The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-24

less in his ~Wdnder1ngs, put tNS Nas
not altosther true. He fed his pas
h.mseif-,tose left after TIL" fal! Eo-
killing: h had shut up a young cow
with her calf, where they could be
sheltered he had given old Roy an
extra feed of forage and corn.
His last visit Of state was 20 his
smoke-house, where hams and shout
ders swung aloft. finished TO the last
degree that critical taste, reinforced
by art. could give them.
No profane hand had ever touched
one Of tie colonel's hams. Through
every one Of the delicate and tedious
processes he had carried them him
self. even to the sugar-curinS stage
that marked the end
The s&ckfng and smoking he had
done, and the fine tracery OF outline
marked the master hand.
There vas a far-aWay look in his
eyes, in which the gray showed clear
and strong yet. lie seemed 70 ps
scanning the outline Of the hills where
the evening sun rested in shafts Of
light. and against which q tall poplar
flung high its naked branches, as II
in. appeal against the sleep OF winter.
John killed his first squirrel in that
tree" said the colonel. and then God
bless my boy!' was murmured under
his breath.
John wa a famous congressman
now In another State, and for MAJ
wears he had not come home-lndeed
he had not come back since he carried
ewav his bride. and letters were the
thin fare on which his father and mo-
Their fed. Not that he did not love
them, on the contrary he ldolized
both; bu. new duties and growing re-
sponsibiIities kept him anchored
where he was and the colonel could
not make up his mind to take the
tourney to see him. Sometimes he
almost yielded, but never went.
Meantime the colonel was growing
old faster than John realized, but he
shut his lips and went his daily round
The colonel was recalled to him
self by his wife coming out of the
house and her presence always sooth~
red him Xix e a benediction. His whole
life was che long devotion to her, and
there was ever a CLEAN of chivalry in
his care for her. Ever she was first.
Her face showed a bloom of unforget-
sable beauty, and there was starlight
in the smile with which she greeted
/ him.
A bronze gobbler grew restless in
his coop for the twin that had been
taken away and killed for the Christ
mas dinner on the morrow, for it was
Christmas Eve, and the colonel dlned
as he had always done on that, wheth-
er the guests were few or many.
AS the couple stood together in the
sunlight there was suggestion of the
spirit of Southern chivalry in the pic
ture. The gentle hand that smOothed
his wife's tresses had carried a sabre
at Gettysburg and when that became
useless had exchanged it for a sponge
staff, until it's owner became partly
buried among the dead and wounded,
piled together by the murderOus fire of
grape and canister. The same hand
had at another time laid a riding whip
across tn cheek of a man who spoke
S~lightingly of a woman friend.
Pint now all was nparp oven To the
submits of the blue mountains that
showed bare in the Wintry air, save
for a lingering brown, where the
leaves had not fallen from the trees.
The colonel led his wife into the
house, where the oak fire blazed in a
mammoth fireplace, and together
they sat down and enjoyed the
warmth and comfort, speaking not
but barking back to immemOrial days
when he and she were young, and the
world seemed a garden OF roses. Then,
in the freight showed John-John,
the mischief-maker-John, the busiest
or mortalS at this very season. The
colonel still saw q bright-eyed boy
whose face glowed beneath his curl
ing locks. But Johns mother saw a
smiling babe at her breast that cooed
of things known in motherland and
known nowhere else. The pictures
came and went, as the fire sputtered
and gloWed against the iron fender.
IuDDtu 10 SpOlIeSS DeT1eCtlOn DIV OLD
Dinah.
Dinah was a remnant of better
times, as was Nose, her husband, and
they had chung to the colonel's fail
ing fortunes because they were out of
place with the new order of negroes
and had no other object in life but
catching the last of the sunlight
against the ever-deepening shadows.
Il can not help thinking of boy.
James. said the mother at last. land
wishing he was here. with our pre-
cious grandson whom we have never
seen. The picture of little John was
laid against the dresser and had been
the object of Unstinted admiration on
the part Of the colonel, his wife and
of Dinah and Nose as well. Nose
never passed by 1T without stolen
Chances on the few occasions when
duty called him into tina mysterious
recess, the colonel's bedchamber. He
and Dinah had many animated discus
siOnS about it when the days work
was done and they sat in the cabin
alone. Nose, who had belonged to
the mothers family, claiming young
John as q scion of that race and the
living image of his old master. which
was always spurned by Dinah, who
came from he other branch and
stoutly maintained that ode chile de
colonel hisself, down to e toe-nail."
But now it was Christmas eve and
little John was II years old and had
never seen his grandparents or been
seen by them.
To his wife's remark the colonel
turned his glance and only sighed an
answer. Summers l sho' young mas
sa comm, home dis Christmas. Miss
Maggie" said old Dinah, presuming
on the liberty and license of the day
and on the fearsorne interest of the
subject. Dat boy O. mine ketch two
possums las night. and l amt never
seed de like of chicken egg since I
Dawn. and old Ponto runni' to de
front gate all tru de week, an sniff
fin at de pos. Dog amt no fool and
old onto know watts wat"
The room in which the colonel and
his wife were seated was the family
lining room. The drawing room was
rarely used and never except on occa-
sions of state. This dining room was
finished in a dark oak and the panel
ing of the walls ave back the rudy
reflection of the fire. The pictures
were such as to suggest the taste of
the owner and were in perfect keep
Ing with the arrangement. A covey
or pdrtrldgeS was StrOllrg away I'M
der great trees in the forest on a win
ter scene across the snow. A brace of
W~oodcock, a collection of fish, a clus-