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VOLUME~ XXIX. LAURENS, SOUTH CAROLINA, WE[)NESDAY, 3 JUNE, 1914. tMW 4 VAHXANT61S ILLUSTRATrD ,y- I MW'm,6vr 2 av aaoa-nEeata oo CIIAP TR XIX- - .ant w'orks won der in thie (bl phteer. hie iscovers tht he has at fortune in old walnut trees. CHAPTER XX. The Gardeners. Ie saw them comling through the gate on the Red Road-the major and Shirley ini a Iliac nusalin by his side and strode to meet them. Behind them Ianston propelled a hand-cart fillied with paper bundles from each of which protruded a bunch of flowering stems. There was a flush in Shirley's cheek as her hand lay in Valiant's. As for him, his eyes, like a wilful drunkards, returned again and again, between the major's compliments, to her face. "You have accomplished wonders, sah! I had no idea no much could be done in such a limited time. You have certainly primped the old place up. I could almost think I was look ing at Damory Court in the sixties, sah!" "That's quite the nicest thing you could have said, Major," responded Valiant. "Blut it needs the flowers." Ile looked at Shirley with sparkling eyes. "How splendid of you to bring them! I feel like a robber." "With our bushels of them? We shall never miss them at all. Have you set out the others?" "I have, indeed. Every one has .-rooted, too. You shall see them." lie led the way up the drive till they stood before the porch. "Gad!" chuckled the major. "Who would think it had been unoccupied for three decades? At this rate, you'll soon be giving dances, salh." "Al," said Valiant. "That's the very thing I want to suggest. The tourna ment comes off next week, I under stand, and it's been the custom to have a ball that night. 'fihe tourney ground is on this estate, and Damory Court is handier than the Country Club. Why wouldn't it be appropriate to hold the dance here? The ground floor rooms are in order, and it the young people would put up with it, it would be a great pleasure to me, I as sure you." "Oh!" breathed Shirley. "That would be too wonderful!" The major seized his hand and shook it heartily. "I can answer for the committee," he said. "They'll jump at it. Why, sah, the new gener ation has never set eyes inside the house. It's a golden legend to them." "Then I'll go ahead with arrange. ments." He led them around the house and 'down the terraces of the formal gar. Aden, and here the major's encomiums (broke forth again. "You are going to take us old folks back, sah," he said with real feeling. "This gyarden in its original lines'was unique. It had a piquancy and a picturesqueness that, ,thank God, are to be restored! One can understand the owner of an es tate like this having no desire to spend his life philandering abroad. We all hope, sah, that you will recur to the habit of your ancestors and count Damnory Court home." Valiant smiled slowly. "I don't dream of anything else," he said. "My -life, as I map it out, seems to begin 'heo. The rest doesn't count-only the years when I was little and had my father." The major carefully adjusted his eye-glasses. lls head was turned away. "Ahm, yes," lie said. "The last twenty years," continued 'the other, "from my present view. 'ioint, are valuable mainly for con trast." "As a consistent regimen of pate 'do foie gras," said Shirley qlui/zically. "makes one value bread and butter?~ H-e shook his head at her. "M 'vation makes one appr'eiante ' T'he next twent~y years i'iare I 'But they hold side-trip,. and then there's a jaunt back to the city." "Contrast again?" she asked inter estedly. "Yes and no. Yes, because no one who has ever known that blazing clanging life can really undierstand the peace and blessedness of a place like :this. No, because there are somethings 'which are to be found only there. There are the galleries and the opera. I need a breath of them both." "And semii-occasional longer flights, tee," the major reflccted. "A look-ee abroad once in a blue moon. Why "Yes. For mental photographs-im pr'essions one can't get freom between book-cov er TPhere's