THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 

 
 AMONG THE PALMS
 
 HOTEL ROYAL POINCIANA
 
 ^4mong the Palms 
 
 NINA LARRE DURYEA 
 
 * Je m* amuse pour vous atnuser" 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR & COMPANY 
 
 1903
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY 
 J. F. TAYLOR AND 
 COMPANY, NEW YORK 
 
 Published February^ 7907
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 An Episode of Palm Beach 
 
 CHAPTER 1 7 
 
 j0 CHAPTER II 17 
 
 tu CHAPTER III.. 26 
 
 B 
 
 ^ CHAPTER IV 31 
 
 < CHAPTER V 42 
 
 BC 
 CO 
 
 JULIE S "SEA SARPEN " 
 
 ^ A Mythical Truth of St. Augustine 
 "in CHAPTER I 49 
 
 CM 
 
 > CHAPTER II 58 
 
 o 
 
 CHAPTER III 62 
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 O Nassau 
 
 ^ CHAPTER I 73 
 
 g CHAPTER II 89 
 
 uj CHAPTER III 92 
 
 7Z CHAPTER IV.. ..100 
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 CHAPTER I 109 
 
 CHAPTER II.. . .118 
 
 447373
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 AT ORMOND 
 
 CHAPTER I 129 
 
 CHAPTI R II 140 
 
 CHAPTER III 147 
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 An Episode of Tampa 
 
 CHAPTER I 155 
 
 CHAPTER II 168 
 
 CHAPTER III 177 
 
 CHAPTER IV . ..181
 
 IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
 
 slmong the Palms 
 
 IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN " 
 
 An Episode of Palm Beach 
 
 Chapter I 
 
 A S the tiny mote floating in the sun- 
 r\ beam, does its part toward main 
 taining the balance of the Universe, 
 so the influence of our lives, despite their indi 
 vidual insignificance, cannot be wholly lost." 
 
 Cyril Winthrop had but to close her eyes on 
 the luxurious disorder of her room, with its 
 countless knickknacks and costly appointments, 
 to imagine herself again listening to those 
 words in the dimly lit Cathedral. She saw the 
 drooping, pathetic face of the Christ on the high 
 altar ; the twinkling lights below, indistinct and 
 blurred by the clouds of incense floating in 
 wreaths about the chancel ; the absorbed atten- 
 7
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 tion of the congregation, white and black, and 
 the impassioned face of the preacher. The re 
 membrance of that face disturbed her its ter 
 rible earnestness had shaken her habitual com 
 placency. 
 
 " The influence of our lives is never lost." 
 Was it true? Was her selfish life to mar other 
 lives after she had passed away? " He, at least, 
 believes it," she thought. " It is all real to him 
 our eternal damnation or everlasting bliss 
 and he cares ! " 
 
 The previous evening she had been sitting in 
 the rotunda of Royal Poinciana, among a num 
 ber of other frost-bitten Northerners who had 
 fled to Palm Beach for a thaw under the orange 
 blossoms. The season s gaieties had somewhat 
 palled upon her, and her usually radiant spirits 
 were rather depressed. John Nesbitt coming 
 in from his after dinner cigar, had suggested 
 that they should hear the midnight mass at the 
 Cathedral in the town across the bridge. It 
 was Good Friday, and the services were to be 
 especially impressive. 
 
 8
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 " Father Gaston is to preach," he said, " and 
 he is really unusual. He is just over from 
 Rome, and has taken this as his first pastorate. 
 They say he is as handsome as Antinous, as 
 eloquent as Demosthenes, and as spiritually ex 
 alted as Savonarola. Could you ask more? " 
 
 She went, much as she would to the play, 
 with the result that she, the cynic of twenty- 
 two, lay here tossing to and fro on her comfort 
 able bed, with the closing sentence of the ser 
 mon ringing in her ears. 
 
 " If I could but know whether he is right and 
 all my old ideas wrong ! Was his mind simply 
 trained to accept it all, or is his faith a natural 
 attribute?" 
 
 She was conscious of curious mental uneasi 
 ness. She rose and went to the window. The 
 soft, moist air swayed the curtains inward, and 
 stirred her hair as she stood there. The light 
 from the low-hanging moon of the Southern 
 skies rippled through the lace draperies, and 
 swept over her into the room, glinting here and 
 there on the polished surface of the silver on 
 9
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 her dressing table,, revealing distinctly the luxu 
 rious furnishings of the room. 
 
 Cyril Winthrop had been compared by a 
 friend from Boston to the Egyptian obelisk in 
 Central Park with its coating of parafine. 
 " Like it, you are apparently impervious to both 
 the burnings and frosts of life, with this effect 
 ive though intangible mask," he had said. 
 
 She recalled this dubious compliment as she 
 leaned against the window. " Am I really 
 feeling this, or am I simply relishing the artis 
 tic side of circumstances ? How I wish I could 
 look over and beyond myself ! He might help 
 me to do it: in fact, he did make me forget 
 myself while he spoke. I should like to meet 
 the man. He is original, clever, and has the 
 novelty of never having known women. I 
 wonder what he thinks of us ! " With a sud 
 den thought, she stood erect and motionless. 
 
 " I have it," she said, half audibly. " I will 
 make this interesting priest s acquaintance." 
 
