Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-01-19
HORSE SHOE
ROBINSON
A Tale of the Revolutionary Struggle In
Upper Carolina.
nv JOHN p. KENNEDY.

cOmm0datlOnS as HlSnI TenueI IL q
convenient and pleasant retreat during
the hot months Of the summer.
The occupation which this new es-
tablishment afforded his family. the
scope which its improvement gave to
their taste: and the charms that in
trinsically belonged to 1t, by degrees
communicated to his household an alb
sorbing interest in its establishment.
His wife cherished this.enterpr!se with
a peculiar ardor. The plans Of I'M
provement were hers; the garden, the
lawns, the groves, the walks-all the
little appendages which an assiduous
taste might invent or a comfort seek
ing fancy might imagine necessary,
were taken under her charge; and one
beauty quickly following upon another
from day to. day, evinced the dominion
which a refined art may exercise with
advantage over nature. 1t was quiet,
calm, and happy spot, where many con-
veniences were congregated together
and where, for portion Of every sue
ceeding year, this little family nestled
as 1t were, ir the enjoyment Of volup-
tuous ease. From this idea, and es-
pecially as 4 was allied with some of
the tenderest associations connected
with the infancy Of Mildred, 1t was
called by the fanciful and kindly name
of THE Dove Cote"
The education of Mildred and Henry
became a delightful household care.
Tutors were supplied, and the parents
gave themselves up to the task of su-
pervision with fond industry. They
now removed earlier to the Dove Cote
with every returning spring, and re-
mained there later in the autumn. The
neighborhood furnished an intelligent
and hospitable society; and the great
western wilderness smiled with the
contentment of refined and polished
civilization, which no after day in the
history Of this empire has yet surpass-
ed-perhaps, not equalled. 1t Is not to
be wondered at, that a mind so franz
ed as Lindsay's and a family so de-
voted, should find an exquisite enjoy
ment in such spot.
Whilst this epoch Of happiness was
in progression, the political heaven be-
gan to be darkened with cloud. The
troubles came on with harsh portents;
war rumbled in the distance, and, at
length, broke out in thunder. Mildred
had, in the meantime, grown up to the
verge Of womanhood-a fair, ruddy,
light-haired beauty. of exceedingly
graceful proportions, and full Of the
most interesting impulses. Henry trod
closely upon her heels, and was now
shooting through the rapid stages Of
boyhood. Both had entwined them
selves around their parents affections,
like fibres that conveyed to them their
chief nourishment; and the children
were linked to each other even, If
that were possible, by stronger band.
The war threw Lindsay into a per-
ilous predicament His estates were
large and his principles exposed him
to the sequestratiOn which was rigidly
enforced against the royalist party.
To avoid this blow, or, at least, to nit
igate its severity, he conveyed the es-
tate of the Dove Cote to Mildred: as
signing. as his reason for doing so,
that, as it was purchased with moneys
belonging to his wife, he consulted and
executed her wish, in transferring the
absolute ownership of 1t to his daugh
ter. The rest of his property was con-
verted into money, and invested in
funds in Great Britain. AS soon as
this arrangement was made, about the
second year of the war, the Dove Cote
became the permanent residence Of the
family; Lindsay preferring to remain
here rather than to retire to England
hoping to escape the keen notice of the
dominant party, and to find, In this
classic and philosophical privacy. an
oblivion of the rude cares that beset
the pillow of every man who mingled
in the strife Of the day.
He was destined to a grievous disap-
pointment. His wife, to whom he was
romantically attached, was snatched
from him by death, just at this inter-
almost unseated his reason. The ma
tural calm of such a mind as Lindsay's
is not apt to show paroxysms in grief.
Its sorrow was too still and deep for
show. The flight of years, however,
brought healing on their wings: and
Mildred and Henry gradually relumed
their fathers countenance with flashes
of cheerful thought, that daily grew
broader and more abiding; till, at last,
sense and duty completed their tri-
umph. and once more gave Lindsay to
his family, unburdened of his grief, or
If not unburdened conversing with 1t
only in the secret hours of self-com-
munion.
His hopes of ease and retirement
were disappointed in another way.
The sequesterment of the Dove Cote
was not sufficient to shut out the noise
nor the intrigues Of the war. His rep
utation, as a man of education, of
wealth, of good sense, and especially
as a man of aristocratic pretensions,
irresistibly drew him into the agitated
vortex of politics. His house was open
to the visits of the Tory leaders, no
less than to those of the other side;
and, although this intercourse could
not be openly maintained without risk
yet pretexts were not wanting, occa-
sionally, to bring the officers and gen.
tlemen of the British interest to the
Dove Cote. They came stealthily and
in disguise, and they did not fail to in
volve him in the inSiduous schemes
and base plottings by which a wary
foe generally endeavOrs to smoothe
the way of invasion. The temporary
| Importance which these connections
conferred, and the assiduous appeal
which it was the policy of the enemy
to make to his loyalty, wrought upon
the vanity of the scholar. and brought
him. by degrees. from the mere tolera-
ton of an intercourse that he at first
sincerely sought to avoid into a par
ticipation of the plans of those who
courted his fellowship. Still, however
this was grudgingly given-as much