Pittston Gazette

              V / \ K«t»tDUsheCl IHRO. ( VOL. XLVIII Jio. 18 ) Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY, PA., FRIDAY, DECEHBER 10, 1897. A Weekly Local and Family Journal. oiJ.OO tD*»r Y*ar in Adv*u»« e *. "Horrible! A human face, with the _ gaunt, wolfish stare of a starved wild n * beast! Oh, Strong, look for him I Pity a* * D bin.!" \ ft P*\/~~~\'jT tl rr r--v x '' Where? What did he look like? Do \J fr\ Yj3 & r~\ \ [ ( Qj] peoHjpoee yourself, Liza. There is noth- L\ jpN, V 10 ' f" ** nerv0U8 about- Was it a mai tell on you?' rel Dell this morning, it you want to, without fear of punishment." "You always used to. You never did treat me as well as you did Strong. You were always ready to scold me for him." CHAPTER X. er and son; alike in their tall, supple forms full of sinuous grace; alike in the delicate, clean cut contour of their refined faces, and were possessed, in common, of a domineering arrogance which, in tho mother's case, had never been ameliorated by friction with other potentialities. In her own narrow dominion her judgment had heretofore been considered equal to every emergency. Evidently no more suggestions would be vouchsafed by her in the present ona Randal responded to her demand for an expression of his own wishes composedly. ished gallery benches when the weather permitted, or about the rusty cylindrical redhot stove inside when the weath er would not permit, a patient, leisurely, philosophical set of men, who found no fault with the mail packet for being 10 or 12 hours behind time, but improved the compulsory probatiou by posting themselves in local gossip. There would be the briskest demand for whisky toddies and cigars, and if "a little game" helped to shorten the "wait" what was to hinder? And Liza had accepted the malodorous chest as she was accepting all the other inevitable conditions of hoi life, with dumb repugnance aad unflinching acquiescence. "Mars Ran come back? Den dig nigger gwine quit his foolishness. I done tele myneff 1 gwine stay in de cane tell Mars Ran sen me word to come back. He didn't b'leeve me, dat good fnr uotliin po' w'ite trash nv a overseer, w'en I say I conldn' pick cotton. He aiu' wnth a nigger, nary nigger' nv his I don teached him a less'n." Liza Martin, her cool composure under trying circumstances, her undesirable equipment of good looks, her educational disqualification for the humble stratum of society into which she had been born, and the deep obligation she had laid the entire (Jhambliss family under by rescuing its venerable head from what looked like impending destruction, came up for animated consideration at the (Jhambliss dinner table that afternoon. "Strong is my boy 1 nussed him in deso ve'y arms. 1 suckled him 'long wid my own Suzanne. 'Cose 1 gwine stan up fo' him, an look arter his pnrvishuus too. I is dat. Yher, you git dowu off'n dat stile an go in dat bouse Don' you know de rain's a-comiu up? We gwine have a fusclass thun'erstawm in less'n By some inexplicable physiological law all the ills that plantation rlosh was heir to either originated or culminated on a. Katurdav. She ntmliwl bD Seth for an explanation of this unpleasant phenomenon. He regarded her perplexedly for a second. What a girl she was to ask unanswerable questions! r-yryr-^Kr7 r~i ** *1 Perhaps; only stared into X) J(@ i of an old man. Such a tat- -- . r-r-. 4 ftrcd. forlorn pair of shonlders under VP; EfffS th" -vt'n"w' haggard face!" I U I Strong was hastily turning over a " | pile of newspapers on the table. AH/JEWS ! - "Does this fit- YeUow-did you i own. This in monologue as he rapidly wound his way unwaveringly through the wet green maze about them, closely followed by Liza. So, even this poor starveling, this tattered fugitive slave, could afford to despise her father—an overseer! The very abject of the earth could fearlessly spit upon the name of Martin! And there was no man among them all ready to wipe out the smirch! a hour." '' A thunderstorm! And my poor little pony is tied to a tree up yonder! Oh, Aunt Viney, my poor little Fancy!" Randal, the best of listeners on all occasions, sat picking out pecans with deliberate nicety and dropping the unbroken halves into his black coffee, staring into the cup all the while as intently as if the oracle of old supposed to rest among the grounds would come at his bidding and settle the question which was agitating the family bosom. Presently he lifted his head lazily and contributed an abrupt remark to the somewhat wordy discussion. "Well, said he, "what are you going to do about her?" Mr. Samuel McGuire, dealer in wholesale plantation supplies, dry goods, shoes, tinware, hardware, plows, fine liquors, cigars and a few other necessaries of life, had secured a five years' lease of the "four by four" box, and it was to McGuire's horse rack that Randal Chambliss hitched Thunderer. "If it really is so, honey, it must be because they've got more time to study 'bout themselves of Saturdays and make up their grievances. 1 think a heap of grievances are made up that way. " Listen "Up wbar? 1 ain't "sponsible fur de etawm. Whar yo' pony?" "1 want Amy to call on Miss Martin with me, mother." "With—you!" COPYRIGHT. 1897 Br THE AUTKi "Ran away from the Laurel Dell plantation, boy, 18 years of age—small for his yeartD--Kriff in color. Answers to the name of 'French Abe.' Suitable reward for hia detention or his re torn to Laurel Dell. * CHAPTER IX one wholly in protest against the world "At the top of the cliff." "With me—I as father's representative, Amy as yours. If you went, it would involve the mother, and that would be asking too much of you." "Mid reedy fens widespread" Strong Martin had established his hermitage. as he found it. "Who is yo' po' leetle Fancy?" "My pony—my dear little pony that Seth gave me, and my new embroidered saddlecloth ont for the first time!" Was Seth having his fling at her too? She flushed "under the suspicion, but his next words dissipated it. "And then, 1 reckon, Sunday is a good day to lay over after takin doctor's stuff. That must bo it," with triumphant decision. The river front or bottom lauds of tho Hill Place partook of tho character of their swamp neighbors over on the Louisiana side of the river—rank vegetable growth and teeming animal vitality everywhere! Gloomy cypresses towered v funereal, grandeur high above the spreading crowns of broad branching water oaks. Vivid green canes grew in serried ranks close beside the loose leaved wild cherries, that in autumn waved their terra cotta flambeaus over the dark bosom of a stagnant green pond—"thick and slab" as a witch's stew. Pallid eypresj knees lifted their blunted cones above the opac"De waters of the pond, offering coigns of vantage to countless slimy things that undulated sinuou. ly about their roots or coiled tenaciously about their crowns. Spanish moss hung in a melancholy profusion of gray bannerets