Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-23

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nesday, and as he would take the train
at once, he should be here by the five
o'clock express. 1t is now after six"
AS she spoke. however, a light We
hicle came round a bend Of the road,
and drove rapidly toward the mansion.
A wave of faint pink passed over the
girls face, Transforming 1t as sunlight
a field of ripened grain. She spoke
not, but clasped her hands and watched
the approaching carriage.
Mrs Manning was herself flushed
and excited. Her only brother was
coming home after an absence Of many
years abroad, engaged in perfecting the
great scheme of his life-to induce
emigration and bring in capital with
which to build up the waste places Of
the desolated south. Before leaving, he
had seen the fulfillment of one dream,
the establishment of factory at Glen
Burnie, as the hamlet was called. The
water-power located ten years before
by him was employed in running the
largest cotton factory in that part of
the country. Hundreds Of families had
found food shelter and better still, en-
ployment, in the busy whirl of innu-
merable spindles. There was new
zest in life. Fields long lying fallow,
yielded rich harvest orchards were
weighted with the fruits Of a pruned
and cultivated growth. Everywhere
were peace and smiling plenty, and In
the hearts of a patient people, a sense
of great thankfulness.
AS Milton Weir stepped now upon
his native heath, he had the air of a
genuine Macgregor-self-c contained and
self-reliant as of old, and with the
same straightforward simplicity of
manner Time had not aged him. On
the contrary, as is often the case in
physiques dominated by an ever
youthful spirit, he had a clearer eye
and a more buoyant aspect. The shad-
ow of an anxious, almost oVerbearing
ambition, had passed away, leaving his
broad brow as placid as a morning in
ripe October and as full of promise.
The two waiting women clasped each,
an outstretched hand and received
kiss upon glowing cheeks. THANK God!
II Is good to be here once more" his
voice resonant and hearty as Of yore.
Then looking from one to the other,
he exclaimed, ITO see you both so we'll
and happy is doubly good"
His eyes rested upon Tita, the child
of his adoption, the smoke-wreath had
materialized upon the rugged noun
tain side yonder that fateful March day
Her hair a shade darker maybe; the
slender form almost ethereal in its robe
of fleecy white, was taller but scarcely
less 1.-the than when she bounded be-
fore him on the path to the store: while
in the large eyes Milton Weir again
saw the pupils, deep purple as the
heart of Parma violet, expanding with
intense feeling. The germ Of the wo-
man had been in the neglected child,
circumstances-nay a loving provi-
dence-had provided the conditions for
it's perfect development.
AS on that memorable night, again
a thrill, strange and unaccustomed,
passed through the being Of this man,
who has been the instrument of her
deliverance. But it was not now an
emotion of painful pity; and when, a
few days later the two-self- -consti-
tuted guardian and beloved protege-
stood together at the foot Of the gran
ite boulder where a seemingly useless
existence had passed into eternity, Mil
ton Weir realized the truest happiness
that can come to a sincere soul-duty
done without a dream Of reward.
Yet that reward had come. The
heart Of the child rested like a bird on
it's nest upon the power and probity
Of the man beside her that woful night
when he found her by the dead body of
her father Swiftly retracing his steps,
with a sense Of irresistible forebod-
ing, he had followed the pair on their
homeward way. But he had come too
late. Together they saw the last fiut-
ter of the paralyzed vital forces, and
the moment that proclaimed the weep
ing girl an orphan, fixed the noblest
purpose of busy life.
The morning sun was now flooding
the encircling hills with radiance like
gold-dus from the forges Of the gods.
An Intoxicating perfume Of rhodo-
dendrons and a subtler odor of wild
grapes and bee-haunted clovers filled
the air. There was a distant low of
cattle and the tinkling Of bells as they
wandered in wide, lush pastures, feed
ing on juicy grasses. Sight, sound,
smell, all were ineffably soothing and
sweet.
But the child of the mountain hut,
the loving and lovely daughter of a
splendid home, kept in her faithful
heart but one sense, in her mind but
one menory-the man who had first
showed kindness to her father, poor,
neglected, despised, but never forgotten
Jim Ross. She had no thought or de-
sire that was not filled and dominated
by the presence beside her.
Yes" she whispered, in answer to
a question fraught with the destiny Of
those two lives, Yes! Yes! Yes"
THE END.
FORETOLD HIS FUTURE.