The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-02-28
CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER XII.
There was one spot in Apologize coun-
ty which, in spite of the difficulties at
tending every undertaking and the gen.
eral upheaval Of the old order of things,
took on a fresh lease of life and activ-
ity. This was Belhaven, now the home
of Mr.. Dennis Whitney.
Carpenters, painters, upholsterers,
landscape gardeners and various other
sorts Of artisans who live by the necessi-
ties Of the rich, Observation-Disclosures
from whence no one knew-immediate-
" on the heels of Marianne s evacuation,
until now, at the expiration of few
months, the old place wore the air Of a
fashionable city belle, languishing for
the want Of associates.
Mr.. Dennis Whitney had achieved a
triumph artistically. He had brought
to bear upon the making Of his new
home all the knowledge Of the elegant
side of life picked up by quick percep-
ton in various quarters of the globe.
His billiard room was modelled upon
one he in common with lot of other
tourists had been permitted to examine
in the chateau of real nobleman in
the south of France. The old Belhaven
dining room had touches of Moorish or
namentation, vaguely suggestive ct the
Alhambra. The great central hallway
was divided in two by tapestry por-
there's which might easily pass for gobe-
lin in the absence of any critic who had
ever seen the real thing. 1t was all very
fine, even if little mixed, but it threat
ened to prove lacking in that element
of sweetness which can only be distill-
ed from perfected revenge.
There was really nothing left for him
to do either to the old house or the
grounds Immediately surrounding it.
Everything was in perfect order. His
freshly whitewashed cabins in the quar-
ter lot were full to overlooking with
new tenants, to whom he paid wages.
The novelty Of compensation for services
rendered in those days Of freshly broken
shaokles brought to his doors drove
Of bewildered creatures, tentatively try
ing their great gift of freedom to see
what amount Of strain it would bear.
Actually there was nothing left for
him to do by way Of preparation for that
paying off of old scores which he had
spent SO many years waiting for. The
house, marvel of splendor, was in the
hands of trained corps of domestics,
imported. The plantation was running
along in its new grooves with smooth
ness calculated to ''make the head of
an old time planter swim. {"
The chief misfortune of Mr.. Whit
ney's life at that juncture was that
there was none Of the old time plant
ers' heads within reach, no men for him
to loaf about little Potts wareroom
doors with, discussing crops and the
money market, as old Tony Belknap and
the others had done in those leisurely
bygone days when he, Dennis, the de-
spised son of a plebeian overseer, had
been SCARED for life for striking gen
tleman's dog.
When such thoughts came to him,
that ugly scar over his eye famed angri-
ly, marring the marvellous beauty of his
face with hideous redness.
Things were not working out at all as
he had planned them short year ago,
when, deciding that the moment to
strike had come, he had turned his face
homeward, after years Of pointless wan
behring's in foreign countries; perhaps
not pointless either, as they had brought
to him a certain amount of self respect
due to the lifting of the social barriers
custom had erected about the overseer
class at home.
"But this Internal WARP If he had
known that the sections would actually
come to blows, he would have deferred
his return until better results could have
been secured The plan of revenge he
had been maturing for years included
Colonel Merriman Bascom. He had
meant to settle his Belknap score, and
then, after dazzling the neighborhood
with his splendor, he was to 'thave it
out with Bascom." But here he was,
with no neighbors to dazzle and Bascom
away fighting, with tolerably good
chance of never coming back.
The loneliness of his new life soon
DGEdA w NOdA U EOA q oCt VI uSI fSS LULU
too we'll strung. In the extremity of his
isolation he remembered his sister-the
only living link between him and the
old life, SO full of bitterness and humil-
iation. He invited her to visit him. In
deed, it was not impossible that he
would need her. The prospect of hav-
ing some one besides his trained domes-
tics to view the beauties of Belhaven
renovated restored his good humor. 1t
was pleasant to reflect upon the aston
ishment Betty would experience on her
arrival. She could not fail to be consid-
erably dazzled, for from economical mo-
tf7es he had never descanted largely up
on his improved fortunes in the few let
tiers that had passed between them.