from every branch and twig that showed the slightest inclination to separate and let in stray sunbeams. Frogs croaked at high noon among the coarse bulrushes that friuged the oozy banks ol the pond. The stridulous note of the grasshopper, punctuating the dreary quietude, made itself heard between whiles. Earnest, loving sympathy welled from Liza's heart to her lips and froze "8. B. Foct-ia, Manager. "Does the description fit?" Strong asked, laying the paper down. "1 dou't know," said Liza, gazing absently toward the window. "Do be sensible, Liza. You certainly saw the scamp." •~"Ul!ily a pair of hungry eyes and ragged shoulders; nothing more." "Which way did he go?" "I don't know." "Confound itt I wish you had not screamed. I have promised Foulks to keep a lookout for him. If it is Ran Chambliss' Abe, I could have given him a word of comfort. Ran wants it given out that be shan't be touched. He is a sort of pet of Chambliss', and Foulks is anxious to get him back. If you were not here, I would ride over to Laurel Dell and tell Foulks. I promised, if I heard anything of him." "Go. I am not afraid. " "I had best make sure first. Foulks says he could wear Ran's shoe." He passed out through the front door and around to the one window. Liza, leaning over its ledge, saw the small bare tracks left in the damp soil by the fugitive. Strong was laying a brass bound footrule in them. "Ho would wear about a No. 6. I reckon it was Abe." "What did he run away for. Strong?" "Nothing, according to Foulks. The boy is a fancy darky Ran Chambliss picked up in New Orleans one winter and generally takes traveling with him, but the boy had the measles when Chambliss started on the last trip and was left behind Mrs. Chambliss told "I gwine tek you to Uno' Scip's house. Uuc' Scip live right on top the cliff. Is you tired, little mistis? Hit's the fu8' house we come to." there. It was not easy to proffer it in When Randal reached home, he found that a compromise plan had been hit upon in hiB absence. view of Strong's dumb protest against "Yo' pony ain't gwine to melt Yo' git inter that house. " "Nothing. Royalty will have acquitted itself becomingly. You have from now until 11 o'clock tomorrow morning to digeHt the proposition in. I think I will run down day after tomorrow to New Orleans and take the fall races in." "And after this call?" her intrusion. She took temporary refuge in levity to gain breathing time. Liza stretched out her hands, palms upward, to feel for the threatened rain. The clouds were mustering overhead, but the downpour might not come for hours. Could anything be more horrible than to be penned up with old Viney in that cabin during a thunderstorm? She would rather risk everything And then Fancy; she must be rescuC d She was anxiously drawing on her gloves and securing her hat with long pins. "No, go oif—straight on. I am not tired. I will pay you for guiding me out of this." gr She was conscious of a lifting of the clouds—"of a brightening in the skies. " The thunderstorm was passing as it had come, with magical suddenness. They were winning their upward way rapidly. The trees were thinner, but the underbrush more dense as they gained the uplands. The briers caught her soft serge skirts and held them with thorny, devastating fingers; cold, wet limbs sprinkled her with their surplus moisture. Abram's bare feet bore him over the rough ground much more rapidly than she could possibly follow him. But she was not taking note of any one of her many physical discomforts. The social degradation of the Martins had never been presented to her so clearly. Abram had pressed upon a sore spot. Overseers had none so poor as to do them reverence. Amy and his mother were to call the next day on old Eben Martin's daughter.And here was Saturday rolled round again, and with it would come the black swarm of real and imaginary sufferers— old Letty with her scent of mutton tallow and her story of lumbago, old Daniel with his crutches and his crotchets, Anarky with htr mysterious inward miseries that she traccd directly to the malign influence of the "hoodoo" hag found in her pillow, and all the rest of them "How luxuriously you live. Strong! One queensware plate, chipped: one cup and saucer, no handle on cup; "Who?" bone knife, might be a utensil or a "You and Amy, mother." "I am not quite prepared to say. The matter is really difficult" CHAPTER XI weapon; steel fork, two pronged; two "Randal!" "Saturday I The dreadfulest day of all the dreadful seven!" German silver tablespoons. Superfluous elegance t Nothing spoonable is visible. "Yes, sir?" Liza drew the honeycomb bedspread farther up about her ears and burrowed deeper into the pillows. If only she could shutout the sights and the sounds that were waiting for her just outside her bedroom door, shut them out forever by that feeble device of burrowing in the pillows! Salt in empty sardine box; sugar ditto. Mrs. Chambliss absently shifted the sparkling rings on her long, White fingers with a soft, caressing touch. She hoped Randal was not going to complicate matters by becoming domineering. She liked things to move smoothly and softly and unhurriedly, always in a refined groove. It was the only sort of motion she could endure with any degree of composure. The Randals—she was a Randal—bad been running or rather moving—a Randal never ran—in a groove of elegant leisure for generations back and she did not propose to be jolted out of it by any boyish impetuosity on Randal's part. There was a delicate suggestion of rebuke in her soft answer to the quick asperity with which Randal repeated her own words, "The mat ter is really difficult!" Randal turned his head in the direction of that explosive sound. His father was shaking his whitened head vigorously.Viands are corn bread, fried bacon, casbaw cooked in molasses, baked sweet potatoes; cookery—dubious; napery— "Aunt Viney, where are the steps that Strong tells me are cut in the side of the cliff?" "I'll be hanged, boy, if I don't believe you have fallen in love with old Eben Martin's girl!" Burrowing in the pillows was not escape. It, was mere cowardly puttiug off of the evil hour. She was shirking. • none." Strong's face darkened visibly under this airy impertinence. He stood gnaw- "W'at yo' want wid them steps?" Breakfast was over before she had concluded her verbal self scourging Slia could bear the subdued jollity about the open doors of the big smokehouse. The buzz of ration giving and receiving was already begun. The sight of the plenteous store revealed by the opening of the barnlike doors always had an exhilarating effect on the "hands. " ing the ends of bis long mustache in "1 want to go up them, ol course. 