Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-10-02

came nearer, and beheld the form OF man
stretched on the earth, and unconscious OF his
position, a sudden awe came over them, caus-
ing them to be very quietin their movements
yet all were curious enough to gather about
and gaze upon the stranger, while whispers OF
"Who is it ?" "Is he sick?" GLOW did he
come here2' and similar queries, buzzed
about like bees and stung Miss HALEY while
they buzzed.
For with that singular sense of possession
which the first perception of anything gives
to all of us, Miss HALEY had already begun
to look upon this poor, unconscious Adam as
belonging to herself by right of discovery,
and here, almost at the moment of her appro-
priation of him, she was called upon to abdl-
cate in favor of any one who might physically
be better able to serve him than his Eve; and
also to renounce her sovereignty in favor OF
the public, who, she felt instinctively, would
never allow her to assert her ownership with
out making her pay the penalty of sighting
its opinion. 1t was with pang, therefore,
that she gave the children their orders, to eco
tell Doctor Blair and some Of the other gen.
tlemen, that man is lying very i'll, all alone,
on the ground; and she would thank them to
come and see what could be done for him"
So, presently, the needed assistance came !;
DR.. Blair made professional examination of
the case, and the stranger was carefully placed
in wagon and sent to hotel in town to be
treated for congestive fever Of course, there
was much talk, at the somewhat delayed lunch,
about the stranger, and conjectures as to his
history; and Miss HALEY listened with we'll
assumed indifference to the comments of the
masculine half of the party, most Of whom
assumed that there must be something wrong
about the antecedents Of man found lying
under manzanita bush two miles or more
from town-"gambler," "highwayman," "fu-
gitive from Justice, ,""dead- broke" and similar
opprobrious epithcts being smilingly brought
forward to account for the circumstance.
Notwithstanding the cool-looking blue mus:
lin and white straw.hat, Miss HALEY found
herself growing very warm and uncomtorta-
BILE during this conversation. She felt it to be
sort of imputation upon herself, that she
had rescued from peril, perhaps from death,
a person of so little worth inasmuch, too, as
she felt herself guilty of having adopted this
creature into her most plying re-
gard, not to say affection, with so little ques-
ton. Of all the surmises uttered by these
unsympathizing people, the one of "dead-
broke" was the only one she could tolerate;
and she thanked, from the bottom of her
heart, blunt old Mr. Hodgekiss, when he spoke
up at last, after listening to all the gossip
going on about the adventure Of the day.
"A young man-tall-light complected-
lonp lipbt brown beard-handsome features
good clothes-wa-al, yes; that's the young
feller that was in my store yesterday, wanting
a situation. Said he was out of money, and
said he would take most anything to do that
he could git. Told him was sorry, but |
hadn't anything for him to take hold on-not
Just yit. Hoped he'd find something; call
around agin. / never thought nothin' more
about the feller, cause you know, we have so
many calls O this kind-one every day of the
week. Might have let him done something,
if I'd known his case was so pressln'; but we
can't discriminate, we can't discriminate"
This, then, was the explanation. He was
not a criminal, nor vagabond; only unfor-
tunate and ill. She hated those men for be-
ing so suspicious. She would get old Mr..
Hodgekiss to be kind to him. And the bur-
den off her mind, Miss HALEY danced and
swung, laughed and sung, as gay as the gayest
all that bright May afternoon albeit there
was a smothered sense Of anxiety underlying
her gayety, which was as new to her as it was
secretly oppressive. She could not say the
day had not been pleasant one; yet never
had pleasant day in the woods left her feel
ing so weary and detected as this one had
done. Never had she so nearly owned that
she was nervous"
Gopherton was rather glad Of the strangers
illness, because it furnished topic of talk.
And Gopherton, feeling it had no right to
purchase its "sensations" at so serious cost
to fellow creature, was disposed to make ac-
counts even by bestowing many kind atten.
tions upon the sufferer. Accordingly it fell
out that, when Mr.. Walter Mason had con-
valesced sufficiently. to realize his position, he
found himself surrounded with every comfort
possible, and by large circle of selfconsti-
tuted friends and nurses, eager to promote,
not only his recovery, but his future prosperi-
ty. In this light, therefore, his Illness might
be considered stroke of fortune and piece
If diplomacy equally.
Among the eatables and drinkables, the
flowers and books, furnished for the invalid's
nutrition, delectaton and amusement, perhaps
those contributed by Miss Marion HALEY were
most seldom; but as they we're also the most
choice, and as the story Of his rescue by that
young lady had been often jestingly repeated
to him, it was but natural that Mr.. Mason
should strongly desire to make her acquain-
tance at as early day as he felt himself pre-
sentable.
Miss HALEY was cutting nosegay of the
rarest flowers in her garden one lovely June
morning, when the light wagon of old Mr..
Hodgekiss stopped at the gate, and his hearty
old voice was heard calling out to her:
"Come and look at your boy, Miss Marion,
and see what you think of him now. Don't
look as he did when you found him under a
bush, does he? Miss HALEY, Mr..
Mason Mr.. Mason, Miss Haley" And so
they were acquainted.
Now Marion had never quite lost her sense
of ownership; but she had Of late striven wo-
against it, because she saw the ro-
mantle folly of caring for man just because
it has chanced that you have done him a SER
vice and although she would not be lett out
from the number Of his friends, she had not
allowed herself to be at all forward in bring
ing herself to his notice, as she might so easi-
ly have done. Therefore, when Mr. Hodge
kiss reminded her, never so innoccntly, ofthc
first feeling she had had about him, the color
rose strong in her cheeks, and her eyes avoided
those of cher boy" in a way that made her
indignant with herself, and rather formal with
him.
"Mr. Mason and have just been round to
see your father; and he has promised to take
him in the Bank" said Mr. Hodgekiss, after
the introduction, in tone and with a manner
as if he were confering favor upon Marion