The Winslow mail., 1897-12-18
THE GOVERNORS
TRAGEDY.

A S the Governor rode last my

A S the Governor rode last my
~ grandnlOthers house on the
IL h spring morning when he left the
/ State forever he wore his uniform and
carried the sword with which he after
wards led the charge at San Jacinto.
H, was a tall man, broad-shouldered
and well-klgit, with a certain graceful
stateliness which, though he had it by
nature, he had not left uncultivated. 1t
was held in those days to be mark of
the person of quality, and from the
time when as a boy of 10 he had lain
on the puncheon floor of his fathers
cabin spelling out Pope's Iliad by the
light of a pine knot, the Governor had
always felt himself person of quality.
My grandmother was on the porch as
he passed and he bowed low to her,
tremendously doffing his hat, as he al
ways did to ladies. 1t was the last time
she ever saw him, and though she had
| been his warmest friend, he kept his
own counsel with her as with every
one else.
| To the day of his death, he never ex-
planned himself ''Sir," he would say,
4 in response to every attempt to draw
4 him out, ''let US speak of something
else" And the bow With which he said
1 1t was conclusive. When he had just
| reached the summit of what had been
his ambition; when he was Governor
\ of what was then the pivotal State of
/ the Union, with tine Presidency as
possibility for him, and the United
States Senate for life certainty, why
1t was that he chose to dress himself
| in his uniform and ride out into the
wilderness beyond the 4 isrissippi,
! never to return his biographers have
not been able to explain except in
vague generalities. How my grand
mother knew the STORY 1 cannot say,
further than that she was the friend
not only Of the Governor himself, but
of Virginia Frazer and Of John Endl-
colt, the Governors private secretary,
who made the trouble between them.
! ''It is true, my DEAR" said my grand
mother to me, "that Endicott was
\ Yankee and an impecunious school
u teacher, but he was a Harvard grad
uate and a gentleman. The Endicotts
are an excellent family-almost as good
ais our own, or as Virginia's. And the
Governor, you know, though one Of the
best bred men 1 ever saw, lacked the
great advantage Of descent from we'll
| bred people,"
! Those who conclude from this that
my grandmother was something of a
Tory will not be wholly mistaken, but
If they had known the charming Old
lady as we'll as they would forgive her
as easily as I do, even though-which
| is not likely-they are as radical in
their politics as 1 am thought to be by
some.
! The Governors honeymoon was bare
ly over when he left the State. The
fact of his resignation, which he had
| addressed in due form to the presiding
officer Of the Senate, was not generally
known until he was 300 miles away,
sitting in a Cherokee cabin, smoking
an Indian pipe, as silent and impassive
as any other savage of those around
1 him. For that was undoubtedly his
idea at the time to renounce civilization
forever and live a barbarian among
barbarians-
Mrs. Frazer, Virginia's mother, was q
famous matchmaker and one Of the
Governors staunchest partisans. eff
he was born in a cabin" she said to
nv grandfather few days before the
wedding, "he has more brains than any
other man in the State. expect to see
him President yet"
With visions of Virginia in the White
House and herself as the power behind
the throne, she was correSpondingly
elated on the night of the wedding. 1t
Is no part of my purpose to attempt to
describe her feelings when the catas-
trophe came and she found herself
face to face with the climax of one Of
those tragedies which compel silence
in all who are incapable of resigna-
ton.
When Endicott first met Virginia
( Frazer he was not more than %, very
| handsome, and with an unaSSuming
1 self-possession which made amends for
his lack of the ceremOniOus courtesy
habitual to the society into which he
/ was thrown. There had been a marked
attraction between MIN ana virginia
from their first acquaintance, and me
who did not know her mother expected
. It to be a match. But Virginia, before
any one knew of her engagement to the
Governor, had begun to hold Endicott
| at arms length, and after the climax
there was never the lightest scandal
! connecting her name with his.
She was not more than 20 at the time
of her marriage. Six weeks later, when
| she stood before the fireplace of her
/ eitting-room as the Governor entered
at II o'clock at night, she wore the
! muslin whose contrasting whiteness
had so heightened her brunette beauty
on the day after her marriage. The
Governor had just come fro-n con-
ference of his political friends and was
flushed and hopeful. His wife did not
move as he entered the room. Her
face was half averted when, with his
usual impressive gallantry, he took off
his hat at the door and crossed the
room to kiss her hand. He had taken 1t
In his and his lips had almost touched
/ It when she hastily-almost violently
/ withdrew it. Slipping past him, she
L In fla IF h0 f9PinO