The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-07-15
father had evidently abandoned ali oppO-

father had evidently abandoned ali oppo-
sitiOn.
suddenly the light of Joy died from hi'
face. his cheek flushed and his ears tingled.
He saw it all. There were many forms OF
danger he could face in q way TO shame. the
hraye,t man he knew. Yet. not having
the physical hardiho0d that finds recrea-
ton in fiSticuffS. he felt with humiliation
that he did la.k what was known in the
elegant Birdseye dialect as sand in the glz-
zard. At this momrnt il would have been
a pleasure to meet a roaring lion in a lone
Iv desert, and had there been an elephant
convenient he would have X: 0cked hlm
down with his fist. Mr.. Hersey, too kind
hearted to deny the suit, had been driven
TO this rather cowardly method OF escap-
ing possible di>hOnor. Should worst come
to worst, and David fail at any time accord
ing to the Birdseye code, MIR. Hersey
wouli not necessarily be disgraced because
his son-in-law hadn't the sand" pop
ular belief in broken arm would cover
multitude OF shortcomings.
When the east began TO brighten MI.
Hersey asked David TO breakfast with him,
and they left the mill together. AS they
brushed through the dewy ferns and man
brakes. and ducked their heads under hang
ing boughs. few bird-notes greeted them.
preluding, like the premonitory drops that
90 before a summer shower, the rain OF
melody that was soon to burst from wood
and thicket. Fantastic vap RS, blown
softly into ghostly shapes, were climbing
heavenward-wan creatures of the night,
rising from fens and byways TO be clothed
IN purple and gold on high.
Emerging from the heavy wood amid
glisIening goss ,mer and poyerty-grass,
Hersey paused at length in the full sun
light. {" You don't know, Dave, how she
looked, Il ,atin' in tn water that, mig mt.
So white, with her yeller hair. TO think,
tn whirest things N tn world grows out
o. muck w
g wing an awkward twirl to his shaggy
beard, he added, turning forward again,
- I'm muck myself. That's So"
Their path here touched the edge of
the pond, aud they paused to bathe tn ir
faces. I'm muck myself" repeated
Mr.. Hersey as he threw his hat behind
him upon clump of bulrushes. AN |
told her at supper Id see her deader'n "a
What's that?''
The ascending mist revealed the over
turned canoe still slowly drifting shore
ward. No apprehension was expressed.
Yet something quickened their steps.
Ellen-there were half a dozen eXplana-
tiOns of her absence over night from
home. They failed as fast as represented
In an hour the shore was dotted with
watching neighbo-s. Through the
depths. as the sun went no, wavered an
effect of golden ringets. The cool water
sparkled and laughed, but babbled none
offs secrets.
Some venlured to surmise that she had
purposely sought violent escape from
trouble. But the theory of David pre-
vailed. She had met her death i'll an un-
wary attempt to possess the sleeping
flower which, as she had told him at
parting. she would carry with her. Thus
her face had instantly met the water and
her voice being stiied ere she had wholly
fallen. To the mystery of silence was
added the greater one that her body did
not appear. Some of the int rlacin9
stems, whose buds unfolded that morn
ing 10 none but fearful eyes, had tWined
themselves about her, to keep her amid
the dark life-in- death from which they
drew the fragrance and purity they car.
ried upward.
The morning, but for the painful ab
sence of all sounds of human jov or in
dusrry, was like that on which David two
days before, when this idyl begins, hao
declared his love and been accepted. The
woods were full of music, tn air OF deli
cate perfume. There was not wanting
the same sweet commerce between pOnC
and skv-a cloud b low and lily above
-CRau,ocey Hrekor, IN LippincottS to'