The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1881-11-05

effort To make, but she was too late To
/ intercept stephen and exhibit before all
| hehOlders her friendship for him. The
/ door closed behind him as she reached
/ it, and she saw him mount his horse
/ aud ride furiously away.
With vo ce tremu,ous with emotion
/ the young girl said, as she turned to
| the still silent group about the stove:
Have none of you the courage to
| speak TO stephen Holden nowP You
/ all knew him before he went away
" Yes; but we're uotanXlous To renew
| the acquaintance" answered one of the
men. % He's branded man.
1T ism so much his pounding Amos
for | guess he deserved it but it's
his having been in ates prison that
does for him" said another.
Hes made his beI-let him lie on
it, said n third. :" He ncedn be push
| inc his company where tain t wanted.
Let him keep hisself to hisself rs he's
been a-doin', an he won get his feel
| in hurt
Hulda made no reply to these re-
marks She had grown little calmer
and knew how useless it would be to
enter into any argument But her eyes
| filled with tears as she left the store
and started homeward. She did not
wonder that Stephen Holden's face
wore a look of bitterness and defiance
! She only wondered that he had not
committed some desperate deed in his
! Encouragement and despair Six
months had passed since his return to
his native town, and hers had been the
only hand extended to him. hers the
only voice that had addressed him.
And every, one OF those men in that
store is a church member and calls him
self a Christian" she muttered.
Late that evening Ste hen Holden. a
little pale, perhaps, but very calm and
reserved, called upon Hulda as she had
requested. Miss Betsy left the room
with an air of gross injury, as he en-
tered it, and did not return until he
had gone. But he to ok no notice of her
and listessne9 in his manner that
Hulda felt sure were born of his strug-
gle of the afternoon. She was clad
that her mother, who was a chronic in
valid, was able to be present, and was
so KIND to this brother who was tread
ing path so full of thorns.
He came several times during. the
summer, but never staid any longer
than the necessities of business de-
manded. He never became either
familiar or at ease with Hulda. He
ma ntained always that cold, impene-
trable air of reserve that he appeared to
have assumed as II protection to his
pride. Once he met lydia face to face
as he was walking through Hulda' gar
den. One moment they looked at each
other without speaking; then Stephen
held out his hand, but withdrew it
again before she could take it.
g forgot" he said, in, a hoarse,
broken voice NO one L once knew
knows me now and he passed by her
leaving her pale and trembling, and so
deeply agitated that she burst into
tears as Hulda came running out to
meet her. and asked her if anything sad
had happened.
Early in the fall peculiar kind of
fever broke out among the horses in
! Hilllsboro'. Not farmer in the vicin-
ity but lost two or three, and many
more were sickening, when the report
spread through the country that
Stephen Holden, who in his boyhood
had been quite famous as horse doc
tor, had compounded some wonderful
Hulda Dane owned.
There was not much hesitation
among the farmers as to what course to
pursue. One by one they repaired to
Stephen Hoiden's brown cottage to ask
aid Tor their dying animals; and it was
not refused. Stephen Holden loved
horses, and had made their ailments a
study. 1t was a pleasure to him to re-
lieve their sutler.ngs, and he worked
n ght and day for weeks, going some
times many miles at a call IRON the
verlest stranger.
One day he overheard a conversation
tibet caused him to do something he had
thought he could never bring himself
to dO-enter the home of Amos Banks.
"Amos Banks stock is a-dyin like
flies" he heard one man say to another.
"hut | guess he'd lose the last colt he S
got a 'ore he'd call on Steve for help"
more like he's afeared of Steve a.
p'isonin the critters" was the answer.
An hour later Stephen was on his
way to Amos Banks farm. Arriving
there, he made his way unseen to the
gate which led into the barnyard, and
stood there a few moments looking
over at the horses, which, in various
stages of the now familiar disease,
stood and lay about the yard. Sitting
on a water-trough under tree near the
fence sat Amos himself, with despair
written in every line of his hard,
wrinkled face. He was an exceedingly
close man, and the pecuniary loss he
had already suffered in the death of
several valuable animals had driven
him almost crazy. The prospect of
los ng every horse he possessed had re-
duced him to a state bordering on