St. Tammany farmer., 1901-09-14
Sold for Naught.
By Mrs. Amelia E. Barr.
Under the shadow of the laburnum


Under the shadow of the laburnum
u trees, crowned with their golden
wealth of blossoms, Eleanor Raby
waited for her lover. And yet few
would have guessed it, for on her face
was the shadow of doubt and per-
plexity, instead of the light of love;
and her irresolute movements be-
trayed heart i'll at ease.
Il am going to be fool again.
she murmured. "And the worst of it
is. I like the folly"
And there were few girls who
would not have liked ''the folly" rep
resented by the handsome Antony
Vaughan. Over the heathery hills she
watched him coming now, his great
black horse devouring the distance
between them in long swinging
strides, stopping neither "for brake
nor. for stone," and taking the low
garden wall in a well-distanced leap,
which brought him almost to her
side. Stately and handsome, brave
and gentle, read in all the learning
Eleanor want? All these "availed
him nothing" while his poverty sat
like Mordecai in the gate. And so
she had determined that, sweet as
these meetings were, this should be
the last; for this woman had the ma
ture of Dian in the form of Venus,
and not for love was she going to
sacrifice the more tangible benefits
of gold and position. Still, with his
arms around her, and whispered
words of endearment trembling from
his lips to hers, it was hard to tell
him SO. The intoxication of his pres
eDce made her for little while obe-
dient to the dignity within her; but
when he began to speak of a definite
engagement and certain marriage
day, however distant, she broke at
once the spell which had held her
passive in his embrace.
1.-The thing is impossible, Antony"
she said, sadly, but decidedly. "We
might starve, but we could not live
decently on $500 year. My father
has more than double that, and he
never is able to make both ends of
the year agree comfortably. Fortune
forbids our banns."
''Oh, Nelly! Nelly! begin to be-
1ieve what Frank Foster told me
that you were going to marry that
old lawyer who has bought poor
Snowdon's estates. Nelly, are you
not going to deny it7 Speak quick!
it is not possible, it is not possible!
you cannot be so wicked and so
cruel!" and he held her hands tightly,
and looked fercely into the fair,
treacherous face. Little comfort
there; only cold defiance that, like
polished steel, flung him back the
passionate love amazement that al
most stabbed her like wound. Once
convinced of her falseness, it was not
in his nature to sue. This beautiful
Judas had sold his and her own youth
and hopes, and he would not again
touch the hand which had taken so
foul price. She was amazed and
confounded. OF such love as this she
had not dreamt. All her intentions
of soothing the parting with kisses,
and promises of eternal friendship,
melted like snow in fire. He would
none of them-would not take the
proffered kiss, nor see the white, be-
seeching face, nor touch the out
stretched hand. He was gone, in a
storm of outraged and indignant love,
and Eleanor Raby knew very we'll
that in that noble heart her image
was evermore a fallen and a desc
Grated idol. How wretchedly now the
long, hot summer days went by! And
in the midst of them Antony Vaughan
disappeared from all his old haunts.
Some said he had gone to India, 9TH
ers to America; but all soon forgot
him except the cold, proud woman,
in whose memory he wandered like |
an uneasy ghost continually.
Then, when the short, bright days |
of September came, the rich man who |
had bought Eleanor claimed his bar
gain, and took it home to the little |
palace on Snowdon Heights. A
bishop in lawn and silk ratified the |
transaction; her parents made great
feast; the world gave that assurance
of approval which is powerful as the
nod of Jove; but her own heart whis-
pered all the time. "Thou fool!"
And when the eclat and excitement
were all over, when life's dull, COM
mon way and dreary intercourse
frightened by no stray sunbeam of
love-lay stretched in wearying dis
tance before her, how bitterly she re-