Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-02-18

I-CuTS6S-On lUe lIldIl
Jasper Jahnway pushed the letter
from him as he finished it.
"a remarkable production" he said
refiectively. He was right. 1t was g
remarkable production.
"A fitting end to such a day as this
has BEEN" he said little bitterly; "a
fitting evenings entertainment after
the gloom of the afternoon"
He rose and looked out at the night
He shivered. The evening was toe
much one of which some one had writ
ten to some one else, too much like the
levening when a wicked heart had
prompted a steady hand to the commits
sion of a terrible crime, to be perfectly
pleasant Mr.. Jahnway drew down the
curtains. He sat down close by the
open fire. He faced the window as he
sat. He muttered something about the
man outside.
| The day, Saturday, November 5th
1870, had been as thoroughly disagree
able a one at Jahnway Park as any
which Jasper Jahnway could remem-
Der. 1t is true that Jasper Jahnway
was young: 1t Is true that he had not
been the fortunate possessor Of the
Jahnway estate for very great num-
Der of years; and it is true that his
rowing life, prior to coming home to
enjoy his unexpected inheritance, had
left his knowledge Of the possibilities
of November weather in New England
in sight of the Atlantic. little more
than a matter of theory and imagina-
ton.
But little as he knew of what had
been or what might be at Jahnway
Park. narrow as his experience there
had been, he had seen many unpleas-
ant days elsewhere; and his memory
had failed to show him anything to
compare with what this day had been.
From long before the earliest and
faintest beginning Of dawn, the rain
had fallen in torrents; all day long the
trees had tossed and writhed in the
rushing gale; from morning to noon,
and down the steep slope Of the declin-
ing day to night again, the sound OF the
sea had been louder than the beating
of the rain or the roaring Of the wind.
1t is quite possible that the oldest in
habitant," that garrulous encyclopaedia
of ancient wonders and lexicon Of su-
perlatives, would have agreed with
Jasper Jahnway in his estimate OF the
day. Or, perhaps
Perhaps the owner OF Jahnway Park
had come to 1t as to place of peace
and rest. and n haven OF refuge; per-
haps he found storm and tempest more
annoying than they had been in the
days when they had been his frequent
companions, the days when he had TAX
en- his life in his hands and hunted
tickle fortune half around the world.
The soldier at home-loves peace; the
orator at his own fireside-loves ST.
lence 1t is the way Of the world, you
know. And Jasper Jahnway, at Jahn-
way Park, whatever may have been
true elsewhere in his past, loved cloud
less skies, bright flowers, warm sun
shine.
The old Jahnway mansion was an old
one indeed There had been Jahnways
and Jahnways. The particular line
from which Jasper came had been
poor; there were no portraits or
his ancestors, until one traced the
pictorial history of the Jahnways back
for many generations, on the walls OF
the picture gallery which was now his
own. If there had been portraits OF
these Jahnways, the Jahnways whose
blood flowed in his veins, they would
have been painted with a far-away
look in their eyes-painted with swords
in their hands-painted with sails
above their heads and decks beneath
their feet-painted with the ocean or
the wilderness about them and with the
world of ease and culture and civiliza-
ton unlimited in garb or posture
workers, fighters, pioneers-these, and
Of those who wait-always. Should
one inquire regarding them and their
past, he would find their swords drawn,
sometimes, in causes whose merits
would be difficult to explain; he would
find their ships engaged, sometimes, in
a questionable traffic; and find, above
the head of some one Of the bravest
and most devoted OF the Jahnways, a
flag he would not have looked for-or
none at all. The questioner reading,
rendering, studying the history Of their
past, would find hope and faith and
earnest valor; but Jaspers fathers for
generations had gone no emptier-hand-
ed to their graves than they had gone
to the best years of their lives.
And Jasper Jahnway had been true
to the traditions of his race, until
| Until he came to stand in the home
which had belonged to another line OF
Jahnways: a line who had had money
always; a line who had filled the old
house with books and pictures and
statuary: q line who had spread ease
and comfort and luxury everywhere in
the great house and in the spacious
grounds
Jahnway Park had been a paradise
to Jasper when he first came. He knew
that then. He did not deny it now.
He wondered, nevertheless, how he
could ever have enjoyed it as he did
1t was a very unsatisfactory sort OF
life now. 1t had been tame year ago;
tanner last month; and today-today he
had found the house like a prison, the
very elements his foes, the whole sltua-
ton intolerable. Did he love bright
weather and warm sunshine? He did
But only because storm made him a
prisoner of civilization: only because
the gentleman he had become must not
wander aimlessly about when the winds
and the waters struggled for the mas
terv. He could remember days when
life had been otherwise for him.
He had found books a bore; his
pictures had panied him; he had wan
dered. restlessly, from room to room
PITY Jasper Jahnway as noon found
| /. q, o,rnhitinn-StrOnT