1 am going home. You are entirely mistaken about the stoim. It won't be here for an hour yet" "Mr.Chambliss! An overseer's daughter! My son Randal!" The last day of the week was always ushered in with frenzied energy by the overseer's family. In Mrs. Martin's language, "Things was purty generally at sixes and sevens from sunup till sundown of Saturdays." impotent wrath. Slowly Liza turned Randal laughed lazily at his mother's disjointed indignation and pressed his hands against the table by way of propelling himself backward. toward him and lifted her lovely eyes to his face. them now; instead, a biting scorn, a There was no mirth in Viney diew away from this arrogant young woman in offended dignity Her reliability as an oracle bad been questioned.flashing indignation, a resolute daring. She was there to save, not to scoff. She "Father might have made a worse guess, mother, and your son Randal might easily do a more foolish thing. I see Thunderer waltzing out yonder, with Abe in the saddle. I am going in for the maiL " ' There was the week's rations to be given out to over 100 field hands. More than 100 times would Eben hold aloft the hand scales, with their dangling bait of shining salt pork, and anxiously scan the indicator to make sure that no fraction over the regulation four pounds should pass into the keeping of each laborer. More than 100 times Seth would bend his brawny back to transfer a peck of cornmeal from a barrel belonging to ex-Governor Strong into a soiled bag belonging to one of ex-Governor Strong's slaves. More than 100 times Charlie, presiding over the molasses barrel and the tobacco box, would supplement the necessaries of life, dispensed by his father and Seth, with the only two luxuries craved by the docile and unpampered horde. must not flinch "Do you like it, Strong?" she asked in a cool, high voice. "Yo' was born sassy an yo' will die sassy, Eliza Martin (Jv cose yo' is right and ole Viney is wrong Thar ain' gwine be no stawm talL Dar de steps.' "Thar, now. I tole yon I was gwine to fetch you bang up to Unc' Scip's front do'. Hare he, makin baskits on de back gallery. Uord-a-mity! Looka-yander!"Breakfasting alone was one of her Saturday privileges. One of her compensations, she called it. After awhile her father and the boys would mount their horses anil ride into Sessumsport with a sense of freedom from all care and responsibility for a whole day and a half. She could not discover that they found anything more exciting to do in Sessumsport than to sit on the store galleries, whittling fresh notches into the long enduring benches and to exchange crop items But they always came home with a holiday freshness about them that was reflected pleasantly in the home atmosphere. * "Do I like what?" She waved her hands comprehensively.All of which wont toward the giving of ench an evil reputation to the Black Moccasin pond that it was considered the evil one's own dominion by the slaves for miles around. A few yards beyond its somber boundaries rose the erumblLug wooden stile that stood Strong instead of a front gate. It was not a cheerful spot, even under the full blaze of the noonday sun. In the gloaming it was trying to the stoutest nerves. She pointed one haggish finger vaguely at the cliffs and turned toward the house, mumbling and hobbling in unison. Evidently Viney was resolved to leave the high banded young woman who had dared entertain weather opinions of her own to the worst possible fate that might befall. "Yes, quite so. Amy and I were talking about her yesterday. Of course we want to do just what is right " The entire family followed him through the long, open windows to see him depart. Randal never oifended beyond the possibility of forgiveness. To see him mount Thunderer was one of their daily mild excitements. The battle for supremacy between man and beast was perpetually being waged on the (Jhambliss lawn and perpetually being decided in Randal's favor. "This—all of this; this shocking imceiled cabin, with its smoke black A brum had deserted her and was taking a succession of kangaroo leaps in the direction of two men who were standing on Scipio's gallery indolently watching the old man's rapid basket weaving. Even before they had turned at sound of Abe's excited voice Liza had grasped the meaning of their presence. It was Strong and Randal Chambliss, who had taken shelter in old Scipio's cabin, evidently in pursuit of Abram. It was bis master he was greeting tumultuously: rafters overhead; this worn, sunken bare floor; that noxious pond out yon- "And handsome," his father added with vague liberality. der, with its blood chilling air; this "And kind," said Amy, deprecating his hastiness with reproachful eyes. horrible isolation; this dreadful lone- liness day and night night and day. Randal threw his head back hastily, to free his forehead of a misplaced lock of the waving black hair, which he wore longer than a city man would have found tolerable. Oh, it is horrible, Strong, horrible!" "It is not so bad when one is in uni- Fcmlks" to "put him to work-to keej son with it. ... him out of mischief—in the field unti! But yon are not in unison with it Rau came barki and the nx)iled mi You cannot be. I read revolt in every took to the cana He has been out ovej line of your face. Yon are eo young and two montjiai •» strong and free. Think of it. Strong, ..He did not look like a «f dark free; free to go out tomorrow, if you nor like anybody's'pet.' " will, and .take your place among the Strong was sending a searching glancx men who are doing and daring and up aud down the face of the cliffa. achievingfree to measure your brain ..j Uke to let poulk(J know.  with their brains, your brawn against j promi8ed. The is not likely U theira It means so much, just to be a aRain. i imagine he thoughl man, strong. I had gone out to the river. I generally He laughed almost viciously, and am there this time of dav and he hopec was about to say something in keeping to ole Viney out of a diluier... with the mirthless sound, bnt she put ..j8 viney here?" out an imperious little haud and went ..Viney? why! she runs this estabon with increasing vehemence: lishment. with me thrown in. She ii "I know. I know what you are going ont der in the ghed room. 8he i(j  to say It is uphill work for a man to ant0cratic as ever. " make headway here unless he is born ..Then l to here whii€ in the slave owner b purple. But why you are gone. See!" She held up the stay here? It is such a great, big roomy second finger of her right hand. It was world-a place in it for all sorts. Strong. with a golden thimble. "I told places where no credentia s but a spot- : mother l wai4goiug to overhaul your enless name and a strong will are needed." . tire wardrobe thig morDillg. g0y "And 1 have neither ' The gloom in . 