Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-03-19

cabinet containing a collection of
small worries and faience.
He went thoughtfully back to the
great hall, where sat the big chest on
which lay the votnme of Lucille" He
pushed down the antique wrought
iron hasp and threw up the lid. 1t
was filed to the brim with textures:
heavy portieres of rose-damask, table
covers of faded soft-toned tapestry,
window-hangings of dull green-all
with ~tobacco-leaves laid between the
folds and sifted thickly over with the
sparkling white powder. At the bot
tom, rolled in tarry-smelling paper, he
found a h%alf-dozen thin, Persian pray
er-rugs. :
"Phew!" he whistled. IL certainly
ought>to be grateful to that law firm
that inspected the place. Think Of
the things lying here all these years!
And that powder everywhere! It's
done the work, too, for there's not a
sign of moth. If I'm not careful, I'll
stumble over the family plate-it
seems to be about the only thing want
ing"
lie thought a moment, then went
quickly into the library. and began to-
ransack the trunk. At length he found
a smal box containing keepsakes of
various kinds. He poured the medley
on to the table-an, uncut moonstone,
an amethyst-topped pencil that one Of
his tutors had given him as a boy, a
tigers claw, a compass and what.not.
Among them was a mans seal-ring
with a crest cut in a, cornelian. He
looked at it closely. 1t was the same
device.
The ring had been his fathers.
Just when or how it had come into
his possession he could never remem-
Der. 1t had lain among these keep
sakes so many years that he had al
most forgotten its existence. He had
never worn a ring, but now, as he
went back to the hall, he slipped it
on his finger. The motto below the
crest was worn away, but it showed
clear in the marble of the hall-mantle:
| clinge.
His eyes turned from the carven
words and strayed TO the pleasant sun
ny foliage outside. An arrogant boast,
perhaps, yet in the event well justi-
fled. Valiants had held that selfsame
slope when the encircling forests had
rung with war-whoop and blazed with
torture-fire. They had held on through
Revolution and Civil war. Good and
bad, abiding and lawless, every gener-
alton had cleaved %stubbornly to its
acres. / clinge. His father had chung
through absence that seemed to have
been almost exile, and now he, the last
Valiant, has come to make good the
boast.
His gaze wavered. The tail of his
eye had caught through the window al
squirt of something dashing and vivid,
that grazed the corne of a far-off
field. He craned his neck, but it had
passed the line of his vision. The
next moment, however, there came
trailing on the satiny stiffness the
high-keyed ~ululation of a horn, and an
instant later a l~ong-drawn ~hallo-o-o!
mixed with a ~pattering chorus of
yelps.
i, He went close, and leaning from the
sill, shaded his eyes with his" hand.
The noise swelled and, rounded in vol
ume; it vas nearing rapidly. As he
1nn1ypd thA HINT In5hol ;rtD f,,1l ,sor,
between the tree-boles-a ~galloping
melee of khaki and scarlet, swarming
across the fresh green of a wheat
field, behind a spotted swirl of hounds.
"Confound it," said John Valiant
belligerently; they're on my land!"
They were ear enough now for him
hear the voices of the men, calling
encouragement to the dogs, and to see
the white ribbons of foam across the
TANKS of the laboring horses. One
scarlet.coated feminine rider, detached
from the bunch, had spurred in ad-
vance and was leading by a clean hun
dred yards, bareheaded, her hat fallen
back to the limit Of It's ribbon knotted
under her chin, and her waving hair
cleaning like furnished gold.
How she rides!" muttered the soil
tary watcher. "Cross-saddle. of course,
sensible little sport! She'll
never in the world do that wall!-Yes,
by George!" John Valiant's admira-
ton turned to delight. why" he
said, its the Lady-of-the- Roses"
He put his hands on the sill and
vaulted to the porch.