The Yale expositor., 1916-12-21
CHAPTER III.
Vows.

driving FORWARD Win ner ScdJIcTeu
vedettes the vestiges Of winter, spring
began to intrench the main body Of
ner army. The Hlacs became delicious
Spreaders of fragrance, the jGponica
unfolded its exquisite single flower.
Violets hallcwe1 the dead grasses OF
winter. Then the dogwood trees hung
out their SnOw-WLite blossoms like
huge white butterflies. Against the
drifting cloud and up Tito The warm
air famed the daring color of the red
maple Of the sw0mps.
The seventeenth Of the month
Toinette O'Bannon met with puz-
zling experience that afternoon. She
was worl;ing in the garden behind her
cabin, so that II might not lack for its
wealth of bloom that spring. The
tears gathered in her eyes as she bent
over the task. She was thinking of
the garden in New Orleans, whose
first cool blooms had been gathered to
be laid beside the still, white face that
had grown cold at her birth. Now she
herself was a woman and had found,
with her father, a new home Ia the
northern wilds.
She gathered some sprays of purple
hyacinths that a late frost had with
cred on their stalks. These she twist
ed into Il detected pOSy and tossed
into the lane, mourning even for them.
Then she. stopped and began to dig
idly about the roots of su.ne love-in-
the-mist. Suddenly she was reused
from her day-dream by the sound Of
footsteps passing on the side street
that passed the garden. And then she
heard an ejaculation like the moan Of
beast caught In trap, and heav-
Ter voice speaking. Too startled TO
move, she listened behind the screen
ing bushes.
"What ails you. man?"
"The mark The mark!"
"What foolishness now? What
mark?"
"There! The purple posy! Oh, my
Godw The speaker seemed to choke.
The other laughed contemptuously.
Nonsense, man, those be but flowers
someone has dropped. They mean
naught."
"You cannot know" said the other
convulsively. "If you but knew the
| oath"
"a fiddlestick for the OATH" the
gruff voice blurted. "Throw the thing
away, I tell you, and forget it. Hast
it with you"
There was pause, and then the
commanding voice resumed:
"Throw ii away, man. 1t was naught
but a mummery."
The girl heard their steps pass on
down the street. Rising quickly, she
stared at their retreating backs. The
| one was a tall youth, whom she rec
ogrized as young Doctor Elliott; the
other broad-shouldered, portly fig
ure. a stranger to her. AS she turned
back her eye caught sight Of a
crumpled bit of paper lying on the
path outside the garden and with girl
| ish excitement she hastily ran out and
picked il up. Dirty and greasy 1t was
as If with long handling, and on it
| WllIIe1 Ia IL SlIuEEuhS manu- uAu hli
couth spelling. were the words:
I. Edward scull. of my own free viii
/ and Acoard do declare oud solemnly
| sware that I will never reveal to aney
person or Persons ancy thing that may
| lead to the discovery of the same Either
| in or by word sign or action as may lead
| to aney Discovery under the Penelty oi
being sent out OF this World by the frs
| Brother that May Meet me after the per
| pie mark further more do sware that
| will Punish by death aney trater ci
| traters should there aney arise VI
| amongst us will persue with unseaceins
| yengence, should he fly to the verge o
Statute. I will be gust true sober anI
faithful in all my dealings with all my
Brothers. SO help God to keep this my
Oath Invollated Amen"
What had Doctor Elliott to do Will
Edward Scull" She puzzled owe
the riddle and tried to dismiss it witt
laugh. But as she returned to tn,
smiling garden IL seemed to her that {
cloud, no bigger perhaps than a man.
hand but still cloud, came over tn,
place.
When Elliott, having ridden In fror
Louisville on his mare, called on Toi
nette later In the afternoon, the.
strolled, at his suggestion, along tn
river path. she had not known hin
long; but on each Of his weekly visit
to Corydon he had disclosed I'm ever.
look and word a growing passion 70
her.
The girl, walking In a reverie the
| drew a veil of tenderness over tn
deep sapphire of her eyes, and tn
April day, fading out In a dream o
; amethystine blue and a dazzling glor
/ of gold, seemed part Of each Other
BY her side walked the tall youn
| doctor; and he, too. was part, surely
; of the beautiful fellowship of tn
; happy world.
: He speaks: "Toinette, here are vic
; lets. Blue as your eyes, To-
nette"
. She does not answer: the words ar