The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-03-01
Selett Storg.
DREAMLAND LOVERS.
BY SMITH D. FRY.

s'They have called me a pretty girl all
my life, mother - said Louise Mayo
"Now the friendly call me handsome
woman, and you, mother, are chatting me me
with being an old maid, while my broth
ers are seemingly more and more assured
that [ am insane or becoming so.
Pretty girl she must have been, hand
some she surely was. Her two and twenty
years scarcely warranted the title OF old
maid; and her flashing black eyes gave the
instant lie to the charge of insanity, wheth-
er sincerely or frivolously made. Louise
Mayo belonged by birth and double ances-
try to the proud Lee and Randolph FAM,
lies of Virginia, and she was the type OF
woman not only to be proud of that splen-
did Virginia lineage, but to make all sclons
of both families proud of her kinship.
II have always told you, mother, that
| have never seen the face of my dream
land love, although | have always heard
his dreamland voice know also that he
belongs to the people who invaded and hu-
inflated our State and Confederacy; be-
cause [ have seen him, as little boy, In
the arms of his grandfather who wore the
blue uniform of Yankee Major General.
| have seen him growing to manhood, and
| have heard him singing before Northern
audiences, the Yankee Major General being
ever present until within the last few years.
His voice has always been clear to me, his
face only shadow, outlined from child
hood to manhood.
Il know all of his sectional ballads, all
of his operatic selections, and | know that
nowhere on earth is there or has there ever
been voice that could sing as he sings it
when other lips and other hearts their
tales of love shall tell. y
While Louise Mayo was thus talking to
her mother about her dreamland lover, in
the old colonial mansion on the James
River near Sabot Island, Grant Hender-
son Of Philadelphia, a strong, stalwart
young collegian of the Harvard brand, was
TALK ing in similar strain to his father and
mother in the old colonial homestead where
George Washington made his headquarters
at the time ''The Crisis was being pro-
mulgated, and when the patriots at Valley
Forge were going through that "time
which tried men souls.
1T is true, father, that this is only a
dreamland voice that has haunted me, but
it is a reality to me, however it may be
viewed by you. | know well, my dear
mother, what your desires have been from
childhood, and | will admit that my incli-
nations have sometimes been that way.
But whenever | have been led by your
influence in that direction, my dreams have
been disturbed and enlivened, and made
akin to Paradise, by hearing the voice Of
the wonderful girl of the South whose fig
ure | have SO often seen, whose gownine
is as familiar to me as your own, but whose
face | am unable to discern in that won
derful dreamland whence she comes tC
me-
Within a week or two Grant Henderson,
for the business firm of which his father
was the head, was obliged to make busi-
ness trip through h various Southern cities as
far as New Orleans. In Richmond, after
transacting business with number of firms,
he was obliged to remain over night in or,
der to make railroad connections for Raleigh
and the Carolinas. The clerk at the JEFF
ferson Hotel told him that there was to be
a charity concert near by, given by home
talent, and that some wonderful perform
ances could be seen and some marvellous
voices be heard. The young man, how
ever, promptly determined that he would
remain in his room writing business letters,
and he did so until nearly ten O clock, when
from the night air came thrilling voice
rendering an aria from Lucia Di Lammer-
moor. Dropping his pen and rising sud
denly as though impelled by an electric
shock, he went to the window and leaned
therefrom, drinking in every note and say
ing to himself again and again. ''that is
my dreamland voice
He heard the applause and double encore
without leaving the window. Then he
noted the orchestra sending forth the in
troductory notes of ''Rohin Adair," and
Immediately thereafter came the same
voice singing that which he had always
admired as the best song that came from
the lips of his dreamland love.
Entranced, enthralled, immovable, he
there remained until the last notes died
away Then leaving the room hastily
without hat or coat, and without waiting
for the elevator, he ran down stairs to find
the possessor of that voice. Before he
could reach the front door Of the Jefferson
Hotel the clerk grasped him by the arm
and handed him a telegram which, upon
opening, he found contained notice from
his father that his mother was seriously i'll.
Impulsive he was and dutiful also.
Within half an hour train from the South
was due, and giving up his dreamland
voice, Grant Henderson hastily made pre-
paration to take that train which bore him
away to his mother 1t was well for him
and for his peace of mind thereafter that
he did so, for he arrived in Philadelphia in
time to see her and be recognized, and
hear from her lips the singular and excep-
tional commentator ''Better son never
lived
Three months elapsed and Grant Hen
derson was again on business tour at
Winchester, Virginia. There he met a
business man who had been college chum
at Cambridge, and by him was invited to
visit the Cedar Greek battlefield where his
grandfather had rendered distinguished ser
vices. Leaving the battle field they went
to Clarke County, Virginia; and, according
to the Virginia custom, drove over the
mountains and through the valleys in a
buggy. While passing through Millwood
they noted on the hillside TO the right, a
gathering of country folks, and heard many
sounds of music and laughter coming from
the Beverly Randolph homestead, known
through all that vicinity as 'The Moor