Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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f WIANTS?f\Mim (?r nALLir m\m\i Rivrs OUJ5TRA7rD^ LAUIXN STOUT "But It you think that even he could be ao crassly stupid, so monumentally blind to all tbat is really fine and beautiful?" "Oh!" she cried with flashing com* The Next Moment. With Clenched Teeth, He Was Viciously Stamping His Heel Again and Again. prehension. "Oh, bow could you! You?" He nodded curtly. "Yes," be said. "I am that haphazard harlequin, John Valiant, himself." CHAPTER XIV. On the Edge of the World. There was a pauso not to be reck* ? oned by minutes but suffocatingly long. She bad grown as pale as be. "That was ungenerous of you," she said then with icy slovncss. "Though no doubt you?found it entertaining. It must have still further amujcd you to be taken for an architect '1 am flattered." he replied, with a traco of bitterness, "to have suggested even for a moment, so worthy a call? ing." At bis answer she put out her hand with sudden gesture, as it bluntly thrusting the mutter from her con? cern, and turning went back along the tree-shadowed path. Ho followed glumly, gnawing bis lip, want leg to aay he knew not what, but wretchedly tongue-tied, noting tbat the great white moth was still waving Its creamy wings on the dead stump and wondering if she would take the cape Jessamines. 11 1 fell an embarrassed relief when, passing tho roots where they 1*;, she stooped to raise them Then all at onco the Mood seemed to shrink from bis heart. Wl h a hoarse cry ho leased toward her, gghV'd h-T wild und roughly dragged her back, feeling as he did so. a snarp fiery sting on bis Instep. The next tikoment, gfttl I it B hod teeth, he was viciously stamping bis heel again at d again, driving into tho noft earth a twisting root-like something that slapped the brown wintered staYfOg ia to a hissing turmoil. Ho had flung her from him with such violence that sh-? had fall* wise. Now she ralOOd herself, kl gel? lug in the feathery light, both lu.n Is clasped cloao to her breast, trembling eiceasivcly with loathing and feel the dou ??urtb-lloor billow like a \ vas sea In a theater. Uttli puffs of dust from the protesting ground Wore wreathing about her set face, and she I ros?Hxl one band against her shoulder |g repress her shhers. 'The horrible ? horrible ? thlr g!" she said whlsperlngly. ' It would liavo bitten me!" He came toward her. panting, and grasping her hand, luted her to h> r feet. He staggered slightly as he did ao. and she saw bis lips twist to? gether oddly. "Ah." she gasped, "it bit you! It bit you!" "No." he said. 1 think not." "Look! There ou your anklo?that spot'" "I did fee! something, just that first moment." He laughed uncertainly. ' It's queer. My foot s gone last asleep." Every fggggjtll of color left her fa' e. SllO had 1 Tin-An <i M?. i(> child who had died of *i water moccasin's bite eomo years before?the child of u houao-servant. It had gOOg Wgallig in tiie creek In the got go The doctor h id said then that if one of tho oth -r children. ? ? ? Sho gowned his arm. "Sit down." she commanded, 'here, on this log, and see" Her pale fright caught him H#J ebev?d. drngjgjad off tii*? Ion thoe and bai#?d tho tingling 8|>ot. The flrut ?Ahito flesh was puffing up around |WQ tiny blue mm-ied punctures H? i ? ached Into his i*oek?-t, then rem I? red that ne had no knife. \s tho next best tiling he knotted his luwd :ef quickly uhn\o the niiklo, thrust a gtlek through tin* loop at: 1 twisted it tili Ike Ugntnre eal deeply, while sh?' knelt hrshl? him, her lli?s moving soundlessly, saving ? .or and over to hcrs' lf words like Iheao; "I j ust not he Mr! t. in i lb dot g*| regJftM tho dta gor? but i dol i I ?< quite collected, it is a mile to the it lor> I might rim to Ike gOUae i.d : end T'nc J? tf* ; on. hut ,t .. nub! Uku too long. Heelden, the doctor might not bo there. There is no one to do anything but rue." Shi crouched besido him, putting her hamis by his on the stick and wrenching it over with all her Strength. "Tighter, tighter." she said. It must ho tighter." But, to her dis? may, at tho last turn the improvised cord snapped, and tho released stick tiew a dozen feet away. Her heart leaped chokingly, th id dropped into hammerlike thudding. He leaned back on one arm, trying to laugh, but she noted that his breath camo shortly as if he had been run-1 ning. "Absurd!" he said, frowning. "How such?a fool thing?can hurt!" Suddenly she threw herself on the "??