Richmond Hill Public Library News Index

The Liberal, 27 Jan 1910, p. 2

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«‘K‘M‘Yell saidâ€"~bette1‘ even than you think. Yet that old, half ruined farmhouse is the center of one of the largest, most beautiful fertile, highly-cultivated, and pro- ductive estates in all Virginia. Tf you saw it under the noonday sumâ€" mer sun you would see a variegated groundwiew of vast fields of wheat and rye, yellow and ripening for the harvest; corn, green, waving in the sun: red-blossomed clover, pastures of blue grass rolling down the sides of the hills behind us, and stretching out on all sides of the old house, and disappearâ€" ing under thebow of the circular- bounding of mountains. You hear now the mellowed tinkle of a waterfall, which, springing from the cliffs we have just left, flows We had just slowly reached the summit of the mountain. and the carriage had stopped to breathe the horses. I looked out at the window on the right. It was yet early enough in the evening, and there was light enough left to see, pitching precipitately down below us, a flight of cliffs, the bases of which were lost in abysscs of twi- light gloom and foliage, and the circular range of which swept round in a ring, shutting in a. small, but deep and cupâ€"shaped valley. Down in the deeps of, this darkening vale loomed luridly a. large old farmhouse of red sand- stone. The prevalent tone of the picture was gloom. Down into a reverie about the deep, dark vale, and darker house, swooped my fancy again. The carriage was in slow motion. I drew in my head. “Did you notice the house?” “Yes; and through that deep sea of dark and floating shadows, itself the densest shadow, it looms like some phantom. some ghost of a: dead homeâ€"~â€"-â€"” ‘ “Say a murdered home.” i “I wisli‘jou wouldn’t break a} well-rounded sentence with any," sort of improvementâ€"ghost of a dead home about to melt away again in the surrounding gloom.” 7"Irwish'you to observé that house.” We approached the celebrated pass of the Bear’s Walk, from the highest point; of whic an ext-en- Bive View of the valley was affordâ€" ,ed. As we began to ascend the mountain, I fell intofi'oné of those indolent, pleasant, but rather sel- fish reveries, which the gathering shadows of twilight, the darkening scene, and the heavy, sleepy moâ€" tion of the carriage, seemed to in- vite. From this reverie I was at length aroused by my indulgent companion, who, laying her hand upon my arm, and, pointing across me through the window on the right, said, / We reached the quaint old' inn in time for a late dinner. There we expected to meet the carriage of a friend who resided at a, farm about five miles distant across the mounâ€" tains, and at whose house we were going to spend a few weeks. We found our friend, Mrs. Fairfield, waiting for us, and as soon as diu- ner was over we set out, for Cedar Cliffs. Our road lay west through a savagely beautiful -country, breaking itself up toward a lofty range of blue mountains encirclâ€" ing the western ‘horizon, and beâ€" hind which glowed and burned the crimson sunset sky. Early in the autumn of 18â€", we were journeying leisurely through the majestic and beautiful moun- tain and valley scenery in the in- terior of Virginia. It was near the close of a golâ€" den Oetober day that we reached the picturesque little village of Hillsborough, situated upon a. very high point of laud, and in the midst of abrupt, rocky, tree-capp- ed peaks, with green dents of fer- tile soil bet-ween. It was a town of rockshfounded upon rocks â€"â€" hemmed in by rocksâ€"the dwelling- houses, outâ€"houses, fences, pig- pens, chickenâ€"coops, all built of rocks of every conceivable varigatâ€" 'ed hue. It was, indeed, a. beautiâ€" ful and brilliant piece of mosaic work, up and down a ground of shaded green. It was as radiant and many colored as the forest; in autumn, and flushed and sparkled in the golden sun like an open cas- ket of jewels. The Lady mandolin; CHAPTER 1 OR, THE LOST PATRIMONY. “But why then does not this Mr. Wallraven~â€"or rather Judge Wallâ€" raven, or General Wallravcnâ€"for I never heard of a planter, of any importance, reaching a. certain period of life, without some title of distinctionâ€"why does not Gover- nor Walimven do something with one miilion ’I” I “Possible! I did not think there lwas such a private fortune in the country.” “It is said to be true, however.” “One million! why in the world, then, does he not put up a decent house? A decent house! ' Good! why does he not erect upon