The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-07-18
and where scarcely ripple of the new

order of things was ever heard.
Rich, fatherless, motherless, with
out tie to bind him to any spot, the
young man, after much travel and
many adventures, had come to New
Orleans, whence, in search of what
ever was new or sketchable, he passed
on into the wilderness, and finally
found his way to the lonely shore OF
Bay Saint Louis, where he was glad
to make his home for a time with a
queer little fellow, Vasseur by name,
in q rambling old backwoods house
overlooking the beautiful water.
Vasseur was an enigma to the young
adventurer and as such very interest
ing. He was very dark, could speak
English, but brokenly, and in many
ways his actions suggested q past life
not above outlawry. All the furniture
and belongings of Vasseur's house
hinted at plunder; all Of the mans &C.
tions had about them an atmosphere
of furtiveness.
To pass suddenly from such sur
roundings into the charming circle of
the Vernon household was change
which gave emphasis to the effect. and
it caught the young mans imagination
at once.
And how was it with Pauline?
A young girl under such circum-
stances does not analyze her feelings,
and who shall do it for her?
She sat in the spacious room, and
instinctively her chair was drawn
close to her mother. Her heart was
bull of vague happiness, and any
observer could have seen that she was
quite unconscious of her beauty. Her
expression was oil attention, for every
faculty of her nature had assumed o
receptive attitude; and while Mr.. Ver-
non and Burton Fairfax discussed the
ancient social relations of the YER
mons, the Fairfaxes and the Burtons,
she found a most satisfying pleasure
in the details, although it would have
been quite impossible for to explain
why.
Fairfax gladly accepted an invita-
ton to take luncheon at Vernon Place;
indeed, it required little heroism Oh
his part to refuse Mr.. Vernion's urgent
request that he remain in the house
during the rest OF his sojourn on the
bay shore; especially hard was it to
hold out against the hospitable insis-
tence of the ladies, who. in the good
old Southern style, ioinel in pressing
him to stay. As it was, he took his
departure late in the afternoon; but
Vasseur's was not so far away that he
could not come back every day if he
saw fit.
If he saw fit! Did a young man
ever fail to see fit to 60 back under
such circumstances? Vernon Place
was better in every way than Vasseur's;
Mr.. Vernon was o more interesting
man than Vasseur; Mrs. Vernon was
charming woman; and Pauline
certainly Pauline was lovely, even if
she did not talk much.
The young man lett very pleasant
impression in the household. So
pleasant, indeed, that it wiped out
for the time all memory of the old
wanderer who so lately had occupied
almost their entire thought.
Pauline, after bidding good-by to
Fairfax, ran to her own room and
watched him go away. He had put
on again his belt and pistols, his
pouch of drawing-materials and his
broad hat. The rife across his shoul-
der cleaned bravely in the sunlight.
We could but laugh at such a dis
play of weapons in our day; but then
it was different. The wonder is that
q man could feel quite safe even when
thus apparently over-armed.
To Pauline there was no suggestion
of the bravado of mere outward pre-.
tense in the appearance of Fairfax,
nor ought there to have been. The
times were tragic enough. War be-
tween the United States and Great
Britain was already progressing in
: the North and at any moment might
be transferred to the Gulf coast. Not
only this, but oil the lawless men OF
the remote and to degree unprotect-
ed regions were taking advantage OF
the disturbed state of things to re-
double their defiance of local author
ity. The spirit of violence was in the
air, and an unarmed man was an e1-
ception to prevailing rule.
The vivid imagination of Pauline
Vernon caught an impression from the
young mans snowy armament quite
different from what such q vision
would produce in the mind of bright
girl of our day. To her came thrill
of the romance in the midst of which
she was living. She was not self-con.
scious enough or sufficiently trained
in self-analysis to be aware OF the
source from which the glamour came;
but she felt her right to enjoy to the
full the deep and rich though elusive
charm of the. moment.
She watched the young man until
he passed out of sight, then closed her
eyes, the simple hearted maiden that
she was, as if she could thus shut in
forever the fascinating picture.
TO BE coNT1NUED.)