<. .'? ! and grasped the foot with bo h hands. He could see her face twitch With shuddering, and her eyes dilating v. ith some determined purpose. "What are you going to do?" "This," she said, and ho felt her shrinking lips, warm and tremulous, I pressed hard against his instep. He drew awi.y sharply, with savage ' denial. "No?no! Not that! You shan't! My lord?you shan't!" Ha dragged his n mining foot from her desperate grasp, lifting himself, push? ing her from him; but she fought with him, clinging, panting broken sen? tences: "You must! It's the only way. It was?a moccasin, and it's deadly. Every minute counts!" "I won't. No, stop! How do you i 1 now? It's not going to?here, listen' i Tfike your hands away. Listen!?Lis? ten! I can go to the house and send i Uncle Jefferson for the doctor and bo ?No! stop, I say! Oh?I'm sorry if I hurt you. How strong you are!" . t me!" No! Your Hps are not for that?; good God. that damnable thing! You yourseif might be?" "Let me! Oh, how cruel you are! It was my fault. But for me it would never have?" ' No! 1 would rather?" "Let me! Oh, if you died!" With all the force of her Strong young body she wrenched away his Protestant hands. A thirst au/1 a sick Ish feeling WOTg upon him, a curious Irresponsible giddiness, and her hair which that struggle had brought In tumbled masses about her Shoulders, seemed to have little flames running all over it. His fo^t had entirely lost its feeling. There was a strange weak? ness in his limbs. Moments of half-consciousness, or consciousness jumbled with strange j aaginings, followed. At times he felt the pressure upon the wounded foot, was sensible of the suction of the rejuaj mouth striving desperately to draw the poison from the wound. I Vom tune to time bo was conscious of a White desperate face haloed with hair that was a mist of woven spar? kles. At times he thought himself a iccumLent stone static in a wood, gnd her a great tall golden*heads I flower lying broken at hU feet. Again he was a granite boulder and she a \iue with jrellOW leaves winding and dinging about him. Then a blank? a sense of movement and of troublous dll turbanco, of insistent voices that called to him and inquisitive hands tbat plucked at him, a'ld then voices growing distant again, and hands tail? ing av. ay, and at lu*t?silence, e e e e e e s ? Inky clouds were gathering over the sunlight when Shirley cane from Dnnory Court, along the narrow wood* path under the henloeka. and the way I as striped with blue-black shadows and Mied With Sighing noises. Sin' Walked warily, halting often at soino leafy rustle to catch a quick breath ol dread* As she approached the tree* roots whore tho cape Jessamines lay, She had to force her feet: forward by effort of will. At a little dis? tance from then -she broke a stick and with it managed to drag the hunch to bet, turning bor eyes With U shiver fron the trampled spot m ar by. She ROd Bp the Mowers, and trending With I kUtion, retraced her steps to the WldOf path. Bbe Stepped into tho Red Road at length in the teeth of a thunderstorm, \ hick bad arisen almoet without warn* I to break with the passionate In t? gait] of electric storms la the south. re was do shelter, but even had there been, she would not have sought it. 'i be turbulence of nature around I sf matt ned, in a way, her over Btmlned feeltog, and sin- welcomed tue fierce bulge of the wind in the up blowing whorlg of her hair and the drenching WOtB ss of the rain. BtlO tried to ti\ hoi mud on near things, the bonding grasses, tho scurrying red runnels und Dapping shrubbery, but h- r thoughts wilfully escaped the tether, turning again and again to the evt nti of the last two bourg. Bhe pio lured Uno* Jefferson's eyes rolling up in ridiculous alarm, his winnowing arm lashing his Indignant mule in ins flight for the doctor, At the mental picture she choked with hysterical laughter, then cringed suddenly against the sopping bark. Hin- saw again the doctor's gaze lift from his tit t eianlnatl m of the tiny punctures u> send a sviit penetrant g!.';r. e at her, before be bent his great I,od.. to < ai ry 111 *? uiw-om cious n an to the h >use< Again u lit of ihudderlng gwept over her. Then, all at once, taari came, ?trangllng sobs that bent and swayed her. It, was