The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-03-12

VI = W
drop of blood from q of his fingers,
simultaneously giving vents to it's u~nreason-
able anger in a mingled growl and howl,
its eyes flashing.
The girl now showed almost consterna-
ton in her face and she in~voluntarily took
a step backward as if recoiling from
Orion.
"The old f~ortune-teller told me how
bad a sign that is" she exclaimed, trying
to recover herself and smile. "But maybe
it is nothing. / hope it doesn't mean
anything very,bad."
"Pahl nothing at all" said Orion reas-
suringly, "don't think of it. How can
you ank I ever have any trouble, Mann
zelle Garcin?"
She blushed again until her rich Mar
Unique skin glowed like the face of a
dark velvet rose; but she made no answer
to his inquiry. 1t was delicious to hear
him call her Ma'rn'zelle Garcin with the
perfect Creole accent. His bearing was
SO noble; too, like that of a Knight in the
romance she had been reading lately, and
he spoke with such a ring of sincerity
and cordial strength. She looked at him
(not boldly, but a%dmiringly) from head to
foot with a sense of his stalwart beauty
creeping very sweetly into her mind with
some distant and underlined impression of
sadness.
All around the mockingbirds were sing
ing in the vines and trees, sweet odors
were on the air that blew gently from
the not distant Gulf, and overhead the
sky hung like a vast dream, deep blue,
but tender as a violet's petals.
What are you going to shoot?" Lalie
asked presently, recovering her lightness
of voice and manner, gently brushing the
finely carved stock of his gun with her
roses.
Nothing, I suppose" he responded,
81 thought merely of a turn in the woods
to make their acquaintance and to get
some exercise"
There's plenty of game, ;" she remarked,
81 can kill ONE whenever l like"
Orion lifted his brows in establishment.
"You kill game. Ma'm'zelle Garcin. Do
you know how to use a gun? p he in
quired, with but little credulity in his
voice, and looking down at her with eyes
that showed both admiration and wonder.
"To be sure / do, and why not?' was
the quick answer. Give me your gun"
She flung down her flowers and put aside
her cat; hen taking the heavy weapon
from Orton's hand she poised it gracefully
and said:
-"Do yon see the rosette of lichen on
the fence-post ~yonder?" indicating a sill
ver-white spot about forty yards distant
from where they stood.
Eyes, / see" he answered.
A single moment for aiming and then
the fint-stroke, the flash of the printing
and the sharp report of the gun. A fine
white dust pulled out from the centre of
the lichen where the bullet had entered.
The girl smiled complacently as she re-
turned the weapon to Orion, who for a
space found it difficult to utter his admir-
ing amazement. 1t was a perfect shot,
and the art of delivering it had shown
such grace, ease and swiftness as he had
never before seen.
Wonderful, charming!" he exclaimed,
as one just getting back his lost breath,
"'That was superb, Ma'm'zelle, superb
Indeed that is nothing" she said
rather proudly, 81 could do much better
than that"
Then STOPPING she retook her roses and
her cat.
"I wish you fine sport, Mo'sieu," she
added and then left him, casting back as
she passed through the vine-arched gate
way a brilliant smile, half haughtilY, half
playful, that had in it an instantaneous
fascination.
Orion went on through the garden and
into the woods conscious of some new
element, like a rich, nameless color, en-
gendered within him.
The dumpish, musty fragrance of the
woods, as he entered the shade under the
wide-armed, moss-mantled oaks, was
mingled with the over-Sweet breath of
jasmine flowers and the keen r~esinous
odor of the pines. Something in the cir
cumambient stiffness seemed to act as a
fixitEe on the picture in his mind, and
moreover, all this shadowy sweetness and
cool freshness was filed with the romance
his imagination had suddenly coniured
up. He strobe along the girl'sface linger-
ing with him and her voice echoing
sweetly in his memory, and as the chang
ing phases of the forest caught his atten-
ton and slowly drew him back to his old
habit of observation, he noted how bril-
liant were the lichens and MOSES, how
luxuriant the vines and Haunting air-plants,
and how gorgeous the flower masses here
and there.
AhO CAClC1oO VI CAOT VAIN was 6AuIIdFdl-
ing, and the freshness and strange sense
of solitude were to Orion as fascinating
as their associations were picturesque and
romantic. Here was the one remote and
poetry-burdened region which, of all the
earth, could, for a time at least, satisfy
his longing for the undiscovered and the
undescribed.
There were beautiful grassy openings
in the wood, and here and there Orion
came upon miniature lakes, shallow and
studded with blooming plants and wisps
of tall water grasses. In one of these he
saw a tall white heron wading, and think
ing to shoot it he raised his gun. When
he pulled trigger the flint struck open the
pan with a shower of brilliant sparks, but
the weapon did not fire then he recol-
lnntnG thnt ho hnd Gnrnotton "a -alOsl =