9tr DonDt mllld nonaenBe abont his face darkened into hopelessness. Aunt Viney " "Neither? Do you intend that the! ..And n wU1 Bta UDtn j oome stigma of our father s vocation shall wrap you, too, in a pall? With me it ..I will here when backf must. For me there is nothing but ac- Vi has not devoured me in the ceptance, but 1 tell you, Strong, worn- meantime " an as 1 am, if it were not for the ten- H() waa ont of the b thia tim dcr .loving: hearts at home that would a very little while later she could throb with pain if I forsook them. I hear the thnd of his honjeDg feet on would go away from here tomorrow. I the dirt road Mm awa at a would my to you 'Come, and let us clatttring ce_ make a home together, where the lines j Ht, waJj in aronnd b w are not so sharply drawn, nor the path ghe and walked to the «J!**? J"* door" * only she could see that gaunt narrow. Strong! Strong! Strong! How face onc€ a in, she wonld like ve can you stand still and see the great Ug owuer that comforting assurance race of life run and you not in it Why abont bl8 ntnmiag without fear to his stand ye here idle, inert, supine?" home. She stopped in maiden confusion. His ghe pierced the gloomy envirOTment eyes w ere mocking her. with anxious eyea Concealment was so I was right m te lmg Sethto keep the thick undergrowth of I™*"",? f"n 'lia lcoold ** h0,w Un" the cliffs, the serried cane, or the bram- fuU you were of crude en- bly banks of Black Moccasin pond She thusiasms. Then, more justly: "Child, veBtmd as4 far as the 8tile) bunted to do you suppose you are presenting any itR hlgheHt crtllllbliug 8teP, sent futile £Li™T.i my C0nmd!?t,0\thl" glances in every direction and retraced morning Do you suppose that when I her m to the oMu with reso. was working like a Turk at Shingleton i„tiou ?e fel whc' A newspaper, a sweeping motion of ,T f me t hand, and she was ready for dream the regulation toams about do- hf.r mi(isi()n k,avi the table Jhlnd ing and daring and achieving? Do you her as tel,, of ,,diblpti as Mother Hnb. suppose I have seen all my fair castles bar(j,8 falnon(j ru boMtL T **** "i ««PPOHe Stroag would call this devils in hell might pity!"" PTU1S aid nnd comfort to the eiiemy," s " ' , . , . she said, laughing hysterically as she There was no supiueness about him w„u „ J. , tightened the paper about its bulging now He was standing erect, his broad ..i„* i •» , ,. ,.w . . * , ,. contents, but I just don t care. I could chest heaving with the intensity of his nev,.r sl with thoge wolfii|h eniot on, his sad eyes glowingfeverish- haunting me. " ly Liza could see his hand tremble as » , . „ ... . ,, .... , Once more on the top of the stile she passed his handkerchief slowly across 1 , ... hi= cl„ . i , • herself lightly, ecaxmed the «omnis forehead. She went nearer to him 1 i_i . , - ... nnri i«iH h,* io 4 1 j , - . ber vicinage with fruitless earnestness, ana laid her clasped bands on his !Doh- . .. . , .. ' " , and then sent a clear, kindly call afloat om. There was an inexpressible tender- 311 the air- J ness in her sweet face and in her clear , », ■ .. , T, young voice when she spoke: . reDch Abef! Ab^1 U 7™ . ... hear my voice, come to me!" * , tbe faC0K°f ihe ! But no one came to her. The frogs L T JZU- held their hoarse notes in brief abe? SShSi.* erm*' «« to that bell-like sound. The shrill "Lies!" threnodies of the cicadas in the syca"A -woman?" i more trC*"6 were suddenly hushed. But "No A man " no human voice answered her calL She ... ... . . _ would make one more effort: single he" One solitary man? One; .-Abe, Mr RanCial.s Abe, j have "One solitary man. But-I loved: No one shall harm you! him A single lie—but—a potent one." • m. j t 1 , "And you could not stanVp it out?"  "Stamp out a He! It is like a prairie * S'fj fire You stamp it out in one place and l iTT fh 1 «  while you are panting over its harmless °f th « T^° dead ashes it leaps venomously into C*TTZ 1 freah activity just across the pathway ? . u/ f. I hl»!flr you have to travel. Perhaps if I had £ , s»*n the spark when it first fell-but- " IT, f "J t "ght ? one never does until it is too late-too LlZa beld tOWard hlm mth  lattf for everything but resignation." ,.If ■ . „ .. „ Liza stamped her fool passionately. Ahmm. Come, likeaU°1;1 "rH0' 801 ' V me ! C^ord-a-mity!'' rhU Lf- ? ; With furtive side glances and the thi loathsome spot this brain paralyz- alertn(ieg of a woodland tbillg he drew ing solitude and throw away all your nearer cautiously, fleetly, with raven- God given talents and your four ye*»s ing in his faring. A foot or two from of bard study? Are you going through the stile he stopped suddenly. life whimpering because one man has "You ain't foolin me, little mistis?" yCrn falml" j "Fooling you! There is food in this "Not qmte Buch an idiot! I am try- paper. Take it. And Abram"— ing to make a lawyer of myself. I have She had meant to tell him that Bantaken this place on a three years' lease daj Chambliss was come back and that from Seth and hope, with the woodyard his escapade would be forgiven him if and the crop combined, to make enough he went home, but her good intentions to carry myself through a course of leo- camfl nanght With th„ of a tuyff , , , . , panther the * toy had bounded near I thought they were going to make enongh to in her handa a y,)TV , . , D. and with half a dozen backward leaps That was the plan when the Strongs had diKappeared absolutely from view, were running the Martin family." somewhere! Liza followed There was a revealing bitterness in the miracle of hia vanishment with his tones. Liza pressed her hands more wondering eyes, then sighed contentedtiglitly against lus breast. jy bnlsbed gome crumbs from her "I know now that man, that lie! Bkirt front. "At least he will not go Adrien Strong was the one and the hulJgry for the next 24 hours." otlier. I« it not bo? D a chuckling laugh close at her elbows He was spared tho necessity for an- jjer urn quickly in its direction. Bwermg. With a scream of terror she A withcred crone was standing at the suddenly clasped her hands over ber foot of the Btile leaning heavily on a eyes and leaned against him, trembling gingie crntch. violently. ! ..w.at vo- Btealin my boy's vittles Liza! In the name of heaven, what {nr to gi'e to that ash cat? Ain't yo' ails you.' j iearn no better'n to steal, wid all yo' | He seized her hands and drew them gchoolgoin? Wbar yo' comman'mints?" away from her face. It was white to "Aunt Viney! What a fright you the very lips. Her eyes, still wide and j gavo ma i donDt care if you do tell dark with fright, turned timidly to-J strong I would do it right over again." M mmX who my 1 {rvrine to Liza surveyed the face of the cliff anxiously. She could see no sign of steps cut in its steep sides, but retreat now was impossible. Viney, at her serenest, was forbidding. Viney in her After his usual display of pirouetting, plunging and bit champing Thunderer suddenly realized that he had been saddled to take his master out to Sessumsport for the semiweekly mail, and, with a final toss of his shining mane, accepted the obligation for that time. His rider turned at sound of his mother's and Amy's voices. The wooded cliffs that led upward to the brighter tableland where