the discharge of the Leyden jar, the loosing of the tense bow-string and it. brought re? lief Alter a time ehe stew quieter, lie would get wein The thought that perhaps she had saved bis life gave her a thrill that ran over her whole body. And until yesterday she had never seen him! She kneeled in the blurred half-light, pushing her wet hair back from her forehead and smil? ing up in the rain that still fell fast. In a few moments she rose and went on. At the gate of the Rosewood lane stood a mail-box on a c edar post and she paused to fish out a draggled Rich? mond newspaper. As she thrust if un? der her arm her eye caught a word of a head-line. With a flush she tore it from its soggy wrapper, the wetted fiber parting in her eager fingers, and resting her foot on the lower rail of the gate, spread it open on her knee. She stood stock-still until she had read the whole. It was the story of John Valiant's sacrifice of his private fortune to save tho ruin of the in? volved corporation. Its effect upon her wf.b a shock. She felt her throat swell as she read; then she was chilled by the memory of what she had said to him: "What has he ever done except play polo and furnish spicy paragraphs for the so? ciety columns?" "What a beast I was!" she said, ad? dressing the wet hedge. "He had just done that splendid thing. It was be? cause of that that he was little better than a beggar, and I said those hor? rible things!" Again she bent her eyes, rereading the sentences: "Took his detractors by surprise see had just sustained a grilling at the bands of the state's examiner which might well have dried at their fount the springs of sympathy." She crushed up the paper in her hand and rested her forehead on the wet rail. Idiotically rich?a vandal? a useless, purse-proud flaneur. She had called him all that! She could still see the paleness of his look as she had said it. Shirley, overexcited as she still was, felt the sobs returning. These, how? ever, did not last long and in a mo? ment she found herself smiling again. Though she had hurt him, she had saved him, too! When she whispered this over to herself it still thrilled and startled her. She folded the paper and hastened on under the cherry trees. Emmaline, the negro maid was wait? ing anxiously on tho porch. She was thin to sparenees, with a face as brown as a tobacco leaf, restless black eyes and wool neatly pinned and set ofT by an amber comb. "Honey," called Emmaline, "I'so beeu fearin' fo' yo' wid all that .ight niu' r'arin' eroun'. Yo' got th' jess' ? Give 'em to Em'lir.e. She'll fix 'em all nice, jes' how Mis' Judith like." "All right, Emmaline," replied Shir? ley. "And I'll go and dress. Has mother missed me?" "No'm. BLio ain' lef huh room this Whole blessed day. Now yo' barth'B all ready?all 'cep'n th* hot watah, en I sen' Ranston with that th' fus' thing. Yo' hurry en peel them wet close off yo'se'f, or yo' havo one o' ,thom digested chills." Her young mistress flown and the hot water despatched, the negro wom? an Ipread a cloth on the floor and began to cut and dress the long stalks of the flowers. This done she fetched bowls and vases, and set the pearl y Whlte clumps here and there?on tho dining-room sideboard, tho hall man? tel and the desk of the living-room? till the delicate fragrance filled tho house, quite vanquishing the rose scent from tho arbors. As the trim colored WOluan moved lightly about in the growing dusk, "with the low click of glass and muf? fled clash of silver, the light tat-tat of a cane sounded, and she ran to the hall, where Mrs. Dandlidge was de scendlng the stairway, one slim white hand holding tho banister, under tho edge of a White silk shawl which drooped Itl heavy fringes to her daint? ily-shod feet. On the lower step she baited, lookin? smilingly about at tho blossoming bowls. "Don* they smell up th' Whole house?" said Etnnialine. "I know'd y o be picas', Mis' Judith. Now put yo' ban' on mah ?houldah en I'll take yo' to yo' big cha'h." They crossed the ball, the dusky form beading to the fragile pressure of the lingers. "Now heah's yo' cha'h. Ranston he made up a little fiah jes' to lake th' damp out, en th* big lamp's lit, en Miss Shirley'll bo down right quick." A moment later, in fact, Shirley de? scended the stair, in a filmy gown of India muslin, w ith a narrow belting of But More Than Once Shirley Saw Her Hnncio Clasp Themselves