The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-10-07

to the coming of this importation offas
tidious elegance into their impoverished
household. In old times Cherrycote haC
never speculated; secure in homeiI
plenty, it had simply flung wide open it
ioors and hidden the stranger in.
Suppose we walk the rest of the way,
Barksdale said, springing with alacrity
from his mouse-trap of an equipage. q.
have SO much to say to you, Hal, dom
know where to Begin
Il don't walk much nowadays; bu
still" said the squire, getting down il
rather breathless fashion, and leading
the mule, followed by Poss and his spav
ined steed, along road carpeted with
pine tags and bordered with Wild honey
suckles.
Il haven't asked you about your wife,
Lancelot said, when it appeared that the
question could no longer in common
courtesy be deferred.
kitty? Why, she's splendid" said
the squire, heartily. "And if you'll be-
ieve me, Lance, I've six young ones, al
girls. The old house is as full as ever
but you'll find things down at the heel,
/ reckon. The same story everywhere
hereabout: no money, poor labor, no re-
pairs; the women struggling with ineff-
cient servants, worn out furniture, worn
out clothes. But Kitty's temper don't
wear ont, thank Godi You've not for
gotten what a splendid girl she was,
Lancet"
II have not forgotten her in the least, y
his brother answered, in tone of slight
restraint.
@You must have been surprised to hear
l married her. When you left, was
far gone in the direction of Polly Rivers,
of Rivers hall, you remember. Polly
played the devil with me; was engaged
to another fellow all the while she wore
my ring. 1 saw her last year at the Old
Sweet, and, by George, Lance, she's as
big round as a barrel, and has three
chins. Kitty, now, is eight, and has
kept her figure wonderfully. / didn't
lose much time in counting her after
Polly bounced me, did II She was al
ways the jolliest little thing, was Kitty.
Lancelot thought of the time when he
had last seen Kitty Morris, then youth
ful cousin of Mrs. Barksdale's, on a sum
mer visit TO Cherrycote. She was stand
ing in the deep grass of the old orchard,
under the cherry blossoms, in the spring of
'61. She was amere slip of a girl then, with
large, dark eyes, and a weight of dusky
hair upon her small, proud head. He
remembered the gown she wore, a sort
of full-bodied, thin white stuff, with a
sash of crimson, and the trick she had
of interlacing her small, brown south
eTn fingers when she talked.
"Never! neverl" she had cried out, in
an impetuous treble, the sound of which
still echoed in his ears. "What prom
ised was not to an enemy of my coun-
try. would rather die than marry
you"
She had faced him bravely, defiantly,
two red spots flaming in her ordinarily
clear, pale cheeks, but there was trem-
bic in her voice as if size would have been
going to cry instead of speaking.
Thus they had parted, and now Lance
lot was again to meet her as the wife of
his half-brother, the mother of Halls six
girls. For a moment he felt like turn
ing back upon the threshold of his
visit, but after poor little vaga-
bond Poss had been sent to the
servants quarters in quest of refresh
ment for man and beast, the two walk
ers struck into a well-remembered path
across the orchard leading to the house.
The cherry blossoms were again in
bloom, and there, under a green arcade
Of snow-laden boughs, was seen a merry
group of ladies and children picking vio-
lets in the grass.
Lancelot caught one glimpse of Kitty,
recognizing her instantly. From the
girl of II she had expanded into a splen-
did beauty of %, 1.-the and brown as
ever, with rich color in her cheeks, not
in the least suggesting a matron OPP
pressed by many cares of maternity and
housekeeping. Swarming over her
were a number of affectionate small
girls, and at a little distance sat Mrs.
Barksdale the elder, looking thin and
care-worn, engaged in conversation with
a lady whom he dimly recalled as an
other cousin of the by-gone days, then
coquettish parsonage with dimples, and
wonderful plaits of hair worn in a crown
around her head. The dfmples were
still evident, though the cheeks had
faded, but the abundant braids were
perceptibly thinner. Barksdale took in
all these details, although he wondered
at himself for observing them in face of
the immediate and powerful impression
made on him by the first view of his
sister-in-law. The color had receded
from his face, leaving him deathly pale.
%What is the matter with your asked
Hal, innocently. "No doubt our Vir-
ginia sun has been too much after such
a confoundedly long walk. say, Lance,
if you'd care to come into the dining
room and let me mix you julep before
you see the ladiesl"
Capital ideal" Lancelot found himself
answering, with strong effort at self
control, He succeeded presently, and
while Hal hustled around among the de-
canters, calling for ice and mint and
stood battling with the
ghost of his younger self. The trial had
been to the full as painful as he had ex-
pected. Often as he had presented itself
to his imagination, the reality of suffer
ing was not surpassed. Her face had
shone upon him like star from Alpine
nights, across wintry seas, in desert
reaches; at the opera, in his dreams, on
the pages of his books, everywhere, any
where, during ten long years Of absolute
II was NV AAA4HAA
had been his brothers wife for several
years that he heard at all of this marri-
age, seeming to him so extraordinarily
ncongruous and unsuitable. He could
not reconcile it with her appearance, her
her pretensions, now that ne had
seen her once again in the spiendor OF
young womanhood.
The jovial good-fellowship of the kindly
squire offended him. He felt as if he
could not bear to see husband and wife
together, to hear Halls lanly girls claim
her as their mother. But Lancelot Barks-
dale had a noble nature and strong
viii. Resolutely he trampled out the
fire that had 50 suddenly been kindled
up within him. Kitty was no longer
it was long indeed since she had ceased
to be--the sovereign of his dreams. This
brief madness at an end, he would be
able to take her by the hand like loyal
and honorable gentleman as he was.
This reverie was brought to prosaic
ending by the appearance of Hal at his
elbow, looking Like an amiable young
Bacchus, 50 ruddy were his cheeks, so
broad bia emilia ~ ,,y;da oxrar- fha beaded