Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-09-23
C H | @ E,

| There WAS a great noise! Shouts -
hoarse, shrill, sweet, harsh! The deep ba,W
of young men; the feeble quaveripg of o'd
ones. the silvery tones of women; the high
| falsetto of children; all mingIing in delight
and exultation, and without shadow OF
pity for the miserable wretches whose lives
were passing slowly out of their mangied
| bodies through score of wounds. The
late afternoon sun beat down hotly on thou
sands of heads, save where on one side
friendly walls afforded shelter from its
rays. In the great open srena-the sky its
only canopy-a haze OF dust, with the heavy
vapors always attendant upon a vast con-
! course of people, naads the atmosphere so
| hard to breathe that the multitude Easped
with the effort between its shouts.
Fans waved in a thousand bejsweled
hands, but the artificial current of air thus
created was hardly psrceptible. Itwas hot
-steamily hot, and anything but Mexi-
can audience, which had just Witnessed
the Slaughter of one of the fieroest and
gamest bulls that ever put matador in
deadly peril, would long ago have left the
building.
THAT matador is brave fellow. How
neatly he found the heart with one plunge
below tue shoulder. He handles his sword
like master, eh, senorp" said dark WIS.,
aged, powerfully built Mexican, as he fan
ned himself with his large sombrero, and
looked in the face of quiet looking, well
dressed man at his side.
"Yes. He is skilltul swordsman, un-
6oubtedly," was the reply of the we'll
cents.
The elldressed man, with the northern
accent had sat through the performance
quietly and with the air of one who had
nothing particular to do OF he would not
have been there Sunday bullfghts evi.
IDENTIFY interested him but slightly. His
eyes we're turned toward the arena, because
from his seat it was easier to look in that
direction than in any other, but any one
could have seen that his thoughts we're far
away.
Edward Payson, ha was saying to him
self, as a scornful smile passed over his
handsome features, what are you doing
here with that letter in your pocket, show
ing you how foolish you are in putting off
your happiness? Becanse you have been an
exile for ten years is it necessary for you to
stay away from home anot her ten years,
when the one girl you ever loved beseeches
you to return? If she did tell you then
that what you hoped could never be, can
gCU uUb UbllcV0 bldb eng was iteb06Cu III
her Own heart, and that long absence has
taught her that she does cars for your What
other construction is to bs put on the words
in her letter?
Edward Payson drew letter from his
pocket and looked at it earnestly, just as
the bull in the ring transfixed horse with
one of its long horns, and buried the other
in tho arm of the unluoky picador on his
back. Through all the hnobub of shout
ing that followed this incident, Edward
Payson seemed to witness Q a',eno very diff
| ferent from that spread befote him. The
letter, with the superscription in refined,
ladylike hand, lad awakened u flood of
memories that swept everything present
| away.
He saw large, well kept lawn, fringed
| by sycamore. maple and oak, with the
bright red OF the suuach and the delicate
white OF the syringe relieving their somber
shadows. He saw the massive architecture
of a stone mansion, half hidden by the Vir-
| yinia creeper aud ivy which chung lovingly
| to its rugged walls. He saw the nome Of a
noble Virginia family, with thu simplicity
Of q republic enriched by the lavish taste of
8 race still authorized by the College OF
heraldry to display shield With sixteen
qusrterings. He saw in the distance the
colored laboTers working in the fertilefelds.
He saw the whole picture in a golden franc
Of still summer weather. and he could al
most feel On his cheek the gentle breeze
from the Rsppahannock as it rolled slowly
past on its way to the sea.
The bull had broken away now and vas
dashing wildly around on the blood. stained
sd dust. with its hot eyes fixed on plcs.
dor waiting for the attack while the multi.
tude how led with excitement.
But Edward PAyson paid no heed. Hs
saw coming out of the front door OF the
mansion and surveying hiu, with ssucy
smile, as she stood on the versnds, a young
girl in her teens, with wealth of chestnut
brown hair giistening in the morning sun.
Her garden hat was swung carelessly by
the ribbons from her hand, and the brown
hair, just stirred by the breeze, seemed to
ripple in harmony with the impulsive good
nature expressed in her sweet face. The
clea--cut features, softened by an utterly
unselfish disposition, were those of a natural
aristocrat-the aristocracy which holds IL
aelf above paltry action and supercilioua