Together. gold, against whose (lowing Bleevei her bare arms Bhowed with a (lushed plukn< .ss the bue of the polo coral I ! beads about hor nock. The Clamp newspaper was in her hand. At her step b< r mother turned her head: she was listening intently to \oices that came from the garden?a Child'! shrill treble opposing Ran aton'a stentorian grumble. "Listen, Shirley. What's tha; Ric? key is telling Ranston?" "Don' yo' come heah wid yo' no count play-acthV. Cyan* fool Ranston Wid no sich snek-story, neidah. Ain' ' no moc'sin at Dam'ry Co'ot, en neb hah was!" "There Tvas, too!" insisted Rickey, i "One bit him and Miss Shirley found him and sent Uncle Jefferson for Doc- ( tor Bouthall and it saved his life! So there! Doctor Southall told Mrs. Ma? son. And he isn't a man who'F Just come to fix it up, either; he's the really truly man that owns it!" "Who on earth is that child talking about?" Shirley put her arm around ier mother and kissed her. Her heart was beating quickly. "The owner has come to Damory Court. He?" The small book Mrs. Dandridge held fell to 4he floor. "The owner! What owner?" "Mr. Valiant ?Mr. John Valiant. The son of the man who abandoned it so long ago." As she picked up the fallen volume and put it into her mother's hands, Shirley was startled by the whiteness of her face. "Dearest!" she cried. "You are 11L You shouldn't have come down." "No. It's nothing. I've been shut up all day. Go and open tho other window." Shirley threw it wide. "Can I get your salts?'? she asked anxiously. Her mother shook Isar head. "No," she said, almost sharply. "There's nothing w hatever the matter w ith me. Only my nerves aren't what they used to be, I suppose?and snakes always did get on them. Now, give me the gist of it first. I can wait for the rest.! There's a tenant at Damory Court. And his name's John?Valiant. And he was bitten by a moccasin. When?" | "This afternoon." Mrs. Dandridge's voice shook, "Will ho?will he recover?" "Oh, yes." i "Beyond any question?** "The coctor says so." "And you found him, Shirley? you?" "I was there when it happened." She had crouched down on the rug in her favorite posture, her coppery hair against her mother's knee, catching strange reddish over-tones like molten metal, from the shaded lamp. Mrs. I Dandridge fingered het cane nervous-1 ly. Then she dropped her hand on the girl's head. "Now," she said, "tell me all about it." - CHAPTER XV. The Anniversary. The story was not a long one, though it omitted nothing: the morn? ing fox-hunt and the identification of tho new arrival at Damory Court as the owner of yesterday s stalled no tor; the afternoon raid on the jessa? mine, the conversation with John Va? liant in the woods. 1 Mrs. Dandridge, gazing into the fire, listened without comment, but morc? than once Shirley saw her hands clasp themselves together and thought, too, that she seemed strangely pale. 1 ue swift and tragic sequel to that incit? ing was the hardest to tell, and as l he ended she put up her hand to her shoulder, holding it hard. "It was horrible!" she said. Yet now she did not shudder. Strangely enough, the I ( sense of loathing which had been surging over her at recurrent inter? vals ever since that hour iu the wood, had vanished utterly! Sho read the newspaper article aloud and her mother listened with an expression that puzzled her. Wl m : sho finished, both were silent for a moment, then she asked, "You must have known his father, dearest; didn't you?" "Yes," said Mrs. Dandridge after a pause. "I?knew his lather." Shirley said no moro, and facing each other in the caudle-glow, acrost? tho spotless damask, they talked, s.s with common consent, of other thing.3. She thought sho had never seen he r \ mother more brilliant. An odd excite? ment was flooding her cheek with red and she chatted and laughed as she had not done for years. But after dinner tho gaiety and ef? fervescence laded quickly and Mrs. Dandridge went early to her room. Bhe mounted the stair with her arm thrown about Shirley's pliant waist. At bor door sho kissed her, looking at her with a strange smile. "How cu-1 rious," she said, as if to herself, "that it should have happened today!" Tho reading-lamp had boon lighted on hor table. She drew a slim gold ! chain from tho bosom of her dross and held to tho light a little locket-1 brooch it carried. It was of black on gjnel, with a tiny laurel-wreath