Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1883-09-29
To the Standard:
FLORIDA.
Rminiscences of the Land of Flowers
Sketch No. 8.
BY NoRINE.


and what merry party we always
were. We found good neighbors, too,
people who were more interested in
their own affairs than they were in
ours, and yet showed us great deal
Of neighborly kindness. The little
ones of our household soon grew very
intimate with the juvenile part of the
community, especially two little Span
ish girls who lived next door. We re-
ceived warm welcome as residents,
and soon felt at home (no, not exactly
with our new-found acquaintance and
friends. The ladies, as a general rule,
we found very quiet, with the gentlest
manners and the softest, sweetest voices
in the world. Very few of them, l
think. would have been called beauti>
full, and yet that understandable, subtitle
charm of voice and manner, with
(what most of them possessed) their
wonderfully bright, expressive eyes
made them very attractive. The gen.
tlemen were very pleasant and enter
tanning, and very gallant, They all
seemed social and inclined to make
friends of us at once. Among our
many visitors l was particularly charm
ed with one gentleman and his wife,
who lived within stones throw CT us,
and frequently dropped in" for an
hours chat They were both natives
of the place, and the lady was an ideal
Southern woman, of the rarest type.
The husband was emphatically a
dreamer, yet he possessed a rare fund
of humor, and an inexhaustible store
of curious information, together with
brilliant conversational powers. He
told us many quaint stories of the
place, among them the story of its curse
and the legend of its discovery. Both
of these he related to us one evening,
Just after sunset, when we had all gath
cred in the portico of our little home
and enjoying the sea breezes and the
brilliant play of colors in the western
sky. The time, the place and the man
suited the romantic old stories, and the
rich, soft Southern tone of voice added
poetic charm thereto:
"You all know" he began, "that
Pensacola is one of the oldest towns in
America, and as its first settlers were
from Spain, the Roman Catholic reli'
gion was the only faith known. While
yet the adventurous voyagers from
Europe were exploring the country, {
certain Spanish priest, Father Bernar
do, for some sin or sins, the nature O
which history records not, was doinl
penance. This penance consisted il
gathering up stones, using his priestl
robe as receptacle for them, and car
rying as many as he could lift out q
the city limits. Now stones are YER
scarce here, and the poor old fathe
had grown very weary before he ha
obtained the allotted number, and yer
tired and footsore he bore his last bun
den toward the northern border of tn
city, murmuring as he went, 1t wi
atone, it will atone But Fate ha
decreed it otherwise, and the small boy
were in this instance her instrument
to carry out this decree. In playin
about the street they learned what tt
priest was doing, and with that ire
erence which is striking characterize
Of the small boy, they determined
"play off on him. Accordingly the
separated themselves into groups
three, and these groups were statione
every fifty yards perhaps for more this
a mile. AS Father Bernardo DIRE
near the first detachment, one NEE
little innocent approached him with Il
words, Your blessing, Fatherp l
stantly the stones were dropped al
laying his hands on the child's head Il
good man invoked heavens choice
blessings. Then all three would seal
per eff, leaving the old man to gath
up the stones which had been scatter
in every direction by two of the DO
while he was blessing their companio
This performance was repeated
every group along the line, and t
priest could offer no resistance, for he