in
hand, he reentered the empty echoig
house. He went into the library,
lighted the great brass lamp from the
motor and began to rummage. The
drawers of the dining-room sideboard
yielded nothing; on a shelf of the but
ler's pantry, htowever, was a tin box
which proved to be half full of wax
candles, perfectly preserved.
"The very thing!" he said triumph
antly, Carrying them back, he fixed
several in the glass-candlesticks and
set them, lighted, all about the somber
room till the soft glowv flooded Its
every corner. "There," he saidl,
"that is as It should be. No big bla
tant searcht-light htere! And no glare
of modlern electricity would suit that
oldl weinscoting, either."
lHe drag-ed the leather settee to the
porch and( by the lin.ttu of the motor
lamp duaced it thtoroug~hly, antd wheel
ing it back, set it under the portrait
whtich htad so attracted him, He
washed hr. glnas fronm whichkh hadn
Fdined iina flalei- k t the cupi o1 the
garden fountain, put into it the rose:
from -his hat and set it on the read
ing-stand. The small china dog
caught. his eyo and he picked it up
casually. Tho head came off in his
hands. It had been a bon-bon box and
was empty save for a narrow strip of
yellowed paper, on which were' writ
ten some meaningless figures: 17-28
94.0. Ile pondered this a moment,
then thrust it into one of the empty
pigeonholes of the desk. On tho lat
ter stood an old-fashioned leaf-caleu
dar; the date it exposed was May
14th. Curiously enough the same dato
would recur tomorrow. 'T'he page bore
a quotation: "Every mai carries his
fate on a riband about his neck."
The lino had beenu (qoted in his
father's letter. May 1.Ith-how much
that date and that motto may have
meant for him!
HIe rose to push the shutter wider
and it the movement his elbow sent a
He Shuddered as He Stooped to Pick
Up the Weapon.
shallow case of morocco leather that
had lain on the desk crashing to the
floor. It opened and a heavy metallic
object rolled almost to his feet. He
saw at a glance that it was an old
fashioned rusted dueling-pistol..
The box had originally held two
pistols. He shuddered s he stooped
to pick up the weapon, and with the
crawling repugnance mingled a pang
ing anger and humiliat fo.. From his
very babyhood it had always been so
--that unconquerable aversion to the
touch of firearm. 'T'here had been mo
ments in his youth when this unrea
soning shrinking had filled him with a
blind fury, had' driven hini to strange
self-tests of courage, lie had never
been able to overcome it. Analyza
tion had told him that his peculiar
abhorrence was no mere outgrowth of
this. It lay far deeper. He had rare
ly, of recent years, met the test. Now,
as he stood in these unaccustomed
surroundings, with the cold touch of
the metal the old shuddering held
him, and the sweat broke in beads
on his forehead. Setting his teeth
hard, he crossed the room, slipped the
box with its pistol between the vol
umes of the bookcase, and returned to
his seat.
The bulldog, aroused from a nap,
thrust a warm muzzle between his
knees. "It's uncanny, Chum!" he said,
as his hand caressed the velvety
head. "Why should the touch of that
fool thing chill my spine and make
my flesh tiptoe over my bones? Why
should I- hate a pistol? Do you sup
pose I was shot in one of my previous
existences?"
~For a long while he sat there, his
pipe dead, his. eyes on the moon
lighted out-of-doers. The eery feel
ing that had gripped him had gone as
quickly as it had come. At last he
rose, stretching himself with a great
boyish yawn, put out all save one of
the candles and taking a bath-robe,
sandals and a huge fuzzy towel from
thc, steamer-trunk, stripped leisurely,
lie donned the bath-robe and sandals
and went out through the window to
the garden and down to where lay the
little lake ruffling silverly under the
moon. On its brink he stopped, and
tossing back his head, tried to imi
tate one of the bird-calls but was un
successful. With a rueful laugh ho
threw off the bath-robe and stood an
Instant glistening, poised in the moon
light like a marble faun, before he
dove, straight down out of sight,
Five minutes later he pulled him
self up over the edge, his flesh tin
gling with the chill of the water, and
threwv the robe about his cool white
shoulders. Then he thrulst his feet
into his sandals and sped quickly
back, H~e rubbed himself to a glow,
and blowing out the remaining can
dIle, stretched himself luxur-iously be
tween the wvarnm blankets on the
couch. The dog sniffed inquiringly at
his hand, then leaped up and snug
gledl down close to his feet.
