Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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ILUtTTRA-f ]D &0 L O Y4'4wwin 27 BO'Oo-Mf i, ca SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I-John Valiant, a rich so "iety favorite. sudtidenly discovers that the Valiant corporation, which his father iounded and which was the prioipal source of his wealth, has failed. CHAPTER II-Ile volunterily turns ovr his private fortune to the receiver for the corporation. CHAPTER III-His entire remaining possessions consist of an old motor car, @ whito bull dog and Damory court. a neglectcd estate in Virginia. CIAPrIR TV-Ho learns that this es toto eatino lito the faintly b1y. royal gratit .id has been In the possession of the Vallants ever since. CHAPTER V--On the way to Damory court he meets Siiirley Dandrkh:e, an n-it '-urn-haired beauty, and deeldes that he is going to liko Virginia immetisely. C1lAI1'IR VI-An old negro tells Shir .y'n forttne and ;redicts great trouble :or her vi accour t of a mani. CTIAPTEn. VIT-Uncle Jefferson, an old negro. takes Valiant to Daniory court. CIAPTIARt VIIT--Shirley's inother. Mrs. tanldkel. tai M-1jor Bristow exch:ango nlIini~senes dclurinx wllieih it is reveaed that the nmijor. Vallant's father. and a ian named Sa-soon. wvere rivnts for the anti or Nlrs. l)n.ndrldgo in her youth. !assoon and V'aliant folight a duel on hor vaccount in which the foranor was killed. CHAPTER TX-Valtant finds Damory court overgrown with weels and creep ,re and the bimildings in a very ilmuch oglected cond ition. Uncle Jefferson and Is wife, Aunt Daplino, are engaged as 3irvan s. CHAPrER X-Valiant explores lia an -estral honme. Ile is surprised by i. fVx *unting party which invades his estate. te recognizes Slirley at the head of the .'-arty. CIAPTEIt XI-Ile rives sanctuttiry to the cornered fox. (lossips (ieseuss ilt ad 'ent of the new owner and recall tho *ragedy in which the older Valiant took 90.rt. . TAPTER XIT-Vallant deciiles to re ha ilitate Damory court atid mako the land prohlnce a living for hini. CHAIPFHll XIIT-Ile meets Shirley. who ias been gathering flowers on the Valiant Istate, and reveals his identity to her. CITA PT 1-m XIV-Valiant saves Shirley roin the bitI of a snake. whieh bites limit. Cmowinig the deadliness of the bitn, Shir lIy suclis the poisoi from the wound rnid oaves his life. CIIAl"Pi'ER XV--Shirley tells lier mother (of (lie incialent unI the latter is stralngely mnoved at hearing that ia Valiant is agalin 'iving at Damory court. CHAPTER XVI-Valiant learns soie of the history of his famitly from T ictor Southall and Major Bristow. CHAPTER XVII-Ile learns for the Virst tine that his fatier left Virginia otr :.ccount of a duel iI which Doctor South "ll and Major Bristow acted as his fath er's seconds. CHAPTER XVIII. Beyond the Box-Hedge. Am he greeted her, his gaze rolun-i *)eep 'nto hers. She had recoiled a step, ctairoill, to recognize hLim a. fnost i:: -t lly. H noted the shrink. .ug and t'.mught it due to a stabbing -emnory of t hat forvt-horror. Hi s Ihrv' -dords werc, prosaic cimaigh: "I'm an unconscionable trespasser," ho said. "It must seem awfully prow ly, but I didn't realize I was onl pri vate property till I passed the hedge there." As her hand lay in his, a strange fancy stirred in him: in that wood meeting she had seemed something witch-like, the wilful spirit of the pas alonate sp~ring herself, mixed of her aerial essences and jungle wilder nesses; in this scented dim-lit clese she was grave-eyed, subdued, a paler pen sive woman of ulnder h~alf-guessed sad niesses and haunting moods. With her answer, however, this gravity seemed to Bll) from her like a garment. She laughed lightly. "I love to lprowl myself. I think sometimes I like the night better than the day. I believe in one of my in carnations I must have been a pan ther." They both laughed. "I'm growing superstitious about flower's," lie said. "You know a rose figured in our first meeting. And in our last-" She shrank mlomentarily'. "The cape jossamines! I shall always think of that when I see them!" "Alh, forgive me!" he begged. "But when I remember what you did-for