The record-union., 1898-02-10

Mrs. Cotton raised her cambria hand
kerchicf to her face and sobbed audi
| bly, Had the jury gone out then and
there it is quite likely that it would
have decided not to ruthlessly separate
! the lamented Hobart Cotton from his
broad acres and disconsolate widow.
But Loagstreet's lawyer took advan-
| tage of the temporary lull in affairs
and was on his feet in an instant
Gentlemen" he protested, ''be not
I, deceived by beguiling words. Sensi-
ment is sentiment and law is law.
The two don't often go together. Here,
and ne held up the package of dOcu-
| ments, 'are facts. You can't get around
'em. The question is not what is On
or in that property in litigation, but to
| whom does it belong. These papers
will decide that"
Fifteen minutes later the trial was
| over ana Herbert Longstreet had been
| granted the narrow strip of meadow
| land where Hobart Cotton lay molder-
| Ing to dust. 1t was not much of an
| acquisition reckoning from a financial
standpoint, but it represented a great
| legal battle and for more than an hour
after court adjourned lawyers, Judges,
| jurymen and spectators fingered in the
| halls and lobbieS of the courthouse
/ discussing the result of the Cotton
| Longstreet lawsuit. Everybody was
| glad it was over at last. Even Mrs.
! Cotton, Who retired at once to her room
| at the MOTEL, biinked away the tears of
| chagrin and disappointment and said,
wearily: We'll, thank goodness, I'm
! through with this sickening suspense,
! anyway Her lawyers invaded her
privacy and advised her to take the
case to higher court at once, but Mrs.
| Cotton rejected their proposition.
| ''Fm tired to DEATH" she replied
Wait awhile. I'll see how Herbert
! Longstreet behaves now as a neighhor
! If he is Inmindful of my rights I'll
see about it later on
1t is one thing to be a good wife and
another to be good widow What
ever Mrs. Cottons standing in the
former capacity might have been, GER
tain it is she reached a high degree Of
excellence in the latter role. No man
! could ever leave a better widow than
was Mrs. Cotton. Mr.. Cotton. during
his lifetime, had been veXed by the
many ups and downs that are the in
evitaole heritage of mankind, but Mr..
Cotton, dead, was the possessor of at
least one unalloyed blessing; he was
sincerely mourned by his wife. There
are malicious tongues wagging in every
community and few there were that
unheSitdtfDgly asserted that that be-
lated happiness was the first Mr.. Gotten
had ever experienced through Mrs. Cot
ton. Not all men are privileged to en-
JOY even that dubious pleasure and 1t
might have been some prospective wild
ows who We're contemplating dispensing
with the post-mortem tribute to their
husbands who were responsible for the
lll-natured gossip. Be that as it may,
Mrs. Cotton continued to mourn in
bissful unconsciousness of their scath-
ing remarks.
Mr.. Cotton had been dead five years
When the court decided that his grave
belonged to Herbert LongStreet instead
of the widow, and but few days of that
time had passed without Mrs. Cotton
making the pilgrimage to the spot where
he was buried. The day after her return
from the county seat where the trial
was held she bent her way thither as
usual. 1t was early in the day, but, to
her surprise, Herbert LongStreet and his
emissaries We're ahead of her. Survey
ors were at work measuring off the tract
of ground allotted to her hated neighbor
and laborers were following in their
wake, sinking the posts for the new
fence that was to separate the two es-
tates. number of men We're congre-
gated near the grave when she ap-
preached. When they saw her they took
up their spades and moved away. but
she refused to advance and stood on the
crest of the little knoll near by, sur
veying in dignified silence the rolling
meadows and stunted cedars whose vei-
dure brought out with such remarkable
diStinctness the white stone at the head
of the grave that had been her altar
through all those years. She went again
the next day, and the next, and for
many days after that, but never did she
approach nearer than the crest of the
knoll.
The fence was completed in less than
week. The grave was five feet from the
barbed-Wire meShwork on the Long
street side of the dividing line, while
the knoll was five feet away on the Cot
ton side, and there, at the distance of ten
feet from the green mound she con-
tinued her system of hero worship
throughout the summer and into the
early autumn. Never before had the
grave Of Hobart Cotton been so neg
lected. The lush grass grew thick ana
high. we'll nigh crowding out the trail
ing rosebush that vainly essayed to clasp
its tendrils round the marble slab, and
failing in that attempt crept aimlessly
over the rich earth, only showing a
fragile blossom here and there in the
midst of the riotouS billows of waving
grass. Harvest time came and the mea-
dow was overrun with despoiling reap
ers The knee-high timothy that had
clothed the grave alone was left an
touched and dreary in its garb of ripe
brown grass.
One warm October day Mrs Cotton
sat in her accustomed place on the gen.
tie swell of ground and looked sadly
across the Longstreet domains. Pres
emily she became aware that she was
not to be permitted to enjoy her medi-
| tations uninterrupted. A man, headed
directly toward her, was crossing the
Longstreet meadow at rapid pace The
sloping Of his shoulders and regular
! swinging of his arms told her that her
visitor could be none other than Her
bert Longstreet. He reached the barb
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