an old1 cloister garden I kr~uw in Italy andl a particu la ie-ank~nt in Tannn in hne r@herv. AUREN STOUT tiossom season, and a tiny island with a Greek castle on it in the Aegean. .ittlo colored memories for me to bring away to dream over. But al ways I come back here to Damnory Court. For this iF-home!" T'hey walked beneath the pergola to the lake, where Shirley gave a cry of delight at sight of its feathered population. "W\hero did you get them from?" she asked. "\\asllngton. In crates." "That explains it." she exclaimed. "One (lay last week the little darkies in the village all insisted a circus was coming. They must have seen these being hauled here. They watched the whole afternoon for the elephants." ' "Poor youngsters!" he said. "It's a shame to fool them. But I've had all the circus I want getting the live stock installed." "They won't suffer," said the major. "Rickey Snyder'll get them up a three I ringed show at the drop of a hat and drop it herself. Besides, there's tourn amnent day coming, and they can live on that. I see you've dredged out some of the lilies." "Yes. I take my dip here every morning." "We used to have a diving-board when we were little shavers," pursued the major. "I remember once, your father-" le cleared his throat and stopped dead. "Please," said John Valiant, "I-I like to hear about him." "It was only that I otruck my head on a rock an the bottom And-staye con. ~Tnt- others were ri-Igntenen. but he-he dove down again and again till he brought me out. It was a nar row squeak, I reckon." A silence fell. Looking at the tall muscular form beside her, Shirley had a sudden vision of a determined little body cleaving the dark water, over and over, now rising panting for breath, now plunging again, never giv Ing up. And she told herself that the son was the same sort. That hard set of the jaw, those firm lips, would know no flinching. He might suffer, but he would be strong. Half unconsciously she spoke her thought aloud: "You look like your father, do you not?" "Yes," he replied, "there's a strong likeness. I have a photograph which I'll show you sometime. But how did you know ?" "Perhaps I only guessed," she said in some confusion. To cover this she stooped by the pebbly marge and held out her hand to the bronze ducks that pashed and gobbled about her fingers. "What have you named them?" she asked. "Nothing. You christen them." "Very well. The light one shall be Peezletree and the dark one Pilgar lie. I got the names from John Jasper -he was Virginia's famous negro preacher. I once heard him hold forth when he readl from one of the Psalms -the one about the harp and the psaltery-and he called it peezietree." Valiant's laugh rang out over the lake-to be answered by a sudden sharp screech from the terrace, where the peacock strutted, a blaze of span gled purple and gold. They turned to see Aunt D~aphne issue from the kitchen, twig-broom in hand. "Hieah!" she exclaimed. "What fo' ye' kyahin' on like or wil' gyraft we'n we get comp'ny, ye' triflin' ol' fan tail, ye! Glit outenm heah!"' She waved her weapon and the bird, with a raucous shriek of deilance, retired in ruffled dlisordler. Th'e master of Damory Court looked at Shirley. "WThat shall we name him ?" ."I'd call him Fire.Cracke-r it he goes off like that," sihe said. And Fire. Cracker the bir'd wvas christenedi forth with. "And now," said Shirley, "let's set out the ramblers." The major had brought a rough plan, sketched from memory, of the oldi ar rangement of the formal gar'deni. "I'll just g;o over the lineus or the beds with lInem~' .Iefierson."' he prolposed, 'while von In (, '?