The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-28
IContinued from last Sundays News.)
CHAPTER II.
THE STRANGE LADY.


CHAPTER II.
THE STRANGE LADY.
It was June. From the patent inner
columns of the Carlow County Her
aid" might be CLEANED the informa-
ton (enlivened by cuts of duchesses)
that the London season had reached
a high point of gaiety: and that. al
though the weather had grown inau-
spiciously warm. there was sufficient
gossip for the thoughtful. To the rapt
mind of Miss Selma Tibbs came a de-
licious moment of comparison; pre-
cisely the same conditions prevailed in
Plattville.
Not unduly might Miss Selma lay
this flattering JUNCTION to her soul. and
well might the Herald declare that
Carlow events were crowding thick
and fast" The congressional repre-
sentative of the district was to de-
liver a lecture at the courthouse: a
circus was approaching the county
seat, and its glories would be exhibit
ed rain or shine;' the court had clear
ed up the docket by sitting to unseem-
~ hours of the night, even until ten
o'clock-one farmer witness had fallen
asleep while deposing that he had
knowed this man Hender some eight
cen year"-and, as excitements come
indeed when they do come, and it sell
dom rains but it pours, the identical
afternoon of the lecture a strange
lady descended from the Rouen Ac-
commodation and was greeted on the
platform by the wealthiest citizen of
the county. Judge Briscoe, and his
daughter, Minnie. and (what stirred
wonder to an itch almost beyond en-
durance) Mr. Fisbee! and they then
drove through town on the way to the
Briseoe mansion, all four, apparently,
in fluSter of pleasure and eXhilara-
ton, the strange lady engaged in earn
est conversation with Mr.. Fisbee on
the back seat
Judd Bennett had had the best stare
at her. but, she Immediately fell into
a dreamy and absent state, little salts
faction could be got from him. merely
an eXasperating statement that the
stranger seemed to have a kind of
new look to her. However. by means
of Miss Mildly Upton, domestic of the
Briscoe household, the community was
given something a little more definite.
The lady's name was Sherwood: she
lived in Rouen: and she had known
Miss Briscoe at the eastern school the
latter had attended Ito the feverish
agitation of Plattville) three years be-
fore; but Mildly confessed her made
quacy in the matter of Mr.. Fisbee. He
had driven up in the blackboard with
the others and evidently expected to
stay for supper. Mr. Tibbs. the post
master Gt was to the postoffce that
Miss Upton brought her information
suggested, as a possible explanation,
that the lady was so Learned that the
Briscoes had invited Fisbee on the
ground of his being the only person in
Plattville they esteemed wise enough
TO converse with her: but Miss Tibbs
wrecked her brothers theory by men,
tioning the name of Fisbee's chief.
"You see. Solomon" she sagaciously
observed, 'if that were true, they
would have invited him. instead of
Mr.. Fisbee. and 1 wish they had. He
isn't troubled with malaria and yet
the longer he lives here the sallower-
looking and sadder-looking he gets.
think the company of a lovely strang-
er might be Of great cheer to his heart,
and it will be interesting to witness
the meeting between them. 1t may be-"
added the poetess, that they have
already met on his travels before he
settled here. 1t may be that they are
old friends-or even more"
Then what" returned her brother.
what is he doin' settin' up in his Of
flee all afternoon with ink on his fore
head, while Fisbee goes out ridin' with
her and stays for supper afterwerds?'
Althoug the problem of Fisbee's at
tendance remained a mere maze of
hopeless speculation, Mildly had been
present at the opening of Miss Sher-
woods trunk, and here was matter for
the keen consideration of the ladies.
at least. Thoughtful conversations in
regard to hats and Innings took place
across fences and on corners of the
square that afternoon; and many gem
tlemen wondered Tin wise silence) why
their spouses were absent-minded and
brooded during the evening meal.
At half-past seven, the Hon. Hedge
Holloway of Amo delivered himself of
ms lecture: The Past and Present.
what we may Clean from Them. and
Their Influence on the Future" At 7
the courtroom was crowded, and Miss
Tibbs, seated on the platform (reserv-
ed for prominent citizens), viewed the
expectant throng with rapture 1t is
possible that she would have confessed
to witnessing a sea of faces, but it is
more probable that she viewed the ex-
pectant throng. The thermometer stood
at 81 degrees and there was a rustic
of necessarily moving palm-leaf fans
as, row by row. their yellow sides
twinkled in the light of eight OIL
lamps. The stouter ladies' welded their
fans with vigor. There were some very
pretty faces in Mr.. Halloway's au-
dience, but 1t is a popularity of Platt
Vile that most of those females who
do not incline to stoutness incline far
in the opposite direction. and the lean
ladies naturally suffered less from the
temperature than their sisters. The
shorn lamb is cared for. but often
there seems the intention to impart a
moral in the refusal of Providence to
temper warm weather to the full-bod-
led.
Old Tom Martin expressed a strong
consciousness of such intention when
he observed to the shocked Miss Sc
lima, as Mr.. Bill Snoddy. the stoutest
citizen of the county. waddled abnor-
mally up the aisle: 1.-The Almighty
must be gettin' a heap of fun out Of
BIZ Snoddy tonight"
oh, Mr. Martin" exclaimed Miss
Tibbs, futtering at his irreverence
why. you would yourself. Miss Sc