The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-12-14
CM1T m mE CWRT&TMAGo by JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS.

to remember If you have gone much abou
the great world. Flavian Dion used /
say it was well on the way 10 nowhere.
But Flaviar!-well that man was Away
saying and doing queer things.
1t is not in the way of ;ravel-that 1
true.
But living here always, suppose you wer,
TO go on 4 journey soricwhere-tO the tai
at Montreal! or TO the feas, OF 81. Anne d
BeauPre.
It would he fine. certainly. for a !ittl
while. a day. ~Herrhance.
Presently Il longing would take hold o
you and you would he Unhappy until yol
came again in sight OF the shining spirr o
the little church OF st. Ephrem-the iittl'
church that stands in one corner Of th'
garden of she 5"ad-and Of tn" dark greer
river flowing gently alone.
Bat yet. II was here that Fiavian lived.
oh hut he was queer. that Flavian,
of all who have lived here and gone
away. he Is the only one who has never
returned.
But he has thought about it; he has tried
10 come-oh. you may depend upon that.
Flavian went away. He left his wife and
child, All. but softly. madame. gently,
m'sicu', have no impatience.
Fiavian Dion was the artist born. having
the gift from heaven.
Well. then, behold this F1ayian Dion sit
ting at nome while the sun il shining. PLAY
ing his flute and his violin for himself. his
little daughter. his dog and his pig-the
daughter smiling with tears in her eyes.
the dog whining and the pig g%runtinG with
satisfaction.
oh. fine, yes; and his poor wife toiIing in
the field. or drudging in the house from
sunrise 10 sunset and later.
That was the din raised about Flavian
Dion's ears at home and abroad. and all
over the village of ST. Ephr"ni.
And the good wife made matters worse
by Shaping the child, kicking the dog.
beating the pig. sroldirg. f%retting. wor-
rying. with every waking breath She drew.
She had cause: but could FHavian Dion be
blamed for the nature which the good God
had given him?
And had there not been days long ago,
when Suzatta Desmoulins had listened TO
Flavian's music as if 1t came from heaven.
and laughed at his drolleries until the tears
ran down her checks?
Working a little here and there and idling
a great deal. il the invention OF heart
breaking melodies Is 10 he called i1liDg.
Flavian Dion allowed the din about his
ears to grow and increase until Iepherine.
the daughter. was Old enough to be placed
in the school of the good Sisters OF the
Sacred Heart at St. Hyacinthe.
Then. having no one to hearken TO his
flute or violin. or to laugh and cry by turns
at his beautiful stories, he took his flute
and his fiddle and his necessary belongings
and went singing along the road TO the
States.
He disappeared and was not heard Of
again until long after SuZette. his wife.
had been laid TO rest in the little church
yard.
Then some wayfarer. returning home. re-
ported that he had met the wanderer in
New orleans.
1t was queer. the neighbors thought: but
Flavian went away his wife was in
consolable.
1t was indeed true that Suzette was heart
broken.
No other ever was or could be as hand
some. as gentle and as kind as her Flavian
now seemed to be in the light Of her sor-
and remorse.
She had no thought but for her Flavian,
and with his name on her lips she died.
And so there was Zepherine. the daugh-
ter of Flavian, to be looked after.
She was in the hands OF Providence in
a very real sense. l
This was not her view alone; II was the
belief of the good Sisters Of the Sacred
Heart.
She was what is called une file de noel
a child Of Christmas-tbat being the day
on which she was born.
She grew with the growing years and
was happy with the rest.
She had very vivid memories Of her IA
ther and his gentle ways.
The melodies he had called forth from his
and violin still fingered in her ears; |
the wonderful stories he had told We're |
still fresh in her mind.
They were a part OF her daily life.
She knew where her mother was; yes.
full well. Many and many a time she had
knelt before the little white cross that
marked the spot in the garden of the dead
at st. Ephrem. and prayed for the peace |
and repose Of her mothers soul.
AS for her father-well, at the proper |
time the good God would take her by the
hand and show her where he was. |
She had not the slightest doubt Of this. |
and she prayed that when the time should
she should be prepared to follow the |
guiding hand. !
So the years went on, until at last. one |
Day. it seemed TO Zephe.,ne
Dion that this unseen hand was beckonlng |
to her. and she made haste TO obey the |
summons. |
Now. it IS to be regretted that Mr.. San |
1ers of Shady Dale cannot have the privi- |
lege of telling the rest Of this story in his
inimitable way. |
He used to tell II. and tell il well. He gave |
1t a coloring and Il humOr all his own. and
added to it the eloquence of gesture and |
he appropriate play of his happy counte-
More than that. he was able to lay upon |
II the burden of j family history With
1t had only casual connection. |
He would tell about the settlement Of
Shady Dale by the Cloptons: of the original
deed in the handwriting OF General ..lex-
ander McGillivray. the great chief and
statesman OF the Creek Nation: OF the an
tiquity of the Clopton family: of the
genealogical records that may still be found
in the church. under which the bones Of
Shakespeare repose.
In this way he would account for tde re-
individuality Of Sarah Clopton.
the eldest daughter of Matthew.
And such was the art or instinc. with
he handled these apparently burien-
some details that his hearers never sus-
pected that the course of the narrative had
teen interrupted. !,
Sometimes he would begin: Did any q
know that We had a Christmas gal
In this neck OF the woods" and then again:
Did You ever hear the facts about Lite
Miss Johns. our Christmas gal?' after
he would rub his chin and say:
We'll. the most principal fact is that
l-,V 1870 r-