The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1899-11-24


sense of pageant all around her as she
read; while her appreciation of the city
which has mo need Of the sun. neither
of the moon to shine in IT," was as pure
~ sensuous as that of any disciple of
Wagner himself.
"And now little wind and shy."
scattered the apple blossoms over
the path, and the Sunday silence
was broken by a clear child voice.
To Dorcas such sound was as the
sSirl of the pipes TO a Highlander
in a far country; her heart beat
quick and her cheeks grew redder, and
she rushed out to see who "was a-com-
ing;" for Dorcas had put away four"
in the "cemetrary" on the Fletborough
road, and one had lived to be four years
old. Besides, to let anyone pass the
Blue House without "givin' of 'em
good day.' was a thing she had never
done-"not once in 20 years" So she
laid her Bible on the chair. covering IL
with a clean white handkerchief, and
crossed the few feet of garden which
lay between her cottage and the towing
path.
a sturdy little boy, in REFER coat and
muffin cap, with round, fresh little face.
and checks pink as the petals of the
/ apple blossom nearest the calyx. danced
with excitement on the bank as he
watched his father gathering some yell
low flags which grew at the waters
edge The attendant father-parents
and such were always a secondary con-
sideration with Dorcas-was not very
successful, as the ground was soft and
slippery.
1T is wet down there, dad? Can
come? Oh, get that big one just over
there Won't muth be pleased? What
dirty boots you'll have! Shall hold
your stick for you to cling on to?"
Then he noticed Dorcas. Good
morning." said he, with gay courtesy.
"lsn't il fine May morning."
1T be that surely, little master." an
swered Dorcas, in high delight. Then
"the little gentleman S dada'-he never
achieved a separate identity in the mind
of scrambled up from the
swamp in which he had been standing.
lie too. proved most approachahle, and
she learned that the youthful potentate
iu The REFER jacket had never walked
so FAR before that the "scroprd out old
quarry" just beyond the Blue House
was bis destination. and that be would
probably come again next Sunday.
lie came every Sunday morning all
through that summer, and always with
bis dad. Sometimes they went tapping
for fossils in the disusod quarry. some
times they came with butterfly nets and
caucht "tortoiseshells" and "Wail-
browns" and upon one great occasion
"fritillary." But whatever they
sought or whatever they caught, Dor
cas- was always. as who should say,
"in al The death, and shared the excite
ment and the triumph with them.
The little gentleman was very friend
I ly-a child is quick to recognize an
admirer as any pretty woman-and il
F IS possible that the attendant father
understood and INDUCED the childless
woman's craving for child's affection.
Sometimes Dorcas felt a qualm of con-
science, and wondered whether her
adored young gentleman ought not
rather to be in church these sunny
Sunday mornings; though had he been
in church he certainly could have been
nowhere in the neighborhood of the
Blue House. But she was comforted
when she heard that he went with his
mother TO a children's service in the
afternoon. Henceforth she gave her
self up to the study of natural history
and the worship of her dear little gen
tleman" with light heart.
Even in winter he sometimes came
"of fine Sunday" and Dorcas would
spend many hours Of the following
week yainly trying to determine wheth-
er she admired him most in a sailor suit
or in the breeches and CATERS Of which
he was so proud. One never to be
forgotten day the rain came down in
torrents just as her sultan and his
grand vizier reached the Blue house.
They took shelter with Dorcas, and the
sultan was graciously pleased to be
lifted up that he might reach GER
tain mug from the top shelf Of the
dresser-a mug which had belonged to
lin as were gone" Dorcas made
gingerbread cats and ducks, and her
artistic efforts went so far as to at
tempt a king with a crown upon is
cad" After regaling himself with
these delicacies her sultan would hold
up "a rosy face, ornamented by sundry
sticky streaks, to be kissed in fare
we'll; and when she had watched him
round the beud of the canal her eyes
would grow dim, and she would go back
TO the Book of Revelation murmur-
ing TO herself; "The Lard gave and the
Lard ave took away. Blessed be the
name of the Lard"
OF course. the many charms Of the
little gentleman" were duly reported
TO Elijah, and the residence Of Ethni
Harman took a reflected glory from
the fact that IL was but a stones throw
from that Of her sultan.
1t was a wet summer, and there came
four wet Sundays, one after the other.
Vainly did Dorcas try to fix her mind
on the streets Of jasper, while all the
time she was straining her ears for the
sound OF the little voice that never
chimed into the stiffness. She grew
to hate the patter Of the rain on the
path outside; even the fact that the
canal. for once. was full. and three