Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-07-12

eOueoS, an u u bYuat isBus eSs AAAn1uScs
seein' ez I'd picked Nick up. Twas dead
cot beginst him comm home; but how
you reckin come ter change my mindr'
"You repented, hope" said Wini-
fred. severely.
"No. didn'. You seddown an lemme
tell you. Ez nigh ez ken mex out, hit
was Yankee"
"A YankeeY'
II said Yankee. Lawd, they've been
plenty enough Of latel / knowed him
fur Yankee that minute he opened his
mouth; they can't talk nach'ral, like
US southerners. This Yankee was a hunt
in Nick Thorne," pursued Roxanna, sig
nificantly. "Pr'aps you know somethin'
bout him."
~ know nothing whatever about it,"
said Winifred, stiffiy.
"Well," Roxanna continued, "I was
skairt ter ask what fur he was a-huntin'
Of Nick; but KEEP my eyes skint, an I
found out he was preachin' ter git Nick
ter mex hit up with the colonel, an then
was riled! had brung Nick ter my
way o. thinkin' that he could live an die
thouten his kin, an didn't want no
Yankee meddlin' with my business.
Mo'over, l spicioned the colonel sont
him
"No such thingv' Winifred contradict
ed, hotly.
"No; foun' out mighty soon ez hit
warnt the colonel" Roxanna said, and
paused; but her listener sat with averted
countenance, and would give no sign;
whereupon Roxanna boldly declared,
"Hit was your
THAT is not true!' cried Winifred.
"Bless yo' soul, nor returned Rox.
anna, compactly. "No need ter git riled.
He amt said so; but Lawd, child, hit
don't always need word O. mouth ter git
yo' arrands done; an when that air CAB
gifted Yankee argyfied with Nick Thorne
that you held yo' heart sot on gittin' yo'
brother home agin, give in, an con-
fessed them letters, an told Nick ter
write home, pintly, which l hadn't ex-
pected ter do nothin' of the sort"
II she expected any show Of gratitude,
she was doomed to disappointment.
"Do you mean to tell me-" said Wini.
fred, Indignantly, ''that my brother
would not have written without your
consent1"
"No," said Miss White, with sober de-
cision; 81 amt no sich fool ez ter un-
dertake ter tell befo'hand what the on.
sartin sons O. Adam mought or moughtn'
do; but this kin tell, an amt doubtin'
ter say hit: Eff ever that circulatin' YAM
kee gifts back ter Thorne Hill, hit won't
be ter argyfy with me, nor yit with Nick
Thorne, though hit mought be with the
colonel p'r'aps.' And she cackled
shrilly.
"He will never come again" Winifred
declared, with burning cheeks.
"Some is easy got rid Of an some aint, F"
said Miss White, sententiously. 81 amt
blind, an in these six months what I've
been ter Thorne Hill I've seen one what
amt comm back-not in a hurry, Paul
Herry amt l know the looks of them
kind. / don't set up ter be prophet,
but hit weights me heavy ter give you
this warnin, Winifred Thorne-when he
comes, that friend o yourn," and Rox-
anna stretched out her hard and bony
hand to clasp the girls soft fingers, 81
dunno nothin' bout you, but hits goin'
ter be onpleasin ter the colonel"
HE is not coming again" Winifred
insisted. "We don't want him." And
she drew her hand out of Miss Roxanna'e
sympathizing clasp and went away in a
tumult of painful emotions. She con.
confessed to none, hardly even to her.
self, that her brothers return had moi
brought back the old joy Of her child
hood. "Brer Nicholas" was at home
again, but she was lonely still; some
thing was lacking, she knew not what
OF would not seek to know.
Yet, as the uneventful days went by
and season gave place to season, Wini
| fred, il she was not glad with the old
joy that once she hoped for, in her broth
er's return, had begun to find a sweet
content. She understood at last that hel
ardent soul had demanded more than
was possible under the circumstances,
and she no longer expected from Mich
olas the absolute devotion she had given
him. She had learned the SOLDERING les
son that life, even the most securely or.
dered life, is subject to the inexorable
law of change.
Lottie, the cousin she loved best, was
living in distant town; Paul Herry
who had declared himself heart broken
at his pretty cousins obduracy, was
married now, and settled in Savannah
where Bess Herry spNlt much of heI
time-and all this had come to pass with
in two years after Nicholas return. Yet
though Winifred's life in these days was
not gay, neither was it dull; for no life
is dull that is filed with duties. This
sacred truth had Winifred learned from
her old aunt in New York, and she hac
the wisdom now to make to herself many
sweet, small duties that kept her hands
busy and her heart at rest. Hardly 0
day passed that she did not visit old Gil,
bert and Nom Bee with some little offer
ing--a practice that excited Roxann,
Whites vehement disapproval. "Them
two old free niggers," she was wont t.
declare, twill devour the coloners sub
stance, lessen that girl marrics somebody
what kin moderate her. But hit'll ril'
the colonel the day she makes her choice.
The trees were bare for the seconc
time since Nicholas home coming, wheI
Winifred went out, one afternoon, Il
visit Nom Bee. The wintry sun wa
reddening the west when she came back
the air was crisp and invigorating, ant
she prolonged her walk through tn,
grove where she sat ON the horse blocl
to await her brothers return fro n town
just as she had done, many time, whel
a child. The happiness of those blessed
days seemed all at once, to come again
and she sang aloud for joy.
Soon Nicholas rode in at the great gate
and he was not alone; it needed but
glance to reveal that her brothers com
panion was John Fletcher, and in an in
slant the joy that had inspired her ligh
hearted song became dead thing, anC
a wild, tyrannical eXuitation took it