Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-12-18

DO IT." exclaimed the former. And
let me say, sab, that the neighborhood
is not unaware Of the splendid gener.
osity which is responsible for the
present lack of which you speak"
Valiant put out his hand with lit
tie gesture of depreciation, but the
other disregarded 1t. "Confound it,
sab, it was to be expected Of a Vail
ant. Your ancestors wrote their
names in capital letters over this
county. They were an up and down
lot, but good or bad land, as Southall
says, reckon"--he nodded toward the
great portrait above the couch-"they
weren't all little woody lambs) they
did big things In big way"
Valiant leaned forward eagerly. a
question on his lips. But at the mo-
ment diversion occurred in the
shape Of Uncle Jefferson. who RENTER
ed, bearing tray on which set sun
dry jugs and blinking glasses, glowing
with white and green and gold.
"You old humbug," said the doctor,
don't yon know the majors that pois.
oned with mint.juleps already that he
can't get up before eight in the morn
ing?"
"Well, subj" Uttered Uncle Jeffer-
son. "Ah done foun' err mint-baid down
below de kitchens dis mawnin'. Yo'-
all gemmun bout de bigges' eXpuhts
in dis yeah county, en- All reck'n
Mars valiant sho' 'sist on yo' samp.
lin ct"
"Sah," said the major feelingly.
turning to his host, I'm proud to
drink your health in the typical bever-
age of Virginia." He touched glasses
with Valiant and glared at the doctor,
who was slipping his own thoughtfully.
"In my travels" he said, II have be-
come acquainted with a drink called
pousse-cafe, which contains all the
colors of the rainbow. But for chaste
beauty, sab, give me this. No garish
combination, you will observe. A
frosted goblet, golden at the bottom
as an autumn corn-ear, shading into
emerald and then into snow. On top
a white rim of icebergs with the mint
sprlgs like fairy pine-trees. Poems
have been written on the julep, sah.'
''They make good epitaphs, too,
observed the doctor.
81 noticed your glass isn't going beg
ging," the major retorted. 'Unc' JET
ferson, that's as good mint as grew in
the gyarden of Eden. See that those
lazy niggers of yours don't grub the
patch out by mistake"
"Yas, subj" said Uncle Jefferson, as
he retired with the tray. "Ah gwine-
ter put er fence eroun' dat ar bald TO-
shutdown"
The question that had sprung to
valiants lips now found utterance. 81
saw you look at the portrait there"
he said to the major. (Which Of my
ancestors is it?''
The other got up and stood before
he mantlepiece in Napoleonic atti-
ude. "That," he said. fixing his eye
glasses, sis your great-grandfather,
Devil-Joh Valiant"
"Devil-John!" echoed his host
Yes, I've heard the name.'
The doctor guffawed. "He earned
it. I reckon. ! never realized what a
sinister expression that missing optic
gives the old ruffian. There was a
skirmish during the war on the hill
side yonder and bullet cut 1t out.
When we were boys we used to call
him odd One-Eye.'
at interests me enormously John
Valiant spoke explosively.
"The stories of Devil-John would
fill mighty big. book" said the
major. "By all accounts he ought to
have lived in the middle ages Cross
ing the library, he looked into the
dining-room. 81 thought l. remem-
bered. The portrait over the console
there is his wife, your great-grand-
mother. She was wonderful SWIM
mer, by the way" he went on, return
ing to his seat. 1T was said she had
swum across the Potomac in her
hunting togs. When Devil-John heard
of the feat, he swore he would marry
her and he did. 1t was love-match,
no doubt, on her side; he must have
been one to take with women. Even
in those days, when men still lived
picturesquely and weren't all cut to
the same pattern he must have been
unique. There was somthing santana
cally spIndid and savage about him.
My great-uncle used to say he stood
six feet two and walked like an en-
peror on love-spree. He was man
of sky-high RACES, with fingers that
could bend gold coin double.
"They say he bet That Wnen ne
brought his bride home, she should
walk into Damory Court between rows
of candlesticks worth twenty-thous-
and dollars. He made the wager good
too, for when she came up those steps
out there, there was row of ten can
dies burning on either side of the
doorway, each held by a young slave
worth a thousand dollars in the mar
ket. The whole state talked OF the
wedding and for time Damory Court
was ablaze with tea-parties and
dances. That was in the old days of
coaching and red.heeled slippers,
when Virginia planters lived like vice
roys and money was only to throw to
the birds. They were fast livers and
hard drinkers, and their passions ran
away with them. Devil-John's knew
neither saddle nor bride. Some say
he grew jealous of his wife's beauty
There were any number of stories told
of his cruelties to her that aren't
worth repeating. She died early
poor lady-and your grandfather was
the only issue. Devil-John hemself
lived to be past seventy, and at that
sge. when most men were stacking
II. ,f,,, 1uith tho pOuf he