John Valiant's thoughts had fled a
thousandi miles awvay, to the tall girl
who all his life had seemed to stand
out from his world, aloof and uunsur
passed-Kathariue Fargo. lie tried to
icture lher', a perfect ehatelaino, grace
ful and gracious as a tall, white, splon
did lily, in this dead house that
seemed still to throb with living pas- hickapoo Worm iller Expels Worins.
sions. But the picture subtly eluded The enuse of your child's ills----tho
him and he stirred uneasily under the fetid, oft'ensi'e breath- the starting up
blanket. with terror :.ncd grin ling of teeth while
After a time his hands stretched out u'l. - - the :;;1110(\" iun e ioll---tii)
to tho reading-stand and drew the rk . 1 - m -pI r .
glass with its vivid blossom nearer, indientio s of wor- . M i'; i -> \\'m-m
till, In his nostrils, its musky odor Kilh'r is what oir < hIib l ne'ds: it ex
mingled with the dew-wet, scent of it, Is lhe worna-. :i l' :ine 1.f thI ehil >l
the honeysiickle fro m the garden. At n! i::lthy e tld r I'l;- 1 , t !n- t mova
la:t is eyes closed. "Every nman car- ): ct. h apVh :nli n wnsI , -W:
ties ;is fate * * + on a rih.and :t of \1 "rt hi I r , >.:, r .
la t o e171e t atlleh 1t :n1 it, ti, sr; -n
:ht.tt his neck,' lit- niut.ered dro *w.i , ' t ii'i 11 -1 ly= ;! : , r ' .'i
anld thenl, "'hose:3 3'L tl t u :' illmfen lietl 1. t-:'e.ii" -'t
roses * " '' r. . i f. iar 'it l. u a box I .
And so ho fell asleep. 1 ' ;,
tie apii 1 in m .1b <l. ('o.
('onin Next \\ ek.; ,
A.i
Prof t ' iTch j'.:(ll'i-' ien *' I . (- (""';'rm: t 11- . . ( *
w.:-s Ikn iow 'n to a In t o,- - yi. h"." 1nua" ( 1i..) 1" . (-" 4. 1 t
3111.1il ys h'u intt-if 1i . )'tt:ttien.) it o. i.ui:horit ii('n t I " f r 1) I '.
the state of Conne111cticutt. 1!. l-s h t ct " i.: c1 (l'.
.,!ot her in t r1' -t iui nlilJC I 1 of t raow I-U il' i .l t it i t
\vhl. 1 :It Is uii cadc onplis .t - y ;t thu 1)' i). I,
11:1(u per. c - i. g 1t i1 c 1>).. 'ti' i pito 1:1. i l ure .
''ll 11ma h~o of int::r1 st to yti to) know o 11o h.lr1d te nc"; ,
ilot otir I li- iin py a rat i on. I , 11. V I III fi it ful the zo il t 1,10
1). d. i'rae rIp.tioa lh l d bten of Ineal- Sn t h u ,' o ) 1 1t (,onto it o.
c 1 'ule vatiec to it 1 was cove re Ia $e Itsh a t 1).1) it oats e yo 1i'al
With eezrnart frondg end( to foot when01 als i u ).1.I o ,csut~fy
1 hweian using yotur reinedies. I coull frtne li
Rot no relief, allthotuhi 1 triedl a 11h0u- \o ofr ti is ulsz o~l
citnd ineanls, I applied but two bot- o h uttne !.. nesi tp
ties of" the! Prescription' IL e"uro was- it th a nei o.t;yu n tI
effece1 i, a vAry short time, in less cent.
Laurens Drug Co., Laurens, S. C.
Why not NM.de -to Your-Order Painit?
Mix your paint to sun; - surface anI weather co tmitions :'nd
tint it so it blend.; well s' t!Ic! 2 :c~ers r in of ega Ur he use.
Atlantic White
Lead
(flte usa.bo 1u D..r Prrde 'esritin
also nit:" 1out(': 11. 1. D o p e p c ly
or i tede skins
We' ofe to fis fl sz btl
t c. , i cot y t
Lauren D'rug Co1 ' ...:".,. Laurns,1. C.
Why no 1t adeto.Yu - rd rP it
Atlatidahit
o ws'7.
V S
S ?
*somemme .
* X
* S EF
* In~
* 0nMf
* NOT ONLY IS OUR JE WE LRY"RIGHT'', BUT OUR:PRJCES0
* ARE ALSO RIGHT. WE HAVE BUILT UP OUR BUSINESS. BY
NVR ABUSING THlE CONFIDENCE OF OUR CUSTOMIERS
* AND BY CA RR YING THlE STOCK.
* OUR JEWELS APE OF PUREST RAY AND OUI2 SE TTiNGS0
* ACCORDING TO THlE FASHIONS 01F THlE DA Y.0
* WHEN YOU DEAL WITH US WE SHALL NOT ABUSE
* YOUR CONFIDENCE.
* FLEMING BROTHERS'
* Laurens, S. C.
*@?00e @ @0@..,,