Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1908-08-06

CHAPTER XII.
Within a few months I shall be mar
ried. Now, go your way with light
heart. And look here, if I catch any
one poaching on your preserves, III
let you know,
"rhen I'm off
His voice rang out gaily. He was
glad to be off, glad to escape the GER
tainty of seeing sickness and death.
The artistic temperament, adoring
what is beautiful, loathes with equal
intensity what is ugly; and the relief
in the young fellows tone became at
once the measure of his courage, be,
cause he had confronted fear bravely,
knowing his own weakness, but sub
DUNG it. Hugo had seen strong men
slink from cholera-infested camp,
leaving their comrades to die; many
had remained; some because fear and
they were strangers, others because
they were strong enough to wrestle
with the devil that possessed them
and cast him out; and these last had
been the bravest men he had ever
known.
Next day, early in the morning,
Esme Burgess drove away from Hern-
shaw Parva; but before he left he
anew that one Of the Mowland chill
dren was dead, and that the fever had
spread to the adjoining cottages.
CHAPTER XI-(Continued)
The Misses Mottisfont received the
news of the diphtheria from the lips
of Esther Purkess, the pretty parlor-
maid. Elias, Purkess, her father, a
lineal descendant of the Purkess who
helped to remove the body Of the king
when he was shot in the woods below
Kingscross, lived in a cottage near the
Mowlands. This man serves as an
excellent example of the effect of eli
mate and environment upon family.
The historical Purkess had been a
charcoal burner. After nearly thou
sand years, his descendants remained
charcoal-burners, chimney-sweeps cut
ters of fern, and poachers Tenacious
ly they had clung to their habitat
never leaving it, never seeking to bet
ter their position in life, content to
Increase and multiply in the very
humble station first assigned to them.
Esther's father, for instance, was an
earth-stopper in the hunting season,
and, as such, not without a certain To-
cal standing; also he could drink more
ale than any other man in Hernshaw
Parva without getting drunk; he play
ed an astonishing game of quoits, and
he had thirteen children. Esther,
true Forester (inasmuch as the pros
pect of illness or death excited her
profoundly, suggested to Miss Pris-
ella, the propriety of returning home
;'to help mother" it being absolutely
certain that the diphtheria would levy
heavy toll upon the Purkess family.
Miss Priscilla said Rubbish in n
voice not to be gainsaid, and instruct
ed Esther to keep away from her peo-
pie, and, indeed, to confine her walks
to the kitchen garden.
Then, as soon as the maid had
whisked rather Indignantly out of the
room, she said calmly to Miss La
vinia:
"Giles was observing only the other
day that those sites in Hernshaw Par
va ought to be pulled down."
Il have heard him use your words,
sister,
This is the visitation of God"
Eyes. sister; His hand is heavy up
on u.s.
They looked at each other, nodding
their heads The Mottisfonts prided
themselves, and justly, upon their
good looks, but in later life they as
sumed something of the appearance
Of sheep-eyes set too far apart, up-
per lips too long, and the straight line
Of forehead and nose did nothing to
dissipate this appearance
Having been brought up in those
good old days when blackboards in
the schoolroom were deemed of much
more Importance than windows open