The Lake County star., 1877-11-08

Mrs. Rutherford was looking over
her laces. There were many choice
pieces OF pointe purchased in Europe:
Mechlin and Brussels pOinte, with
other Irish laces. HonitOn, delicate
d. 'Alencon, and one precious piece of
antique pointe de Venise, for Mrs. Ru-
therford was cOnnOisseur in laces,
and threw away her money In reck-
lessly extravagant way whenever a
fine piece was concerned.
Hope Rutherford, I wish you
would tell me how you happened to
take the lace mania, L said. as / lifted
from the handsome Japanese casket
an odd piece, q mixture Of lace and
which / fancied she had
picked up in some out-of-the-way cor
ner of Switzerland. kr.
81. believe / was 10 years DID," she
replied, "when began my study of
lsces. The strip which you hold in
your hand was my first acquisition.
1t has q rather curious history. Would
you like to hear it?"
And then Hope Rutherford told me
the following story, which proved not
to be of quantity cOstumed peasants in
some Swiss Valais or of some princely
lady of the court of Francis l., but of
her own stormy childhood and first
love.
The daughter of n pioneer judge,
Hopes early life had been spent on a
farm in tho West, five miles from the
little town of Conflict. Their nearest
neighbors were the AntOines. A
shrinking little woman with washed
out eyes was Mrs. Antoine, but she
had O furtive way Of glancing from
them that seemed to tell that' she
might have had ideas of her own be-
fore they were crushed out by the
'~colonei,n - who had never been In the
army. OF French descent, and Of a
fiery Gallo temperament, he united to
many hereditary vices others for
whose distinctive originality he might
have taken out a patent. Life with
him could not have been pleasant un-
der any circumstances.
The two dwellings stood within q
few rods of each other, but long de-
tour was necessary to pass between
them, ,ifor, dividing the knoll on which
Col. Antoine had reared his strange
structure from the broad acres of corn
fields scarcely overtopped by Squire
Nays stockade of logs and mud, ran q
deep ravine, the bed OF o fierce little
stream called the Wild Cat.
Another gulf separated them, for
though their position rs settlers in
new Kansas offered many points Of re-
semblance in the trials and hardships
which they had met 80 bravely, the
heads of the families when they met,
rs they did on their way to and from
Conflict, never recognized each other.
Mrs. Antoine would have explained
this in her own mellow accents
:" 'Taint to be helped, s'pOse, sence
you uns are from the Nawth and we
uns from the Saouth."
The very houses with their sur
roundings spoke the difference be-
tween them. Squire Mays farm had
been as thickly wooded as the Colo
nel's estate, but with his own right
arm he had chopped down the. trees,
built his home OF two rooms and loft
above them, and pried up the stumps,
plowed and sown his cornfield. After
was beginning to reap results. The
shelves against the log wall of the
cellaneous literature kept them com
pany. Above the books hung the
'sQuire's carbine, only used against the
prairie chickens for he was man of
peace. A rag carpet of Mrs. Nays
workmanship covered the floor. Ev-
erything bore marks of thrift and in
dustey.
Col. Antoine had preempted his
claim the year previous to the com ing
of the Mays The Wild Cat oined
the Missouri river near the site which
he had chosen for his residence, and
the reason of his choice of this partic-
ular spot had been the presence at its
mouth of q sunken steamboat, its up
per cabin just emerging from the mud
dy water. A band Of the colonePs
com mpanions, ,'sympathizing in the no.
BILE cause which had led him to leave
his plantation In Missouri, that of
helping TO. drive all free state - men
from Kansas, had come over to estab-
lish him in~ his new home. They
brought gang of negroes with them,
and had q !" raising" in which great
deal of whisky was consumed, and the
cabin of the sunken steamer was raised
and dragged to the top of the knoll.
Its. side faced the road, presenting
the peculiar spectacle of house with
20 front doors. After this It needed
not great deal OF work on the colo
nel,s part to render it habitable, and IL
was not long before he moved to IL
his family and chattels. The former
consisted Of his gentle little wife and
four boys, and the latter of one mule,
one COW, and one J" niggah,u faithful
Aunt Pollyanthus. The colonel made
no attempt to improve the place, but
proceeded daily to Conflict, mounted
on his mule, and armed in the most
fer0cious manner, his business being
politics and gambling.
And yet, in'spite of this chasm be-
tween them, human nature asserted
its claim, and. the /" women folksuof
these. two homes became earnest
friends. Though Mrs. May disap-
proved Of the shiftlessness of Mrs. An
toine's housekeeping, Of the dirty ruf-
fed pillow-cases, OF the painted plas-
ter paris parrot on the clock-shelf, of
the number Of the colonel's empty
whisky bottles and old boots that
strewed the ground opposite the front
entrance, and OF the calmness with
which Mrs. Antoine regarded the con-
fusion OF her kitchen and the ragged
condition Of her sons clothing. while
she worked endless bands of very
dirty but very fine embroidery, vet
she loved the little woman with all
her heart, and had done 30 ever since
the night that she locked the drunken
colonel In one Of the staterooms. and
battled death with her until vt dawn o
fifth little Antoine lay In his mothers
arms. Don't talk to me, she would
say to her husband. Zone has only
TO look ct those boys to know there Is
pluck In their mother.u And II Gus.
Antoine, the eldest, was a sample of
what the rest would be, her words
had their weight.
Gus. was Is, o clerk In book store
at Conflict, and IL was principally
from bis earnings that the family
were supported. They saw him
walking brsveiy to town early every
morning, carrying bis dinner In 3
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