--r over' thIese roses5 " 5o \'I!: -' -r' -y walked batc' tup the slope beneath the pergola to gether. WVith Rlanston, phifling and blowing like a black porpose over his creak ing go-cart, they planted the ramblers -crimson andl pink and wthite-Va lant mnuch of the lime on his knees, his hands lunging deep) into the black spongy earth, andi Shirley with broad hat flung on the grase. heri fingers separating the clinging thread-like roots andl her small arched foot tamp ing dlown the soil about them. H1er hair--tho color of wet m'am wood in the sunlight--was very near the brown head and sometimes their fingers touched over the work. Once, as they stood up, flushed with the exercise, a great black and orange butterfly, dazed with the sun-glow, alighted on Valiant's rolled-up sleeve. Ile held his armi perfectly still and blew gently on the wavering pinions till it swam away. When a redbird flirted by, to his delight she whistled its ca1 se perfectly that it wheeled in mid-ilight and tilted inquiringly back toward them. As they descended the terrace again to the pergola, he said, "There's only one thing lacking at l)amory Court a sun-dial." "Then you haven't found it?" she cried delightedly. "Come and let me show you." She led the way through the maze of beds at one side till they reached a hedge laced thickly with Virginia creeper. lie parted this leafy screen, bending back the springing fronds that thrust against the flimsy muslin of her gown and threatened to spear the ink-rosed hat that cast an ador able warm tint over her creamy face, thinking that never had the old place seen such a picture as she made framed in the deep green. Some such thought was in the ma Jor's mind, too, as he came slowly up the terrace below. He paused, to take e1f his hat and wipe his. brow. %'With the place all fixed up this way," he sighed to himself, "I could believe it was only last week that Beauty Valiant and Southall and I were boys, loafing around this gyar den. And to think that now it's Va liant's son and Judith's daughter! Why, it seems like yesterday that Shir ley there was only knee-high to a grasshopper-and I used to tell her her hair was that color because she ran through hell bareheaded. I'm about a thousand years old, I reckon!" Meanwhile the two figures above had pushed through the tangle into a circular sunny space where stood a short round pillar of red onyx. It was a sun-dial, its vine-clad disk cut of gray polished stone in which its metal 'tongue was socketed. Round the outer edge of the disk ran an inscription in archaic lettering. Valiant pulled away the clustering ivy leaves and read: "I count no hours but the hap py ones." "If that had only been true!" he said. "it is true. See how the vines hid the sun from it. It ceased to mark the time after the Court was de serted." "I'll put moonflowers at its base and where you are standing, Madonna lilies. The outer part of the circle shall have bridal-wreath and white irises, iand they shall shade out into pastel colors---mauves and grays and heliotropes. Oh, I shall love this spot! -perhaps sometime the best of all." "Which do you love the most now?" He leaned slightly toward her, one hand on the dial's time-notched rim. "Don't you know?" he said in a lower voice. "Could any other spot mean to me what that acre under the hemlocks means?" Her face was turned from him, her fingers pulling at the drifting vine, and a splinter of sunlight tangled in her hair like a lace of fireflies. "I could never forget it," he con tinued. "The thing that spoiled my father's life happened there, yet there we two first talked, and there you-" "Don't!" she said, facing him. "Don't!" "Ah, let me speak! I want to tell you that I shall car-ry the memory of that afternoon, and of your brave kind ness, always, always! If I were never to see you again in this life, I should always treasure it. If I died of thirst in sonme Sahara, it wvould be the last thing I should r'emember-your face would be the last thing I should see! If I-" In the silenice there was the sound of a slow foot-fall oni (lie gravel walk, and at the same moment lie saw a magical change. Shirley drewv back. The soft gentian blue of Iter' eyes dlarkcenedl. The lip)s thant an instant before had been tremulous, parted in a lowt delicious laugh. She swept him a deeop curtisey. "I am beholden to you, sir," she said gally, "for a most knightly comn pliment. 