 She searched about in the dimness, and found 
 her pen, ink and paper. These she brought to 
 10
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 the window, and kneeling down placed them on 
 the window sill. 
 
 " Heavens ! " she thought : " if Mamma 
 should awaken and come in, to find me writing 
 to an unknown man, and he a priest ! Yet there 
 can be no real harm in it." 
 
 With one hand gathering back her loosened 
 hair, she held the pen poised over the crested 
 sheet. 
 
 " FATHER GASTON : 
 
 " Pardon the liberty taken by a stranger sojourning 
 here for the Winter months. Chancing to hear your 
 sermon last evening I was impressed by some of the 
 points. If you could find time to call, it would be agree 
 able, and no doubt profitable to talk further with you 
 upon the subject of your sermon. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 " Monday, Royal Poinciana. CYRIL WINTHROP." 
 
 " There ! it is done. But it is certainly 
 somewhat audacious. Yet he won t know 
 whether it is from a man or woman till he 
 comes, for the name tells nothing, and John 
 says my handwriting is masculine enough for 
 a Wall Street Broker." 
 ii
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 The note, folded and sealed, was placed con 
 spicuously upon her pin-cushion with a com 
 placent smile. Then with a yawn, the girl 
 sought her pillow, and was soon oblivious of 
 theology and all else. 
 
 She had left New York reluctantly, for she 
 loved her brilliant existence there, much as the 
 gamin loves the blaze of the street procession 
 with its prancing and feathers, and all the other 
 excitements of his irresponsible existence. Her 
 delicate beauty concealed the strength and force 
 which was the undercurrent of her character. 
 Her sensitive, mobile face appeared the mirror 
 of every thought, but alas! for those unlucky 
 wights who so regarded her. Superficially, she 
 was candor itself. Few detected the shrewd 
 and analytical spirit that lay ambushed behind 
 that " thoroughbred " frankness. 
 
 It was an oft-repeated joke of her mother s, 
 that when a child she was first taught that a-b 
 spelled ab she asked, " How do you know that 
 it does?" "Because it does I was told so 
 when I was your age," her governess replied, 
 12
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 rather staggered. " But how did your teacher 
 know and her teacher know? " she asked again, 
 and again, and refused to accept the proposi 
 tion. She required proof beyond question as 
 to all people and all things without it she 
 gave neither her confidence nor belief. Some 
 people thought her hard, and it was sometimes 
 now a question with herself. She certainly 
 lacked sensitiveness, yet there were times when 
 sympathy of the most tender sort proved a 
 heart far from indifferent. Once, while driv 
 ing in the Park, she noticed a poor woman with 
 young children trying to cross the crowded 
 road, while the policeman stood by, wholly 
 blind to her frightened efforts. With a bound 
 Cyril was out of the carriage, and with eyes 
 aflame guided the woman across, and then gave 
 the startled guardian of pedestrians a lecture 
 which left him half indignant but wholly re 
 pentant. 
 
 Her mother, a nervous woman of amiable 
 but rather feeble proclivities, regarded her 
 daughter much as a brilliant bird of another 
 13
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 species than her own. Her pride in Cyril s 
 beauty, artistic gowns and social success, was 
 the mainspring of her existence. She was emo 
 tionally religious, and extremely high church 
 in her views, and spent her leisure hours in em 
 broidering elaborated stoles and altar cloths. 
 Cyril allowed her to do as she liked, but when, 
 during a Lent of special devotion, her mother 
 with several other ladies of high degree, re 
 lieved their over-burdened consciences by scrub 
 bing the floor of their church, Cyril thought 
 things had gone far enough. Perhaps it was 
 the effect of such affectations, combined with 
 the girl s natural type of mind, that left her 
 with so limited a religious belief For the 
 clergy, as a class, she professed but little ad 
 miration. When on Sunday she joined other 
 respectable members of society in their luxu 
 rious church on Fifth Avenue, and the sleek, 
 well kept rector rose to dilate on the responsi 
 bility of saving human souls, the girl queried 
 " Does he really mean all that ? Can he believe 
 that one single soul in this vast congregation 
 H
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 
 
 is in danger of Hell fire, and after his eloquent 
 peroration go out smiling and contented to his 
 comfortable dinner? Either he does not be 
 lieve what he preaches, or else he is without a 
 spark of love for his fellowmen." 
 
 And was not the whole system one of self 
 ishness? If she was good, she was told she 
 would receive as a reward the sugar plum. If 
 she was not good, then punishment was to fol 
 low. And yet she was so made as to find all 
 wrong things attractive, and all good things 
 irksome. In fact she generally found it more 
 pleasant to serve Mammon, and she did so. 
 
 John Nesbitt, whom she was to marry the 
 coming June, represented in great part, the 
 Mammon which she served. The son of 
 wealthy parents, he had not joined the great 
 army of money-seekers, but spent several years 
 in Europe, where he picked up several lan 
 guages, a slightly foreign manner, and some 
 very good bric-a-brac. A big, kind-hearted 
 fellow, essentially a Club man, he troubled him 
 self very little about things beyond his own 
 
 15
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 horizon. He adored Cyril as a being far 
 above him mentally, and since their engage 
 ment he had given up any hopes of understand 
 ing what he called her " vagaries." 
 
