The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-11-04
CHAPTER xI.
Oamory Court.

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ahaid. sub
John Valiant looked up Facing
them at All elbow OF the broad road.
was an old gateway of time-nicked
stone. clasping an iron gate that was
quaint and heavy and red with rust
over II on either side twin sugar
trees flung their untrammeled
strength. and from it. leading mp a
gentle declivity. ran curving avenue
OF oaks. He put out his hand
wait a moment" ne said in low
voice. and as the creaking convey
ance stopped he turned and looked
about him.
Facing the entrance the land Tell
away sharply 10 n miniature valley
through which rambled willow
bordered brook, in whose shadows
short-horned COWS stood lazily. be-
yond. alternating with fields OF
young grain and verdured pastures
like crushed velvet rose success
sion OF tranquil slopes crowned with
trees that here and there grouped
about a white colonial dwelling. with
It's outbuildings behind IL. Beyond.
whittier wound the Red road, he could
see a drowsy village. with spire
and a cupolaed courthouse; and Tar
Their vet a yellow gorge with a wisp
of white smoke curling above II
marked the course OF crawling, far
away railway over all the dimmins
yellow sunshine. and girdling the
In nf nj 81
blue. the tumbled battlements OF the
Blue Ridge.
His conductor had laboriously de
scended and now the complaining gates
swung open. Before them. as they
toiled up the long ascent. the neg
lected driveway was riot OF turbu-
lent growth: thistle. white-belled bur-
dock. ragweed and dusty MULLEN stood
waist high.
'Et's or moughty fine oil place,
sub. mid dat big revenue oh trees,
said Uncle Jefferson. But All reck'n
et ain got none oh de modern con-
nivances.
But Valiant did not answer: his
gaze was straight before him. fixed
on the noble old house they were ap
preaching. Its wide and columned
front peered between huge rugged
oaks and slender silver poplars which
cast cool long shadows across an I'M
kempt lawn laden With ragged mock
orange. lilac and syringa bushes, It's
stately grandeur dimmed but not de-
stroyed bv the shameful stains or
the neglected years.
AS he jumped down he was pos
sessed by an odd sensation OF old &C
quaintance--as II he had seen those
tall white columns before-an illu-
sorry half-vision into some shadowy,
fourth-dimensiona landscape that be-
longed to his subconscious self. or
that. glimpsed in some immaterial
dream picture. had left a faint-etched
memory Then ON sudden. the vista
vibrated and widened. the Write col.
umns expanded and shot up into the
cloudse and from every bush seemed
TO peer a friendly black savage with
woollv white hair,
Wishing House" he whispered.
He looked about him. half expecting
SC vivid was the illusion-to see
circle OF rough huts under the trees
and multitude OF ebony imps dane
ing in the sunshine. SO Virginia had
been that secret Never-Never Land.
the wondrous fairy demesne Of his
childhood with IFS amiable barbar-
ians and It's thickets OF coursing grim
atkins, The hidden country which his
fathers thoughts. sadly recurring.
had painted 10 the little child that
once he was. in the euise OF an end
DO 20 n ,fota
over and IL seemed to him that mo-
ment that his father was very near
Leaving the Negro to unload his
belongings. he traversed an over
grown path OF messed gravel, be-
tween boxrows frowsled like the
mares OF lions gone mad and smoth-
cred IN an accumulation OF matted
roots and debris OF rottine foliage,
and presently the bulldog az his
heels found himself in The rear OF
the house
The building, with kitchen. stables
and Negro quarters behind It. fad
been set on the boss OF the wooded
knoll Along half us side ran a wide
porch that had once been glass-en.
closed, now with panes gone and
broken and putty-crumbling sashes
Below IL lay the piteous remnants of
formal garden. grouped about an
oval poo! from whose center reared
( The slender yellowed shaft OF foun.
tain in whose shallow cup a robin
was taking its rainwater bath. The
pool was dry the tiles that had
formed IFS floor we're priced apart
With weeds: ribald wild grape.vines
ran amuck hither and thither: and
over all was IA drenching-sweet scent
OF trailing honeysuckle.
\ Threading his way among the dank
! uhdergrowth OF the desolate wilder.
ness. following the sound OF running
water. he came suddenly TO little lake
red from unseen pipes. that spread
It's iilybadded~ surface coolly and in.
lVltlngly under a clump OF elms Be
side II stood a spring.house with a
sadly sagging roof With dead
branch he probed the waters depth
Ten feet and a pebble bottom he
SAID The lakes overflow poured in
musical cascade down between fern.
covered rocks. 10 join far below. the
stream he had seen from the gate.
way. Beyond this the ground rose
again 10 hill. densely forested and
hanked by runnelled slopes Of mover.
ty-stricken abroon-sedge .as stark ard
scar as the badlands OF an aIk,ir
desert. As he gazed. a bird buhh,Id
into n wild song from the srana.vino
fangie behind him ana air.s... -