The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-01-20
MISS EULALIES ELM TRFE,

MISS EULALIES ELM TREE.
1t was magnificent work of nature,
Miss Eulalie's olm-tree; so tall and
graceful, overhanglng the street with it's
green banner. lendinga II charming shade
to her little parlor, which gave it the air
of dim, cool recess in the woods on a
summers day. Miss Eulalie loved it,
and, except for her gay young ward, it
would seem as if she had little else to
love. Her grandfather had planted it;
it was sort of heirloom. She had
passed her youth beneath its boughs !;
her name was carved OH it's stem. She
had never looked at the tree without
thinking of the one who hud carved it
there; Of the still, moonlight nights they
had spent together in its shadow. It
gave her both pain and pleasure
pleasure, because it reminded her that
he had loved her once, pain that he had
mover returned to hor; what had es-
tranged him was still as great mystery
10 her as in those early daysof her be-
reavement, when sorrow and suspense
had been her daily companions, rising
up and sitting down with her. Perhaps
some falrer woman had enslaved him,
perhaps he had never really loved her
ut nll, end she experienced pang of
mortified pride when she reflected that
she had possibly been vain enough to
make the mistake. Year by year she
watched the tender green OF the elm
thicken into dark masses of leaves; year
ny year she had watched them fading
and fading like her own hopes and illu.
sIons; 1T was q poem to her; and yot,
after all, it was only Miss Eulalies elm
tree by permission. The homo of her
ancestors had fallen into other hands;
she had only returned to it by q, happy
chance, not us its owner. Mrs. Vaughn,
the purchaser, had daughter to be
educated, and Miss Eulalie had taken
the situation. When Mrs. Vaughn
died, she devised that Miss EulaIie
shouId make home with Isabel, be
mother, sister and teacher, all iu ono, to
that wnyward young person, till she
should marry-in short, stand in the
zap. Miss Eulalie had been used to
standing in gaps all her life; this
was nothing new. And it was home
her old home where she had dreamed
dreams. When she had walked at
twilight beneath the old elm its leaves
seemed to whisper, "Just here he kissed
you first" and "Here you said good
bye" No wonder she loved the old
tree!
Dangerous thing said Captain
Valentine, tapping its trunk with his
cnne ss he walked by; "hollow- hearted
"s n iilt, Miss Eulalie."
"You are Mistaken" she replied; cit
il as sound as a nut" 49,, ''..'
''But mat come down" he added.
M if his W were law.
'Neve Lille live, Capt. Valentine"
taSOn fnrppt that 7 a cf
perty; that I pay more taxes than any
one in Littleford; thai can buy every
tree in the place, and cut it down, il L
choose"
''Then it Is only from pure good-na-
tnre that you beg my consent to cut
down this exquisite tree? DO you know,
have loved 1T from u child my grand
father planted 1t"
IT know that Miss Isabel owns the
whole estate. and know that this bone
of contention, this tree, obstructs view
from my windows, Miss Eulalle, which
is moro to the point-that its boughs
leap into the air SO high and spread
their branches SO wide that 1t blots out
the sea, tthe open sea" and he passed
on up the long green lawn to his new
home,: with its marble steps aud broad
balconies. which made his humble
neighbor seem forlorn and shabby.
Miss Eulalie looked at the imposing
s. structure, at the parterres of brilliant,
flowers at the fountain tossing it's
Jets into the sunlight, the velvet
terraces and lawns, and smiled. Why
had Captain Valentine chosen to
build his palace so near her home2
Why had he built at all, at this
time OF life, with no family to
inherit, and no wife to do its honors?
How lonely he must be, she thought,
IN the spacious mansion, with nobody
but the servants to speak withl Why
had he never married.? In the humil.
ity OF hcr heart Miss Eulalie never
dreamed that it was because she would
not marry him. That mad happened so
many years ago, before he and Anson
Andrews had sailed together in tho
Water Witch. How angry he had been
henl how jealous Of Ansonl How bit
terly he had sworn that the day should
come when she would give her hearts
blood, to recall the. .words--when she
would regret her folly in dust and ashesl
But Of course he had forgotten all that
tho rawlings of an untamed nature
he had been only second mate then,
with little or nothing ahead III tho world;
today no was Capt. Valentino, with
that world Mt his feet; the richest man
III town, perhaps.
"You might have been mistress up
there Miss Eulalie." he had reminded
her one day, pausing one day ut her
gateway after the house was done.
But you took your choice--you took
your choice, and"-laughing "thcy
tell us that beggars shouldn't be choos-
rrs."
From the very first Captain Valentine
had raised hue and cry about Miss
lIulalie's elm-tree; 1t almost seemed rs
If he selected the site to tease her, as if
he wished to strip her of eyerything she
loved, since she declined to love him.
u hase bought the most expensive
apot in town." he said, "and spared NO
money, in order that might open my