The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1891-10-16

~ VN'
1.-THE Maid of the Mtstral"
Edgar Julian arrived at Savannah and
was installed as member of the Roose.
welt household day or two before the
time of Mrs Roosevelt's party. He i'm.
mediately began searching examina.
ton of the situation of his employers
affairs, and found it grave. Ellis had
done his work well, and precisely in such
way us to close up the very doorway of
their success Julian could not see any
immediate escape Of course the plan7
of Messrs. Roosevelt and Largely had
been kept profoundly secret, so that Ellis
and his New York coadjutors could have
had no counterpart in view, but their
operations had effected quite the same
thing as if directed to that end. The fact
was that Florida had suddenly attracted
the eyes of capitalists and land specu
lators in both Europe and America Ger.
tain vast draining schemes We're begin
ming to take shape, and their features
and probable results to be bruited about.
The orange fever. the jute fever, the
early vegetable fever, the LIE Conte pear
fever and the pine and cedar lumber
fever had started a rush Of emigration;
this advanced the price of land enor-
mously the consequence was that the
state authorities offered large grants Of
the public domain as subsidies to induce
the building of canals and railways
Many schemes had been projected; some
of them had failed, Others had fallen
into litigation, and the franchises of
nearly all of them were of doubtful va
lidity Out of this sort Of chaos Edgar
Julian was expected to bring order. For
two days he buried himself in Mr. Roose-
velt's Office amid heap of books, pam.
phlets and documents, plodding slowly,
step by step, through the history of pre-
vious schemes and litigations.
In the meantime he scarcely more than
spoke to Rosalie, who was longing to
hear all he could tell her about Provence
and le Chateau Chenier.
The evening for the party at the
Roosevelt mansion arrived; charming
weather with a cloudless sky, and the
noon at its full; breeze from the ocean
lust cool enough to make open windows
/ luxury
The company was not large, between
fifty and one hundred guests, but it was
IN exceptionally brilliant one. Julian
passed from room to room in the course
If the evening, finding himself once in
he conservatory where wilderness of
S,1o y,fc ;,, |
tate Of luxuriant confusion Here he
ame upon Ellis and Rosalie Chener
landing under palm spray by noisy
title fountain They We're engaged in
arrest conversation. He turned away
nd left them; but not before swift
ang had cut through his heart. How
ivinely sweet she looked standing there
efore the dark fellow, her rare face up
lrned to hist She wore dress of some
ch, clinging blue stuff that followed
le outlines of her form; there was old
ICE about her throat, and she wore
earls in her pale gold hair; a single
reat ruby, the gift of Aunt Marguerite,
none like big drop Of red wine on the
air space at her throat.
Mrs. Roosevelt was charming hostess,
asy, affable, not seeking homage, as
usy among her guests. and quite as un-
as a bee among flowers. She
'ok great pains to introduce Julian,
I'd always with some politely elusive :,
digestion of his distinguished character. .
Few married women were present, K
I'd most of them were of the younger 81
ass, stately and reserved, as became -
uthern matrons, but bright and inter- II
ting on occasion. a
Toward the close of the evening Ed r
II Julian found Rosalie disengaged and n
fered her his arm v
wont you take turn with me?" he b.
id in low tone; "all your guests seem &c
ppily fixed just now, and | may not
We SO good chance to talk with you IA
ain soon. am off for Florida to- at
PROV" h'
$50 soon?" she exclaimed, taking his r,
N; but you will not be gone long; 90
u will return 10
II cannot speak with certainty. l 10
all have to go to Jacksonville and Tai q,
lassee, and then away down through re
; wilderness to Ocala and Tampa. TO
" be gone month" co
lie enunciated the word month as if it w
4 been century or aeon. :
4 should think You would enjoy that \,
p. have always imagined should |
e Florida" she said Il
But have been travelling so much.
l SO rapidly" he replied, carelessly
ing from table, as they passed 1t, a
ay of heliotrope.
And you have not told me what you
=" she quickly said. IL do so much
Mt to hear more about our old chateau
Provence. | call it ours" she added
King up and smiling archly. because
II SO far away that the true owner
not be injured by the assumption of
D. and then papa has been fastening -
fancy in my head ever since my first r.
elections.
Ii ought TO be very pleasant fancy IL
a charmed with Provence" he said. E
h something like eyasiveness in his
,: but one would not care to live
~. il is all so different from what one
and feels and reveres in America
in Provence is good for fancy to