this favored spot a palace of white marble, with terraces, conservaâ€" tories, pleasure gardens, foun- tains, groves? Fill his palace with the most beautiful and perfect work of mechanism in the way of furniture, to be procured in Europe “and Asiaâ€"with the rarest works of art of ancient or modern times â€"his conservatories with the rich- est- exotics of all climesâ€"his gar- dens with the finest vegetablesâ€"â€" his orchards with the utmost per- fection of fruit? It I were he, with one million of dollars, I would in~ troduce every new improvement in farming, grazing, stock breedingâ€"â€" I would import the best specimens of cattle, horses, poultry. I would have Welsh ponies, Scotch draft horses, English hunters, and Ara,- bian coursers. Oh! I would make myself and so many other people so happy! One million! Oh! stop â€"don’t speak to me yetâ€"just let‘ me revel in the idea of one million to lavish on' this magnificent spot.” ‘ “Why, you unsophisticated tittle blockhead 1” “Wrong again. Hugh Wallraven is one of the wealthiest, if not the very wealthiest man in Virginia. His fortune is estimated, with what truth I know not, at one mil- lion.” “Why, I pray you?” "I will undertake to say that all these well-cultivated fields, rolling in richness from hence to the horiâ€" zon, belong to {Ln-"industrious, in- telligent and enterprising’ Yankee purchaser and settler, who came here some five or six years ago peddling mouseâ€"traps, and has now become possessed of all this land, and whose substantial, squareâ€" built, red brick house stares one out of countenance somewhere over yonder by the side of the main road leading to market.” "Then the shadowy View of it is aft-er all the best. Now that you have directed attention to this dark phantom of a. home looming luridly from the deep shadows, 1 warrant that we shall hear you say that this uncouth jumble of rough hewn red sandstone and miscelâ€" laneous rubbish is no less a, place than Lingston 'Lawn, » Ponlfret Park, or some other style of sonorâ€" our sound.” ' . “No-it only Hickory Hall.” "Oh, yes! one of the oldest manâ€" sionâ€"houses in the Statesâ€"the re- sidence, since 1610, of the oldest branch of the Lingstons, the Dov- erfields, or some other great fam- ily, with nothing left but their great name and great need.” “On the contrary, Hickory Hall is only the home of the Wallravens and has been so for only a hundred years.” "Exactly â€"-â€" precisely â€"‘ I said that. Hickory Hall, for upward a, hundred years, the seat of the Wallmvens, an old ,family, with nothing left but; their name. And now I understand Why the homeâ€" stead is in ruins, while the farm is in the highest state of cultiva- tion.” I down the sides of the rocks, and reaching the bottom of the cup-like vale, spreads itself into many litâ€" tle, clear rills, well watering its fields, red pusturage, and heavy woods. This esstate-9 with its fine water, its wealth of iron ore and coal in the encircling mountains, its abundance of game in the forâ€" est and fish in the river, and its immense water-power, is one of the most valuable in the Southern States. Yet in the midst of that .wealt-hy and highly-cultivated plantation stands the homestead itSelf a desolation!” “He has done something â€"-- his "You surprise and perplex me more and moreâ€"handsome, acâ€" complished, wealthy, in the prime o-'; life. and have never been marâ€" ried? but perhaps it is they that are cold 2” “Then they are, take them all ali, not easily matched, and course, they are fastidious!” “Ah! I have my inspirations sometimes l” “Stupendous!” “You are making fun of me E” “Hem! listen. His son, Constant Wallraven, graduated at a, Northâ€" ern University, and made the grand tour of the Eastern contin- ent, accompanied by a clergyman salaried to attend him. You never saw a handsomer or magnificent looking man, or one of more perâ€" fect dress and ad-dresswthe ‘cour- tier’s, scholar’s, soldier’s eye, tongue, sword.’ His daughter, Constantia .Wallraven, is one of the most; beautiful and elegant; of women, with one of the best culâ€" tivated minds I ever met.” “Not so. They have ardent tem- peramentg, and warm affectiop_s._” “Now I have it! Now I certain- ly have it! He is one of those un- natural monsters, a miser. Of course! why surely! Why did I not see it at once? How it explains everything that was difficult to 1mâ€" derstand now! How clear that an- swer to the enigma makes all ob- scurity! How consistent all seem- !ing contradictions! He is a miser! lThat does not prevent him being a lman of strict honesty, sterling in- tegrityâ€"yet, most certainly, be is a miser; and ‘people do not confer titles of distinction upon men like him!’ Yes, he is a miser! That is the manner in which he has amassed his immense property! That is also the reason why his house is suffered to fall to ruins while his farm is well cultivatedâ€" the farm will make returns, out the house will not. He has also half starved, half clothed, and half educated his children. They have grown up coarse, uncouth, ignorant, unfit for good society. They are consequently not well re- ceiVed, and even if they were dis- posed to marry, he would not por- tion his daughter or establish his own son in business. That is the answer to the whole enigma! Now say that I have no quickness of ap- prehension !” “Hum â€" hum â€"â€" ah! well, sixty years old! His son and daughter must themselves be married, and settled off, and have childrenâ€"and so, at last, he is a. solitary old man, with no motive for improv- ing and embellishing his' home- steadâ€"the old house, it will keep out the rain, is quite good enough, he thinks, for the short life of the solitary old grandfather.” I paused for a, moment; and then a luminous idea. lighted up the whole subjgct, and I exclaimed, triumphantly : “Utterly “trongJ ‘His children, though past their‘early youth, are both still single.” “Yes! I see! And he has no childrenâ€"that circumstance para.- Iyzes his energies even moreihan old age 5” ’ “Héw you jump to conclusions! He has a. son and daughter!” “He is thé best agriculturist in the Stateâ€"~it is his ruling passion ~â€"his occupation.” “And he lives in a. wretched, old, rumous house? Why doesn’t he improve Ins place'ZV “Pertinacious! He is an aged man of sixty years.” “Ah! that is it, then! He does not cheat at cards, and therefore he has not won any of the prizes in the game of life. But to return to my first question. Why does not Mr. Wallraven, of the sterling integrity, and the pounds sterling, do something?” “Mr. Wallraven has never been charged with or even suspected of, a crim&â€"” “In his own proper person. ‘The sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children.’ His father, pcrhaps-â€"â€"â€"’ ‘ “Possessed a name that was a synonym for high honor and sterâ€" ling integrity~his son, with his name, has inherited his reputation and character of strict truth and honesty.” farm iii-the best cultivated in the State.” _“Men like him! He is man, then? perhaps 3. or: whose immense wealth and £111 family connections have led him to cheat; the State of its due!” “Ah? he is Mr., then.” “Of course. People do fog: honors of any sort u like him!” “Mr. Wallraven is a. very aged man.” “Yes! but it should be the best stockedâ€"the best in every particu- larwtrhe modelv farm.” “Wonderful!” 0 not upon IS a bad criminal, (1 power- .ve enab- te prison (3011‘ men bad It now came out that the very strict protection awarded to the gulls at St. Ives dates back only about fifteen to eighteen years. The fishermen always had a friendâ€" But it had ‘not been so always. On inquiry, I found twenty per- sons to tell me all about Mr. Eb- blethwaite, who had been very well known to everybody. in the town, but as he had been dead some years, nobody had remem- bered to tell me about him. Who was Mr. Ebblethwaite, and what was it he did about the gulls? 1 had been, off and on, a, long time in the place; andrhad talked about the birds with 31‘ score of people, without ever hearing this name mentioned. And as to the gulls, they were well enough protected by the sentiment of the fisherfolk. In St. Ives. in Land’s End, birdâ€" killing used to flourish almost without protest. It has not wholly ceased yet, tu be sure, but onwlitâ€" tlv: incident took place which seems to have been remembered here and there, and to have brought about a merciful truce. In "The Land’s End” Mr. W. H. Hudson relates the occurrence as he heard of it. He was talking one day to a woâ€" man who deplored the way her fel- low countrymen were killing birds of all kinds. “I’m sure,” she said, “that if some onevliving here would go about among the people and talk to the men and boys, and not be afraid of anything, but try to get. the polite and magistrates to help him, he could get these things stopped in time, just as Mr. Ebblethwaite did about the gulls.” “The poor father could not be- lieve in his daughter’s good for- tune. He suspected the young man of evil designs?” Row Mr. Ebbletllwaite Saved the Sea Gulls. "Will 1" “He offered himself to the girl.” “Men 2" “And the poor, abjectly