Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-08-07


,remor Of timidity and anxiety was all
too evident
Lo, she was southerner There
was no mistaking that gentle drawl on
the vowels and suppression Of the con-
sonants. shall not try to reproduce
the popularity Of her speech. The
written letters cannot convey what II
was except as you know II already.
and they seem to coarsen II.
She had a manuscript with her that
she hoped might be adapted to the col
umns OF The Evening Appeal; she al
ways enjoyed The Appeal so very
much.
Her manuscript was devoted to pic
turing details Of life on southern
plantation In the autumn. She had
tried to make II timely; she had heard
that that was desirable for daily pa
pers. II was not about the far south.
but told Of things as they might be In
Tennessee or Kentucky-the sorghum
pressing and sweet potato digging and
hog killing.
"oh. l know 1t all 30 WELL" broke
forth.
You? Do you? Why. my dear
child. are you from the southr'
When she found was from Tennes-
zee and that my name was Addington.
We were straightway launched on q
tide Of interchange and reminiscence.
was not surprised to 6nd We knew
all about each others family. l had
dimly supposed We did when l heard
her speak. All southerners do know or
know Of all the rest. and had been
given Of late years rather 10 escaping
than seeking those kindly intimacies
they establish as q matter Of course
when they meet away from home. The
exigencies Of life had forced me to mp
preciate them more In the abstract
than In the concrete.
But only brute could have withheld
q cordial response from this little gen.
tawoman. and. moreover. her name
stood for good deal to my imagina-
ton. II was. she told me. Fanny
Marchbanks Overman.
suppose she had been Mrs. Over
man nearly 40 years; but. being q
southerner. she was still to herself and
her friends Fanny Marchbanks as well
The Marchbanks part was what In
terested me. Ny grandfather's most
intimate friend and his partner for
many years had been Judge March
banks, and even In my half foreign
bringing up I had learned the tradi.
lions Of that stout old Whig's loyalty
and shrewdness and eccentricity. !
had heard. too, Of his daughter-had
heard Of her as the brilliant young
belle who had been my mothers child
ish ideal Of beauty-and now. after all
these years and generations and up
heavals. here were Fanny Marchbanks
and / meeting In the Office Of the New
York Evening Appeal. and she was a
poor old woman wanting to sell an un.
marketable manuscript
That manuscript! The thought OF II
fell upon me like a pail. The worst
was her confidence In me. In my ac-
ceptance Of II. I had been stealing
glances at Il while she told me what a
polished gentleman" my grandfather
was and how smooth my mother wore
her hair when she was q little girl
saw It would be as much as my po-
sition was worth to hand II to the man.
aging editor.
asked her II she had been doing
much writing In New York.
Yes. she had been writing here for a
year and half She had written some
stories for one Of the dying. old fashion
ed magazines: she had had southern
sketch in a good weekly: she had sent
some letters to her church paper In the
south: she had even had some negro
anecdotes published In one Of the
"comic" journals.
could guess what that dear. simple.
girllike old thing had gone through
the struggle and the poverty and the
heart straining anxiety Il had cost to
achieve this much. Now she wanted
TO do more. She wanted to get into
other lines Of writing. and she thought
there must be great i.eid in the daily
papers. And she looked up ut me with
the light of hope and the waver OF fear
In her faded, pretty old eyes.
A bright thought came to save me
from despair-if only she could be
made to share II. A Tennessee senator
had just made some kind Of sensation
in congress. said: "You know Sena-
Lawton, don't you? Then why
can't you take this paper and hx 1t all
up as happening on Senator Lawton'i
place? You've been there. You can
easily make it accurate, then. You see,
| IL you can make II at In with some
thing that is going on that the paperl
are full Of just now 1t will 60. 1t ID
hardly enough to make II simply about
] the present season, though that is well,
but II you show what the LAwtons
home Ii like am sure you can sell II
| to The Earth, and they win pay you
better than this paper Will"
She looked pitifully dubious "You
don't think 1t would be infringing on
| the laws Of hospitalityr she said
"You don't need to be personal and
Jenkinsy," hastened to assure her
! "and you might writs to Colossl Law