The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-11-23
EMERSON HoUGH
cosyrishs. lsio. by Ensrson Housb

friend from Kentucky mentions It that could we by some fair means some legal means-some means of ad justment and compromise. if you please. gentlemen-pIace this young lady under his personal care and in- duce him to conduct her, preferably to some unknown point beyond the At Iantic ocean. there to lose her per- manently, we should perhaps be doing our country service and would also be relieving this administration of one of its gravest concerns"
 r Let us be sure. gentlemen, of one thing at a dme" resumed the man who presided "As we come to this final measure suggested by our friend from Kentucky. I am at a loss how further to proceed. What we do cannot be made public. We cannot sign joint note asking this distinguished gentle man to act as our Intermediary"
 es.I suggest, sir. that we should evade the personal responsibility of this did you put it to the vote. of the states represented here.'' said the dark man.
 ssI rely upon the loyalty and the una nimity of my family replied the leader, with more drmness than was his wont "Gentlemen, are we then agreed? Does Massachusetts consent? Is Vir- ginia with us? Is New York agree able? Does Kentucky also agree?''
 There was no murmur of dissent, and the leader, half rising, concluded:
 ''Gentlemen, we agreed four days ago that the Countess St. Auban should leave Washington not later than that night. We are now agreed that in case of her return, she shall if possible be placed under the charge, not of any responsible figure of our party, but of gentleman distinguished in the coun- cils of an opposing party. whose aboh- tioniSt beliefs coincide somewhat with her own. Let us hope they will both get them to Missouri, the debating ground. the center of the political bat tlefeld today. But, Missouri or Hun gary. Kentucky or France. let us hope that one or both of them shall pass from our horizon.
 elf we agree upon New York as our agent, who shall be our emissary to New York? Do you allow the-the chair''-he smiled as he bowed before them-''to appoint this, committee of one?"
 There was silence to this A mo- nounced his decision. ssThe gentleman
 
 this task for the people of the United States. Let us hope he never will have need to serve."
 It cost the self control of some to re- main silent at this. and the courage of the remaining member also to preserve the silence which meant his accept ance of a task so difficult and distaste- full --
 ssSir," hastily went on the original speaker, tour thanks are due to you. We shall limit you with no instruc- tions. All the money required by you as agent. or required by your agent. shall of course be forthcoming, and you shall quietly have also the assist ance of all the secret service. if so de sired. None of us must know what has become of the Countess St. AubaD. now or later. You have heard me. Gentlemen, we adjourn"
 
 Tallwoods, the home plantation of the Dunwody family in the west, now the personal property of the surviving son. State Senator Warville Dunwody of Missouri, presented one of the con- trasts which now and again might have been seen in our early western It lay somewhat remote from the nearest city of consequence, in region where the wide acres of the owner blended, unused and unculti- vated, with those still more wild, as yet unclaimed under any private title. Yet in pretent tiousness-indeed, in as- Suredness-it might have rivaled many of the old estates of Kentucky, the Carolinas or Virginia, so much did the customs and ambitions of these older states follow their better bred sons out into the newer regions. It was days ride to courthouse, two days to a five hours to get a letter to or from the occasional post
 The plantation itself was 8 little kingdom and largely supplied it's own wants. Mills. looms. shops-a1l these were part of the careless system, easy and opulent. which found support and gained arrogance from a rich and gen erous environment. The old house it. self, if it might be called old, built as it had been scarce thirty years before. lay in the center of singular valley ht the edge of the Ozark hills The site was chosen for its healthfulness and natural beauty The road up through the lower Ozarlzs from the great Mississippi, which entered along the bed of the little stream, ended at Tallwoods farm Beyond it. along the little river which led back into the re- mote hills, it was no more than a horse path and used rarely except by ne groes or whites in hunting expeditions pack into the mountains, where the deer, the wild turkey, the bear and the panther still roamed in considerable numbers at no great distance from the home plantation.
 Corn, swine and cotton-these made the wealth of the owner of Tallwoods' plantation and of the richer lands in the river bottoms below. These prod ucts brought the owner all the wealth he needed. Here, like a feudal lord, master of all about him. he had lived all his life and had. as do all created