me! Oh, I know! Dut for y'ou, I must have died." "11ut for me you woldn't have been bitten. Butt don't let's talk of it." She shivered suddenly. "You al-e cold,(" he saidl. "isn't that gown too thin for this night nir'?" "No, I often walk her-e tIll quito late. Listen!" Tile bird sonig had broken forth again, to be answered this time by a rival's in a (distant thicket. "My nightingale is in good voice." "I never heard L. nighitinigalo before I came to Virginia. I wond~er why It sings only at night." "What an odd lidea! Why, it sings in the daytime, too." "Really ? But I suppose05 it escapes notice In the general chorus. Is it a large bird ?" "No; smaller than a thrush. Only a little bigger than a robin. Its nest is over there in that hedge-a tiny loose cup of dried oak-leaves, lined with hair, andl the eggs are olive color. 1iow pretty the hedge looks now, all tangledl with firefly sparks!" "Doesn't It! Uncle Jefferson calls them 'lightning-bugs.'" !TheC name is much more pie. 4.uresque. But all the darky sayings are. Do you find him and Aunt Daphne useftul?" "le has been a godsend," he said fervently; "and her cooking has .:aught me to treat her with passion ate respect. IIe's teaching me now about flowers--it's surprising how AURLN 5TOUT many kinds he knows. He's a ivalking herbarium." "Come and' teo mine," she said. "Roses are our specialty-we have to live up to the Rosewood name. But beyond the arbors, are beds and beds of other flowers. See-by this big tree are speed-well and delphinium. 'rhe tree is a black-walnut. It's a dreadful thing to have one as big as that. When you want something that costs a lot of money you go and look at it and wonder which you want most, that particular luxury or the tree. I know a girl who had two in her yard only a little bigger than this, and she wvent to 10Europe on thein. 1ut so far I've always voted for the tree. How does your garden come on?" "Famously. Uncle Jefferson has shanghaied a half-dozen negro gar dolners-froi where I can't imagine andl he's having the timo of is life hectoring over thetn. le refers4 to the upper and lowcr teTrCs as 'up-ad down-stairs.' I've got seeds, but it will bo a long time before they flower." "Oh, would you like some slips?" she cried. "Or, bettcr still, I can give you the roses already rooted Mad Charles and Marechal Neil and Cloth of Gold and cabbage and ram blers. Wo have geraniunms and fuesias, too, and the coral honey suckle. That's different from the wild on1e, you know." "You Are too good! If you would only advise me where to set them! But I (are say you think me presim inag." She turned her full face to him. "'Presuming!' You're punislhig mao now for the dreadful way I talked to you about Damory Court-before I know who you were. Oh, it was un pardonable! And after the splendid thing you had donc-l read about it that same evening-with your money, 1 mean!" "No, no!" he protested. "There was nothing splendid about it. It was only pride. You see the corporation was my father's great Idea-the thing he created and put his soul into-and It was foundering. I know that would have hurt him. One thing I've wanted to say to you, ever since the day we talked together-about the duel. I want to nay that whatever lay behind it, my f.ather's whole life was darkened t)y that event. Now that I can put two and two together, I know that it was the cause of his sadness." "Al, I can believe that," she re led. "I think he had only two interests myself and the corporation. So you see why I'd rather save that and be a beggar the rest of my natural life. But I'm not a beggar. Damory Court Pione is worth-i know it now-a hun dred tines what I left." "You are so utterly different from what I imagined you!" "I could never have imagined you," be said, "never." "I must be terribly outre." "You are so many w-omen in one. When I listened to your harp playing I could hardly believe it was the same you I saw galloping across the filds that morning. lNow you are a different wolman from hioth of those.'' As she lookedt at him. her lips curled we~ner'-wise. her ioot sli ma'o ont the sheer eodge of the turf. She swayed towardI him and he caught her, feel ing for a sharp instant the adorable nearneMa of her body. It ridyged all his skin withi a creeping delight, She re covero:1 Mt footing with an exclama tion. ae4 turned back somewhat ab ruptly to the porch where she seated hern.'