Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1911-01-19

@1HREE months stole by with tan-
III talizing slowness. The autumn
II passed on into winter without
change Of expression IN the
benign face Of nature. Christmas day
was as hot as If 1t had come in mid
summer: the natives were as naked
the trees as fully clad. The six months
were passing away in spite or them
selves. Ten weeks were left before
the worn but determined heirs could
cast off their bonds and rush away to
other climes. 1t mattered little whethe-
they went away rich or poor. They
were to 60. Go! That was the rich.
est thing the future held out to them
True, they rode and played and SWAIN
and romped without restraint. but be-
meath all Of heir abandon there lurked
the ever present pathos of the jail. the
asylum, the detention ward
Not until the end Of January WAS
there a sign Of revolt against the eve,
growing, insidiouS condition Of melan
choly AS they turned into the las,
third of their exile they found heart
to rejoice in the thought that release
was coming nearer and nearer The
end of March-eight weeks off! Soon
there would he hut seven weeks. thrn
six!
And all this time the iSla 1ders toiler'
as they had toiled for years. They
reckoned in years. while the strangers
cast up times account in weeks and
called them years, Each day the
brown men worked in the mines pilinc
gems into the vaults with resolute.
ness that never faltered.
From London came disQuieting news
for all sides to the controversy. The
ysyIuggm pfulnispu 70 De drawu 0ur r0F
years, perhaps. The lonely legatees.
marooned In the far south sea. began
to realize that even after they had
spent their six months Of probation
they would still have months. even
years, Of waiting before they could
touch the fortune they laid claim TO-
The islanders also were vaguely awake
to the fact that everything might be
tied up for years despite the provi'
sions of the will restless. stubborn
feeling Of alarm spread among them.
This feeling gradu lily developed itself
into bitter resentment. Hatred for the
people who were causing this delay
was growing deeper and fiercer.
Their counselor, the complacent enc
my, held himself aloof from the men
and women that his charges were
fighting. He met the two lawyers
often. but nothing passed between
them that could have been regarded as
the slightest breach Of trush He
lived like q rajah in his shady bunSa.
low. surrounded by the luxuries OF one
to whom all things are brought inGi.
visible. If he had any longing for the
society Of women of his own race and
kind. he carefully concealed 1t. His
Indifference to the subtle though ul-
mistakable appeals Of the two gentle.
women in the chateau WAS Irritating
in the extreme When he deliberately.
though politely. declined their invita-
tion to tea one afternoon their Eumilia
ton knew no bounds.
Lady DeppiHgham and Mrs. Browne
should not he misunderstood hy tn"
reader They loved their husbands
am quite sure Of that-but they were
tired of seeing no one else. tired o.
talking to no one else. Moreover. in
support of this one sided assert ion.
they experienced from time to time
the most melancholy attacks of jcal
ousy If Mrs. Browne in plain despair
went OFF for days ride with Lord
Deppingham. that gentleman's wife
was sick with jealousy. If Lady Az.
nes strolled in the moonlit gardens
with Mr. Browne, the former Miss
her emotions. They shed many tears
of anguish over the faithesSneSs Of
husbands. tears of hatred over the
viciouSness of temptresses. Their quar-
rels were fierce. their upbraidings char
acteriStic. but In the end they cried
and kissed and made up"
They did not know, Of course. that
the willy Britt, despite his own deprcs-
sion, was all the while accommodating
the most astounding lot Of evidence to
show that decided streak of insanity
existed in the two heirs.
IF they could only be married in
some way" was Britt's private lament
to Saunders from time to time when
despair overcame confidence.
1--WE got ripping idea." Saunders