Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-10-06
Hamilton Pilklay Fairfax,
BY JoH:S j. A'BEcKET.
AGED ONE DAY.

Attic simmering close of an August
afternoon two young gentlemen might
have been seen climbing out of a dog-cari
drawn up in front of awhitewashed Negro
shanty, on the ragged edge of Maryland
wood-very tidy young fellows, of the
class whose chief claim upon the graft.
tude of the race lies in their lending O
holiday aspect to WORKOUT world. They
were we'll groomed, acceptably featured,
and suggested pleasant consciousness OF
their own worth.
The misty Blue Ridge Mountains were
casting long shadows, quite in the manner
of a Virgilian eclog, athwart the luxuri-
ance of the Frederick Valley, while the
broad cornfelds had lapsed from riotous
gold into russell lassitude, now that the
potent alchemist of the sky had majestic
ally retired behind the line of undulating
hills. The grass, too, had intensified into
bluer green, which the walls, fences and
outhouses diversified with the effective
white of a wash, severely economical, but
of decided artistic value.
tom" said the younger of the two
men, as he busted himself in fastening the
horse TO the tumble-dowl fence skirting
kitchen garden, "you potter around in
the graveyard there while go in and see
Aunt Sarah. l won't be but a minute
and you know you hate the smell of ba-
con in Negroes quarters. There are
some very nice people buried there" he
added, encouragingly.
'All right, a" said Barnard, and, turn
ing, he strolled leisurely toward the
cemetery which lay just this side of the
church, unkcmpt ind neglected. The
little church was attended once a month
from Frederick. The small, whitewashed
box, thin blue smoke floating incident
ly from its brick chimney, and its wood
en- porch smothered with Virginia
creepers, was the abode where Aunt
Sarah ate, breathed and slept, with in
termittent attention to her brood, and
busting ministrations to the priest on his
monthly visits.
She stood in the doorway of her castle
now, her head swathed in faded ban
dana. her arms akimbo. Her white
teeth flashed a warm welcome on Paul
Theron as he picked his way toward the
door.
Lord a-massy, eff dat amt you, Mis'r
Theronn she cried, with colored wo-
mans emotionless vivacity. ~ jes done
thought you'd gone back to New York
it's so long sence seen you"
She firted her checked apron across
the bottom of a wooden chair, and made
him sit down for a moment int the kitch-
en-. The smell of the bacon was there,
with its warm grip on the nostrils; but
Theron did not mind it. 1t only gave
him an appetite.
He found out from Aunt Sarah that
Father Hebcr would come to the chapel
the following Sunday. His sister had
asked him to see when the priest would
be there, as it.would spare her q trip to
Frederick if she could speak to him when
he came to the mission.
Theron could not get away without
partaking of the Negroes hospitality to
the extent of glass of milk, which she
brought, cool and creamy, from the
dairy, where the water-cresses grew so
thickly around the spring. He pro-
nounced it delicious as he dried his lips
with a silk handkerchief. Then he shook
hands with Aunt Sarah, pinched the
black cheek of pickaninny who was
dragging at her skirts, and went toward
the cemetery where he saw Bar.
nard standing up to his knees in the long
grass.
Barnard looked up at his approach, a
broad smile parting his lips.
"Paul, Just see what l have discov-
cred, I" he said, as Thereon tore his way
gingerly through the vines and blackberry
bushes. He pointed to small, conical
shaft of marble, stained yellow-white by
the weather, and half yard high.
There was something amusing in the
dignified stand it seemed to take among
the impressive tombs whose brick walls
supported thick slabs. Some Of them
had sunk into the earth on one side, and
he letters cut into the marble were so
blackened with lichens as to be almost
undecipherable.
"Shades If Gulliverw said Theron, as
he caught sight of the perky shaft.
"Who is the dead giantg"
"Read!" exclaimed Barnard, with his
hands thrust into his pockets. 1.-THE in
scTiption gives his whole history"
Theron got down on one knee, brushed
aside the slender grasses, which rose to
the full height of the monument, and cast
delicate tracery of shadow over the
name:
HAMILTON PrNKNEy FAIRFAx:
AoGD ONE DAY."
He rose with a smile.