'Thiere's (lie major. Come and let us show him wvher'o we've planted (lie ramiblers." (Continiued Ne xt \\ee. 'Take Pity of)0' 111 Time at. Th'leie is a a' lngin tlheM hbitE of ;aing i .la mos lieyi fei 3t__ _ _ _ I)taa:it: i a . (" (i1 ! ) tfl t)'JI . . DAVIS-ROPER COMAN COMPANY 'it NOW OFFERING - Genuine Palm Beach Suits $6O. NOW OFFERING Genuine Scriven's Elastic Seam Union Suits the $1.50 grade. Special A ..OO New Furnishings LI Wash 4-in-hand Ties, Monogram Belts, Silk Shirts, Silk Socks, Negligee Shirts, Straw Hats, Silk Hats, Palm Beach Hats. Summer Underwear 25 cents to $2.50 per Garment Boys' Linen Suits - - - - $3.00, $4.00 and $5.00 DAVIS-ROPER COMPA Ni LAURENS' BEST STORE INTEIWOVEN SO('hS. l1I)E % I'J TBINI(8 ANID )4uCS . Choice Real Estate for Sale 20 acres of land inside incori)oratte 3-4 acre land. bounded by Jeff These a a few o the bargains, limits of city of Laurens, with six Sexton, Will Blakeley, and others on that wi have to offer you at the p 'es room cottage, three room house and Mock Street, In city Of Laiieas has eat. If you want a iome or want I J outbuilding, for $2,500. six room dwelling, for the small ?4ai (i014( of a home call me up at U?'it' of $900. ('Dart, S. C., Phone 19. Two store rooms, at Wiatts Mill, fronting 50 feet and 50 feet deel. Price :;-l a e mor' t r less, knt n as A. an II.Bars lonw inth ciy o La resknown as ;'ait of the Mrs. Hian IKnir-h r $ .,dO.lned by Bloytd Sextoni, eo~. (.arrest homiestead. Bounded try q. 1'. Ba.li, 1 1-4 acres with six-root dwelling, ad fionting on North Harper street Mrs .alie i . i n .n. two barns, anti other outbuildings atwihsvnro dwllaotbid titsXthde ug!LElit-liiiI. the Watts Mill. Price $ aM00.00'. a t~ in elo vic' hshm Alolot adjoinn this lo,62 acres, be eetybiti ieRes a.1rie$0pt ce at $50.00 per acre. hiidca , iltt' ii 1 itd t"ahihwy onia ftm 1utes ) -10 1-2 aches known as the S. a. .(ie'vhc nw stelak Mtore triact and bioundei~d by W. T. Ow- i t,.ntotie(opti chnl ens, It. Puotnamn, J1. \V. D~ulre anti oth er5., lias good0( dwelling, good tenant louse and outbuildin ugs. Thllis is a fi ne loca~ltioni. In) sight tof the G ray Conurt- j 17I- eisloat~tt ilnso : Owinag instituto and the most. valuable ', "j .HabI.'.Mae anl'p piece of' real ('state t han can be otter- 41(0 il ('llIE. Ils ah mlwl ed to the public. See tme for prices. om oititldrg td fitiIsaL it 93t acres of land, known ais part of V$0.0ir ce lhe Mr's. Anne Cheek homestead., .C boundied by W. 11. Uheek, Geo. Sami ; ce fln iitOtie '' W~ .I1. llenderson anti (thiers. I las 1ptt liis f(ay ''e ti i'i tdwelilinig anad outbuoil ding. CtonveietI / at ofe itIvtig . It5Ietat1.1 ntelre.it'' 5.0 ul ' e 88 acres, knowna as P'. 0. SmIth's hiome, 1(1 boudedl by S. A. Will li)tns,. ' 012 a r- iOV'a C (Stihsterfild Mel )anaIe an t her0 lcs.MrtI'h etad tarol o IPrice $::7.50 per aere. . hg a rm Iao' t ~ ' 169 acres, knowin r.> Mi'. Albei't 11. ,Ti soeo h letlclls i oins' home, b-mntded by Sam in turniis. i ihl~ ato teci ty 11 Mtao ltins and Itobert. FlemIng. Thims isrtt.P~e$t!.0prs c is a n1( i lc'( p iec f prioiperity, nicely 10 tetud and good lmpi'oveinents. ('heatp 2ars oeo es i~..i c ' at $15 p'i .~er acirec hae~ t1eiyra Ti~o' iiC, itlmu b et1 1 1'-I acries, mor i or01 less, kno1wni as lue il(' aiid I(tls ad eay '' sIti( 2 X5 E. It. filakeley hiome, bounded by V. ('.ti'e 'y i itwmtti* 'iO Ii'iiil t 'wh t1 ii'-' p Illellamt s. .. . lendty awul fronting Church stree'it Eight roomiii cottage I2i titso adko na h .lt 'itetu i iWLuiIill~ ' and( thubilding, city wvater, with ~.latt otea at ih ihI ii ils~ra~ ntl.I i lights. IFine ustuore. Prti'e $2,500. u'utflc tge aia sor- oi. (f. .Il 1-2 acres, kniown' as the Glilly F.lt'''$,u.0 . t-so la iliiiiett,',1 Itiddt'' home place, bounded by Chli1e Alo Iii''' iillp' ('1 lt i tl( te ...1.nifidla lbui h lhiMtuon, 11. P. Gai'iet~t and1( bitle broth- W ts Mi il b od ieala'v C'I sso 1 .(s-ui.I.I - ii's. 13(11 $2.0 pci'acr3.-d acre uefo r d boune. byt Jeff er.i. b t~tlilp a J.c N.et n iyo LaEnsAK The Land ManaWh friides NoThe ar teetoutY u'P i withseve roo dweling outuild