Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-11-24
CHAPTER VIII.
A DREAM.

Elsie spent weeks or happiness In al
abandonment Of JOY to the spell Of heI
lover His charm was resistless. His
gift Of delicate intimacy. the eloquence
with which he expressed his love, and
yet the manly dignity with which ne
did 1t, threw a spell no woman could
resist.
Each days working hours were giver
to his fathers case and to the study OF
law If there was work to do, he did 1t
and then struck the word care from
his life giving himself body and SOU
to his love. Great events were NOV
ing. The shock Of the battle between
congress and the president began to
shake the Republic to its foundations
He heard nothing, felt nothing, save
the music Of E!sie's voice.
And she knew 1t. She had only play
ed with lovers before. She had never
her by storm. His creed was simple
girl you love. Other things could walt
And he let them wait. He ignored
their existence.
But one cloud cast its shadow over
the girls heart during these red-letter
days Of life-the fear Of what her faith
er would do to her lovers people. Ben
had asked her whether he must speak
to him. When she said mo, not yet,
he forgot that such q man lived. AS
for his politics, he knew nothing and
cared less.
But the girl knew and thought with
sickening dread, until she forgot her
fears In the joy Of his laughter. Ben
laughed so heartily, so insi1uatingly
the contagion Of his fun could not be
resisted.
He would sit for hours and confess
to her the secrets Of his boyish dreams
of glory In war, recount his thrilling
adventures and daring deeds with such
enthusiasm that his cause seemed her
own, and the pity and the anguish OF
The ruin Of his people hurt her with the
keen sense Of personal pain. His love
for his native state was so genuine, his
pride in the bravery and goodness OF
it's people so chivalrous, she began To
see for the first time how the cords
which bound the southerner to his soil
were Of the hearts red blood.
She began to understand why the
war, which had seemed to her a wick
ed cruel, and causeless rebellion, was
the one inevitable thing In our growth
from loose group Of sovereign states
to a United Nation. Love had given
her his point of view.
Secret grief over her fathers course
began to grow into conscious fear.
with unerring instinct she felt the ia
tai day drawing nearer when these two
men, now of her inmost life. must clash
In mortal enmity.
She saw little Of her father. He was
absorbed with fevered activity and
deadly hate In his struggle with the
president.
Brooding over her fears one night,
she had tried to interest Ben n poll
tics. To her surprise she found that
he knew nothing Of her fathers real
position or power as leader Of his
party The stunning tragedy Of the
war had for the time crushed out of
his consciousness all political ideas, as
1t had for most young southerners. He
took her hand while a dreamy look
overspread his swarthy face:
Don't cross a bridge till you come
To II. I learned that IN the war. Pol
itics are a mess. Let me :ell you
sornething that counts"
He felt her hands soft pressure and
reverently kissed 1t. Listen" he
whispered. 81 was dreaming last night
after l left you Of the home Wei
build. Just back Of our place, on the
hill overlooking the river my father
and mother planted trees In exact du-
their house when they were married
They set these trees In honor OF the
first born Of their love. hat he should
make his nest there when grown. But
1t was not for him. He has pitched his
tent on higher ground, and the others
with him. This place will be mine
There are forty varieties Of trees. all
orown-elm. maple, oak, holly, pine
cedar. magnolia, and every fruit aid
Towering stem that grows II our
friendly soil. A little house. built near
the vacant space reserved for the
homestead, Is nicely kept by farmer
and birds have learned to build In every
shrub and tree All the year their mu-
sic rings its chorus-one long overture
awaiting the coming Of my bride"
Elsie sighed.
Lister. dear" he went on, eagerly
last night I dreamed the south had
risen from her ruins. / saw you there
saw our home standing amid bower
Of roses your hands had planted. The
full moon wrapped 1t in soft ligh'
while you and I walked hand In hand
In silence beneath our trees. But fair
er and brighter than the moon was the
face Of her loved. and sweeter than
all the songs of birds the music OF heI
voice."
A tear dimmed the girls warm eyes
and a deeper flush mantled her cheeks
as she lifted her face and whispered:
kiss me-"