St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-07-28
His easy. unswept hearth he lends
From Labrador to Guadaloupe:


The Spanish is bad, but the sentiment
all there"
, Some one ought to put stop to it.
Don't you be the some one, then
Let her work out her own-salyation
II she is in love with him. she'll do a
she likes; if she isn't, it won't matter
There was presently no doubt abou
her being in love with him. She wa,
frank in most things. was Miss Porter
Ihere was but one matter in which sh,
could bring herself to dissemble, ant
only then because Calverley impressed
the great necessity for it upon her
He explained that though he loved he1
to madness and must marry her, ther,
were sometimes reasons which Amer
leans could not understand why it was
best for Englishmen who were friends
, OF the prince, and so very well connect.
ed as he was, to keep their marriagea
{ secret for a time.
J The girl from the French convent
! might have seen through that. But
. Miss Porter believed it. Anyway, the
! notion of an elopement rather appealed
to her Californian love of the pictur-
esque. Upon the day set she went over
across the bay with light heart and
made her way to the sequestered spot
where he was to meet her and take her
to the church. He was not there. She
waited, but he did not come
At sunset she recrossed the bay
alone, sadder but not yet wiser girl.
Such was her judgment and knowledge
of the world that she thought Calverley
must have met with some horrible ac-
cident.
A note which she found at the house
explained otherwise. 1t was all about
circumstances over which he had no
control, and sudden financial reverses,
and how he should always love her and
cherish her memory. Miss Porter be-
lieved it. And her heart was broken
really broken. She even went so far
as to be desperately i'll for six weeks.
At the end of which time she came
forth again. pale, subdued and wilted,
but with mistaken faith in Calverley.
The faith remained unshaken
through long months Of silence, 81
lence SO profound that she thought it
must be of the grave, and decided that
he had probably killed himself. But
one day that happened which filed her
constant heart with hope once more.
Il say" man said to her, casually,
Il saw your friend, Clayton-C -Calverley,
down south the other day"
Miss Porter turned white, after the
most approved fashion Of the shilling
shocker. and clutched at her throat.
The man very naturally wondered what
the deuce he had gotten into, anyway,
and explained, in answer to her hoarse
entreaty. that he had been in Rands-
burg on business and had met the Brit
isher in the street.
Miss Porter asked if he lived there.
Give it up. / didn't speak to him
and he didn't see me. Only he doesn't |
go by the name of Clayton-C -Ca1verley |
down there. They call him Myers"
There was the suspicion of twitch 1
about the corners of his mouth, but
Miss Porter could not see that it was
funny. She could readily understand
why he had chosen to hide his identity.
A name like Clayton-Calverley would
naturally be unwieldy in a rough min
ing town. +s.r
Now. she was a young woman who
had always done exactly as she pleased
without asking anyone's leaye-fre-
quently for the excellent reason that
there was no one about of whom to ask
it. Such was at present the case. judge
Porter was away, to be gone indefinite-
ly. So she packed her own bag and
bought her own ticket, and took that
nights express for the south, and in
due time the stage set her down in the
town of Randsburg, where her appear
she was gowned with
what had seemed shabby simplicity in
San Francisco caused considerable
excitement and some little levity.
The hotel man was very civil, how
ever, when she asked where she could
find man named Myers. He took her
out into the street and pointed out .
small, unpainted house some distance
away. THAT there's his shack" he
told her, with a distinct note of in
JURY in his voice, which she chose to
ignore; "but he's on day shift, and he
won't come up until six o'clock"
So she went to her room and threw
,ersef on the bunk and waited until
ix o'clock. 1t began to be borne in
lpon her that she had done decidedly
bold thing even for her, and the way
,ut of it was not altogether apparent.
But then Calverley would show her
hat; and at six o'clock she went in
earch of him.
1t was very much of shack. indeed, !.
lis place of abode. Her soul yearned .
oward him, that she should have lived :
n luxury all these months, the while
is fortunes had been so low as this. .
t was also a very untidy woman who ;
pened the shaky door in answer to her :
ot too confident knock; an untidy
roman and weary-looking, but pretty /,
rithal, and young. And the two chill !:
rem who chung to her skirt were pret- !;
y, also. There was third child. 1t ,
-as sitting on Calverley's knee before !.
red-covered supper table. and Calver~ :
y was feeding it something. He sat !,
18th the spoon poised, and a blank look !
! his eyes.
A terrible misgiving took hold of Miss 4
orter. With most women it would :
ave been q certainty. '-Giles!" she Il
allied, losing all presence Of mind.
But he kept his. 1t was not the first o
ying situation he had lived through, s.
Rough it was, perhaps. the most so. o
e rose from his chair and spilled tho Il
lid. His voice rose above its injured Il
owl. Miss Porter." he exclaimed. b
How charming! How unexpected Il
t me present my wife-Mrs. Myers, p
iss Porter" c,
She tried hard to take it well. to ac- S
pit her cue from him and turn the o,
agedy of her life into society skit, 81
ter the manner Of women and OF the s.
". But she failed. When she opened m
r mouth to speak no words would oi
me, and she fell forward into Mrs. oi
yers' arms. y,
Mrs. Myers was very kind to her. She Il