The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-08-27

S ago--he came TO the city the ne,
g morning and entered upon his caree
= When he thought of her during til
next few years it was to thank heave
:, that he had escaped marriage th,
8 would have kept him grounding
d the end of bis days. But now, as b
It looked away down the avenue some
t how the old thrill went to his heart
9 he felt the light touch on his arm, max
D ing a leaping madness in his VEINS
and saw the moonlight drifting owe
the brownesS hair and bluest eyes il
= all the world. His own eyes dimme,
, at the memory Of it. Well, it was Ion;
, ago, and he was successful among men
but there had never been another nigh
like that.
"Oh, dearl If papa could only come
home," was the tired little sigh tha
awakened INN. He started and turned
to see Boy asleep OH his sisters lap
while two tears rolled slowly down hel
thin cheeks.
You-you mustn't cryW he STAN
mered. Perhaps"
don't let mamma see me cry,'
she replied, smiling up at him with a
childish womanllness that broke his
heart. He snatched his hat from the
bench and started up, looking at his
watch. If there were only timel
See here" he said, with an excite
ment that he had not felt in many a
long day. " You go home and-and
talk over things with mamma-and
tell her-ask her if she remembers
Dick Floman-apd tell her-well tell
her that Frank isn't without friond,
after all"
If there were only timel
Ten minutes afterwards he was
pushing through throng of spectators
that crowded the court room and ex-
tended into the corridor outside. Men
stood on Tip toe to peep over one an
others heads, tt It they might catch
glimpse of the prisoner who was not
with the strikers and yet had done
single handed what some Of them
longed, yet did not dare to do; who bad
kept persistent silence during his i'm
prisonment, and who refused to employ
a lawyer, though he knew himself to be
in dire extremity,
{" Ten 10 one his neck'll stretch"
said man in the door, as Floman
pushed by him. He heard the whisper
and saw the dark looks cast upon the
prisoner; then he walked across the
court room and took his place at the
prisoners side.
He was just in time.
Does anyone volunteer to repre-
sent Francis Yancey2" the Judge was
asking, and Floman stood up.
1 do, your HONOR" he SAID.
There was moment of amazed 81
lence, broken by an excited whisper
thai went around the court room. If
Floman had taken up this case-ihe
great F)oman,-why, then
People who saw him saw how he
stopped and whispered word in the
stupe6ed p Aoner's ear and clasped his
hand. Then he arose with head thi 0w Il
up and lips set, and those who l. ew4 -
knew that there was battle in Lend.
What that battle WIS is still remem-
bered and spoken of with thrill Of
pride by those who watched its pro.
ress, who heard the examination and
ross-eXamination of witnesses; who
wept and laughed for two hours,
swayed by such oratory as he had
never uttered and as they had never
heard. If he had been famous before,
those two hours left his fame doubl d,
for the jury returned verdict of not
guilty, without leaving The box, aud
holy denied afterwards that they were
under spell. When the verdict was
rendered, men shouted and threw
up their hats, and when the court room
was cleared went out wlplng their eyes.
Frank Yancey was led out staggering
by the man who had saved him. AS
Floman put hlm into cab, he leaned
forward, his face working.
{" As long % you've done this, Dick"
he whisper Il, Z" 1'll tell you why beat
that hound. reached home In time
to hear him insult my wife--an' I'd "a
gone to the gallow's before I'd "a mix
ed her name up in it.''
"Good for you, old man." returned
Floman, with barren speech, but with
return of his long-gone heartiness that
gave him tender feeling about the
eyes. Perhaps the tender feeling
reached Its root down further, for he
grasped the trembling hand on the cab
window. G. Keep up a stout heart,
Frank" he said. "Pve got my eye
on a position-worlds better than the
one you had-chance of promotion,
too. Well, goodbye. Give my love
to-to the little girl that talks things
over with mammal"
1t was late when the great lawyer
reached home that evening. He had
been detained by box--a very impor-
tant box---which, after being packed to
the brim, had to be marked, +" For the
Yancey birthday" and sent by care,
full messenger. He went home at last
tired but smiling, the lady, cold and
proud, reminding him of social obll
CATION to which they were already late
"Oh, the Willoughby dinner" ht
exclaimed. 81 forgot all about il
You can go, my dear, and make my
J excuses. am too tired and not fit fol
it. I've been fixing up birthday fo
/ some little children"
She smiled, but there was hurt il
the smile, and IN her eyes.
, "Good night" he said as she kisset
1 him. "There is little girl-but yoI
| shall sec her and be friend 10 her
] Good night"
r lie sat down, looking into the GLOW
0 OF the fire, and long after the coal
!. were veilod with silvery ashes he sti
q saw there the brownest hair and blues
u eyes that were ever seen, and ray
= r.