The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-03-01

form outside. Above them wooden
ledge or cornice, projecting several
inches, ran the whole length Of the
building. 1t was on this that Miss Sally
had evidently found foothold while
she was mailing up trellis work OF laths
between it and the windows Of the sec
ond floor. Courtland found the ladder,
mounted to the ledge, followed by the
young girl who smilingly waved his
proffered hand to help her up, and the two
gravely set to work. But in the inter
walls of hammering and tying up tne
vines, Miss Sally's tongue was not idle'
Her talk was as fresh, as quaint, as
original as herself, and yet SO practical
and to the purpose of Courtland's visit'
as to excuse his delight In 1t and her
own fascinating propinquity. Whether
she stopped to take nail from between
her pretty lips when she spoke to him
or whether holding on perilously with
one hand to the trellis while she ges-
ticulated with the hammer, pointing out
the divisions of the plantation from her
coign of vantage, she was as clear and
convincing to his intellect as she was
distracting to his senses.
She told him how the war had broken
UP their old home in Pineville, sending
her father to serve in the confederate
councils of Richmond, leaving her aunt
and herself to manage the property
alone; how tho estate had been deyas-
tated, the house destroyed, and how
they had barely time to remove few
valuables; how although she had always
been opposed to secession, and the war;
she had not gone north, preferring to
STAY with her people and take with them
the punishment of the folly she had
foreseen. Now after the war and her
fathers death she and her aunt had de-
termined to reconstruct MenlSe!pes'
after their own fashion on this bit OF
property which had survived their for
tunes because it had always been con-
sidered valueless and Improbable for
negro labor. How al. first they had'un-
dergone serious difficulty through the
incompetence and ignorance of the
freed laborer and the equal apathy and
prejudice of their neighbors. How they
had gradually succeeded with the adop'
ton of new methods and ideas that she
herself had conceived, which she now
briefly and clearly stated. Courtlan6
listened with new, breathless and al
most superstitious interest; they wer'
his o,on theories-perfected and demon
strated!
"But you must have had capital TO
thisP"
All yesl that was where they wer
fortunate. There were some Frencl
cousins with whom she had once staye'
in Paris, who advanced enough to star
the estate. There were some Englis
friends of her father's-old blockad
:, runners-who had taken shares, pre-
~ vided them with more capital and in
70 ported some skilled laborers and kin
y of steward or agent to represent then
u But they were getting on, and perhar
y it was better for their reputation wit
y their neighbors that they had not bee
oi 5eJtolden to the moth. Seeing clou
40 pass over Courtland's face, the youn
10 10 lady added with an affected sigh an
:" the first touch of feminine coquet'
:, which had invaded their wholesop
~ camaraderie;
a. "Yo' ought to have found us out b
\. fore, connie"
A For an impulsive moment Courtlal
y, felt like telling her then and there u
yS story Of his romantic quest; but the I
On Election that they were standing on
pr narrow ledge with no room for the EN-
o tions and that Miss Sally had just put
nail In her mouth and start might
eI dangerous, checked him. To this mi
", be added new jealousy OF her rprevio
Vi experiences which he had not felt B
's- fore. Nevertheless he managed to 81
Va with some effusion:
o "But hope we are not too late no
~ 'a' think my principals are quite rea'
~ ~ and able TO buy up any English
% French investor now or TO come"
"Yo' might try yo' hand on that one
"a said Miss Sally, pointing to young Il
lo low who had just emerged from the
,e' fee and was crossing the courtyar
~ !. "He's the English agent"
He was square shouldered and roun
yo headed, fresh and clean looking in
~, I'm white flannels, but with an air OF bel,
Hy s utterly distinct and alien to everythil
~ % around him and mentally and moral