 She dominated him in every particular and 
 had convinced herself she loved him. He had 
 an attractive background of yachts, fine horses 
 and houses in New York and London, and this 
 prospective brilliancy surrounded him as a 
 golden halo. All this was to be Cyril s some 
 day, but occasionally, in spite of the envy of her 
 friends, she felt a certain contempt for the sort 
 of woman that circumstances were to make her. 
 
 " At forty, I shall be a cool-headed, hard 
 woman of the world," she often thought. " My 
 better impulses will die a natural death, and I 
 shall not even regret their loss. I shall be a 
 giver of fine dinners and the owner of a bad 
 digestion shall have contempt for the world 
 I live in, yet be a slave to its opinion, and shall 
 die a joyless old woman." 
 
 16
 
 IHF. LONG WALK
 
 Chapter II 
 
 FATHER GASTON stood at the door of 
 the post-office, with his unopened letters 
 in his hand, hesitating. All through the 
 long, hot day, he had been going from one end 
 of the town to the other, visiting his flock, 
 nearly all strangers to him. He had adapted 
 himself to so many different individualities, 
 and interested himself in so many divergent 
 channels of the lives about him, that he felt a 
 little dazed and tired. 
 
 His great batch of letters, some from his 
 colleagues far away in Rome, tempted him to a 
 quiet hour before the Vesper service; but he 
 crossed to his house and gave them to a lad in 
 a long, black soutane, who was watering the 
 flowers. Then, with his long, swinging stride 
 the priest went rapidly through the ugly little 
 streets of the town to the bridge which led to 
 the paradise of palms and blossoms which sur 
 round the hotels. The previous day he had 
 received a note from someone who might be 
 17
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 leaving, and under the stately Colonial pillars 
 of the Poinciana entrance he paused and drew 
 from his wallet a square envelope, addressed in 
 a bold masculine hand. He glanced at the sig 
 nature, then passed on through the great hall, 
 with its group of men and women scattered 
 among the palms, through the rotunda, to the 
 desk. More than one head turned as he passed, 
 and a bell-boy nudging his companion, asked 
 
 " Who s dat stunner any how ? He s like de 
 bery king hisself ? " 
 
 The smiling clerk forgot to twirl his mous 
 tache as he looked into the grave, beautiful 
 face of the priest. 
 
 " Will you kindly send my card to Mr. Cyril 
 Winthrop?" 
 
 The clerk turned several leaves of the register 
 before him. 
 
 " There is no Mr. Winthrop stopping here," 
 he replied, " but a Miss Cyril Winthrop of New 
 York, is here." 
 
 Father Gaston looked puzzled and opened 
 the note again. 
 
 18
 
 " IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 " Well, she may, perhaps, be the person." 
 Then after a little pause. " You may send up 
 the card." 
 
 The clerk touched a bell. " Room 248, and 
 the gentleman is waiting." 
 
 The boy returned in a moment. " Dis way, 
 sar, if you please, sar, one flight up." 
 
 With an impish grin thrown to his compan 
 ions, he led the way along the thickly carpeted 
 hall, pausing before a white-paneled door. He 
 knocked. Through the open transom came 
 only a murmur of voices and tinkling as of 
 glass. A louder knock brought a clear " Come 
 in ! " The door opened. A confused crowd of 
 youthful faces met Father Gaston s eyes. From 
 the corner of the room a tall, girlish figure ad 
 vanced with outstretched hand. 
 
 " Father Gaston, is it not ? " she asked. " I 
 am the writer of the note, and thank you so 
 much for coming." 
 
 She led him to a divan before which stood 
 the samovar and, drawing aside her delicate 
 draperies, motioned him to the vacant seat be- 
 19
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 side her. The ripple of voices and laughter 
 about them dropped sensibly to a lower key. 
 John Nesbitt crossed to Mrs. Winthrop, who 
 with lorgnette raised was coolly surveying the 
 stranger. 
 
 "Who is he?" she asked, with suppressed 
 curiosity. " Isn t he superb? " 
 
 John smiled and leaned toward her. 
 
 " He is Father Gaston of whom everyone is 
 talking, but only Heaven knows how Cyril got 
 him to five o clock tea. The man is just out of 
 a Roman College, and presumably knows no 
 more of social life than a monk of the middle 
 ages. But Cyril has captured the lion in some 
 mysterious way. Just like her but odd she 
 didn t mention it." 
 
 Meanwhile Father Gaston, having placed his 
 broad-brimmed hat on the floor beside him, was 
 endeavoring to adapt himself to circumstances 
 as best he could. 
 
 " One or two lumps ? " asked Cyril with ut 
 most ease, sugar tongs poised over his cup, and 
 a glance at his grave face, which she was glad 
 20
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 showed no sign of embarrassment or regret. 
 " No doubt he is inwardly praying that his eyes 
 may be turned away from beholding vanity," 
 she thought. 
 
 " It was very kind of you to come," she said. 
 " for I understand you have recently settled 
 here, and must necessarily have much to oc 
 cupy your time." 
 
 " It gives me great pleasure," he replied, 
 with a bright smile, " and still more to find 
 that my sermons can reach beyond my parish. 
 I really did not know it was a lady who asked 
 me to call. But," he added, " I have sisters and 
 I know the value of woman s work in the 
 world, and shall be most happy to be of any 
 assistance to Miss Winthrop." 
 
 Cyril found herself coloring at being taken 
 for a " worker." 
 
