The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-09-21
By Miss ANNIE EDWARDS.
P Y.
Continued,

Lett 30 lelrluIy uSuly I'LL. ot0I,
dear, could neither of the younger la
dies turn their thoughts toward .becom-
ing Companion? Or there were Ref
uges for Decayed Gentlewomen, con-
corning which some or the more infu-
entail friends even offered to write
letters Of inquiry. Or an addition to
income might sometimes be made by
fancy work, delicately disposed of, un-
der shop prices Of course, among ones
own acquaintances.
Quernec, the possibility Of leading a
life of outdoor work and independence,
: st crossed Aunt Hosie's mind.
Long years before, when Generous
George was in command of his regi-
ment in the Channel Islands, a great
darkness had fallen across Henrietta
Vansittart's path; upon the eve Of
marriage her lover had proved IN.
worthy, and deserted her. No new ca
t%astrophe, said the world-a catastro-
phe, indeed, that so plain a girl might
reasonably have anticipated, yet like
some other human griefs not percept-
IDLY lessened to the victim by reason
of its t%riteness.
At twenty, as at fifty, Aunt Hosie
was no coward. The burden that fell
to her lot she bore, unaided by any Of
those little pious frauds wheEeby ortho-
do1 resignation contriyes to shift over
heavy weights to the shoulders OF
others. But she very nearly died; kept
up, with a brave white face, and q
manner curiously like her own, for a
good many weeks, then suddenly fell
sick and had brain fever. AS she re-
covered, slowly, ftfully taking up the
threads Of life, she would SO will
ingly have let so, the doctors proposed
country air for the girl. Miss
Theodore, then in the maturity of her
pink-and-white charms, could boast ad-
mirers not a few among her fathers
subalterns. Colonel Vansittart, so oon
as his daughter was pronounced de-
Gently far from danger, must have his
rubber Of whist, his little dinners
abroad and at home, as usual. knocks,
rings, announcements Of visitors.
clanking Of swords and spurs lin those
days young warriors held it good form
to wear their uniforms)-all the hustle
and clatter of a house whose inmates
welcome any society ave their own
these were not surroundings amidst
which shattered nerves and a heart
stricken to desperation could rally. So
the girl was sent for a fortnight's
change to Quernec, q farmers wife &C.
customed to sick people taking her in
charge, and, instead of a fortnight, re-
manned there six months. The whole
some quickness Of the salt air. the in
termittence Of sunshine and storm, the
~far-reaching horizon, the rough, kind
fisher folk, busted on hopes and cares
sc alien to the frivolous word in which
she had gotten her death wound-such
were the influences that saved Hen
rietta Vansittart. Influences that could
not bring back the vanished joy Of life.
but that taught her how a personal
sorrow may be made to turn the wheel
Of unselfsh activity. and remained
craven on her heart long after she had
returned to the v~isit-paying, dinner
giving. promenade-pacing existence of
places like Bath and C~heltenham!
"At Quernec, if we are lucky enough
TO find a vacant farmhouse. we shall
be among people poorer than our
Selves So she argued with her sisters
when successive fine friends had given
in their schemes Of companionship.
woodwork and refugees. "We shall be
Independent, get as much fresh air as
we like to breathe and have excellent
butter with our own bread. I make
myself responsible for so much"
"The terrible thing will be to part
with Tylers," said the eldest sister.
Owing rather to her deafness, or to
some inherent elements Of her fathers
genial constitution. it was impossible
to bring poor Isabella nearer to the
realization Of poverty than this-that
she, Isabella Vansittart, must hence
force face the remnant Of her mortal
span, rice Of q morning, 60 to rest at
night, look over summer dresses in
May, over winter ones in October, un-
assisted by a forty-ive guinea lady's
maid! II am as ready to make sacri-
fees as any one, I am sure, and during
the summer months a seaside life is
not unendurable! If only we could
keep Tylers.'
"Our fathers military position will
be remembered in the Channel ISL
ands,' unused Miss Theodore. "Peo-
pie will know who we are and what
we are. There is comfort at least in
that"
Finally Aunt Hosie's project was car
ried out. Fief-de-la-Reine, by a lucky
chance. stood t~enantless, the land
wanting drainage, the house repairs;
and by the time little Daphne, in her
black frock first ran wild among the
Quernec lanes, the sisters, even the
two elder ones, had settled down with
a sense of security, if not precisely OF
affection, to their isolated life.
Never was life better fitted for de-
light and liberty, the natural creed CT
childhood. At Brighton every item Of
maternal rare had been honestly reu-
dered in exchange for Captain Van
sittart's checks. Daphne was unscru-
pulously exercised twice a day, learned
her letters by the very newest kinder
garten lights, swallowed codliver Oil
after her grace at breakfast and din
ner. and pinned a little under it all!
Here at Quernec she lived in free air
and sunshine from morning till night,
had a garden to dig in, animals to feed,