The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1901-09-13

NTAVERICK'S sail came slipping
lFI down the creek in the hour be-
fore dawn. There was an arc of
growing light in the east with Jupi-
ter shining white above.
He had been to the county town to
try to raise money on his last bit of
land, of which the waves were max
ing an island before blotting it out
altogether.
When estates were to be had for
the asking, the first Maverick could
go 20 miles on his own domain. He
built the church of st. Deny's, b &
NJ, that is still standing, and gave
the glebe lands; he abhorred a
Puritan, upheld the authority of the
king and the lord proprietary, signed
his name with cross, and left to his
articled servant, Haines, such unman-
" employment as reading and writ
ing. Master and man lived in 1910,
before the men from Nansemond
made trouble in camp and state.
After 1776, a Maverick of the fourth
generation was a loyalist impover-
ished by a patriotic Haines, who
through cleverness at statecraft
had come to a responsible position,
and who had married the daughter of
a colonial dignitary. In marriage a
Haines had ever a taste for alliance
with his betters; several spinster
brides had aided their rising fortunes
with the influence of name.
The matrimonial ventures of a
Maverick were brought about by the
attraction of the moment. A milk
maid, or a girl from a wayside inn
made a charming bride, providing she
had the beauty and brilliance of
youth.
Haines' craftsmanship of the pres
ent day had narrowed to county poll
ticsand controlling hand over lucra-
tive Offices; while Maverick earned
scant living from the water and from
the few acres he had left. Something
more by inheritance still remained to
him-a contempt for books, two tank
ards with well-worn thumb pieces, a
superstitious reverence for the hos
pitalty of his poor house, and an un-
impaired hatred of Haines.
lie kept a careless hand on the till
er. and went over the news he had
heard in town: Haines, who was
county treasurer, had defaulted. His
political opponents were in power,
even the Judges on the bench were
against him; he was fugitive, with
the certainty of a vigorous justice be
fore him. He might have got out OF
the country if he had not risked his
freedom for the sake of sick child,
a son whom he dearly loved.
Maverick recalled the tax gather
er's petty prosecutions over his own
insignificant 1.-THE. He summed up an
account of generations, and laughed
at the result.
As his keel dragged the sand, his
wife ran down through the half light
to the edge of the water. She was
small and very young, and she ran
on tiptoe, beating the air with heI
hands as if buoying her movements
Eagerness shone in her eyes and in
the trembling of her compressed lips.
He lad married after the custom OF
his people, and in her he worshiped
youth and beauty in the concrete.
She pushed him away and turned
from his kiss to ask:
"Did the man let you have the
money!"
"No." E.
She skipped from one foot to the
other:
'I've got it. can do better'n you
by staying home"
"What?"
ave got the money. Hurry up
Maverick made the boat fast, ano
rumaged in the locker for his pur'
chases.
'What difference does il make
about the old boat? Hurry. hurry"
He awkwardly united a package |
and held a red ribbon and some mint
sticks above her head.
"What'n you give for them?"
"Here." she said, impatiently. and |
lifted her face TO kiss him. Don't you |
see the sun'll be up in less than an
hour? Come up to the house. There's
the money for the mortgage on the
room floor"
He followed her up the path. She |
signed to him TO walk softly and he
initiated her light motions. The inner
door was ajar, and as he peered into
the dusky place he saw, first, familiar
things that had been associated with /
him for 50 years. picture, an oaken
settee and the two old tankards. which /
the girl beside him had kept brightly
polished to while away her time. Aft !