The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1914-04-01

behind him. cor 'ooman, heah, she
low ter fix up de kitchen dis mawn-
in en- we begin on dc house dis eve
nin'."
'Itight-o," said valiant "It's all up
hill, SO the motor won't run away
with you. Aunt Daphne, can you get
some help with the clcaning?"
"He'p?' that worthy responded with
iine scorn. mo, sub. Moughty few,
in do town 'cepn low.down yaller new
issue trash det ain wuf KILN! All
gwineter go fo' dat house mahse'f TO
long, hannah en- tongs, en- git it fix
up!"
Splendid! My destiny is in your
hands. You might take tho dog with
you, Uncle Jefferson; the run will do
him good"
When the latter had disappeared
and truculent sounds from the kitchen
indicated that the era of strenuous
cleaning had begun, he reentered the
library, changed the water in the rose
glass and set it on the edge Of the
shady front porch, where it's Haunting
blossom made dash of bright Grim
son against the grayed weather beaten
brick. This done, he opened the one
large room on the ground-noor that he
had not visited.
1t was double the size Of the library,
a parlor hung In striped yellow silk
vaguely and tenderly faded, with a
tall plate mirror set over a marble
topped console at either side In one
corner stood a grand piano of Circas-
sian walnut with keys Of tinted
otherof-pearl and a slender music
rack inlaid with morning-glories in the
same material. From the center Of
tho ceiling, above an oval table, de.
pended great chandelier hung with
glass prisms. The chairs and sofas
were covered with dusty slp.covers of
muslin. He lifted one Of these The
tarnished gold furniture was Louis
XIV, the upholstery Of yellow brocade
with pattern of pink roses Two
Japanese hawthorn vases sat on teak
wood stands and corAer held glass
cabinet containing collection of
small worries and faience.
He went thoughtfully back to the
great hall, where sat the big chest on
which lay the volume OF Lucille" He
pushed down the antique wrought
iron hasp and threw up the lid. 1t
was filed to the brim with textures:
heavy porticres Of rose -damask table.
covers Of faded soft.toned tapestry,
windo"-hangings of dun 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 half-dozen thin, Persian pray
er-rugs.
"Phew!" he whistled "I 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
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"
He thought moment, then went
quickly into tho library and began to
ransack the trunk. At length he found
small box containing keepsakes OF
various kinds. He poured the medley
on to the table-an uncut moonstone,
an amcthysttopped pencil that one Of
his tutors had given him as a boy, a
tigers claw, compass and what.not.
Among them was mans seal.ring
with crest cut in a cornelan. He
looked at it closely It was the same
device.
The ring had been his fathers.
Just when or how 1t had come into
his possession he could never remem-
ber. 1t had lain among these keep.
sakes 30 many years that he had al
most forgotten it's existence. He had
never worn ring, but now, as he
went back to the hall, he slipped 1t
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 we'll justi.
fed. Valiants had held that selfsame
slope when the encircling forests had
rung with war-whoop and blazed with
torture.t!re. They had held on through
Revolution and Civil War Gootl and
bad, abiding and lawless, every gener-
alton had cleaved stubbornly to It's
acres. I cinge. His father had clung
through absence that seemed to have
been almost exile, and now he, the last
boast.
His gaze wavered The tail OF his