Sans Souci reared its stately white and green facade girdled Neck or Nothing with verdant palisades that were almost perpendicular in places and quite inaccessible for ordinary pedestrians. "Of course, of course. All that goes without saying, or ought to. But when are we going to do those right and handsome and kind things? If Miss Martin had been as deliberate in her movements as we are, father might not have taken much interest in this discussion. " And after awhile again she and her mother would tie big, blue check bib aporns about their waists (Mandy not infrequently "plumb forgot' hers) and would go into the pantry to make the soft gingerbread and the sweet potato pies that the men looked for every Sunday Then a careful supervision of coarse socks and heavy shirts which had a tendency always to make her wish herself in a nunnery. Even then Liza could hear the field hands defiling heavily past her windows, shod in their clumsy red brogans, a stolid, patient gang, quite content to bask with folded arms against the long, sunny wall of the log smokehouse, while Eben and the boys scampered through their breakfast, swallowing their coffee in those dreadfully audible gulps which Liza found so trying. "Howdy, AlarsRan? Howdy,marster? Yher's me! Yher's your nigger! I tole dat triflin Foulksis I were cumin home w'en yon git back. Who ben black your shoes. Mars Ran? Dey look mity rusty." Panting, laughing, questioning, he stood before his adored owner. Such as her brother's hermitage was, Liza got her first glimpse of it on the morning after her day of humiliation. He wm sitting before a table belittered with books and newspapers, amid which was placed an unappetizing array ol plates containing his noonday meal. Not reading, not eating—pondering, with both elbows planted squarely among the newspapers and the books and his chin resting in his palms. He lifted his head at sound of Liza's rustling skirts and looked at her in unwelcoming surprise as Bhe stepped daintily over his sunken doorsill and glanced as wonderingly about her as might a "wood nymph who had lost her way and strayed into a mortal'8 habitation entirely against her own will. "Don't stay later than 7 o'clock, son, mail or no mail. I can never draw a comfortable breath when you are on that brute's back." "As soon as we have decided what to do, Nve will do it promptly." "Call," said Randal dictatorially, "and at onre." Liza's appearance simultaneously with Abram's caused a diversion of astonishment in her direction. Strong was regarding her darkly; Cbambliss with perplexed, impersonal curiosity. "You promised to practice that violin solo for Mrs. Cathcart's party. Ran. Don't forget." "Call! Who?" There was the week's accumulation of disabled plows and decrepit wagons to be braced into renewed usefulness at the blacksmith's shop so very close to her windows that she could feel the hot breath of the furnace when she sat by her work table. It was the labored breathing of the huge bellows that had aroused her to a consciousness of the day, and all day long the quick, clangorous blows of the blacksmith's hammer would be falling with equal force upon the anvil and upon her own quivering nerves. And w they would go on, she supposed, forever and forever and forever. "Not you, mother, but Amy there. It might prove awkward, you see, to call six months hence and remind Miss Martin of a piece of forgotten heroism. Wanned over enthusiasm is about as nourishing as warmed over potatoes." She slood in the broad open hallway after finishing her breakfast, thankful that no halt nor lame constituent had hurried her through with it. She could see the smokehouse activities without turning her head. How large and handsome and capable a man her father looked to be so ignobly occupied. The physique of a Roman gladiator, the soul of a serf. The familiar sight stirred her to fresh rebellion at the discordance. She did not move when her mother came softly up behind her and clasped caressing hands about her slim waist. "Don't worry, dearest, Thunderer's bad temper never lasts long. All right, Amy. If I find Adrien out there, I'll fetch him home to supper. Shall I?" Strong scarcely waited reach his side. for her to "What is the meaning of this, Liza? Why did you not stay at my house? You are drenched." A pinkish hue suddenly suffused Amy's plain, sallow little face. Adrien Strong was the one romance of her contracted life. It was sufficient to make the afternoon brighter for her, just that bare possibility that perhaps when the lamps were lighted and the dull, eventless day was done Randal and Adrien would come riding home together in the gloaming, and Adrien would stay to tea, and the evening would be made oharming to her, and perhaps to mother, by the spirited talk of the men— father and Randal and Adrien. Men always had so much to talk about They saw so much and heard so much and did so much. So much more than she and mother ever did. She onl£ waited for the big front gate to shut Randal and Thunderer from view when she ran quickly down the steps at the end of the gallery with a pair of garden shears in her hands. The chrysanthemums were in gorgeous bloom. She remembered once hearing Adrien say he liked them better than any other flower. Their fragrance was all their own. They had an individuality of their own. With great long stems she cut them. Those parlor vases were like huge cisterna On her way back to the hou9e she thrust her head through * the kitchen window. Aunt Temjy was smoking her afternoon pipe and picking the pinfeathers from the chickens that were a standing dish on the breakfast table of the Dell place. "Aunt Tempy!" "Don't be unreasonable, Randal. We had not thought of calling at alL I am really not prepared to take the entire Martin family into an embrace. It is really dangerous to give such people an opening wedge." "Yes, drenched If it had not been for Abe there, 1 should have been dead with fright by this time; so a drenching seems slight by comparison. I got lost trying to find my way back to poor little Fancy. Abram found me, and— here I am." A charming disarray of moist brown "Upon my word, Strong, this spot would have made the reputation of a Salem witch!" She shivered prettily and came farther into the bare room. "I am in a delightful state of gooseflesh and can feel nerves sprouting all over me. I bad to skirt that remarkable sheet of water out yonder and I actually feel creepy. Please offer me a chair." wrath was formidable. She crossed the Btile and walked rapidly in the direction of that vague hint. wavei. "I don't believe the girl is that sort, wife, but fix it up between you all. It is none of my lookout I will foot tho bill when you have settled it among you." There was the weekly scrubbing of the rough boarded galleries and the carpetless floors to be endured, with an all day pervasion of soapsuds, moist slatterns and sloppy discomfort