Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1894-05-17
he has made you

THIS IS DORR JEWETT,'' HE SAID.
smile, papa, hope he will stay long.
You are very welcome, Mr.. Jewett."
With bewitching grace she extended
her hand. I took it, and new hopes
came to me. The world seemed bright
ening.
We walked up to the house together.
We sat in the cool rooms with their
antique furniture. Mr.. Bostock had
become passive and silent, from the
fatigue, L thought, of unusual emo
tions. But 1 was rejoiced to see that
he looked often at me, and that my
presence seemed to have good effect
on him.
l found Coralie charming, frank, I'M
affected. She wished to be told about
the far northern states, their people
and their ways. All that had to tell
interested her. Then she sang and
played for me exquisitely. 1t was the
music of nature. The hooking birds
song that 1 heard that night in the
magnolias was not sweeter.
At dinner Mr.. LIE Fevre, the overseer,
came in, and we were made acquainted.
He seemed blunt man, but not rude,
and his reserve soon gave way to con-
versation. 1 saw from the looks of
the house-servants that he was no
more a favorite indoors than out.
The quadroon girl who stood behind
Mr.. Bostock's chair and pulled the
cord that moved above the table a fan,
keeping a current of air circulating in
the room-this girl I once observed
making a face" al the overseer, when
he was looking elsewhere.
81 hope you did not whip Jerry,'" said
Mr.. Bostock.
''No, sir, since you desired me not to.
But thrashing would do the boy lots
of good"
remarked.
''Ah, Miss Coral, you'll never under
stand how lazy these niggers are,
when they're not followed close. If it
wasn't for me, your father wouldn't
jeremiah, for Instance: he'd fish in the
bayou and play the banjo all day, if 1
didn't look after him.
Eve do have better crops under Mr..
LIE Fevre's management" said Mr..
Bostock. ''Still, I don't see why he
has to drive up the field hands so.
They get along better on other p1anta-
tions.'
''I'lP show you the difference when
the cane is cut" said the overseer,
with his mouth full.
ST think Mr.. LIE Fevre would get on
easier with our people if he had al
ways been at the SOUTH" said the lady.
''May be so, Miss Coral. I'm a Penn
sylvanian, and 1 came down here fresh,
to learn about the niggers. I know
'em! They want bossing, and good
deal of it.
Weeks passed swiftly by, and 1 re-
manned at this delightful home. Re-
membering my promise, wrote to Mr.. !
Dorion, giving him full account of
affairs here, and of the condition of his
old friend. I will say here, that the
subject Beed not be again referred to,
that, while my presence and the recol-
lections it recalled had a temporary
effect in withdrawing Mr.. Bostock
from the clouds that enveloped him,
that unfortunate condition soon re-
turned. He was sunk in melancholy,
morose and peevish. There was never
a time when the sight of his child or
the sound of her voice would not cause
him to brighten for a moment, and
could see that he sometimes tried to
shake off his shadows and converse
freely with me. But the effort was
vain. The decline of his physical
health was bad enough; but it was not
to be compared to the changed condi-
ton of his mind. I watched him mar
rovvly, and I began to think that Mr..
Dorion was right. The mans mental
faculties were impaired; but there was
some mysterious terror, some haunting
dread back of that condition. He
would sit for an hour sunk in moody
abstraction, and when suddenly adj
dressed would start, look wildly at his
daughter, and recover his sense of his
surroundings slowly and with effort
Could all this be the result of remorse,
the punishment of conscience for the
staying of Castexa No; for recalled
Mr.. Dorion's shuddering description of
the ferocity with which his friend had
avowed that he meant to kill his adver-
sary. My watchings, and my refiec-
tions by day and night, gave me no
cleyv to the mystery of the mans de-
meanor, to the appalling change that
had come over him
$50 the weeks passed. One week had
not gone when I was placed upon a
footing of charming, cordial friend
ship with the beautiful daughter of
this house. We read together, she
oftn aloud from old French romances.