Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-12-13
CHAPTER XIX
Under the AemlockS.

CHAPTER XIX
Under the Hemlocks.
Sharley looked at Valiant with a
deepening of her dimple. hickey
isn't an aristocrat.' she said; she's
what we call here poor-white, but she's
got a heart of gold. She's an orphan,
and the neighborhood in general, and
Miss Matte Sue Mabry in particular,
have adopted her"
He hardly heard her words for the
painful wonder that was holding him.
He had canvassed many theories to ex-
plain his fathers letter but such a
thing as a duel he had never remotely
imagined. His father had taken a
mans life. Was it this thought
whatever the provocation, however
justified by the customs Of the time
and section-that had driven him to
sel:.exile? He recalled himself with
all effort, for she was speaking again.
you've found Lovers Leap, no
doLbt?"
mo. This is the first time I've been
so far from the house. Is 1t near
here?"
''ll show it to YOU" She held out
her hand for the bunch Of jessamine
and laid it on the broad roots Of a
tree that were notified with lichen.
Look there" she said suddenly; isn't
that beauty"
She was pointing to a jimson-weed
on which had settled, with CLASSY wings
vibrating, a long, ungainly, needlelike
insect with an odd sword-like beak.
What Is that?' he asked.
"A snake-doctor, If Unc' Jefferson
were here he'd say, 'Beettah watch
out! Dah's err snake roun' erbout
heah, sho'!' He'll fill you full of darby
superstitions."
He shrugged his shoulders. "l'm be-
ing introduced to them hourly. I've
met the graveyard rabbit-one of
them had hoodooed my motor yester-
day. I'm to carry a buckeye in my
pocket-by the way, Is buckeye a
horse-chestnut?--if I want to escape
rheumatism. I've learned that it's
bad luck to make a bargain on
Friday, and the weepy consequences
of singing before breakfast" A blue
Jay darted by them, to perch on limb
and eye them saucily. and the jay
bird! He goes to hell every Friday
noon to carry birthstone and tell the
devil what folks have been up to-
She clapped her hands. you're
certainly learning fast. When l was
little used to be delighted to see a
blue-jay in the cedars on Friday after
noon. It was sign we'd been so good
there was nothing to tell. Follow me
now and I'll show you the view from
Lovers Leap. But look down. Don't
lift your eyes till I tell you
He dropped his gaze to the small
brown boots and followed, his eyes
catching low side-glimpses Of woodsy
things-the spangled dance of leaf
shadows, chameleon lizard whisking
through the roots of the bracken, the
creamy wavering wings of a white
moth resting on a dead stump. Sud-
denly the slim path between the trees
took a quick turn, and fell away at
their feet. There" she said. This
is the finest view at Damory Court"
They stood on the edge of stony
ravine which widened at one end to
shallow marshy valley. The rocks
were covered with gray-green feathery
creepers, enwound with curly yellow
tendrils Of lOve-vine. Across the
ravine, on a lower level, began grove
of splendid trees that marched up into
the long stretch of neglected forest he
had seen from the house. Looking
down the valley, fields of young to-
bacco lay tier on tier and beyond
in the very middle of the mellow
vaporous distance, lifted the tapering
tower of a far-off church, hazily out
lined against the azure.
"You love it," he asked, without
withdrawing his eyes.
give loved it all my life. l love
everything about Damory Court.
Ruined as it is, it is still one Of the
most beautiful estates in all Virginia.
There's nothing finer even in Italy.
Just behind us, where those hemlocks
stand, is where the duel the children
spoke of was fought"
He turned his head. ''Tell me
about it, he said.
She glanced at him curiously.
"Didn't you know? That was the
reason the place was abandoned
Valiant, who lived here, and the owner
of another plantation, who was named
Sassoon, quarreled. They fought, the
story is, under those big hemlock
rees. Sassoon was killed."
He looked out across the distance:
he could not trust his face. "And-
Valiant?"
HE went away the the same day
and never came back: he lived in New
York till he died. He was the father
of the Courts present owner. You
never heard the story?"