News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1902-03-26

4 civil nature, and these were arranged
10 meet the agricultural convenience of
the people, one in February in advance
of planting, the other in September be-
fore the commencement of harvest.
Hence the. procrastinaton prescribed
| by Qullebert was no very difficult feat.
| Dilatory pleas put in by Pratjean serv-
| ed to toll the case over two terms,
spanning year His professional en-
gagement in the court of another par
ish and the sudden sickness of Portvie,
IN important witness for Quillebert,
certified in writing by DR.. De Roux,
sufiiced to carry it over the second year
without trial. Throughout this space
| the interest and activity of Quillebert's
! adherents never tagged. 1t was the
theme of talk at every store, cabaret
and steamboat landing in the high
lands, at every Saturday night gumbo
ball and Sunday mass. At sessions of
the court and police jury the attending
| crowds discussed it with ever increas-
| ing heat and bitterness, the prosecu-
| ton of Quillebert and menace to eau
casan superiority constituting the be-
ginning, middle and end of each SYM
postum. Inevitably it took on some
what of sectional character, the rich
planters of the lowlands being the SYM
pathizers with Oakfell and the critics
of Quillebert.
AS the administration of President
Buchanan approached it's close rumors
of aboltionist aggressiveness grew in
frequency and proportion and so charg-
ed the public mind with combustible
ideas that the simple mention Of this
lawsuit caused a number of small ex-
ploSionS in the form of fisticuffs within
the courthouse yard, even under the
drippings from the caves of the tenn
pie" To the women and children of
the uplands, many of whom had never
seen him, the name of Oakfell was as
eXecrable as Judas Iscariots. SO acute
had this unfriendly feeling grown that
some of the conservative minded sug-
gested to Oakfell the policy of with
drawing the suit. He firmly rejected
the advice.
Throughout this turbulence of senti-
ment Evarste held calmly aloof. When
ever the subject was obtruded upon
him he dismissed it with the remark
that he was neither lawyer nor a pol
itician. His brother regarded this in
difference as in harmony with his poet
ic temperament and was not dispeaS-
ed. Evariste became more seclusive in
habit. He rode often and far into the
cOIitn1nS nf WIN hN
deep shade accorded with his somber
mood. Rivalry with Horace for the
hand of Estelle he felt was hopeless
while his sole expectancy of fortune
was from his brothers grace, and his
visits to the Latiolais mansion were
made at intervals of increasing length,
degenerating into brief formalities, but
he bitterly cursed his dependence and
silently fed the fame of passion within
his pent breast. Laure, brown and
vital, surprising him now and again in
his wanderings, lifted him from the
deeps momentarily, yet he struggled
to escape her and descend to his gloomy
warnings. STILL upon the progress of
the public agitation he kept steady
and obser7ant eye.
Estelle was dismayed at the conse-
quences of her demand upon Oakfell,
which she was made to realize by the
dismal reports of her grandfather and
the malediction Of herself by the guile
bert faction. To her own impetuous-
ness and presumption she charged this
strife among neighbors and its unhap-
py possibilities. She wept and prayed
for guidance and finally, sending for
Oakfell, said to him:
ut was at my request. made upon
grish impulse, that you entered into
this contest. which has aroused such
bitterness and so altered your position
in our parish Then you had not an
enemy. Now | dare not think of the
number who wish you harm. | did not
then fOresee this dreadful result, but
today am quite a woman and know |
had no right to involve you so grievOus-
ly for the qualification of mere whim
of mine. entreat you to proceed no
further in the lawsuit. To press it
now would result only in your injury,
but in no ones good"
The girls speech was earnest and
her prayerful face so beautiful that
Oakfell gazed upon it in a wordless
rapture until his very silence suddenly
called him to reply:
you say further prosecution of the
suit could result in no ones good" he
said, smiling. what, then, becomes of
Icons freedom, which is its sole OBJ
ject?"
ooh, but Leon is gone. NJ. Quillebert |
will never see him again." She spoke
as one to whom had been unexpectedly |
given the opportunity of successfully |
closing debate by word.
"Ah, mademoiselle, do you not know |
that under laws which now exist and |
are enforced by the courts of the Unit |
ed States Quillebert can take Leon |
wherever found, drag him back to this |
place, hitch him to a plow, whip him |
before each meal and compel him to |
sleep standing, and that mans last |
state shall be worse than the tirst?"
''Impossible! Impossible! This is |
Christian land" shudderingly eXclaim-
ed Estelle.