of pearls on one side encircling a singlo diamond. Tho other side was of crys? tal and covered a baby's russet col? ored curl. In her lingers it opened ami disclosed a miniature at which she looked closely for a moment. Her eyes turned restlessly about the room. It bad been hers as a girl, for Rosewood had been the old Garland homestead. It seemed now all at once to bo full of calling memories of her youth. i "How strange that it should have been todaj !" it had been on Shirley's j lips to question, but the door had closed, and she went slowly down? stairs. She sat a while thinking, hut at length grew restless and began to walk to and fro across tin* floor, her hands clasped behind her head so that the cool air tilled her llowiug sleeves. In the hall she could hear the leisure? ly kon-kon?kon-kon of the tall clock. The evening ouiside was exquisitely still and the metallic monotone was threaded with the airy flddle-fiddle of crickets in the grasB and punctuated with the rain-glad cloap of a frog. Shirley stepped lightly down to the wet grass. Looking back, she could see her mother's lighted blind. All around the ground was splotched with rose-petals, looking in the squares of light like bloody rain. She skimmed the lawn and ran a little way down the lane. A shuffling sound presently fell on her ear. "Is that you, Uuc' Jefferson?" she called scftly. "Yas'm!" The footsteps came near? er. "Et's me, Miss Shirley." He tit* tered noiselessly, and Bhe coUBd see his bent form vibrating in the gloom. "Yo* reck'n Ah done fergit?" "No, indeed. I knew you wouldn't do that. How is he?" "He right much bettah," he replied In the same guarded tone. "Doctah he say he be all right in er few days, on'y he gotter lay up er while. Dat was er ugly nip be got fom dat 'spis able reptyle." "Do you think there can be any others about the grounds?" "No'm. Dey mos'ly keeps ter de ma'sh-lan' en on'y runs whah de un dah bresh ez thick. I gwineter fix dat ter-morrow. Mars' Valiant he tell me ter grub et all out en make er bon fiah ob it." "That's right, Unc' Jefferson. Good night, and thank you for coming." She started back to the house, when his voice stopped her. "Mis' Shirley, yo* don' keer ef de ole man geddahs two er three ob dem rosesV? Seems lak young mars' moughty fon' ob dem. He got one in er glass but et's mos' daid now." "Wait a minute," she said, and dis? appeared in the darkness, returning "I'm Tempted to Stay Sick and Do Nothing but Eat." quickly with a handful which she put in his grasp. "There!" she whispered, and slipped back through the perfumed dark. An hour later she stood in the cozy stillness of her bedroom. She threw off her gown, slipped into a soft loose robe of maize-colored silk and stood before the small glass. She pulled out the amber pins and drew her wonderful hair on either side of her face, looking out at her reflection like a mermaid from between the rip? pling waves of a moon-golden sea. At last she turned, and seating her? self at the desk, took from it a diary. Sho scanned the pages at random, her eyes catching lines here and tbci'e. "A good run today. Betty and Judge Chalmers and the Pendleton boys. My fourth brush this season." A frown drew itself across her brows, and she turned the page. "One of the hounds broke his leg, and I gave him to Rickey." ? ? ? "Chilly Lusk to dinner today, after swimming the Lor ing Rapid." Sho bit her lip, turned abruptly to the new page and took up her pen. "This morning a twelve-mile run to Damory Court," sho wrote. "This afternoon went for cape jessamines." There she paused. The happenings and sensations of that day would not be recorded. They were unwritable. She laid down her pen and put her forehead on her clasped hands. How empty and inane these entries seemed besido this rich and eventful twenty four hours just passed! What bad she been doing a year ago today? she wondered. The lower drawer of the desk held a number of slim diaries like the ono before her. She pulled it out, took up tho last-year's volume and opened it. (To be Continued.) Host Family Laxative. Beware of constipation. Use Dr. King's New Lilt' 1'ills and keep well. Mrs. Charles B. Smith, of West Franklin, Me., calls th >m "Our family laxative." Nothing better for adults or aged. (Jet them today, ??c. AU druggists or by mail. H. B. Bucklen A Co., Philadelphia 01 St. Louis.? Advt. Tin- members of Post G., T. P, A., are requested to keep in mind tin meeting at the Chamber of Commerce looms oil next Saturday nigh I S.:iti o'oloel . when Mr. \Y. AfrWutkins, of Greenville, state president of the association will be present to make an address. A Word of Caution. One should !?