The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-11-15

Il was dDOub 20 ANsadS o9I N1AN~AA
began life as the owner of a vineyard
i'm Western Virginia | bought a large
tract of land, the greater part of which
Law upon the sloping side of one OF
the foothills of the Blue Ridge, the
exposure being that most favorable "a
the growth of the vine. / am an en-
thusiastic lover of the country and Of
country life, and believed that | should
derive more pleasure as well as profit
from the culture of my far-stretching
vineyard than / would from ordinary
farm operations.
| built myself good house of mod
crate size upon a little plateau on the
higher part of my estate. Sitting IN
my front porch, smoking my pipe after
the labors of the day, / could look
down over my vineyard into a beall-
tiful valley, with here and there little
curling smoke arising from some of
the few dwellings which were scattered
about among the groves and spreading
fields, and above this beauty j could
imagine all my hillside clothed in green
and purple.
NV family consisted of myself alone.
1t is true that | expected some day
that there would be others in by house
besides myself, but | was MOI ready
for that yet
During the summer I found il very
pleasant to live by myself. 1t was q
novelty. and / could arrange and man.
age every thing in my own fashion,
which was a pleasure | had not en-
ioyed when l lived in my fathers
house: bllt when winter came j found
it very lonely. Even my servants lived
in cabin at some little distance, and
there were many dark and stormy even
ings when the company, even Of a
bore, would have been welcome to me.
Sometimes | walked over to the town
and visited my friends there, but this
was not feasible on stormy nights, and
the winter seemed TO me q very long
one.
But spring came. outdoor operations
began, and for a few weeks felt again
that | was all-sufficient for my own
pleasure and comfort. Then came a
change One of those seasons of bad
and stormy weather which so fire.
Quently follow an early spring set
tied down upon my spirits and my
hillside. Tt rained. it was cold, fierce
winds blew. and / became more
anxious for somebody 10 talk to than
/ had been at any time during the
winter.
one night, when a very bad storm
was raging. / went to bed early and
as | lay awake / revolved in my mind
the scheme of which / had frequently
thought before. i would build a neat
little house on my grounds, not very
far away from my house, but not too
near, and / would ask Jack Brandiger
to come there and live. Jack was a
friend of mine, who was reading law
in the town, and it seemed to me that
it would be much more pleasant and
even more profitable to read law on
a pretty hillside overlooking a charm
ing valley, with woods and mountains
behind and above him, where he could
ramble to his hearts content
| had thought of asking Jack to come
and live with me, but this idea i soon
dismissed / am very particular
person. and Jack Il not. he leaves his
pipes about in ~all SORTS of places
sometimes when they are still lighted.
When he came to see me he was quite
as likely to put his hat over the ink
stand as to put it anywhere else. But
il aek lived at little distance. aud
we could go backwards and forwards
TO see each other whenever we pleased,
that would be quite another thing lie
could do as he pleased in his own
house, and / could do as I pleased in
mine, and we might have many pleas
ant evenings together. This was a
cheering idea, and was planning how
we might arrange with the negro
woman who managed my household
affairs to attend also to those of Jack, |
when ] fell asleep.
/ did not sleep long before I was
awakened by the increased violence Of
the storm. My house shook with the
fury of the wind the rain seemed to
be pouring on its roof and northern
side as if there were a waterfall above
us, and every now and then / could
hear a shower of hailstones rafting
against the shutters. My bedroom was
one of the rooms on the lower floor, and
even there / could hear the pounding
Of the deluge and the hailstones upon
the roof.
All this was very doleful, and had
tendency to depress the spirits of
waking man, alone in a good-sized
house: but / shook off this depression,
1t was not agreeable to be up here by
myself>in such terible~sto but
there was nothing to be afraid of, as
my house was new and very strongly
built, being constructed of logs, wealth
erboarded outside and sealed within
IT would require a hurricane to blow
off the roof, and L believed my shut.
ters to be hail-proof; SO, as there was no
reason to stay awake, / turned over and
went to sleep.
do not know how long it was before
was awakened again, this time not by
the noise Of the storm, but by a curious
movement Of my bedstead / had once |
felt the slight shock of an earthquake, |
and il seemed to me that this must be |
something of the kind, certainly my bed |
moved under me- | sat up: the room was |
pitchy dark. In moment felt another |
movement but this time it did not seem |
10 resemble an earthquake shock; such
motion, | think, is generally in horizontal |
directions while what / felt was more
like the slower movement of ship upon
the water. The storm was at it's height
the wind ragged aud roared, and the rain
SCENE. 70 be pouring down as heavily |
as ever.