Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1931-02-13
CHAPTER VI-Continued
-13--

ana Inen ne Knew what ndu lOucleu
his shoulder in the darkness-Toi-
nette's cheek pressing against it for
moment as lightly as feather.
He felt her trembling When she
looked at him, her eyes rested on the
brand of the musket barrel which lay
In a red stripe across his forehead.
The stars seemed bigger and clearer
when at last they came to the half
mile of abandoned road which ended
in Lussan's clearing. 1t was the road
down which Jeems had watched Ton
teur and Paul Tache and proud little
princess ride to the sale years before.
Now the princess walked unsteadily
at his side. She was white and fragile
In the starlight, and her strength was
gone. Her dress was torn by brush
and briars, and the thin soles of her
shoes were almost worn from her feet.
She struggled bravely as they entered
the clearing, with the ruin Of the
house ahead of them. Both were so
tired In soul and body that their
minds seized upon this end Of their
journey as a relief from longer sup
porting the burdens of the flesh. In
a way, it was like coming to home
which they had forgotten. For this
was Lussan's, a place filled with mem
cries of hope and triumph and bitter
ness out of which it built a welcome
for them even in its loneliness.
Toinette's lips almost smiled, as If
she saw Madame Lussan at the
threshold of the door calling to her
above the laughing voices of men and
women, above her fathers CHEEKY
greetings to friends and neighbors,
above the restless stamping Of her
horses hoofs and the crying of the
auctioneer She might have seen and
heard these things but yesterday; now
there was sleep-a dark and lifeless
ghost of house, crickets rasping their
wings in the tangled grass, jungle
growing where before there had been
a broad and level green.
Both were children now, seeing the
ghosts as only children could see them,
wide-eyed and little afraid at first,
and yet comforted by the nearness of
that yesterday in their lives. The stars
and the crickets and the rustling
grass and the wind in the trees
seemed to listen and move to the eau
tious tread of their feet. A rabbit
ran ahead Of them. An owl flew off
the roof of the house. A bat dipped in
spirals and curves before their eyes,
and thorns caught playfully at their
shoes and Clothes. And they felt safe.
A warmth crept through their blood,
and with it a relaxation of nerves and
eyes and brain. Here was sanctuary.
Rest. Peace. They sensed these
things without speaking as they APP
preached the building. The door was
open. Starlight splashed like the
golden glow of candles on the floor.
They entered and stood silent as II
listening anxiously for the voices of
sleeping ones whom their entrance
might arouse. Emptiness was here,
a spectral vacancy, but with 1t were
neither death nor fear.
They were little apart, and
Toinette looked like broken flower
ready to fall.
"Wait for me here" said Jeems. 'T
am going for an armful Of grass"
He made a bed in a corner of the
room, and Toinette sank upon It, He
covered her with his fathers coat
which he had brought from the valley
and went outside to watch and guard
with Odd.
He could hear her sobbing as tears
came at last to give her comfort. He
fought back thickening in his throat
and hot flame in his eyes as the boy
IN bin called out for his mother He,
too, wanted this easement for his
grief. But he stood-a man. Odd
watched tirelessly and sleeplessly with
his master.
After q long time, there was silence
IN the old house, and Jeems knew that
roinette was asleep. He went in
quietly and replaced the coat about
her. Her face was white and lovely,
and wet lashes glistened on her cheeks.
Timidly his fingers pressed the silken
braid of her hair. He brushed a wisp
Of hay from her forehead. Uncon-
sciously his lips moved. Hope and
faith and prayer seemed to stir in the
room as he dared to raise the soft
braid to his lips, and then he returned
to his place outside with something
like glory enshrined with his sorrow.
He sat on the ground with the house
at his back and his bow and sheaf Of
arrows and the English Ratchet with
In reach of his hands. The stiffness