! oa the step, dlrawifug her filmy skirt aside to make a place for him. Thero was a moment of silence which he broke. 1%ait e7niIisite serenadle you1 were playing! You know the words, of course." "They are more lovely, if possible. than the score. Do you care for poetry ?" "lye alwuays loved it," he said. "I've been renading sonme lately-a little old fashioned book I found at Damory Court It's 'Lucile.' Do0 you know it?" "Tos. it's my mother's favorite.'' Hie drewv it from his pocket. "See, I've got it here. It's marked, too." Hfe opened it, to close it instantly not, however, before she had p~ut out her hand and laid it, palm down, on the page. "That rose! Oh, let me have it!" "Never!" he protested. "Look here. When I putt it betwveen the leaves, I did so at random. I dlidn't see till now that I had opened it at a marked passage." "Let us read it," she said. Hie leaned and held the leaf to the light from the (loot-way andi the two heads bent together over the text. A sound fell behind them andl both turned A slight figure, in a soft gray gown with old1 lace at the threat, stood in the doorway behind thoem. John Valiant sprang to his feet. "Alh, Shirley, I thought I heard voices. Is that you, Chilly?" "It's not Mr. Lusmk, mother," said Bhirley. "It's our newv neighbor, Mr. Valiant.'' As he bent over the frail hand, mur muring the conventional wordls that presentations are believed to require, Mrs. Dandridge sank into a deep tt;hioned chair. "Won't you sit mdown?" she said.l Ie noftine1 that she did not look directly at him, and tb her face was as pallid as her hair. "Thank you," said John Valiant, al resumed his place on the lower step Shirley, who had again seated hq self, suddenly laughed, and pointed the book which lay between the: "Imagine what we are doing, deareE We were reading 'Lucile' together." She saw the other wince, and t' deep dark eyes lifted, as if under co pulsion, from the book-cover to Ve ant's face. ie was startled by S8 ley's cry and the sudden limp unet scious settling-back into the cushio of the fragile form. CHAPTER XIX. Night. A quicker breeze was stirring John Valiant went back along the R Road. He had waited in the gard, at Rosewood till Shirley, aided Emmallne and with lanston's anxio face hove1ug in the background, hi Ing performed those gentle oflic which a woman's fainting spell i quires. had conio to reassure him a: to say good night. As lie threw off his coat in t bedroom he had chosen for his om he felt the hard corner of the "latueil in the pocket, and drawing it out, la it on the table by the bedside. I seemed to feel again the tingle his cheek where a curling strand her copery hair had sprung against when her head had bent beside 1 own to read the marked lines. Vheni he had undresredl he sat: hour in the candle-blaze, a dressit gown thrown over his shoulders, sar ing vainly to recreate that eveni call. to remeinber her every word a look and movement. For a brea her face would flush suddenly befu him, like a live thing; then it wot mysteriously fade and elude hi though he clenched his hands on t arms of his chair in the flerce meni Shirley, Who Had Again Seated H self, Suddenly Laughed, and Pol ed to the Book. effort to recall it. Only the interi blue of her eyes, the tawny sweep her hair-these and the touch of h the consciousness of her warm a vivid fragrance, remained to wra.p his senses in a mist woven of g4 and fire. * * * * * * * Shirley, meanwhile, had sat sol time beside her mother's bed, leani fromr a white chintz-covered chair, t anxiety only partially allayed by re suraices, now and then stooping to I her young ('heck against the delic arm in its lacy sleeve or to pasa 1 hand lovingly upl and down its outlii notlng with a recurrent passion of ti dlerness the transparency of the si with its violet veining and t.he shb own beneath the closed eyes. Eii linc, moving on soft worsted-shod fi about the dim room, at length I