<? exceptionally care tul just now about taking cold, and when a cold is contracted get rid of it as quit kly as possible. To accom? plish this you will lind Chamberlain's ('otiK.lt itemedy excellent. It is nol only prompt und effectual but is pleasant and safe to take, and has a reputation of forty years back of It. i oi sale b> ail dealera?Advt. mm nrc rescue. 1 ? DICTATOR WILL TAKK ITIXD \(. \!\S| VILLA AT TOIt Mexico < ity IUm So Definite New* From Use Bottle Bs* siiii claim* u Victory?Raonors thai Gen. Vc lasco't? Arsay Has Beea m ptiiioi Of Desertions u> Um Rokele. Mexico City, March :io.?Gen. Hu erta is reported to be about to take the held against the rebels at Tor reon. The government maintains that the federals have defeated Gen. Villa at Torreon, but they have no de? tails concerning the lighting and it is g< nerally believed that the strong? hold is tottering. Rumors arc current that a large part of Gen. Velasco's army tied when Villa attacked Torreon and thai many others deserted to the rebels at the first opportunity. Loss Intimated at 5,000. Juarez, March 30.?The battle at Torreon is still raging today, but the constitutionalists say that no late news of the situation has been received. The strict military censorship over dispatches gave rise to rumors that tin rebels have received a setback in the main Plaza of the town. It is roughly estimated that rive thousand have been killed and wounded since the battle started a week ago. With great enthusiasm Gen. Carranza made Iiis entry into Juarez last night which is now the provisional capital. - /a pat a Itcportcd Killed. Mexico City, March 30.?Emiliano IZapata, the "rebel butcher,'' leader of ; the revolutionists in Southern Mexico has been killed by federals in the State of Guerrero, according to offi? cial announcement made today* No details are given. FIGHT ON TOLLS REPEAL. Congressman Londlen Attacks Eng? land in Opposing Repeal. Washington, March 30.?Sitting in an invalid's seat Congressman Dend len, of Florida, today opened the third day's debate in the house on the bill to repeal free tolls of the 1 Panama canal. Opposing repeal he characterised Great Britain as "the greatest bulldozer of history," tramp? ing around ihe world seeking whom it can scare" and said: "We called the world bully down in 1776." The heaviest guns of both sides of the de? bate will be fired this afternoon and tomorrow. - t Chamberlain's Tablets. These tablets are intended especial? ly for disorders of the stomach, liver and bowels. If you are troubled with heartburn, indigestion or constipa? tion they will do you good. Try them. For sale by all dealers.?Advt. Ghent, Belgium, furnishes practi? cally all of the potted specimens of the the symmertical Araucaria, or Norfolk island pine .used as an orna? mental foliage house plant ,in Europe and America. The United States im? ports at least 250,000 of these plants in 5 or 6 inch pots each year. Muddy Complexion. When you see a woman with a muddy or sallow complexion and dull eyes, you may know that her liver is out of order. A few doses of Chamberlain's Tablets will correot it and make her look better and feel better. For sale by all dealers.?Advt. (-^> BRIDGE TEETH By this work the den? tist is able to fix per? manently between the teeth left to you artific? ial ones that are perfect in appearance and use? fulness. See Dr. Court? ney. He makes this work his specialty. Have an inspection. Get his opinion. Sumter Denial Parlors, Dr. C. H. Courtncv. Prop Over Shaw & McCollum. over 06 years' expcricncc Patents trade asssms) Designs Copyrights Ac. Anrcne lending a *ketrh and deserlpUon may nuU Kir ascertain our opinion fro? whether au invention 1* pr?>baMy patentable, Comnmnlea t,.,iinRinetlyconOdenU?l. HANDBOOK on Patents lent tree. Oldest acener for securing patents. Patents takon tlir.Hmh Munn A CO. recelea tprtlal notice, without.charge, tu the Scientific American. A ssnSfOMStf tltwrtrated weekly, liwt Jfh . illation of any scientific loarual. Terroa,M S year; four months, $L Sold by all newsdealers. MUNNaCo.36'*?^ilewM fciaucb Offloe. (Ctt t*U WaebtiiftoB. d. c