 " Oh ! I beg you to understand that I am not 
 a Roman Catholic : indeed I am not a very good 
 Protestant. I was simply impressed strongly 
 by your views of life, and I very impulsively 
 resolved to ask you to help me to accomplish 
 
 21
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 some little good while here during March. We 
 have come to rest from our gaieties in New 
 York, but what with the out-door life all day, 
 and dancing every night, one is more tired than 
 before. It was your sermon of Good-Friday 
 which made me feel still more tired of it all." 
 She paused and glanced at Father Gaston s 
 strong face. 
 
 " I am only too glad Miss Winthrop, if any 
 words of mine helped you to realize the im 
 portance of earnest living. Believe me, it is 
 that which makes noble men and women. 
 There are many things to be done here in 
 Palm Beach, which I feel sure you could do 
 ably, and which would benefit you as well as 
 others." 
 
 Cyril, thinking no more of the incongruous 
 surroundings, leaned forward, her eyes bril 
 liant and eager. "Only tell me what," she said, 
 " and I ll try. You don t know how glad I 
 should be. So far, my life hasn t been much 
 to boast of: the world would get on quite as 
 well without me." 
 
 22
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 " If you are really in want of something to 
 do," Father Gaston said with candid interest, 
 " I can tell you now of a young girl, no older 
 than yourself, but poor, terribly poor, who is 
 lying ill in such poverty as you doubtless never 
 dreamed of. She is one of a family of poor 
 whites Crackers, they are called here, who 
 live in a shanty across the lake. The girl, Han 
 nah Neal, is suffering for the bare necessities, 
 and if you could see and aid her, I should be 
 very grateful." 
 
 Cyril assented eagerly, and while getting ex 
 plicit directions, her mother approached. Cyril 
 presented Father Gaston and left them together 
 in animated conversation. He observed the 
 girl as she moved about the room. " She is as 
 full of force as a race-horse," he thought. Her 
 frankness and her course in seeking his help 
 puzzled him. Women he knew were full of 
 impulses and difficult to understand, but this 
 girl s face was noble beneath her apparent flip 
 pancy ; surely her nature must be so too. Her 
 strong individuality impressed him, and Pas- 
 23
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 cal s trite saying came into his mind " Si le nez 
 de Cleopatre eut plus etc, ou plus court, peut- 
 etre toute la surface de la terre aurait changee." 
 Women were certainly a power in the world. 
 
 She came back to him. 
 
 " I want to present my friend Mr. Nesbitt," 
 she said gaily, and while they talked, stood si 
 lently by, taking mental measurement of the 
 two men. When the priest took leave, with 
 the savoir faire of an accomplished man of the 
 world, she listened to John Nesbitt s good-na 
 tured opinion, " Father Gaston was an all round 
 jolly chap," with an expression that mystified 
 him. At dinner also, he found his usually gay 
 fiancee somewhat reflective and subdued. 
 Afterward, while sauntering through the log 
 gias he rallied her on her mood. She roused 
 herself, obviously with an effort. 
 
 " You are satisfied with me just as I am as 
 I am, are you not ? " she asked. 
 
 " Of course, my Cyril," he replied. " I would 
 not have you different in any way. You are 
 
 24
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 just the prettiest, best dressed girl going, and " 
 
 "But," she interrupted, "for all that I m 
 going to try to be different. I don t like being 
 merely pretty and well dressed." 
 
 " Now don t frighten me, my dear girl," he 
 said laughingly. " I shall be afraid of seeing 
 a halo shine around your head if you are going 
 to be more perfect."
 
 Chapter III 
 
 A ONE story, white-washed shanty, built 
 on the shore of Lake George. The 
 waters flowed at full tide almost to 
 the door, and at every ebb left its refuse. 
 Planks were laid from the road to the en 
 trance, over which Cyril Winthrop and her 
 maid found their way with some difficulty. 
 The air was redolent with noxious odors from 
 the gasworks near by and insect life was evi 
 dent, in all the activity of a Southern latitude. 
 After knocking without answer, they took ad 
 vantage of the half opened door, and entered. 
 There was no one to be seen in this room, half 
 chamber and half kitchen. The floor, through 
 the cracks of which the moist ground below was 
 visible, had apparently never known a brcom, 
 and upon a small stove a kettle sent up a thin 
 curl of steam. Cyril passed on to a door at the 
 farther end of the room and upon opening it, 
 an exclamation of astonishment and pity es 
 caped her. On a cot, covered with a wretched, 
 26
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 patched quilt, lay a girl, her pallid face turned 
 to the wall. Tangled curls lay in matted rings 
 about her forehead, and one hand held a small 
 brown, wooden crucifix. The sun played 
 through the window, from the sill of which a 
 chicken took flight at their entrance. Cyril 
 crossed to the motionless girl and softly touched 
 her claw-like hand. A pair of sunken brown 
 eyes opened and stared as though at a vision. 
 
 " Father Gaston has sent me to you," she 
 said, " I am to try and make you more comfort 
 able. Don t talk now wait till I arrange 
 things a little." And at the mention of the 
 priest s name came an expression of satisfaction 
 into the wan face. " Dobbs," turning to her 
 maid, standing horrified in the doorway, 
 " bring the basket. Now go and see if you can 
 find some clean, warm water." 
 