whispered. "You go tub bald, honey. I si with Mis' Judith till she go tub slec "Yes, go, Shirley," said her moth "'Haven't I any privileges at all? Ca 'i even faint when I feel like It, with' icalling out the fire-brigade? Yel pamper me to death and heaven knoe I don't needl It." "You won't let mue telephone for D tar Southall?" "Certainly not! "And you are sure it was nothi pbut the r'oses?" "Why, what else should It be?" si her mother almost peevishly. "I ml really hav'e the arbors thinned out. heavy nights it's positively overpow ing. Go along now, and we'll ti about it tomorrow. I can ring 11 want anything," In her room Shirley undresi thoughtfully. There was between I andl her mother a fine tenuous bc of sympathy and feeling as rare, p haps, as it was lovely. She could remembiler when the other had beetn a semni-lnvalidI, and her earli, childlhood recollections were pune ated with the tap of the little ca: Tonight's sudden indisposition I shocked and disturb~ed her; to fa at a rush of perfuue seemed to si gest a growing weakness that v alarming, Tomorrow, she told hers< she would send Ranston with a wag< load of the roses to the hospital Charlottesville. She slipped on a pink shell-shad dressing-gown of slinky silk with riot of azaleas scattered in the wvea and then, dragging her chair beft the open1 windcow, (drew aside the hig curtain and began to brush her hr All at once her gaze fell upon floor, and she shlrank( backward fron twisting thread-like thing whose brit saiffron-yellow glowed sharply agalh the dark carpet, She saw in an stant, howvever, that it was noti more clangorous than a fragment love-vine from the garden, which hi clung to her skirt, She pick~ed the tiny mass of tendlrils and with at shoulder through the window. "If Iti takes root," she said aloud, "rny sweet id heart loves me." She leanel from the sill to peer down Into the misty gar )r- den, but could not follow Its fall. to Long ago her visitor would have n. reached Damory Court. She had a t! vision of hin wandering, candle in hand, through the empty echoing ie rooms, looking at the voiceless por n- traits on the walls, thinking perhaps lie of his father, of the fatal duel of which ir- he had never known. She liked the n- way he had spoken of his father! [i As she leaned, out of the stillness there came to her car a mellow sound. It was the bell of the courthouse in: the village. She counted the strokes falling clearly or faintly as the slug gish breeze ebbed or swelled. It was as eleven. ed She drew back, dropped the curtain MI to shut out the wan glimmer, and in by the darkness crept into the soft bed uS as if into a hiding-place. ,"- * * * * * * * * A warm sun and an air mildly mel low. A faint gold-shadowed mist over id the valley and a soft lilac haze blend Ing the rounded outlines of the hills. 4e Through the shrubbery at 'Damory H- Court a cardinal darted like a crim o' son shuttle, to rock impudently from id a filcering limb, and here and there 10 on the bluisli-ivory sky, motionless as of a pasted wafer, hung a hawk; from of time to time one of these wavered and it slanted swiftly down, to climb once 1 more In a huge spiral to Its high tower of sky. Perhaps it wondere(l, as its tele g9 scopic eye looked down. That had Lv- been its choicest covert, that dishev "S eled tangle wlut.e the birds held per id petual carnival, the weasel lurked in th the underbrush and the rabbit lined re his windfall. Now the wildness was Id gone. A pergola, glistening white, now ni, upheld the runaway vines, making a sickle-like path from the upper ter al race to the lake. In the barn loft the pigeons still quarrelled over their new cotes of fresh pinc, and under a clump of locust trees at a little distance from the house, a half-dozen dolls' cabins on stilts stood waiting the honey-stor age of the black and gold bees. There were new denizens, also. These had arrived i int dozen zinc tanku and willow hampers, to the amaze of a sleepy express clerk at the railrodt stition: two swans now sailed majestically over the lily-ponds of the lake, along its gravel rim and a pair of bronze-colored ducks waddled and preened, and its placid surface