The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1904-10-26

| room of the wild rose stalk the ripe
brown seams of buttcrnut bark and the
shifting tints the sun lends the frosted
alder, the gray lichen and bronze fir
| sp!otched with scarlet creeper and stip-
pied mosseS like saffron butterflies.
Here and there showed the splash of n
bluebird's wing or the vermilion crest
of a kingfisher.
"It is very fair" he said. "as 1t
should be-"
Again silence fell. while the road
swung across forest stretches, under
springing roofs through which the sky
swan I'm dazzies.
All last she spoke demurely:
"And of what else were you think
ing, monsieur?"
81 was thinking what you are most
like. Some ladies are like snow noun
tains that stand very far OF, white
and beautiful, but colG-so cold you
cannot warm them, and SO high. Some
arc like blossoms. sweet and perfumed.
made for only n nosegay I'm the even
ing. When the sun is hot they wither.
Some are like Il song that one hears
and thinks lovely-hums 1t awhile and
forgets."
"And which of these am l, sir?"
"You are like II sword-slim and shin
ing and straight and yet delicate. 1t
took centuries to make the sword,
mademoselle. 1T will bend, bend, but
not break. 1t is sharp and cold to all
the world save onc--the one who wears
it at his side. But to his touch it be-
comes alive to ward him harm, to
guard his ,ifc. 10 keer his honor"
can we were tr, swords" she
flashed, eve ladies o. Virginia, there
were less OF bitterness in this fair
colony of ou:s.'
$50 the VOID has the temper! he
cried. his c!e> &,ndling. at is not for
of the colonies--they strike so deeply
then? DO even the ladies of n land
such as this feel the stingf"
She gazcd out toward the low knob
bed hills limned against the deepening
sky, her elbow OH the window sill, her
chin in her gloved hand, silent. Above
them in sun stained air shreds of torn
clouds folded away like dreams. From
near by came the startled llutter of
field larks and the rustic of ripening
corn.
The road curved quickly and lurched
into II pine forest, where the day filmed
to twilight and the hoofs fell noiseless-
ly into carpet of brown needles. 1t
was pleasant way, full of mingled
odors, all strangely pure and agreeable,
where clamorous wood things piped to
Il musical silence.
"'Tis not all Virginia. after all, that
one sees here, monsieur" she said slow
ly after time. Far TO the west Of us
Is vast region, raw, full veined and
of scattered tenants. There are great
mountain peaks and ravines. wastes
waiting seed and hoe, plateaus and
woodlands where the muskct and the
AK are never silent Deer run In the
brake. Wolves race along the ridges.
There strong men have lived and
toilcd and fought back the savagcs
and cleared themselves homes. Their
children have grown up unyiclding like
the granite in the mountains heart un-
trammeed like it's torrents. And this
life amid the silenccs has taught them
q Justice that may not be bought, q
strength that knows neither fear nor
favor. The region you see here, mon
sieur, to this great weave I speak Of Is
but the raveled edge.
"Here broad rivers run brackish with
tiGewater, and ships lie at the wharfs.
They bring to our manor houses all Of
luxury and refinement which Virginia
tobacco can buy. And here the planters
for Virginia was first settled by gen.
tlemen, monsieur - choose to put on
courtliness and dress In gold lace and
make bit Of London for themselves
on the edge OF the wilderness.
"Just beyond those hills to the south
WARD is Williamsburg, the capital they
have built. 1t has college and
court. There the cocks are ever fight
ing, the horses are ever running, the
fiddles are ever playing, and there in
his palace sits the royal governor his
majesty is pleased to put over his colo
malls, leyying on their leaf and sneer-
ing at their ,buckskins."
"The Earl OF DunmoreW
"Aye, my lord the earl. Think you he
knows one whit more Of this Virginia
than does the king, thousand leagues
away2 He drinks in his palace and
drives his white horses and bulies his
burgesses, the representatives whom
the people have elected. They must
pleasure him or he dissolves them. The
king has forgot that the Virginians are
Bnglishmen and that Dnglishmen love
freedom"
And Englishwomen, too" he said.
I'VE can do little," she went on. eve
wear no swords. All we can do is to
hope and to wait"
"LittleP There was thrill I'm his
tone. Little! You call such hope,
such feeling, small? You think it val
ueless or weak? Ah, mademoiselle,
know you what makes lady adorable
to mans heart what makes him
worship her? 1t is that she inspires
him; that is it-not to dress for her or
bow or sing her little songs, but to
toll, to struggle, to fight, to die maybe
something high like the stars Man
has a want for two things-a cause to
fight for first, and then-then a one, q
perfect one, loved face, to wait and
smile on him when he has won.
with this man could do miracles.
Ah, 1t could make OF poor nobody
king, an emperor! I, even I, mademoi-
selle, a stranger from another land--I
could fight so well for these great
things, for this Virginia of yours, If
I-if I"--
he paused. There was a tense mo.