 A fever of energy possessed her. Out of the 
 basket she brought a bottle of wine, some bis 
 cuits and a change of linen. Dobbs returned 
 with water, and together they worked over the 
 girl, who submitted to them with dull, pas- 
 27
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 sive eyes, and smiled faintly, when clean and 
 refreshed she was laid back on her pillow. Then 
 Dobbs was sent to the nearest shop for dark 
 cambric and tacks. Cyril drew a chair to the 
 bed and sat down. The sick girl looked with 
 silent wonder at the beautiful, pitying face bent 
 over her. 
 
 " Now tell me something about yourself, if 
 you are able," she said. " Why are you here 
 alone?" 
 
 Cyril had to bend lower to catch the whis 
 pered answer. 
 
 " Father has to go off to work every day. 
 The colored woman next door comes in now 
 and then, but she has her own family to look 
 after." 
 
 " How long have you been ill, Hannah? " 
 
 " Two months, Miss. It s slow fever. I 
 wouldn t mind so much if I could sleep more." 
 
 " Poor child," said Cyril. " No wonder with 
 this heat and flies. We ll remedy all that." 
 
 Presently the girl asked timidly, ".Did you 
 say Father Gaston sent you ? " 
 28
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 " Yes, Hannah." 
 
 The pallid face brightened. " He is good, 
 Miss, he is. He sends things to eat, and sends 
 the doctor too, and has sat where you are talk 
 ing so beautiful. It rests me to look at him." 
 
 The girl s eyes closed. " So this is poverty," 
 thought Cyril She looked about the bare, ugly 
 little room, and thought of her own, at home. 
 Here was a glimpse of a world of which she 
 had never dreamed a world where ease and 
 pleasure were only names, and where want and 
 suffering were terrible facts. It seemed to her 
 as though a great, gay bubble had been pricked. 
 Could she ever laugh and dance as gaily as be 
 fore, with this picture of misery to remember? 
 And such scenes were the daily portion of 
 Father Gaston. That splendid strength was 
 spent in alleviating such woes. In this life of 
 total self-abnegation, without the ordinary ties 
 of human affection, he was to live till he died. 
 There were, of course, Protestant clergymen 
 who were noble and self-sacrificing men too, 
 but she had met few like Father Gaston. What 
 29
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 a pity he happened to be a priest. He could be 
 such a power among thousands like herself. 
 
 Dobbs stood in the doorway. Cyril mounted 
 on a nail keg, tacked the green curtain over the 
 window, and a net across the bed, and the floor 
 was swept. When all was done, Cyril viewed 
 her work with pride. With a warm feeling at 
 her heart she stroked back the girl s curls. 
 
 " I will come again soon, Hannah. Mean 
 while let your father get anything you need," 
 and she tucked a crisp banknote beneath the 
 pillow. 
 
 When she was gone, the girl s eyes closed. 
 " It must be something like this to have a 
 mother," she thought.
 
 Chapter IV 
 
 SEVEN o clock in the morning. Cyril, 
 awake and restless, resolved to go for a 
 walk in the March air, now laden with 
 the odor of orange blossoms which whitened 
 the groves in and around Palm Beach. There 
 was scarcely yet any sign of life as she strolled 
 towards the water which glimmered through 
 the garden shrubbery. Hatless she strolled on 
 under the gigantic, frond-like sweep of the 
 cocoa palms which bordered the walk by the 
 lake. Turning sharply to the left, she went 
 on through oleander, poinciana, orange and 
 lemon groves, to the beach. How beautiful 
 was this fresh awakening world! She shaded 
 her eyes with her hand, and looked about. The 
 gray line of the beach framed the ocean s deep 
 blue and the paler blue near the shore, with its 
 line of thundering breakers. A faint haze 
 hung over land and water, foretelling heat for 
 the coming day. She threw up both arms in: 
 very gladness of the scene before her, when
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 hearing steps behind her, she turned to see 
 Father Gaston coming toward her. He looked 
 up, smiling at her confusion. During the past 
 fortnight they had not only met beside the sick 
 girl s bed, but he had availed himself of Mrs. 
 Winthrop s earnest invitation to repeat his pre 
 vious visit, and the formality of a new acquain 
 tanceship had sensible lessened. 
 
 " I am as much astonished to find myself here 
 as you are. It was one of my impulses," said 
 Cyril, laughing. 
 
 " I want to thank you for what you are ac 
 complishing at the Deals," he said. " The girl 
 talks of you continually, and although she is 
 not much better of her illness, the change in her 
 surroundings is like new life to her. She calls 
 you the Angel Miss. " 
 
 " I too, am helped," Cyril replied, looking 
 off into the distance with a softness in the gray 
 depths of her eyes which touched him. 
 
 " There is material here for making a noble 
 woman," he thought. " Who would not wish 
 to help her?" 
 
 32
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 The girl turned to him. " I cannot imagine 
 how you ever became a priest, you seem so 
 much a man of the world in many ways. Yet 
 it must have been of your own free will. Would 
 you mind telling me about it sometime? " 
 
 " I will tell you with great pleasure," he re 
 plied. " It was an odd chance which turned 
 my steps into the Church." 
 
 " I should like very much to know it," Cyril 
 said, wistfully. 
 
 He paced up and down for a few moments 
 in silence, then seated himself beside her on the 
 sand. 
 
