The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-04-18
UNDER THE MAGNOLlAS.
"What q loyoly creature 2.

! his involuntary exclamation passed, and
! as she looked at me blushed and bowed.
( I felt the blood surge over my face and my
heart beat fast Yes. my friend was right.
She was, indeed, lovely. \ woman young
and beautiful reclining among her iurs
in silyer-mounted sleigh drawn by two
| spirited black ponies that flashed through
the clear, crisp air TO the music of hun
| bred silver bells.
"She knows you" cried ny companion.
! SSurely 1 have never seen her before
| She looked like some brilliant cacti flower
blooming amid banks of snow. Tell me,
| do you know herr"
Eyes. Will, / know her well. and would
God I'd never known her. Come to my
room tonight and you shall know all
( Until then, adieuW and We parted Will
Hartley, with light step and lighter
heart, went his way, and |, Alex Huntley,
with pain in my heart, went my way.
You have heard me speak a thousand
! times OF my dear old home down in South
| Carolina" / said, as, according to appoint
ment, we met in my room that evening.
cit was then l first knew Vista Ashley
! knew her from the day she was an in
| fant Growing in her nurses arms. Her
home was adjoining mine. Ii was prince
" place, and the family was the proudest
and oldest in the land. In fancy now
| see the great brown house, almost envel-
oped in a wilderness of magnolia and
mock orange trees-great, tall, giant trees,
towering in the light, with a million fra9-
rant blossoms, like censors bearing all the
spices OF India in their creamy cups.
Amid all this beauty, this verdure, this
boundless, delicious, heavenly light / saw
Vista and loved her.
''As the years stole on we were continually
associated together. | helped her with
her studies and taught her how to ride
and drive. And how proud I was TO
watch her sit a racer and plunge over
bitches and fences without fear. She
would sit as erect as an Indian, with
her little head thrown back and
her hair tossing about her. But
one April day l left her at the
to the front and did my part. After four
years OF bloodshed and desolation | re-
turned home to find my slaves enanci-
pated, my estates dissipated. / was poor
man and alone in my poverty, for my
father had died in my absence, and | was
truly desolate. ! again met Vista Ashley.
The years had made her infinitely more
beautiful l can no more describe her
than / can paint human soul. When
left her / loved her; but, standing before
her once again, l worshiped her. She
told me that all her wealth was gone;
all save the old homestead. and |,
would sacrifice my life to save that
she said, looking up with rever-
ence at the store pile, which be-
came grim and gray in the fast gath
ering twilight. And there she stood, so
young in years, and yet so old in the pride
Of hor % fhot nj 7
should have spoken and told her of my
love. | should have said: Vista, | am
going away. | will work and return one
day with wealth to build up all you have
lost. Let me save the dear old home for
YOU; only wait for me and be true to me-
But, fool that l was, dared not speak /
was penniless and could offer nothing but
love and my promises. She looked so
proud, so regal, there with all the marvel
Gus warmth and color about her, framed
in cloud Of gardenia blossoms, like stars
of snow around her | only clasped her
slim white hands in mine and said: VISTA
good by. ] have strength and courage
left. | must begin life anew; must for,
get the past; forget that was once rich
man. / could say no mOre-my voice
choked. Good by, Alex, was all she said,
and as she looked up her eyes were dim
with tears. l stood with a heart like lead
and saw her pass through the myrtle
hedge and leave me. That moment was tho
hinge of fate on which all my future bal
anced; the hinge turned and the door of
fate forever closed upon me. One sentence
could have changed it all.
"From South Carolina l went West and
engaged in mining speculation. pros
pered, and in two years returned TO claim
Vista. After long search l failed to find
her, and was in despair, when, one even
ing, near dark, my business carried me TO
one of the most squalid quarters of the
city. was walking rapidly when no
ticed in front of me awoman emerge from
/ q side street and walk hurriedly before
me. Only a woman. like hundreds we
/ see in the haunts of the poor in large
| cities. But there was something about
! the figure and walk that startled me. Her
| clothes were thin, even ragged yet there
was regal grace and bearing that even the
tatters Of penury could not conceal. In
an instant l was beside her. My Cod
! VISTA was ali could utter, and grasping
her arm | scanned her face, uncertain if it
was but the spirit of the woman adored
/ beside me.
eyes, at last ! at last have found YOU
l cried.
! the words-'how came you here?' and her
face became death-like in its pallor.
"'Come with me, VISTA cried. Come
( now; this is no place for you. Let me be
! your br0ther-yOur friend-Only leave this
| haunt of poverty and come with me-
You know not what you ask, Alex
she answered, drawing away. Pray leave
me and forget that you have seen me.
Only remember me as you saw me last
so long ago-down in our own sweet
Southland. Your world is no longer my
world. a barrier lies between us. / am
dead 10 the past; dead to the home of my
fathers. Alex Huntley, forget me, and,
drawing her arm from my grasp, she
would have been lost in the current Of
humanity surging past. ] caught her
hand, so thin and cold, and implored her
10 let me shield her. Vista, I have loved
you always. Come, be my wife-my
! queen-my goddess. We will return to
the old home; we will forget the past !;
only follow me now
"A weary, deathlike look stole over her
1 face. God bless YOU Alex. for all you
ask. A barrier is between us. Pity me,
but leave me-
"eThere is but one barrier that has
power TO separate us, Vista. God forbid
that you are in haunt of vice as we'll as
one Of poverty
"a great crimson wave surged over her
face and her eyes flashed like those OF an
enraged tigress. Drawing back, with the
hauteur Of queen, she almost Kissed the