Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1931-05-14


them. straitened though 1t was. there
still obtained in that household BY
some genealogical miracle. many Of
those charming WAYS. remotely urien-
tai. that were Of the South whence
they had sprung. Unwilling emigres.
war ruined. Lewis Venuble and his
wife Felice had brought their dear
customs With them into exile, as we'll
as the superb mahogany oval at which
they now sat, and the wHr-salvaged
silver which gave elegance to the
Wichita, Kansas. board
As tie family sal at Its MONDAY
meal II WIS plain that While two
decades Of living In the Middle West
had done little to quicken the speech
or hasten tile movements of Lewis
Venable and his wife Eelice (thev still
"yon-alled". they declared to good
ness, tlie eighteenth letter Of the al
phhhef would forever be ai TO them)
1t had made IL noticeable difference
In the younger generation. Up and
down the long table they ranged sous
and daughters. sOns-in-law and daugh-
ters-in-law; grandchildren; remoter
kin such as visiting nieces and nephews
and cousins. offsiioots of this far-fiung
family. As the more northern-bred
members OF the company exclaimed at
the tale they now were hearing you
noted that their y0Wels were shorter.
their dietion more Clipped. the turn
OF the hend, the lift Of the hand less
leisurely. In all those faces there was
resemblance. one tn the other. Per-
haps the listening look which all of
them now wore served to accentuate
this
Yancey Cravat was talking He had
been taking for the better part OF an
hour. This very morning he had re.
turned from the Oklahoma country
the newly opened Indian territory
where lie had made The Run that
marked The settling Of this vast tract
Of virgin land known colloQuialiy as
the Nation. Now. as he talked, the
faces Of the others had the rapt look
Of those who listen to Il saga.
The men leaned forward. their hands
clasned rather loosely between their
knees or on the cloth before them.
their plates pushed away. their chairs
showed back Now and then the sud
den white ridge Of llard-spt muscle
showed along the line Of masculine
jaw. Their eyes were those Of men
who follow a game iii which they
would fain take part. Sometimes a
Woman's band reached out possessiye-
~. remindingiy, and was laid on the
arm or the hand Of the man seated
beside her. Il Am here" the hands
pressure said. Your place Is with
me. Don't listen to him like thnt.
Don't believe him am your wife.
] am safety. am security am
comfort. ! AIN habit ! am conven-
ton. Don't listen like that. Don't
look like that"
But the man would shake of the
hand. not roughly. but with absent
minded resentment.
OF all that circlet OF faces, linked
by the enchantment OF the tale now
being unfolded before them. there
stood out lamhent as fame the face
OF Sabra Cravat as she sat there at
table. her child Gin In her lap. Though
she. like her mother Felice Vpnable,
was definitely OF the olive-skinned
fvpo ho~ IN ~ con,nod lur,fp n,,ei ~ y,,h;tr
as she listened to the amazing, in
credible. and slightly Ridiculous story
now being unfoded by her husband.
1t was plain. too. that In her. as 10
her mother the strain of the pioneer
ing French Marcys. her ancestors. was
strong. Her abundant hair was as
black. and her eyes; and the strong |
brows arched with a swooping curve !;
like the twin scimitars that hung I
above the fireplace In the company /
room. There was something more !
New England than southern In the /
directness Of her glance. the quick
turn OF her head. the briskness OF her
speech and manner Twenty-one now.
married at sixteen. mother of four.
year-old boy. and still In love with |
her picturesque giant of husband,
there was about Sahra Cravat bloom.
glow. sometimes seen at that ex-
quisite and transitory time In won.
ans life when her chemical, emotional.
and physical makeup attains Its high
est point and fuses.
Lewis yenable, in his armchair at
the bend of the table, was spellbound.
Curiously enough. even the boy Gin
had listened, or seemed to listen. as
he sat in his mothers lap. Perhaps
1t was the curiously musical quality OF
the story-teller's voice that luled him.
Sabra Venables disgruntled suitors
had said when she married Yancev
Cravat, stranger. mysterious, out
OF Texas and the Cimarron. that II
was his voice that had bewitched her.
They we're In measure right, for
though Yancey Cravat was verbose
frequently even windy. and though
much that he said was dry enough 10
actual content. he had those priceless
gifts OF the born orator. . vibrant and
nfr I