Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-01-30

II would like you to interest yourself
In something serious. Aurore, either in
housekeeping cares, or in a course Of
Improving reading II the femirine
element OF the south Is not going to ad
vance. would really like to know what
was the good Of the civil war"
THAT is what always thought,
Aurore asserted. "What was the good
Of it--except to make us poorr
Miss Maria sighed This was indeed
q hopeless case.
81 hope you are not grieving over
Cecil Nettoyer," she said abruptly.
''He is a most offensive young man 10
me. You ought TO marry practical
man; some one to steady you, not a
poetry writing fellow Of the same kind. .
Aurore made one Of her faint, lazy
protests.
'Cecil works naman; he keeps up
the old place nicely. 1t Is only in
leisure hours that he writes poetry and
plays on the violin"
'WeII. IL stands to reason" Miss
Maria went on, that il he spends any
time In the twenty-four doing such
things as that, he must think of them
the rest of the day. At any rate, feel
that / did perfectly right to forbid him
to:come here. When you are twenty
five you can do as you please, bat till
then must do what is my duty"
81 shall be an old woman at twenty
five," Aurore said languidly. 1--WE are
not like you northerners. But we will
not discuss the matter, maman. What
Is to be will be, and for one am con
tent to let things drift. l have said
nothing to you about your putting poor
Cecil out of doors; but it was hard
hearted and not very reasonable"
Miss Maria turned away. The
thoughts under her auburn curls,
dressed in an old fashioned manner
and streaked with gray, were not happy
ones. She was endeayoring to perform
certain quite abnormal duties at the in
stigation of the Puritan conscience,
backed up by her Puritan obstinacy.
Cecil Nettoyer was precisely the
genus of young man abhorrent to her
soul. His warm, almost caressing,
manner, his love of music, his pictur-
esque dress, all represented to her a
combination of weakness and wicked
ness. She could not and would not
see that he had practical purpose under
all this ornament, and refused to give
him the credit for his profitably man
aged plantation.
''The place runs ITSELF" she was wont
to observe, unwilling to feel that,
though he played Chopin in the even
ing, his knowledge of sugar planting
was in now way lessened by his knowl-
edge of music. He pleaded guilty to
reading Daudet through many morn
ing hour on his front veranda; but no
man upon the Mississippi was better
served than Cecil Nettoyer, or had
more perfectly the grasp of his own af-
fairs.
He had complacent philosophy of
his own, and the sense of humor gen
orally observed in men of strong will
power.
Gan things come to those who wait, I"
he was wont to observe himself, "even
Miss Maria"
Tildie was gathering blackberries by
the fence which separated their planta-
tion from Nettoyer's. Her basket was
partly full, her yellow sunbonnet hung
on a neighboring bramble, and each in
dividual braid had assumed the strictly
perpendicular.
Presently her name was called, and
Mr.. Nettoyer's countenance appeared
on the other side of the fence. Now
this young man was a weakness of Til
dies. He was her sole embodiment of
the hero of romance, although she did
not in good truth know that there was
such an article anywhere. Human
nature, even when 1t happens TO be cof-
fee colored, Graves instinctively for the
ideal
~ am going away to Memphis on
the z o'clock boat, Tildie," Cecil said.
II would like to see Miss Aurore and
tell her goodby. What will she be
doing from o'clock until 81"
Tildie reflected.
Miss Mira, she been a-melxin her
read to her pretty reg'ler fer the las
two weeks"
Cecil saw the case was hopeless. The
expression on his face touched Tildie.
The African cunning and the Caucasian
admiration stirred within her.
''Lemme think, Mr.. Cecil Her maw
are powerful mean to Miss Aurore bout
you. Thar amt no sense in it. done
say TO Miss Mira mo- times than one;
Mr. Cecil Nettoyer--he amt no lazy
man; he puts the right value on hissf.
Thar amt no nigger that dares TO play
of ON him, and he dun have no fool
ing round him."
what does she sayf" MFR. Nettoyer
Queried, with an amused smile.
''oh, she tell me ter tend ter my
own business but Miss Mira do lissen
ter me. She low | kin please her
beter'n anybody ON dc place"
"Well, goodby, Tildie, he said, turn.
ing away, but she called him back.
"Mr. Cecil" she exclaimed, ''you
come round ter our house this after
noon. Come about o'clock, walkin
kinder easy and natural like round to
the little gallery in the east side, where
Miss Aurore sits In tn afternoons l
gwine tend 10 Miss Mira
why, Tldie." he asked, what
would you dot You'd have to kin
Miss Maria 10 get her of guard
s,RI..as W. sonl Mr. Capil 4 Nsonl1nf