The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-10-03

with any degree of sxactitude why it
had been 30.
The adventure with the hunchback
fingered in his memory as something
picturesquely fsinister and pathetic;
then Colonel Loring arose before him
whichever way he turned his mind,
with the growing certainty that he
was identical with Pierre Rameau, the
robber; above and beyond oil,
Fairfax was annoyed with himself, be-
cause he had let the evening go by
without paying any special attention
to Pauline.
He felt humiliated that he should
have frittered away so much time
with the wound on his hand which,
after all, seemed so small a thing,
while men like Parker and Lieutenant
Ballanche were boldly seizing upon
every advantage offered them for cul-
tivating the good will of Mrs. Vernon
and her daughter. He recognized
himself as one of those imaginative,
self-conscious youths who dream that
the smallest matter affecting them is
of prime Importance to the rest OF
mankind. He could not resist the
impulse to laugh in bitter way at
the turn affairs had taken with him.
Like small boy, he had made faces
over q sore finger, while the most inn
portant crisis las he now felt) OF his
whole life had drawn past him.
Fairfax realized in way how little
right he had to connect Pauline with
any loYe-dream Of his own. He had
never spoken word of love to her,
and this seemed inexplicable to him
now. Why had he not? Perhaps he
had been foolishly sure of his stand
ing in her regard; he had taken too
much for granted. .
Reflections like these, while they
made him uneasy, as is one who con-
sciously walks upon, treacherous
ground, led him to resolve that Pau
line should hear his plea and give
him his answer at the first opportune
moment. Young men often make
these resolves and almost as frequent.
ly, perhaps, recede from them when
the crucial moment comes. 1t is love
that makes them brave, and it is love
as we'll that makes them towards.
The summer went by-as summers
do in that beautiful gulf-coast climate
with days that burned through the
noon and softened down to delicious
GOODNESS toward nightfall, and nights
whose dreamy splendor made the
creole city, with all its gayety, it's IN
trigue, its excitements, place OF in
describable allurements!
In the autumn the English fleet
was making ready to swing round the
gult.coast. Colonel Nichols had ar
rived at Pensacola, and acting for the
British Government, had set on foot
a scheme by which he hoped to stir
up the. Indians to renewed hostilities
and at the same time induce the white
population of Louisiana to revolt
against the United States Govern
ment.
Lieutenant Ballanche went away to
join General Jackson, to whom he re-
ported the situation in the New Or
leans district, and did not return un-
til about the f-st days in December.
Colonel Loring also disappeared,
going, it was understood, on mission
connected with some scheme of his
in Mississippi, while Parker, the
shrewd and self-conident youth, had
hidden his many friends in New Or
leans goodbye apd set out for his
home in Tennessee about the first of
August. .' r..
Fairfax had still another cause for
discomfort which he made the most
of. Colonel Loring had rescued Pau
line and Mrs. Vernon from imminent
danger in the midst of a crowd of
rioting sailors and boatmen. The
ladies were in the Vernon carriage,
aud just as it turned a street-corne er
they found themselves surrounded by
mob OF men who were fighting with
slaves, knives, pistols, cutlasses and
whatever weapons they could COM
mand.
Aside from the actual danger of the
situation; the brutal fury of the COM
batants; the atroeious profanity and
sickening sounds of slashing and
stabbing and shooting; the bewilder,
ment and fright of the coachman, who
presently abandoned his place to
seek safety in fight, and the wild
rearing and plunging OF the horses in
the midst of the crowding and heed
less mass of riders-the ladies had
good cause to faint at the mere
thought of what brutality the scene
implied, if they had been of the tenn
permanent dear to old romance. They
called loudly for help, but who was
likely to hear or to heed? e.
Fairfax chanced to be near the outer
fringe of the crowd and recognized
Pauline's voice. He rushed to the
spot, only to find that Colonel Loring
bad already rendered all the service
that was needed-had sprung, indeed,
to the coachman's seat and was turn
ing the horses down o narrow side
street. The eyes of the two met
for an instant at this point, Loring
giving to his glance an expression of
triumph, as Fairfax thought, and
Fairfax himself scowling so viciously
that, although Pauline looked straight
into his face, she did not recognize
him at the time.
Colonel Loring's promptness and
nerve doubtless served the ladies
from death or great injury. He drove
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