The Portland daily press., 1897-11-18
BY BRET HARTE
(ALL RIGHTS REsRRvED.)

stranger seemed to yield rather from the
TACT that the Bows were relations OF the
JeHcourts than from any personal prefer
ence. when he was fairly installed in
one of the appropriately gloomy guest
chambers Miss Sally set about the de-
layed work of neutrality-suspicious.
~ accepted by her father, and cynicaliy
tolerated by her Aunt Miranda. But
here difficulty arose which she had not
foreseen. Although Corbin had evidently
forgiven her detection on that memorable
evening, he had not apparently got over
the revelation of her giddy worldliness,
and was resignedly apathetic and dis
trustful of her endeavors. She was at
hrst amused, and then angry. And her
patience was exhausted when she dis
covered that he actually seemed more
anxious to conciliate Julia Jeffcourt than
her mother
8 But she spat in your face" she said,
Indignantly
THAT'S so, he replied gloomily; "but
reckoned You said something in one Of
your letters about turning the other
cheek when you were smitten. or course
as you don't believe it now" he added
with his upward glance, 81 suppose that's
been played on me, too"
But here Miss Sally's spirit laZily re-
belled.
HLook here, MIR. &c seph Jeremiah Cor
bin," she returned with lnnguid imper-
tinence, ''if instead of cavortin' round on
yo' knees trying to concllla'e an old
woman who never had stroke of luck
till you killed her son, and young girl
who won't be above letting on afore you
think it, that your conclllatln' her
means sparkin' her-if instead of that
foolishness you'd turn your hand TO try
ing to conciliate the folks here and keep
'em from going into that FOOLS act of
breaking up these United States; if in
stead of digging up secondhand corpses
that's already been put out of sight
once, you'd set to work to try and prevent
the folks about hare from digging up
their old women fancies, you'd be dom
something like Christian and mani
What's yo' blood outlines I'D like to
know, alongside of the blood outlines Of
those fools who are just wild to rush into
it. led by such turkey cocks as yo' friend
Colonel Starbottle. And you've been five
years in CALIFORNIA; free State-and
that's all yo've toted out OF it--a dead
body There now. don't sit there and
swing 20 hat under that chyar, but rouse
out and come along with me to the pawty
if you can shake foot and show Miss
Pinkney and the gyrls 20 tit for some
thing mo- than to skirmish round as
a black japanned spittoon for Julia jeff
court.'' 1t is not recorded that Corbin
accepted this cheerful invitation, but for
a few days afterwards he was more dark
~ observant of, and respectful 10 Miss
Sally. Strange indeed if he had not no.
ticed-although always in his resigned
fashionable dull green stagnation of the
life around him, or when not accepting it
as part of his trouble he had not chafed
at the arrested youth and senile childish
ness Of the people. Stranger still if he
had not at times been startled to hear
the out-grown superstitions and follies of
his youth voiced again by grown up men,
and perhaps strangest of all, If he had not
vaguely accepted it all as the hereditary
curse of that barbarisn under which he
himself had survived and suffered.
To 1e \