Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1915-01-27

in de town 'cep'n low-down yaller new
issue trash Diet ain wu'f KILN! All
gwineter go fo' dat house mahsef TO
long, hannah en- tongs, en- git it fix
up!"
Splendid! My destiny is in your
hands. You might take the 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 a dash Of bright Grim
son against the grayed weather-beaten
brick. This done, he opened the one
large room on the ground-foor 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
mother-of-pearl and slender music
rack inlaid with morning-glories in the
same material. From the center of
the ceiling, above an oval table, de-
pended a great chandelier hung with
glass prisms. The chairs and sofas
were covered with dusty slip-covers of
muslin. He lifted one of these. The
furnished gold furniture was Louis
XIV, the upholstery of yellow brocade
with a pattern of pink roses. Two
Japanese hawthorn vases sat on teak
wood stands and a corner held glass
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 volume of Lucille" He
pushed down the antique wrought
iron hasp and threw up the lid. 1t
was oiled to the brim with textures:
heavy portieres Of rose-dGmask, 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 half-dozen thin, Persian pray
er-rugs.
'Phew!" he whistled 81 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 a moment, then went
quickly into the library and began to
ransack the trunk. At length he found
a small 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 boy, a
tigers claw, compass and What-not.
Among them was a mans seal-ring
with a crest cut in a comedian. 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 We rs that he had al
most forgotten it's 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:
/ cling3.
His eyes turned from the carven
words and strayed to the pleasant sum
ny foliage outside. An arrogant beast,
perhaps, yet in the event well just1-
fed 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 cfeaved stubbornly to It's
acres. l clinge. His father had chung
through absence that seemed to nave
been almost exile, and now ne, the last
Valiant, has come to make good the
boast.
His gaze wavered. The tail Of his
eye had caught through the window a
squirt of something dashing and vivid,
that grazed the corner of a far-oft
field He craned his neck, but II mad
passed the line of his vision. The
next moment, however there came
trailing On the satiny stiffness the
high-keyed uIulation Of horn, and an
instant later a long-drawn hallo-o-o!
mixed with a pattering chorus of
yelps.
He went close, and leaning from the
sill, shaded his eyes with his hand.
The noise swelled and rounded in vol
ume; it was nearing rapidly. AS he
looked the hunt dashed into full view
between the tree-boles-a gallop1ng
melee of khaki and scarlet, sWarmlng
across the fresh green Of a wheat
= 1v0&+OI cyuiT,1 Of hounds