generally. Jor one decorous day the house would be free of red clay imprints of heavy boots and exult in a Sabbath day cleanliness which was its only approach to godliness. She was composedly shaking the raindrops from her hat. Its removal had brought to view a charming disarray of moist brown waves curling tightly about her blue veined temples. Randal Chambliss was regarding her with that inscrutable anile that had set her cheeks to tingling with wrath the day before. "Honey, this bas' fits you like you was melted into it And to think you done it all yourself." All of her childish terror of Viney had revived at sound of that never forgotten harsh voice of hers. Once more she and Seth and Charlie were three abject little wretches, creeping about the honse in awful terror of old Viney, who had come up from the stock minder's cabin in the flats to nurse her foster son through scarlet fever. Of the time when black Suzanne and Strong had drawn their life nourishment from those withered breasts, impartially offered, she knew only as a matter of family history. Time had not improved Viney's temper nor added to her beauty, but if she was good to Strong Liza was quite ready to condone all personal ■lights. "Foot the bill?" Randal's indignant glance was traveling rapidly over the family circlo. Liza turned a clouded, abstracted face toward her, saying inconsequently: "Mother, why did you ever permit my father to go into such a business as this?" Strong rose and placed bis one chaii at her disposal. She settled herself into it composedly. A pretty flush from exercise or nervousness had spread ovei her face with enhancing effect. Strong could feel himself warmed and cheered by her presence in spite of himself. It was like letting a brilliant ray of sunlight into a long closed closet. He had shored some books a*id« and was sitting on a corner of the table, swinging one foot a trifle petulantly. After all, even •tray sunbeams would expect some sort of entertainment. "Yes," said his mother, calmly ignoring his evident disapproval "I had thought of writing Miss Martin an appreciative note, in which I could assure her of the warmth and sincerity of our gratitude, and then—as she's quite a horsewoman herself, I am told—I mean to send with it a handsome riding whip. Amy has ordered a lot from Burrow's to select from. We would like yon to help us." "Calibanand Miranda,"hesaid musingly. Then, conventionally, "I am rare I ought to be very much obliged to you. Miss Martin." She would make herself get up presently and assume her share of the day's sordid duties, with a surface complaisance that easily passed muster for content with the uncritical members of her home circle. Mrs. Martin removed her caressing hands and fell back a step or two, frowning perplexedly. "Go inter it? Why, chile, he was born inter it. The Martins have been overseein for the Strongs, father and son, as far back as the days of this Governor Strong's grandpa—and him in his seventies. Not Martin, he ain't but 60 year old. The Martins and the Strongs jus' seem natcherly to belong to each other. And when my Eben is gone (may I go first), and the old man npat the big house is gone, too, I reckon my Seth and my Charlie will be carryin the ole place on for Adrien same as ever." "For restoring this ragamuffin to my arms. Life is barren without Abe." "For what?" "I assure you I had nothing to do with your boy's restoration. He has done me a great service, and I did tell him yon had got home. I hope you will keep your word about punishing him." With a olumsy belief in the efficacy of work as a sovereign remedy for all of a girl's crotchety fancies Eben had laid Randal turned his mocking eyes full upon her. All these revived reflections went with her as she began the steep and stepless ascent of the cliff, holding fast by every branch and root that offered to support her, trusting blindly to stumble on the Bteps Strong had told her of. But presently there was nothing in her mind but that green, endless wall stretching up, up before her. Between the wind tossed branches of the trees she could catch glimpses of high piled cumulus clouds that were pregnant with thunder and rain. Viney was right, after all, and she was a venturesome little simpleton."It won't do, mamma. It won't do at all." He knew that she was taking in every ' particular of his poor surroundings with bright, alert glances, and never before bad his one unglazed window, with its clumsy wooden shudder flapping drearily in the wind, his shelfless chimney j jamb, with its dusty litter of pipes and "I believe I have contracted a bad habit of keeping my word always. As for punishing Abe, he inflicts punishment much oftener than he receives it Don't you, Abe? Speak, you buff colored tatterdemalion!" "I had thought of a locket, a heavy gold locket with something engraved on the lid. Girls like to bang things around their necks," said old Mr. Chambliss, looking around triumphantly as if to claim tribute for this subtle insight in;o the feminine 6oul. This with a note of pride in her voice both exasperating and inexplicable to Liza. Abrain, standing respectfully aloof from the little group of "w'ite folks," showed a faultless set of teeth at this challenge, grinning with happiness. His adoring eyes had never once left Randal's face since that first ecstatic welcome. Between master and man obtained an indissoluble bond of mutual affection and mutual dependence. Each had need of the other. "But have you never had any ambition for him or for my brothers to be something else — something better — mother?" "Something on the order of a fireman's modal. You might «ngrave on the lid, 'Reward for gallant and meritorious Conduct,' " said Randal, cracking another nut and examining it closely. "Well, honey." "Have you a nice supper for tonight?" "Go way, you sassy chile. Ain' yo' ma' done give out supper w'en she give out dinner? An you question her jedg ment" Mrs. Martin twisted her apron strings reflectively. She could see Eben and the boys from where she stood. There was nothing in the sight to stir her to vain regrets or to futile dreaming. A sharp reverberating report, following almost immediately on a zigzag line of light that seemed fairly to cleave the heavens in twain, completed her dismay. Blinded, bewildered, terrified, she glanced wildly about her and recognized the extremity of her foolish daring. She was lost on the cliffs and knew not which direction to give her next steps. "Something like that, yes. I don't know—Ran"— "Yes, but did she order waffles?" "Waffuls! Nosa. Nur I ain' gwine mek any." "Mars Ran, "he said in a voice of solemn rebuke, "I is ben had a mighty rough time sence you ben gone. I is dat Mr. Foulksis, he put me to ginnin w'en I git up frim de measles, an I don't know nothin 'tall 'bout ginnin. Den Mr. Foulksis, he put me to piekiu cotton, but de driver tell him I ain't wuth my salt as a picker. Den Mr. Foulksis, he put me to splittin fence rails down closet to de woods, an de devil he peeps out'n a holler tree one mawnin, an he say, 'Abe, you kin sleep in here wid me uv nights, an you kin scrimmudge 'roun fur 'simmons an papaws to live on tell Mars Ran git back.' An I say, 'All right, Mr. Sattin,' an I stick my ax in a rail an light out. Jus' so. But the 'simmons gittin mighty sceeroe, an the hawgs beats me getherin papaws all holler, an I would er ben mighty holler inside right now, Mars Ran, ef little utistis hadn't gie me a whole paper full er vittles. I reckon dey worn' cook fur me doa. I ain't eet 'em all up yit. 