The Winslow mail., 1922-11-17

Now they walked toward the house,
the General with his hand on Braces
arm. Over the yard fence poured a
stream of hounds, and an old 'possum-
dog "barked up" Shottle as if he had
freed. The double hallway doors stood
open. The General conducted Drace
into the library, room that looked
big enough for tennis court. Then
he hastily withdrew, and Shottle
spoke:
"Gone to find Aunt Tycie You'll like
her. No hickory tree sap is any sweet
Shottle, my fathers young sister
She's young, as ] told you. And she
looks younger now than when she
married. Did you ever notice that
when q young woman nlarries an old
fellow, she always tries to look young.
er? Here they are"
Presently the great plantation bell
on q tower In the yard rang time for
the evening meal. The General arose.
and bowling to his wife. gracefully of
fered her his arm. To Drace It was
pretty ceremonial, and he contrasted
1t with the more brusque customs of
everyday life in the North.
When an opportunity offered, Drace
inquired of the General. as casually as
possible, If he knew anything of an
old fellow named Stepho la Vitte. who
was reputed to live somewhere in the
vicinity.
The General seemed somewhat sur.
prised at the inquiry. EYES," he said,
81 know something of him. And / be
lieve there are rumors that he is some
times seen across the River near here.
During the war he was a guerrilla and
cast much blame on the Confederacy
l met him once. after the war-near
your fathers house, my dear. My
mules were tired and / had halted in
the shade to let them rest. when up
came two men; one put his hand Oh
the wheel of my buggy and said that
my mules were his-that they had
been stolen from him. / laughed. but
meantime l had the mrzzle of pistol
between his eyes. He didn't finch nor
wink. He looked at me and said that
he may have made mistake. | told
him I thought he had. Then. taking
his hand off my Wheel he bowed him
self back and said that he would see
me again, to apologize But [ haven't
seen him since"
In the evening how still and sweet
was the air! From the quarters came
the weird drone of the negros chant,
for the habit of the slave had not fall
len with his chain. In the parlor Aunt
Tycie sang, in this house a custom to
be dreaded by the learned ear; but
Braces ear was not learned; ShOttles
was as an oyster-shell clapped to his
head: and in music the General could
not distinguish intention from accom-
plishment. 1t was song of love,
''EIast Thou No Feeling to See Me
Kneeling?' and when its last note had
found a dark corner wherein to die,
Drace requested her to sing it again.
She gave him a grateful look; the Gen
eral smiled at him; and as the song be-
gan again to mourn its way, Shottle
said to himself:
eff Providence will lend virtue to a
scheme, that will cost you money, Vir-
gill Came here to rest after going
through more than Stonewall Jackson
could stand, and this is what / get !!
Oh, it's respectable and ought to be
endured, and so is casket lined with
satin. but it doesn't suit me. Lord,
but this atmosphere is unsympathet-
ic!'
If you have patience to wait, bed
time always comes; history is strewn
with bedtime. 1t came slow-footed for
Shottle. but quickly enough for Drace
with his nerves of steel wire. And
how delighted he was with his room a
museum of antiquity, great four
poster bedstead with a canopy heavy
enough to have served as deadfall to
some medieval giant. A chair that
looked like the oaken throne of an an
cient Briton, wardrobe wherein Blue
beard might have hanged his wives
rough-hewn mantelpiece remindful of
beetling cliff-these were featured
in the light of hanging lamp big
enough to turn the ashes Of a Gre
mated dragon.
The night was warm, and through
the windows the air came cool and
lulling from the Gulf; but Drace lay
until daybreak before he slept and
when he awoke the noontime bell was
ringing. negro knocked to fell him
that dinner was ready. The General
and Tycie were seated. but Shottle
was not at the table with them; and
following Braces look of inquiry, came
explanation from the General:
"I gave him the five hundred dollars
that he was to put in with the FIVE
hundred furnished by you TO be in
vested initiatively in that cotton-bag
ging factory at Vicksburg, and he took
an early boat for that city. think it