poor, fa- ther threatened to shoot theson of the millionaire if he caught him near his hub again.” lured m harvest, or in very busy times, to work in the field with the negroes.” “All! now it comes . "Constant; wished to marry her.” \7 y)! “I think not; I am sure not! for listen again, some years ago Con- stant fell in love with the beauti- ful daughter of a poor day»lalborer ~~a poor, miserable fellow who hired in harvest, or in very busy times, to work in the field with the A MAN WHO IIAD (,‘OURAGE. in a. delicious and fragrant blend of the finest Ceylon Tea. Get a paclggjrfroin your grocer and enjoy its excellent qualities. a KP. Semi-Portable Engine with Cold Weather. _ Evaporator Tank. These Engines are the same as the Standard Horizontal anrutor En- ginea, except that they are mounmed on skids with gasoline tank placed in base of the engine, where it is well mote: ted. making a. very neat, compact. self-contained outfit, as can be seen from the illustration above of the 8 11.1). Gasoline Engine. Bend for catalogue W.S. ’ ’ THE CANADIAN FAIRBANKS COMPANY, leited. MONTREAL. ST. JOHN, N. I. \ TORONTO‘ WINNIPEG ' CALGARY, VANCOUVER A Revelation ianea Gobdness FAIRBANKS - MORSE . . Semi-Portable ,; or Skidded Engine (T07 be continued.) SPOHN 51:0;an co.. chm“. .u Batman-mun. coahenflul’u. s. Can be handled very easily. Thetach are cur‘ed.wd all omen: in same stable. no water how “exposed.” kept framjuvlng um dis» ease. by “:4.an SPOHN’S LIQUID DISTEMPER CUBE. One on the tongue or in feed. Acts on the blood and expel; germs of 1.1! forms of distemper. One bottle guaranteed to cure one (use. We and 81 a bottie; 05 and $10 dozen. of dmgglaa and hnrnm dealer-1n. Cut shows he? to ponmce throats. Our tree book!“ Ives everything. Lara-«t selling horse remedy In exlsteneev teen years. DISTRIBUTORS: All Whole-ale Drug Ila-nus. COLT DISTEMPER Specially Adapted for Work In Cold Weather. Designed especiain for general Farm Work Striped flannel, linen, and' ma.- (lras are used for morning shirt- waists. Patience~~“H’n{! Wait until afâ€" ter the honeymoon and see if he loves you when tne house grows cold.” Blouses of chiffon to match the suits‘are in full vogue. That is what Mr. Ebbletlmaite did. For me it was to “say some- thing,” and I have new said it. Doing and saying come to pretty much the same thing‘ At all events, I have on this occasion kept Ruskin’s words in mind con- cerning the futility of rodding and scratching at that thicfi, insen- sible crust which liés abavc ' the impressible part in men unleés we come through with a deep thumb somewhere. ' WHEN CUPID RETREATS. Pollyâ€"«"Jack vows he will lové me ’till the sun grows cold.’ ” Finally he succeeded in getting a number of boys' summoned for cruelty before the magistrates, and although no convictions followuL nor could .be obtained, since there was no law or byâ€"lanv to help him in such a case, he yet in this in- direr way accomplished his ob- ject. He made himself unpopular, and was jeered and denounced as an interfering person, especially bv the women; but some of the fishermen now began to pluck up spirit and second his efforts, and in a little, while it came to be un~ derstood that, law or no law, the gulls must not, be persecuted. Then Mr. Ebblethwaite appeared on the scene. He came from a. town in the north of Engiand, in broken health, and here he stayed a. number of years, living alone in a. small house down by the water- side. He was very fond of the gulls and fed them every day; but his example had no effect on others, nor had his words when he went about day after day on the beach, trying to persuade people to desist from these senseless brutalities. People, natives and visitors, amused themselves by shooting the gulls along the cliffs and in the harbor. Harrying the gulls was the popular amusement of the boys; they were throwing stones at them all day long, and caught them with baited hooks, and set gins baited with fish on the sands, and he person forbade them; ly feeling for the birds, as is the. case of all the fishing-places on the coast, but they did not protect- them from persecution, although the chief persecutors were their own children. ‘ Equipped with Evaporator Tank. A flavoring used the am: a: lemon or van?" BX dissolving granulagefi sugar hymn“ In a ding Mafilemc, a dellclous syrup is made and a syrup befitex than 111 ‘e. Map'rine is grid by grocers. if not send 0c for 2 oz. bottle mud recipe book. Crescent Mfg. C0,, Seattle, Wn Built in 5 and 8 HP. Simu.

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