'Fore I finish my dinner X yhere somebody cryin sof' lak, outside er my dinin room do', an I peeks out an thar was little mistis, jus' as white 'bout the gills as a fresh w'itewash fence and a-cryin 'cause she wt.s los' and skeered. I done lef er heaps er dem vittles in dat holler. Reckon I better go back arter 'em, Mars Ran!" "Father, Ran is laughing at you, for all he looks so solemn." Amy flung an indignant glance at the shining black head once more bowed absorbedly over his nutted cup of coffee. Eben—with a pair of heavy steel bowed glasses astride his nose for greater accuracy in weighing, his coat off for freer play of his muscular arms— was placidly baiting the hand scales with a fresh slab of meat, whistling the while, with cheerful discordance, a measure from "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines." His cheerfulness was reflected in Mrs. Martin's face. "Please, Aunt Tempy." "Nosa." "Aunt Tempy, I will make your new apron on the machine if you wilL " "An my coat too?" "Your dress too " MT»m ,11 in time. " certain well defined obligations upon his daughter soon after her return from school. "I don't see why—a real handsome locket I I would not even object to her "W'at fur you so stirred up 'bout supper so all of*a sudden?'' Amy buried her hot cheeks in the cool white blossoms. Of course he and Becky had gone into consultation concerning the sort «S work to be expected of Liza Like a veritable babe in the woods she sat down on the nearest tree root, lifted up her voice and wept. "Whcret What did hr. look lUtrT' "Sissy mayse well take holt and do her sheer, Becky. Too much time to mope in ain't gwine to make her forgit her fine times at school nor her fine Balt'mo' frien'sno quicker. And sittin 'bout twiddlin her thum's ain't goin to make her any mo' in love with the quarters nor the niggers. If we sp'iled her by sendin her of ter school, the quicker we onspile her the better for her and all concerned. Ain't you agreed?" "That's a mighty nice, fresh lookin chunk of pork. Eben better bo lookin out fur my stc'foom too." •hot pouches and powder flasks, hi* ascetic iron lounge, with its knobby mattress, intrusively displaying its unevenness beneath the ftoarse honeycomb spread, impressed him so disagreeably. It must have been Liza's own exqnisite personality that stamped the contrast so sharply. Ho attempted a colloquial diversion: A gentle, ineffectual protest against fate's malicious treatment of her was that wail, mingling with the ominous crackling of dead limbs suddenly parting with the parent stem, pealing thunder and the impetuous rush of countless rivulets dashing headlong down the cliff to pay tribute to the black pond at its base. But that human cry was most unexpectedly answered in human fashion. At her very feet, apparently, a question was asked in a wondering, sympathizing voice: " Because—because—I like waffles, and— and—good hot strong coffee, and quincr preserves, and—and things." "Go way, chile. Yon aiii' pull the wool over ole Tempy's eyes yit. Go You mout es well give up try in She stepped to the end of the gallery and lifted her voice arrestiugly: "Ole man, I know a good piece of meat when I see it Save some outer that barrel befo' it all goes." 'long, to." She went "along," Tempy's fat ohuokle pursuing her. Went up stairs to her bedroom, where she supplemented her own personal adornment by pinning some of. the prettiest of the quilled white blossoms against the dark blue bosom of her silk dress, and by the time Thunderer had plunged fairly into the dusty corporate limits of the nebulous town of Sessumsport poor little Amy was in a fluttering condition of overreadiness for Randal's return wi'-.h Adrien Strong, whose material tastes were all prepared for. She was looking it life through the narrow slot of a wooden environment and saw very many insignificant objects through the magnifying medium of an ill nourished imagination. Then she returned to Liza: "N-o. honey, I can't jnst say as I have. If you suit this sort of business and it suits you, it ain't so bad. Now, your pa does suit the business, and it does suit him. He don't know Both in else. Him and this plantation have growed about each other like the bark about a tree. And then, sick or well, rain or shine, come hard times, come easy, he is dead shore of his $1,200 a year, rent free, and as. big a garden patch as we care to tend It ain't every sto'keeper nor lawyer nor doctor neither can say as much." "You say you skirted the pond! Why, what road did you come?" "Our Liza won't never be anything but a lady, Eben, if I do say If And she ain't a bit set up neither. The madam says she could hold her own anywheres. I wisht the child would be more frien'ly with Gabry's mother. It sorter frets the old lady." "None. I walked." "Walked?" "More accurately speaking, I slid, stumbled, coasted, tumbled down an excessively twiggy precipice. Fancy is tethered to a sapling somewhere above in the aerial regions from which I descended. " "Gord-a-mity I W'at yon doin here? Is you los', little mistis?" "Oh, A brain, lost and frightened to death!" Then she recoiled in a greater terror than any that bad gone before, but only a fleeting distrust seized upon her and it left her full of remorse. "Grant you all that, Becky, but as our girl is mos' likely to hafter hold her own right here along of you and me and the boys I think you'll agree with me that the quicker she fits in the better. Overseers' daughters don't find husbands on every black bush." "Go wcy, chile." initials in small diamonds on the back. It would not be a mean testimonial, eh, mother? You will see to it, won't you, Han?" f'You came down above the pond?" ''Yes." '•There are steps cut in the cliff lower down. Seth ought to have told you about them. It would have been easiei OP you." "Yon ketch your deff nv col settin on dem wet roots. I gwine git you out er here, little tnistis, in a hurry, even ef dey bags me fur it." "But the social ostracism, mother." "I think not, sir. " Rebecca's mild blue eyes wandered wistfully over her girl's pretty, clouded fact*. Dissatisfaction was written Randal laughod his lazy, indulgent laugh. Abram's irrepressible sense of fun was one of his highest recommendations in his master's eyes. He was the king's