Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-07-28

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stroll that day, To be sure it was a YER
hot, snltry afternoon, but what did tina
tmatter to girl with big buff parasol il
her hand and romantic encounter il
prospect. NH
'WelI, declare, if the wicked ston
wall don't actually take in the ole mulDer
~ tree !" The exclamation was made tt
Towser, who had wakened from his nap tt
follow his mistress in her walk, and his
wagging tail gave proof of his understand
| ing and share of her establishment
! Yes, the great TALL and purple-berried
tree, under which Kathie and Phil had
held pic MICS and flirtations in bygone sum
mers, was now on the .enemy's ground
and ON the other side of high stone wall
which Katie couldn't begin to see oyer,
even ON tip-toe. The hammock and Phil
1 were evidently there, too, for there, was a
! curl of gray smoke and the scent of CT
garland where there's smoke under Il tree
I there's man! What should she do ? She
] hadn't quarreled with anybody. She wan
| ted Phil to know she was at the old spot,
and still she didn't want to- ''speak first. ,;
Suddenly she recollected she had heard
| Phil say once that if he should see a lilac
ribbon bow in Egypt he would think of her.
| 1t was her favorite color, and she wore it
nearly always. Quickly taking a little knot
from her throat, then, she tied it around a
| piece Of bark and threw it over the wall.
A startled exclamation follow by rattle
among the stones, and presently an OPEN
ing appeared in the wall close beside Ka-
| THE. through which she beheld at last the
brown eyes and curly hair of her old lover.
II knew you would come to the old tryst
Kathie darling" whispered he through the
hole land SO when the men built this
hateful monument of our fathers enmity,
[ watched every day, and saw that these
stones should be movable, that I might
have sight of and word with you if you
ever came down to the old tree. For so
bitter is the feeling between my father and
yours that 1 was forced to promise that 1
would never cross over on his land until
the feud should be broken. fear it is a
lifelong one. I wanted to see you once
more before go away, and so have wal
ted here every day to say good-by."
''Oh, Phil, it is SO dreadful ? What shall
do? You must not go!' And then fol-
lowed a shower of tears that threatened to
spoil the pretty lilac muslin, and could not
be wiped away through a chink in the WALL
''Do you care so much, Kathie? Then,
[ am glad it has happened, Imean because
it proves to me that you have not forgot
ten your old friends, for if you had, you
know, you Would not care if they were 60
ing. Do you care for me Kathie ?''
Kathie came very close to the rough
stone wall, and a timid, whispered breath
less little ''yes'' hoated through the open
ing. Then there was a long conversation
which even the robbins in the mulberry
tree overheard and understood.
Grandma Bowen wondered what on earth
it was that took Kathie out to walk every
day after dinner in the sun; and finally
her mother declared the exercise was too
much for her, for Kathie was growing thin
and pale. ate nothing and had no desire to
go out in company with the, young men
and girls in the neighborhood. Farmer
Bowen discovered the true cause of all
these symptoms, however, for one day a
letter from his enemy's son reached him
explaining all 1--WE love one another,' it
read, ''and will both be miserable and I'M
happy if we continue any longer the clan
destine correspondence and courtship we
have been obliged to have recourse to by
reason Of the cruel and unreasonable pro-
hibition OF our parents. I love Kathie, and
wish to pay my addresses openly and hon.
orably, and ask your consent to our marri-
age. Will you not forget your enmity
with the father in accepting for your
daughter his sou ?"
After a stormy little talk with Kathie
and an expostulation with her mother,
who declared Kathie would 'waste away
J and die if this troubled her mind and heart
much longer;'' Farmer Bowen gravely
walked over to Farmer Somers' one day,
and the upshot of the matter was a we'd
! ding and the demolition of the stone wall.
In Mrs. Some rs's cabinet of curiosities
there are two odd, rough-looking stones
! concerning which, if asked, she replies
with smile, that they come from the
walls Of Babylon, while MI. Somers says
they actually framed the chink through
which Pyramus and Thisbe once whispered
their VOWS of love. No one disputes their
explanation, but everyone wonders where
they obtained the curious old relics