The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1914-08-20
CHAPTER XVII.
HERO WORSHIP.

1t had come about that Lucy Hamp-
ton was a scholar of Francois. The
colonel, lamenting on a day that there
We're no capable teachers of French in
the neighborhood. that Lucy's school
girl command Of the language was fast
disappearing, and an accomplishment
so vital to a lady was likely soon to be
lost-this saga of regret being suns
by the colonel at the dinner table.
Francois had offered to teach made
moiselle his mother tongue. And the
colonel had accepted the offer.
IF you are not too busy, chevalfer.
And l suppose your-ah-accent-is en-
tirely good? One a not be too care
full. you know. At least we shall not
quarrel about the terms, for whatever
money you think right to ask 1 shall
be ready to pay" and the colonel fe1
himself a man of the world and
tremely generous.
Father" Lucy cried quickly.
Francois eyes We're on his plate but
they swept up with their wide brown
gaze full on the colonels face. 81 am
not too busy. monsieur the colonel. AS
for my accent am a peasant, as
monsieur knows. but yet I am instruct
ed. l was for years at Saint Cyr, the
great military school of France. I be-
lfeve my accent is right. AS for mon
ey"-a quick motion, all French. spoke
a whole sentence. IF monsieur insists
- eAN S'tH - IL. 10 me
1T would be impossible to take money
for the pleasure of teaching made
mo1selle." He flashed at Lucy a smile
all gentleness, and Lucy's eyes, wait
ing for that smile. met his shyly.
The colonel clustered q bit. but the
lessons were arranged as Francois
wished. and twice a week throughout
the winter he rode over from Carnifax
to give them. And little by little he
came to know the small mistress Of the
manor as few had known her. PEOPLE
thought Lucy Hampton too serious and
stald for a young girl: no one realized
that. here mother being dead and her
rather as he was. the clear-headed little
person had begun at 10 or IL years old
70 know that she must make her own
decisions, and many Of her fathers also.
AT Ia she had taken the keys and the
responsibility OF the house. and now, at
10. sho was in reality the head of the
whole great plantation. The colonel.
who would have been most indignant
to be told so, leaned on her in every de-
tall. and 1T was h who planned and
decided and often executed the govern
ment Of the little kingdom.
Those who think of southern ladies
Of the old regime as idle do not UNDER
stand what their life was. The position
Of mayor of a city would approach idle
ness as nearly. 1t was for the woman
at the head of such a place to guide
the household work of a great number
OF servants; to train new servants "a
they were added to the corps; to man
age the commissariat for all this army.
TO see that the fruits Of one season
were cooked and made into the sweets
and pickles and drinks of another; to
look after the clothing Of hundreds of
negroes on the plantation, cutting and
arranging with her own hands. Beyond
this. to the mind of a Conscientious
southern woman. such as was young
Lucy Hampton. the souls Of her slaves
We're her charge as we'll as their bod
les. AS she stock slim and fair and
young. IN the great. shadowy. sunshot
explained the bible or led the singing,
while all the earnest. reverent, black
faces turned to her trustingly, it was
a great power to be given into such
hands. and she felt it so. In addition
to an his a lady. Of Virginia must en-
grande dame as well as, if it so hap
pened. a devoted wife and mother.
All this. except the last, lay on the
slender shoulders Of Lucy Hampton
and besides all this she had begun in
very ch1ldhood to hold up the hands
and do the thinking Of an incompetent
father. 1t was not wonderful that she
was graver and slower to frolic than
other girls of 16. Her conscientious
young brain was full Of care, and light
h~eartedness of youth had never had a
chance to grow In that crowded place..
Ter cousin had come to live with them
only the year before. when his mother
a died, his father being dead long
ago; and Lucy knew quite we'll that
her father had planned that the two
should marry and unite the broad acres
Of the Hamptons.
But the young longing for romance
winch was In her in spite of the chok-
ing sober business Of her life, rebelled
at this. She would not give herself as
Well as all her thought and effort to
Roanoke. She wanted to love some
body. and be loved for herself as other
girls We're; she would not marry Harry
because he and her father considered
1t a good arrangement. So strongly
this determination seized her that.
looking entirely down hi way of
thought. she failed to see that Harry
might no.. be classed with the colonel
In his view Of the plan. She failed to
see that If she had not been heiress to
Roanoke House. or to anything at all,
Harry Hampton would still have beer
in love with his cousin Lucy. Fol Harry
saw how the young life had been pressed
into a service too hard for it almost
from babyhood; Harry saw how un-
she was and trustworthy; how
broad-minded and warm-hearted; how
would like to be care free and ire
like other girls of her age,
only that the colonel and the estate
were always there. always demanding
her time and her attention. He could
do little to help her as yet, but he
longed to lift the weight and carry it
with her. not away from her, for the
fairy of a person was not the sort to
lean on others or to be happy without
her share of the burden. Yet, Harry
thought. If l might only help her, and
make 1t all a delight instead Of a a
bor!"
But Lucy. going about her busy days,
never guessed this. She thought of
Harry as the boy whom she had grown
UP with. to be cared for tenderly al
ways because of his misfortune, to be
helped and planned for and loved in
deed. because he was lame and her
cousin. because he was a dear
boy and her best friend. But
as the hero of her w romance
to come, she refused to think of him at
all. More firmly she refused such an
idea, Of course, because her father had
that it would complete both
Harry's and his happiness. She had
laughed at Harry openly about the
scheme more than once, and he had
flushed and kept silent and Lucy had
thought:
Poor old honest Harry! He has been
b~rowbeaten by my father, but he will