jester. He was beginning to twist the endfl of his mustache with restless fingers— a sure sign of ebbing patience. Amy, always a peacemaker by preference, hastily concocted a fresh scheme. "I don't think our Liza is studyin bout no such nonsense. But what do you want her to do, Eben? She ain't cut out for no rough sort of work, and don't you be tryin to put none on her neither." "I ran off from Seth. I was afraid he would want to come with me and I j wanted to come alone. What do you do with yourself here. Strong?" From a hollow in the trunk of an immense tree, a leaf strewn and capacious cave, the tattered shoulders were first thrust, then the agile limbs, and French Abe, alrCady a degree lest wolfish about the eyes, stood fully i*e- The postal service for the Bparsely settled neighborhood about Sessumsport iid not warrant a building of its own. k "four by four" wooden box, with 26 pigeonholes alphabetically arranged, furnished ample accommodation for the local mail. The possession of this hon-9ycombed box excited the competitive spirit in fSessumsport commercial circles periodically as uothing else had power to do. It was a drawing card, so to speak- Continued on four. "I keep a woodyard for the steam-; boats and I crop. I thought you knew"— j "No, sir. Yon can leave them there until yon take to the woods again." "How would it do to invito her to lnnch, mamma? Just you and I and Mrs. Strong, who lias known her always. " Hr of Globe for | RHEUMATISM,! ■ NETJBALGIA and similar Complaints, ■ and prepared under tfao stringent B MEDICAL UWSDJ prescribed by eminent pby sicians^3fifl| In) DR. RICHTER'S ANCHOR" D2 [PAIN EXPELLERl I World renowned! Remarkably snceessfnl! B ■Only tannine with Trade Mark" Anchor, ■ F. Ad. Bichtei "-Co., 2I."D 1'earlSt., »w York. H 31 HIGHEST AWARDS. I 13 Branch Honses. Own Glassworks. ■ i & 5tJc. EfMeiued Cte rw»»rametidvd JB Fairer & Peck. 31) Luzorne Avennt*. U. C. Glick, 54D Xnrtto Main St H Houck, 1 North Main St Pitttetou. Pa. men I "ANCHOR" STOMACHAL beat fori Eben turned his handsome, florid face full upon his wife in open eyed surprise. In their 80 years of married life he had never known Becky to be either snappish or dictatorial. She was bordering on both just at that juncture. "Yes, I do know what yon pretend to be about, but in your off hours how i do you amuse yourself? Looking foi fillet of 'fenny snake, wool of bat 01 ! toe of frog?' That pond, you know, is | so suggestive." vealed. Abram rolled his eyes reproachfully until nothing but tho whites of them were visible. "You ain't skeeved to follow Abe, i* you, little mi St is?" "And is, so to speak, acclimated." "Oh, Ran, what an absurd idea!" "There is but one objection to you? plan, Amy." The negative he waited for so anxiously did not cojl-e readily Liza's dry tongue refuted to shape it. "Mars Ran, yon oughtn't to lef your nigger to be cuf' 'roun by do overseer lak a common fiel'han. You oughtn't dat. I cyarn't 'bide yon w'ite trash. " "Well?" "You ain't a blamed bit fonder nor prouder of our girl than I am, Becky. 1 just want to keep her from rustin or frettin out. I'm goiu to hand the med'- cine chest over to her. Drugs ain't rough to handle, air they?" "Only a degree less unprolitably, bu1 I think details of my daily routine could scarcely interest you," he said frigidly. "You lien |:ood to Abe, an Abe £on't uever forgit Mars Hau good to Ale, too, and Abe a in' uever ruu way tell Mars Hitu go way ami lef' bini. He a gmthn.aii's body sarvint. That w'at this trigger is. 1 gwine git you ontef bere ef you'll follow me. Abe knows dese woods tolluble well by dis time." The amused look died out of Randal's face abruptly. Liza was fastening her hat on again with her back to him. Strong had gone to fetch his horse from the shed A gulf had seemed to yawn visibly betweeu them all in a second. "She would not come." "Would not come?" Wherever that box was located there would be the grand rally on packet day. There would be hitched to the long, much nibbled horse rack under the sycamore trees every grade of saddle beast, from the rope bridled mule, with its folded gunny sack saddle and its barefoot rider, sent ten miles by old man Harvey, on the other side of the ?re*k, for the regular weekly letter from tho theological seminary where his boy Hal was being made into a preacher up to the shining coated English saddled thoroughbred high steppers that fetched in a Chambliss or a Strong or a Cathcart hungering for news from the outer world. There wmld be congregated on the time sol- "No—no more than yon, or mother, or any Randal, or any Chambliss that ever lived would go to a house on such terms." He moved restlessly away from his perch on the taWe. She was serutiniz- ' ing him mercilessly, taking note of the vigorous, lithe body, so young, so capa- j ble. so listless in its attitude of weary indifference to all things, as he moved over to the dusty chimney jamb and j rested one1 elbow upon it, looking down j at her with growing impatience. That was the beginning of Liza's supervision of the free plantation dispensary. Eben bad inducted her into office with a liberal discretionary margin." | There was nothing to do, nothing to say. He stood stupidly by, looking at Strong helping Liza into his own saddle, and long after the gray bad passed out of sight with his slight burden he stood there, pondering the nice things he might have said to cover Abe's infernal blunder if only he had thought of any one of them before it was too late Mrs. Chambliss arched her fneiy penciled brows and leaned back in her chair with folded hands. Liza rose with trust in her eyes and in her voice. After all, w hy should he not be as good as his promise? Was she not getting back the bread—Strong's bread—which she bad cast upon the waters with unexpected promptness? Now she conld speak that word of comfort : "There ain't no p'isens in the chest, boney, so yon can't go very fur wrong. We don't handle nothin worse than lod'num, and that' got the crossbones and the death's head on the label for safety's sake. 1 always look to them, because there's somothin outer kelter with the spellin of that word, seems to me. The sound don't just egzactly fit intrD tha let twin. " "Randal, you can be very exasperat ing when it suits you. Perhaps you will be so good as to piake your own wishes known in this matter. Rightfully you should be made to bear the entire vexation, as it all springs from your reckless obstinacy in taking your father driving behind that wild brute." Thev were curiously alike, that moth- Three furrows had already plowed their way across his smooth, broad forehead, telling of solitary and meditative hours. A look of perpetual revolt was fixed in his eyes. Upon the man wm stamped the asDect of " Abram, you need not be afraid to pilot me out of these woods. Mr. Randal ha* come back Yon can go to Lau- Abram alone was supremely and iguor&ntly happy.