Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-06-09

HnX Lac 0AoooaS 49, ~
6e<S0J said that the earth itself did
9x$9 not afford a fairer picture
than that which lay within the level
radius of his vision and which had i'm
printed itsell 50 powerfully upon his
impressionable and youthful heart. II
was not the scenery Of Virginia either,
the landscape on the Potomac. OF
which he would have spoken so n
Enthusiastically. though even that were
q thing not to be disdained by such a
| lover Of the beautiful as Seymour had
| shown himself to be-the dry brown
hills rising In swelling slopes from the
edge or the wide, quiet river; the bare
and lealess trees upon their crests,
now scarce yelling the comfortable old
white house, which in the summer
they quite concealed beneath their
masses Of foliage, and all the world
lying dreamy and calm and still In the
motionless haze Of one Of those rare
gests departed days that men name 1t
summer again. For all that he then
saw In nature was but a setting for a
woman; even the sun itself, low in the
west, robbed Of its glory and faded
into a dull ball seeking to hide Its
head, but served to throw into high re
lief the noble and beautiful face OF the
girl upon whom he ~gazed-the girl who
was u and life and light and world
for him.
The most confirmed misogynist would
have found 1t difficult to challenge her
claim to beauty.
The whole impression she produced
was one which charmed and fascinated
to the last degree, and Mistress Ka-
tharine Wilton's sway among the
young men Of the colony was well
nigh undisputed. A toast and a belle
in half Virginia, Seymour was not the
first, nor was be destined to be the
last, of her adorers. t4zsss7$ztpssA
The strong, steady, practiced stroke,
denoting the accomplished oarsman,
with which he had urged the little
boat through the water, had given
way to an idle and ~purposeless drift.
He longed to cast himself down before
the little feet, in their smart high
heeled buckled shoes and clocked
stockings, which peeped out at him
from under her embroidered camlet
petticoat In such a maliciously coQuet-
tish manner. He longed to kneel down
there In the skiff, at the imminent
risk of spelling hts W gay attire,
and declare the passion which con
sumed him, but something-he did not
know what 1t was, and she did not
tell him-constrained him, and he sat
still and felt himself as far away as
II she had been in the stars.
In this way he was quite as good to
look at as the young maiden. Tall,
blond, stalwart blue eyed, pleasant
featured, with the frank, engaging air
go down to the sea In ships, Lieutenant
John Seymour Seymour was an excel
lent specimen of that hardy, daring,
gallant class Of men who in this war
and In the next were to shed such i'm
~pertshable luster upon American arms
by their exploits in the naval service.
Born Of an old anG distinguished Phil
adelphia family, SO proud Of its name
that In his instance they had doubled
1t, the usual bluntness and rpughness
Of the sea were tempered by this gen.
tie birth and breeding and by frequent
attrition with mel and women of the
politest society OF the largest and most
important city Of the colonies. Offer
ing his services as o as the news
of Lexington precipitated the conflict
with the mother country, he had al
ready made his name known among
that gallant band Of seamen among
whom Jones, Biddle, Dale and Conyng-
ham were pre-eminent.
The delicious silence which he had
been unwilling to break, since 1t per
mitted him to gaze undisturbed upon
his fair shipmate, was terminated at
last by that lady herself.
She looked up from the water with
which she had been playing and then.
appearing to notice for the first time
his steady, ardent gaze, she laughed
lightly and said:
swell. sir. it grows late. When you
have finished contemplating the seem
cry perhaps you will turn the boat and
take me home. Then you can feast
your eyes upon something more at
tractive."
"And what Is that, prayr' he asked.
~Your supper. sir. You must be very
anxious for 1t by this time. and really,
you know, you look quite hungry. We
have been out 81 long. but I will have
pity on you and detain you no longer
here. Turn the boat around. Lieuten-
ant Seymour, and put me on shore at
once. I will stand between no man
and his dinner"
Hungry? Yes, I am, but not for
dinner. for you, Mistress Katharine"
he replied.
-Oh. what a horrid appetite! / don't
feel safe in the boat with you. Are you
very bungryY
Really, Miss Wilton. I am not jest
ing at alI." he said. with immense dig
nifty.
~Oh, oh! He Is in earnest. Shall I
screamf Ne use. We are a mile from
the house at least"
~Oh. Miss Wilton-Katharine," he re-