The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1904-03-25
The Salvation
of Daniel S~ S~
By WINIFRED DoLAN

MRS. TRAPAUD was in high good
m feather; the bay mare and fCa
had fetched 100 goden soyereigns be-
tween them. Moreover. she had only
given 80 guineas for the mare. Who
will be astonished, therefore, that she
found the news Of her bargain quite
an agreeable adjunct to her breakfast
that morning?
Mrs. Trapaud was a woman Of some
humor; when her husband died she met
a friend-a man also Of some humor-
who knew as all the world knew and as
Mrs. Trapaud had never pretended to
hide, that the marriage had been the re-
verse Of happy. He looked at her weeds
with a comprehending smile.
Got your divorce at last?" he said.
Eyes. and in the higher courts, too. 80
she replied.
Mrs. Trapaud was always equal to any
occasion.
When Trapaud died bis widow carried
on the work Of his life; she continued to
breed his horses. Not so much, be It un-
derstOod, from any touching sympathy
with the dear departed as from a sound
conviction that II was In her TO make the
thing pay. And she did.
1t was strange household composed
Of antiQuated serving men and women
who had been begotten and born on the
estate and in whom the last expiring
breath OF feudalism fingered as though
dying hard. Trapaud left no heir, and
these farm and stable hands, these do
nestle serving maids. we're Mrs. Ira
paud's children. She dosed and phys
licked them when they required II. she
rubbed their backsswhen the rheumatism
got importunate; she scolded, she
praised, rewarded and blamed and they
loved her
But as In every fold there IS one black
sheep, so in this patriarchal family
there was one strangeling. Daniel-he
had no other name-had not been born
and bred on the estate; he had not even
first seen light In the village; no. not
within ten leagues Of it, the gossips said
He came from practically nowhere; IL
was so very far away. On winter nights,
when the evenings were long and dull,
the younger ones-for age was a mere
matter OF comparison in the Trapaud
household-would coax old Mrs Good
heart to tell again the story Of how
Daniel first came to the hall.
ut was wild. black night. jest sich
a one as this" the old housekeeper
would begin.
And the wind were bowling in the
chimbley. we knows" would interpolate
an irresponsible voice.
'Will ye niver lear to hould yer
tongue then and not interrupt the
story?" a chorus Of voices would protest.
and then. Mrs. Goodheart having duly
allowed herself to be appeased. the story
would drag out its slow, familiar ex-
istence. punctuated with "ohs" and
"ahs" and 'theer nows" that had become
by custom into a sort Of rite.
But the reader who does not know what
365 days spent on a midland horse farm
a good 20 miles from anywhere
on the map can be Ike would hardly ap-
preciate the art with which Daniels HIS
tory was told. so we will offer brief and
more modern up 10 day sketch that shall
state the plain matter in a nutshell.
One Christmas eve a quarter Of CEN
tury ago the hospitable glare Of fire
that not only could roast an OK. but was
actually doing so, attracted a little
ragged fellow who was tramping along
the high road IN search Of a nights lodg-
ing. One Of the keepers found him in the
fir plantation and dragged him after him
till they stood in the glare Of the freight
before Trapaud, his wife. and the assem-
bled household Questioned, the little
fellow said HIS name was Daniel: he was
a founding and had been put out to serv-
Ice with a drunken carpenter, from
whom he had run away. He had got as
far north as this In a barge along the
canals and had worked at whatever came
10 his hand for all the food and lodging
hat charity had not given him. Trapaud
liked the lads face and took him into his
service. He was honest and industrious.
be had risen by slow degrees. and now
Tor seven years he had been butler al the
hall. Daniel took a pathetic pleasure in
hearing his own story recited, It made
him feel a kind Of hero, but there was al
ways the ever-present ache at his heart
that he bought his proud position at the
cost OF love and fear He was never
quite one Of them, but a thing apart as a
man who does not know his own sur
name must ever be.