Judsonia weekly advance., 1904-12-14


 fore me on my saddle each time 1 came in from the fields. She would coax me to let old Fanchette come out with her in the pony carriage to where the hands were at work, and her gay laughter and lovely face filled my heart with content.
 David, you are spelling that child, 1 believe she cares more for you than me-" Susan used to say.
 Certainly Vera's love, which she gives as Jack did, with lavish hand and a captivating whoie-heartedness a glorious warmth, unlike others, has been 8 compensation far beyond my deserts, or the giving up of those am bilious dreams of professional success which once filled my youth.
 Of recent years Vera has drifted far ther away from me, by the force of circumstances.
 First, her governess came between us, with her childish studies; then 1 persuaded Susan to send her to col lege in a big city, for the child's bril- liant mind and strong nature made her far superior to her mothers or Miss Barton, her mediocre goVerness. with whom Vera was not on very good terms. I plainly saw it was best to place her under different and better influences.
 Susan, poor soul, like all pretty, spoilt, weak women, is irascible, when she should be forbearing, and. uneer- tain when she should be strong. She could no more control that splendid child Vera either through love or authority, than a dove could manage a stormy, impetuous little eagle.
 During Vera's holidays I always ar ranged for them to summer in the mountains or on the seashore, and 1 have insisted on their living abroad during the past two years, after Vera came home to us from college, for l wanted the child to acquire broader knowledge Of life before her plunge into the social whirl and the adulation certain to be hers by reason of her great beauty and fascination.
 Of course, as manager of this place, I cannot absent myself; only when 1 have rendered an account of my stew ardship will l be able to go away, and that will be for all time.
 But I learned of Vera's popularity and brilliant capture of the world so- cial last winter.
 Yes, this is an ideal hour for the siftlng and probing of ones inner thoughts and plain realization of ones calm desires, while the calm soli | tude of these fields and forests, and the gentle whisperings of nature prompts | to silent acceptance of life as fate.
 The field hands have all gone home and lights are beginning to glimmer in the rows of white-washed cabins near the leyee.
 The sorrel turns his head and whin- nies, to remind me that dusk precedes night, and already the dew is bringing out the sweet scents of the vanilla grass and the fragile white lilies grow l ing on the edge of the canal. l. Hoy tbeautifs1 thsszseape4 is, and how it will remain vivid iH memory, iii all it's lovely details when I shalT have left it.
 For go I must, and the reason is borne in on ne with irresistible fYce this calm spring evening. I see myself as 1 am, worn and weather -beatef by 15 years of arduous work, withg hair turning gray at the temples, a8grave taciturn man having none Of the graces of youth, with a broken career. Only the task I set myself to accom- plish has been done, the redemption of Jacks fortune, for Vera, his bonny, star-eyed daughter
 Why leave?
 Because, being man and a fool, 1 could not bear to live under the same roof with Vera, seeing her daily and loving her as l do, knowing the day will come when some one, having better claim to her affections than the humdrum old guardian she has known from childhood, will take her irreyocably from me.
 So, gathering the reins and going slowly along the path by the canal separating field from the forest, I look musingly at the scene before me so as to always bear it in memory.
 Cousin Duncan Cousin Duncanl ll0 RuIuS to that tree ana come OH. m going in the swamp to the sawmill."
 Vera sat in pirogue in the canal and was gliding up to the bank.
 You cant go this evening; it's re- diculously late" objected, locking down at her
 "I can get there in half an hour. I must go l want to tell Ben Jones his boy has the fever and he must come home. Jump down and come on. Dol"
 Vera, looking up and poised lightly, holding her long paddle, was irresisti- ble
 Are you aware that it gets as black as Erebus in the swamp as soon as night falls?' 1 asked, throwing Rufus bride over short limb and stepping carefully down the bank.
 Indeed l am. That's why 1 came after you. l wouldn't dare venture in there by Myself"
 Vera swdpt with long strokes down | the canal, and, turning into the swamp