 " Thirteen years ago I was studying in Hei 
 delberg. Like many of the students there, I led 
 a gay life. My parents had died in my child 
 hood, and left me a considerable fortune, so I 
 had no restraint save my own self-respect. One 
 Spring, several friends and myself started off 
 for a trip through Holland and Belgium. We 
 were a merry crowd, and in for all sorts of 
 pranks, though eager for the education which 
 travel will bring. Some of us were devoted to 
 33
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 art, and among other galleries we visited the 
 Wirtz gallery, in Brussels. Have you been 
 there?" 
 
 " Oh ! yes," said Cyril. " I well remember 
 those painted nightmares." 
 
 " Yes, some of the pictures are nightmares, 
 but many are remarkable in other ways. Do 
 you remember one called After Death ? A 
 figure in gray, vaporous garments is floating up 
 through Space his body lying below him, and 
 his face is a wonderful portrayal of mysterious 
 knowledge. He seems to see into the beyond." 
 
 " Yes, I remember that face, and how it 
 haunted me." 
 
 " That night we returned late from the Op 
 era. I lay for a long time restless, thinking 
 over the events of the day. That picture fas 
 cinated me, and falling asleep, its mysterious 
 power followed me into the land of dreams. 
 I dreamt that I was the departing soul of that 
 picture, and that it was my body stretched be 
 low. A long life lay behind me, faint and far 
 away. The strongest impression I then had of 
 34
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 that life, was pain. I remembered a home 
 where my life was swayed by both good and 
 evil impulses ; where I had loved, and had lost 
 those I loved, and where I had suffered, and 
 was glad, much as other men. Religious belief 
 had not been an important factor in my life, 
 and above all, what seemed to me then intelli 
 gent research, had served to stunt that upward 
 growth which is the divine tendency of every 
 human soul. 
 
 " Then in my retrospection, I saw myself an 
 old man. My blood flowed less swiftly, my 
 steps grew uncertain, and I knew that soon I 
 should pass through the gates of Death, into 
 the untrodden realms beyond. At last I lay on 
 a bed of pain. Old interests fell away from me, 
 and I partly regained the faith I had as a child. 
 As I laid there, I wondered what and where I 
 should awaken at the moment my soul should 
 leave its home of human flesh, and whether it 
 would miss its old companion, and feel its way 
 like a child into Eternity, with uncertain steps 
 and groping intelligence. Would the Christ 
 35
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 be there, and would I know Him, or had He, 
 too, been but an ideal of the human mind ? 
 
 " The supreme moment came. There was 
 weeping and grieving about me a final agony, 
 and I lived! 
 
 " I was hurrying through trackless Space, 
 the wide Universe seemed all my own, and in 
 that immensity and profundity, I was alone 
 with the responsibility of my soul." 
 
 The priest rose and stood before his listener, 
 his head bared to the rising sun, with features 
 glowing as with an inspiration. Cyril sat with 
 hands tightly clasped, and eyes fixed in rapt at 
 tention lost to everything in the fascination 
 of his eloquence. 
 
 Still standing, he continued, " Soon from 
 immeasurable heights and depths a sound of 
 unutterable sadness floated around me, like the 
 sighs of countless souls. A murmuring as of 
 helpless woe burdened the air, which I now per 
 ceived was thronged with other shades. They 
 moved on with anxious faces, their eyes fixed 
 on a golden light beyond. This light shone with 
 36
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 great brilliancy, but, fell not upon us. Some 
 rays of its vivid splendor stretched down to 
 Earth in the form of a cross. I drew near one 
 of these shades. 
 
 " Where can I find Him? I asked. He 
 looked on me with inscrutable eyes. 
 
 " He is yonder in the light, he replied. 
 
 " Can I not go to Him ? I asked again. 
 
 " No, we cannot reach Him, till we lose all 
 earthly taint/ 
 
 " I knew then that the sighing was the long 
 and unavailing regret for lost opportunities, 
 and I, remembering my own lost chances for 
 gaining that Kingdom, sighed too. Alas ! that 
 terrible remorse. It burned within me as I hur 
 ried on and on, seeking some spot in those 
 wide heavens, where I could for a time forget. 
 
 " But hope did not quite desert me. That 
 shining cross stretched down to Earth was a 
 bow of promise. Above the thunders of the 
 Universe, music, grand yet tender reached me 
 songs of triumphant thanksgiving and exalta 
 tion. These glorious harmonies came from 
 37
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 glistening beings who were coming and going 
 in the midst of that shining splendor. Their 
 faces I could not see for the brightness, but al 
 ways that sound of echoing triumph. It fell 
 on my saddened spirit with soothing promise. 
 I was cheered, uplifted. The divine spark 
 within me glowed with quickened resolution. 
 
 " Oh ! why had I not cherished that light ? 
 Why had I allowed trivial things of life to dull 
 its shining? Those years on earth were so 
 short, and Eternity was so pitilessly long. For 
 how many cycles should I know this dreary 
 waiting, before I could fly to that Kingdom of 
 Love. 
 
 " I awoke, my whole being seething with ex 
 citement. Those sights and sounds still bade 
 me live no longer for self ; to remember the in 
 exorable law of retribution. I knew that as I 
 lived on earth, so would my other life be. As 
 I had the essence of God within me, I should 
 try to live as a god. 
 