rippled and broke to the sluggish backs of goldilsh and the flirting fins of red Japaneso carp. The house itself wore another air. Its look of unkemptness had largely vanished. The soft gray tone of age ramained, but the bleakness and for lornness were gone; there was about all now a warmth and genial bearing r that hinted at mellowed beauty, fire light and cheerful voices within. Valiant heaved a long sigh of satis faction as he stood in the sunlight gaz of Ing at the results of his labors. He Dr, was not now the flippant boulevardier nd to whom money was the sine qua non all of existence. He had learned a sover ild eign lesson-one gained not through the push and fight of crowds, but in * the simple peace of a countryside, un no vexed by the clamor of gold and the II complex problems of a competitive ex Istence-that he had inherited a need of activity, of achievement that lie had ay been born to do. te "Chum," he saId, to the dog rolling er on his back in the grass, "what do Syou think of It all, anyway?" He mn- reached down, seized a hind leg and to~ whirling him around like a teetotum, sent him flying into the bushes, a whence Chum launched again upon et him, like a catapult. He caught the ad white shoulders antI held him vise-like. "Just .about right, eh? But wait tIll we get those ramblers!" a, (Continued Next Week.) p. er. n't * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * m** WB * Waits Mill1 Schlool. * First Gradle: Allee Kirby, S'wane Linder, Lewis MIims, IKdw in Thomas, tid WVillie A. len. G'ray P'atton, 11oy Mc DntJoweli, K irk Tiaylor. 1Roy Page, Clydle Kr Kirby, .iay Clari ke, Raymond O'dell, ilk Thlad Price, Willlie IIlazel, 01llie P'rlce, Ida IPrice, Mam1111it Gregory, Maud ed lirownlee, G ladys Lee, I rene Illazecl. ecr jSecond G',rade: Grace Oxner, P'ea rI nd T'umni n, Sadie F~ranaks, Mariy Linder, or- Sadie Ilinghes, Era Whitloek. Tot hllirdl( Gradte: Cia ra Al len Lorne 3st Ilishop. Nina Hoboe, Clyde Golightiy, 'ain.Imett Jiessec, Andrella McKee, I ler rio. man Taylor-, Gladys Tumlin, ad ourith GrU ade: Wi nona Ii ughesx, at Ruth Oxner, Charlie Pumllecy. Fifth Grade: ,Jessie Mae Gel ightly3, asLore P'age, N annie Lee Snoddy, Floyd at Sixth Grade: Pauline Clark, Ge'r traide Oxnler, Frankil TIhomas. ed F'eventh (rade: Maudle Mae .Jessee. (', Cughed for 'Tree Vetirs, ire "I am a lover of your godlsendl to ht lhu!mani ty andmo science. Your miedi Ir- eine,, Drm. Kn g's New iscovery, cured he my cough of t hrne years adin!mg.'' a aevi .lIc lminof NwDvr :ht Oh ".lv yo nn a nnoy~ing cough? ist la 't mubb)orni endt won't yl(! I to ire: t inemmt' ii~~ iW ti I' diV''ou ofad ~!iiI It -I or~e :ht THE THRESHING SEASON IS NEAR! Call and let us demonstrate the celebrated Ileer two cylinder engine. It has light weight per II. P. and will burn any fuel that can be used in any combustible engine, such as gasoline, kerosenc. Ilas throttling governor that feeds the fuel to suit the load and many other features, that we will be glad to explain to you. Can furnish any size from 6 to 50 II. P. Suitable for all kinds of work, for pumps and wood sawing out fits. Also handle smaller size engies or other makes. For Sale By W. . IlUDGINS, lAIURENS, S. C. WE CAN "FIX IT" * ALL RIGHT 0 0 0 0 WE ARE FULLY EQUIPPED TO MA TCH ANY LENSES. B BRING YOUR BROKEN GLASSES TO US. OR, IF YOUR 0 * PRESENT GLASSES ARE NOT SA TISFACTORY, COME TO US 0 S AND LET US TEST YOUR EYES AND FURNISH THE PROPER GLASSES. WE ARE EXPERTS IN THIS LINE AND WILL SERVE YOU HONES TL Y IN GOODS AND PRICES. FLEMING BROTHERS Laurens, S. C. THE DAINTINESS AND CHARM OF YOUR KID AND SATIN SLIPPERS WE HAVE SPECIAL FACILITIES FOR CLEANING AND REFINISHING THEM Footer's Dye Works Always Safest and Best Cumberlandi, Md. ENGINEERING AND CONTRACTING Special Attention to Land Surveys McCRADY BROS.' & CHEVES Office in The B k of 1aurens Buildinig We are fully equipped, iSoth by experience and in material equipment to' rneet every requirement. We would be glad to confer with anyone desiring the sub-division of lands or surveys for any pur poses. Letters and telephone calls will be promp)tly attended to. McCrady Bros. & Cheves Laurens, S. C. -