Viola Gwyn

his brother-in-law, and whose sprightly enterprise had been frustrated

ere bright and clear, his skin unblemished, his hand steady, his infrequent smile distinctly engaging. The slight, disdainful twist never left the corner of his mouth, however. It lurked there as a constant reminder to all the world that he,

ned face testified to a life of ease and comfort, spent in sheltered places and not in the staining open, where sun and wind laid bronze upon the skin. A lordly fellow, decided Kenneth, and forthwith took a keen dislike f

te and the gulf. Two of our company's boats come as far north as Lafayette, so I spend considerable of my time there at this season of the year. You will find, sir, a number of Kentuck

eems to have preceded me, Mr. Lapelle. Even in remote parts of the country I find my arrival

interest to every one

ntly. "Where did y

man named Striker,

body appeared to st

g look into the speaker's eyes. Suddenly a flush mantle

said Kenneth, watching his companion narrowly. Lapelle's face was a st

ut no, it isn't likely," h

re. Then he said: "I met no one there except my sister, who

Lapelle's face, leav

responsible for-well,

his eyes flaming wit

er departure until I

rmed me that she went

m suspiciously, and then gave ven

rugging his shoulders. "I might hav

hold his temper. "It is not likely that she would have asked the advice of a total s

you are a lawyer, Mr. Gwynne," he said, drily. "Is it your

s are in

It will be an important town in a very few years." And so the

right. The stillness was intense. There was no sign of either

find the bridge over Durkee's Run somewhat shaky after the rain, but it is safe. I must leave you h

swiftly away. A few hundred feet ahead he overtook his mud-spattere

him. Or, it was possible, Lapelle had despatched his man to the farmhouse to ascertain whether the girl was there, or had been hurried on into the town by her mother. In any case, the disgruntled lover was not content to acknowledge himself thwarted or even discouraged by the miscarriage of his plans of the n

im, he was even more concerned than before,-for he saw unhappiness ahead of her if she married this fellow Lapelle. He went even farther back and recalled his own caustic opinions of certain young rakes he h

ceiving no answer to a thrice repeated question, fell silent excep

of ground squirrels across his path. They forded three creeks before emerging upon a boggy, open space, covered with a mass of flattened, wind-broken reeds and swamp grass, in the centre of which lay a wide, still bayou partially fringed b

ally covered with the pegged-up skins of foxes, raccoons and what were described to Kenneth as the hides of "linxes," but which, in reality, we

nd inquired how far

tain, Isaac Stain. I reckon you must be Mister Kenneth Gwyn

d you that I was coming along

lle as told me. I ha

ass here wit

the laconi

ong the road. He w

changed

ly took an

he turned off into the wood an' 'low

to reach town. He may hav

purty doggone high ef I couldn't see him. Nope. I guess he took to the woods, Mr. Gwynne, for one reason er 'nother,-an' it must ha' been a mighty good re

nt panther when he said pain

cause the messenger had brought word from Viola, at the farmhouse, and that the baffled lovers might even now be l

y boy come ridin' this way some time this forenoon an' I want you to give him a message for me.' 'With pleasure,' sez I; 'anything you ask,' sez I. 'Well,' sez she, 'it's this. Fust you ask him ef his name is Kenneth Gwynne, an 'ef he sez it is, then you look an' see ef

er mother al

in the buggy beside h

se would

ng about my coming

'Good mornin', Mrs. Gwyn.' She don't talk much, she don't. You see,

h briefly. "Was th

get the linx skins, Ike?' an' I sez, 'Last Friday, Miss

her house?" broke in Ke

ecko

You are very kind to have waite

allus said she'd be the purtiest woman in all creation when she got her growth an' filled out, an', by hokey, I wuz right. Yes, sir, I used to run a boat on the river down below, but I give it up quite awhile ago an' come up here to live like a gentleman." He waved his hand proudly over his acre and a half estate. "I wuz talkin' to Bill Digby not long ago an' he sez this is a wonderful location for a town, right here at the fork of two o' the best

cabin when Kenneth broke the silence that had followed

ances,-and that's

voice, either in expostulation or agreement, took this as

eh no suckemst

ought of," declared his

ven think about it,

trifle less

end of it,-abs

as, suh, dat's what A

m. "I cannot go to that woman's ho

'bout dese yere strange women, Marse Kenneth. Don' you forget wh

at she is in town and not out on the fa

h,-hit s

erhaps half a dozen farmhouses were scattered. Beyond this open space they entered a

low-lying bank. Far to the north it could be seen, a clayish, ugly monster, crawling down through the heart of the bowl-like depression. Mile after mile of sparsely wooded country lay revealed to the gaze of the travellers, sunken between densely c

ence along the flat shelf that rimmed the bottom-land, through a maze of wild plum and hazel

structures, and even an occasional brick dwelling-place. Turning into what appeared to be a well-travelled road,-(he afterwards found it to be Wabash Street), Kenneth came in the course of a few minutes to the centre of the town. Here was the little brick courthouse and the jail, standing in the mi

ing buildings about the square, mostly stores, all of them with hitching-racks along the edge of the di

the newcomers rode up. Kenneth dismounted and threw the rei