The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-11-13
(Chapter H.


at Pineville, WAS q ne specimen of
southern classical construction being an
exact copy of Major Fauquler's house in
Virginia which was in turn only q
slight var alton from well-known state
mans historical villa at Alabama, that
everybody knew was designed from
famous Greek Temple on the Piraeus.
Not but that it shared this resem blance
with the County Court House and the
Odd Fellows Hall, but the addition OF
training jessamine and Cherokee rose to
the columns of the portico, ana over the
colonnade leading to its Offices, showed a
certain domestic distinction. And the
sky line of its anonymously high roof
was pleasantly broken against adjacent
green pines, "butternut' and darker
cypress.
gate posts-whose red brick core was re-
vealed through the dropping plaster
opening in q wall OF half rough stone,
half wooden palisade equally covered
with shining moss and parasitical vines,
which hid tangled garden left to its
own unkempt luxurianoe. Yet there was
a "Reminiscences OF past formality and even
pretentiousness in a wide box bordered
terrace and one or two succeed vases pre-
lnatuYely worn and time-stained, and
several rare exotics, which had. however,
thriven so unwisely and we'll in that
stimulating soil as to lose their exclusive
refinement and acquire certain temper
airy vulgarity. A few, with the not I'M
common enthusiasm of aliens, had adopt
ed certain native peouliarities with
zeal that far exceeded any indigenous
performance. But dominant through
all was the continual suggestion of pre-
cocious fruition and speedy decay that
fingered like a sad perfume in the gar
den, and made itself persistent If less
poetical in the house.
Here the futed wooden columns of the
onIO fn hoy
taken upon themselves sodden and IN
wholesome age unknown to stone and
mortar. Moss and creeper chung to paint
that time had neither dried nor mellowed,
but left still glary in its white consis-
fancy There were rusty red blotohes
around infiamed nail holes in the swollen
wood as of punctures in living flesh;
along the entablature and cornices and in
the dank cutters decay had taken the
form of a mild deliquescenCe; and the
pillars were spotted as If Nature had
: dropped over the too early ruin q few I'M
clean tears. The house itself was lifted
upon q broad wooden foundation, painted
to initiate marble with such hopeless
mendacity that the architect at the last
moment had added a green border, and
the owner permitted fallen board to
remain off so as to allow a few privileged
fowls to unblushingly explore tie inter
q Tor. When Miss Sally Dows played the
piano in the drawing room she was at
< times accompanied by the uplifted voice
of the sympathetic hounds who sought its
= quiet retreat in ill-health or low spirits,
and from whom she was separated only
by an imperfectly carpetad floor OF yawn-
ing seams. The infant progeny OF Mann
my judy an old nurse, made this a
hiding place from domestic justice, where
they were eventually betrayed by sub err
ranean giggling that had once or twice
brought bashful confusion to the hearts
of Miss Sally's admirers, and InischieV-
GUS security to that finished coquette
herself.
1t was pleasant September afternoon,
on possibly one of these occasions, that
Miss Sally, sitting before the piano. alter
nately striking few notes with three
pink fingers and CHANGING at her retec.
ton in the polished rosewood su1face OF
the lifted key board case, was heard to
utter this languid protest:
ssQuit that kind of talk, Chet, unless
you just admire to have every word of it
repeated all over the country. Those lit
tie niggers of Nanny Judy's are lying
round somewhere, and are mighty cute,
and sassy, tell you. It's nothin' to me,
sure but Miss Hilda mightn't like to
hear of it. So soon after your particular
attention to her at last nights party,
too
Here a fresh looking young fellow of
six and twenty, leaning uneasily over the
piano from the opposite side, was heard
Hilda heard, nor the whole world, for the
matter of that. but he added with
u faint smile, folks allow that you know
how TO play up sometimes, and put on
the loud pedal, when you don't want
MamIny's niggers to hear.
Indeed said the young lady, de
murely F'Like tbis?''
She put out a distracting little foot,
clothed in the white stocking and cool
black prunella slippers then de rigueul
in the state, and pressing it on the pedal
began to drum vigorously on the keys
In vain the amorous Chet protested in q
voice which the instrument drowned.
Perceiving which the artful young lady
opened her blue eyes mildly and said.
81 reckon it is so; it does kind OF pre-
vent you hearing what you don't want te
hear
You know well enough what mean. .
said the youth gloomily ''And that
nint all that folks say They allow that
your doin' heap too much correspon
dence with that Californian rough that
killed Tom Je1fcourt over there. -
''Do they?' said the young lady, with
slight curl of her pretty lip. Then
perhaps they allow that if it wasn't fol
me he wouldn't be sending hundred
dollars month to Aunt Martha?'
yea said the fatuous youth; bu
they allow he killed Tom for his money.
And they do say it mighty queer doins
in yo' writin' religious letters to him,
and Tom your own cousin
80, they tell those lies here, do they
But do they say anything about how,
when the same lies were told over in
California, the lawyer they've got over
there, called Colonel Starbottle-a South
ern man, too-got up and just wrote tc
Aunt Martha that sne'd better quit that
afore she got prosecuted? They didn't
tell you that, did they, Mister Chester
Brcoks?'
But here the unfortunate Brooks, after
the fashion of all jealous lovers, deserted
his allies for his fair enemy. 81 don't
cotton to what they say. Sally, but you
do write to him, and I don't see what
you We got to write about-you and him,
julie Jefcourt says that when you got
religion at Atlanta during the revival
you felt you had a call to write and save
sinners, and you did that as your tria-
and probation, but that since you back
sided and are worldly again, and go tc
parGies you just keep it up for fcolin'
and flirtini She amt goin' to weaken