 " And it was thus I became a priest," he 
 said, after a pause. " Do you think me a vi 
 sionary?" 
 
 38
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 " If you had been a visionary you would have 
 regretted the step long ago, but I am sure you 
 never have." 
 
 " No ! we never regret serving one we love." 
 
 " I wish I could realize something of your 
 idea of God," she said. " My idea of Him is 
 different from yours." 
 
 "How different? How do you think of 
 Him ? " he asked. 
 
 " He has always been to me a tremendous 
 power, but not so tender and loving as your 
 dream would make Him. I think I could ex 
 press myself better with my pen than in words. 
 I always can." 
 
 " Do so then, Miss Winthrop. 
 
 " I will try," she answered, rising. 
 
 " Then I know you will," and for the first 
 time he held out his hand to her for " good 
 bye." 
 
 She left him to continue his walk and re 
 turned to the hotel. During the day she took 
 out her folio containing many half written 
 things in which her natural taste had found 
 partial outlet, and determined to do her best for 
 39
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 a kind if able critic. After some thought she 
 enclosed the following lines to him without 
 comment. 
 
 O star-emblazoned canopy of God, 
 
 Thou hid st from mortal eyes His majesty, 
 
 When in His power he walks high heaven 
 
 To view His universe. When Time was born 
 
 His finger touched our sphere to awful speed. 
 
 The clash and roar of nature s forces He 
 
 Has tuned to gentle, rythmic harmony, 
 
 And from the heights of His omnipotence 
 
 Beheld and bounded with His reaching eye 
 
 Wide space ! seen whirling worlds burn out their flight 
 
 To lose themselves in void Thus God is great. 
 
 At dinner a note was handed her. She in 
 stinctively knew from whom it came, and did 
 not open it, but later she slipped into the de^ 
 serted reading-room, and broke the seal. 
 
 "Dear Miss Winthrop," the note ran. "Your 
 conception of God s greatness is admirable. 
 Powerful and omnipotent He is, but above all, 
 and over all, He is love. This love is as wide 
 as the Universe, as deep as the sea. Perhaps 
 these lines will help to make my meaning clear, 
 and serve to complete what you have so well 
 
 begun. 
 
 40
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 O tiny insect, who with cunning care 
 Spread s! out thy frail and fairy threads to build 
 Thyself a home, who taught thee thy wise art? 
 Twas the same God, who with most tender care 
 Creates and guards the humblest life of earth, 
 And in the depths of ocean s darkest cave 
 Upholds each fragile frond of tide-swept fern. 
 The essence of this life is but a tear; 
 But not one falls unseen, unknown of Him. 
 The ever-circling mantle of His love 
 He wraps around us guides each faltering step. 
 The shadow of His wing casts cooling shade 
 On life s bare burning sands. Thus God is love. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 " MAURICE GASTON."
 
 Chapter V 
 
 "Oh! God, take my heart, for I cannot give it to 
 Thee. Keep it for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me 
 in spite of myself. Fenelon. 
 
 B 
 
 " TARING the 
 
 wait here." 
 
 Cyril stood at the water edge at 
 the foot of the garden. The twinkling lights 
 suspended among the cocoa palms, threw shafts 
 of red and yellow color across the masses of 
 shrubbery. An occasional figure flitted along 
 the paths, but the scented silence was only 
 broken by the distant boom of waves and the 
 rustle of leaves in the dusky recesses of the 
 garden. 
 
 Cyril leaned over the water. Against a 
 background of blurred stars a radiant image 
 smiled up at her gleaming neck and arms, 
 white, like pearl in the shimmering waters. 
 She was to lead a Cotillion at one of the cot 
 tages that evening, the last in her well-beloved 
 Palm Beach. 
 
 42
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 The breezes stirred her airy draperies as she 
 stood there. 
 
 Yes, you are drowned, Cyril Winthrop ? " 
 she whispered. " All your egotisms and vani 
 ties are quite drowned. I shall leave you here 
 alone with the stars. Ah ! you need not smile 
 and shake your head at me, foolish girl. They 
 call you fair, I know, but I have learned that 
 one must be good and wise as well as fair. I 
 leave you here, my old self, and go back to the 
 world with higher ambitions." 
 
 With an impulsive gesture the girl plucked a 
 rose from those at her breast, and tossed its 
 petals upon her reflection. 
 
 " See I scatter those leaves over you my old 
 self They are for " 
 
 She paused, and turned with a start, for 
 mirrored beside her own face under the float 
 ing rose-leaves was the face of the priest. 
 
 " Ah ! " she exclaimed, " I began to fear you 
 were not coming to say good-bye. But what 
 has happened? " she asked, as she saw his pale, 
 grave face. 
 
 43
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 " I see it is hardly the proper time to speak 
 of such a subject, but I wanted you to know that 
 Hannah Deal died this afternoon. Your name 
 was almost the last on her lips, and she asked 
 me to bring- you this." 
 
 He handed Cyril the little brown crucifix. 
 The girl took it with quivering lips. 
 
