Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1904-02-20

xeyVNr~~y 4, the In cnlef or the
&sY Carlow County Herald took
MS hand out OF his hair. wiped his pen
On bis last notice from the White Caps
put on his coat. swept out tue c.v,s
nttle entry and left the sanctum for
The bright June afternoon
ae chose the way to the west. stroll
ing thoughtfully ont or town by the
white. hot. deserted Main street and
khence onward by the country road into
which its proud half mile of old brick
store buildings. tumbledowu frame
snops and tbiniy painted cottages de-
generated. The sun was in his face
where the road ran between the sum.
mer fields. lying waveIess, low, era.
cious in promise: but, coming to a
wood Of hickory and beech and wal.
nut that stood beyond, he might turn
hts down-bent hat brim up and hold
mis- head erect. Here the shade fell
0eep and cool on the green tangle OF
rag and iron weed and long grass in
The corners OF the snake fence. al.
fhough the Gun beat upon the road so
close beside. There was no movement
OF the crisp young leaves overhead
High In the boughs there was quick
0irt or crimson where two robins hop
ped noiselessly. The late afternoon
when the air is quite still, had come
yet there rested somewhere on the
quiet day faint pleasant, woody
smell. 1t came to the editor OF the
Herald as he climbed to the top rail
OF the fence for a seat, and he drew
q long breath to get the elusive odor
more luxuriously, and then it was gone
altogether.
"a habit OF delicacies," he said aloud.
addressing the wide silence complain
hgly. Zone taste and they quit" he
finished, gazing solemnly upon the
shining little town down the road
1t was place Of which its inbabit-
ants sometimes remarked easily that
their city had a population of from
5000 to 5000 souls, but il should be
easy to forgive them for such state
nents. Civic pride is q virtue The
town lay i'm the heart of that fertile
stretch of fat lands in Indiana where
eastern travellers, glancing from car
windows, shudder and return their eyes
90 interior upholstery, prcferring even
the swaying caparisons OF n Pullman 10
the monotony without. The landscape
runs on Unfortunately level lines-bleak
IN winter desolate plain of mud and
snow; hot and dusty in summer, miles
On miles OF hat lonesomeness. with not
one cool hill slope away from the sun.
The persistent tourist who seeks for
signs of man in this sad expanse per-
eeiyes a reckless amount Of rail fence.
ut Intervals a large barn, and here and
there man himself, Injurious. patient.
slow, looking up from the fields apa
theticslly as the limited flies by. Nov
and then the train passes IA village
6uilt scatteringly about courthouse.
with mill or two humming near the
tracks. This is Il county seat, and the
Inhabitants and the local papers refer
% IL confidently as our city"
Such county seat was Plattville,
capital OF Carlow county. The social
and business energy OF the town con-
centrated on the square, and here In
summer time the gentlemen were won't
20 lounge from store TO store in their
shirt sleeves, and In the center Of
the square stood the old red brick
courthouse, loosely fenced in a shady
grove OF maple and elnI-.'siipp'ry
ellum"-called the courthouse yard"
When the sun grew too hot for the dry
goods box whittlers in front of the
stores around the square and the occu-
pants of the chairs In front Of the Pal
ace hotel ON the corner they would 90
sc-css End drape ths1..sselves over the
Ssace and carve their initials on the
sSp board. From the position OF the
sun the editor Of the Herald judged
that these operations were now in
progress. and he was not deeply elated
by the knowledge that whatever desui-
tory conversation might pass from man
70 man on the fence would probably be
inspired by his own convictions ex-
A. pressed editoriaIly in the Herald.
He drew a faded tobacco bag and a
xbrier pipe from his pocket and. after
4iiing and lighting the pipe, twirled the
Douch mechanically about his finger.
then. suddenly regarding it, patted 1t
saressingly. Ii had been a giddy little
bag long ago. gay with embroidery in
1.-The coiors of the editors university.
rand. although now 1t was frayed TO the
verge Of tatters, il still bore an cir OF
pristine jauntiness, an air of which Its
owner In nowise partook. He looked
from it toward the village in the clear
distance and sighed softly as be put
the pouch back in his pocket and, rest.
ang his arm on his knee and his chin on
his hand. sat blowing clouds OF smoke
cat OF the shade into the sunshine, cd
sently watching the ghostiy shadow on
the white dust of the road.
A little garter snake crept under the
feace beneath him and disappeared IN
the underbrush; rabbit. progressing
ON Its travels by a series OF brilliant
4ashes and terror smitten haits. came
within few yards OF him. sat up with
suiyering nose and eyes alight with
fearful maginings and vanished ia sh
OF duffy brown and white. Shadows
grew longer; a cricket chirpeG and hear
answers; there was a woodland stir of
breezes, and the pair of robins left the
branches overhead in eager fight. We
faung before the arrival OF a flock of
blackbirds Fastening thi:her ere the