 " You believe she is happy, Father Gaston, 
 do you not ? " But he did not reply. His face 
 was an enigma. Was it a feeling of repulsion 
 at the girl s frivolous aspect in her ball gown, 
 or was his human heart stirred by the vision of 
 beauty and tenderness ? Did he picture his life 
 as it might have been, strengthened and en 
 riched by the sympathy of a noble woman ? It 
 was but a moment and he replied 
 
 " Yes, I believe it. And you you are happy 
 too, are you not quite happy? " 
 
 " Oh ! yes, of course I must be happy," she 
 said, with an effort at a smile. "But without 
 your guidance I fear I shall fall from grace." 
 
 " God forbid," he replied earnestly. " Say 
 often this little prayer of Fenelon s in the midst 
 44
 
 "IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN" 
 
 of your pleasures. Oh ! God, take my heart, 
 for I cannot give it to Thee. Keep it for I can 
 not keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of my 
 self. Keep the cross, it will remind you " 
 
 " Did you think I was never coming ? " said 
 John Nesbitt gaily, as he joined them. " Good 
 evening, Father Gaston I am glad to see you 
 before we leave. But you will go with us as far 
 as the house, won t you. We can talk on the 
 way. Come Cyril, here are our bicycle chairs." 
 
 " Father Gaston asked me if I was happy, 
 John," the girl said, after leaving the priest. 
 
 " And what did you tell him, dear? " 
 
 " I told him I was, of course," she answered. 
 " How could I be otherwise? " 
 
 But that evening, as she floated about, laden 
 with flowers, smiling and radiant, a pain was 
 on her heart, where the cross lay. 
 
 45
 
 JULIE S "SEA-SARPEN
 
 JULIE S "SEA-SARPEN 
 
 A mythical truth of St. Augustine 
 
 Chapter I 
 
 i 
 
 ^ TOLE yer, I seed it wid mine own eyes, 
 and heard it a-snortin , an a-lashin ob 
 its tail t rough de water like it wus a 
 cussin . It war right off de ole Fort, an I a- 
 sittin on de wall. Dat it war a sho nuff sea- 
 sarpen I knows es well as dat chile Wash nton 
 knows Fs its fader." 
 
 The " chile " referred to stood a shining in 
 stance of filial credulity, one hand as far in his 
 mouth as possible, the other holding up its 
 scant apparel, disclosing a pair of knees in 
 sculptured ebony. But finding himself the sub 
 ject of solemn declamation before an awe-in 
 spiring assembly, and probably with the mem 
 ory of recent and decided impressions that he 
 had indeed a father s authority liable to be 
 shown again at any moment, the dusky cherub 
 49
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 forthwith uncorked his mouth and with " eyes 
 in fine frenzy rolling," emitted a howl of terror. 
 
 " Lor sakes, Julib, don t scar de chile," ex 
 claimed Ophelia, its mother, as the child buried 
 its head, ostrich-like, among her skirts, to avert 
 the threatened danger. 
 
 Julib blinked defiance on his circle of audit 
 ors, a grotesque group in the fire-lit cabin. A 
 dozen men and women sat round the blaze, 
 their heads rolling from side to side as they 
 gave vent to admiring chuckles, their attention 
 divided between Julib s eloquence, and the odor 
 iferous hoe-cakes upon the hearth. 
 
 In a shadowy corner sat two old men, Dea 
 con Jones and Brudder Williams, their heads 
 close together. They seemed to feel the suspi 
 cion of glances thrown toward them and moved 
 uneasily, their angular figures casting ugly 
 shadows on the wall behind them. 
 
 " Yo needn t be a noddin ob yo heads, yo 
 
 two," cried Ophelia, with an ireful wag of her 
 
 turbaned head. " Yo all knows Julib hab a 
 
 tongue ob truth. Yo jest wait till yo heah de 
 
 50
 
 JULIE S "SEA-SARPEN* 
 
 whole ob de story, fore yo turns inter doubtin 
 Thomasses." 
 
 Silence fell on the circle. Washington with 
 legs wide apart stood before the narrator. 
 
 " Wai, my frens," said Julib, arranging his 
 scarlet necktie with a preparatory flourish, " it 
 happened disser way. Yo all knows ob de 
 important position I hab es de dish-washer at 
 de Alcazar, an dat Fse a man ob great des- 
 ponsibilities, an dat I ain t no fule ob a chicken. 
 Don yo ?" 
 
 " Yes ! yes ! we all knows," came from sev 
 eral mouths. 
 
 " Wai, night fore las , I wus sittin on de 
 slopin wall ob de ole Fort neah de water, a 
 smokin an a cogitatin , when off ter de right I 
 sees a line a movin on de water. Dey warn t 
 no moon, so I couldn t see berry clar, but dat 
 line got nearer an nearer, an bigger an bigger, 
 an soon I discubbered it war a livin , movin 
 bein , wat hab a mind ob its own. At first, I 
 warn t particular interested, an kep on a 
 squashin ob de gnats when all on a sudden I
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 seed right afore me de great sarpen himself, 
 wid coils an an awful mouf , I tell yo . Lawd ! 
 It would a made a Injine s hair ter gin ter curl 
 tight ter seed dat ere beast. 
 
 " Dere was kind ob humps cum out ob de 
 water, w at was de coils, an de snortin s an 
 de roarin s wus like de furnace blasts ob Hell. 
 It was cummin nearer n nearer, makin dose 
 awful sounds, an a tearin . I could see its tail 
 a lashin ob de water like de new fangled 
 washin machine et my otel. 
 
 " I wus dat scared, dat all I could t ink ob 
 wus de Lawd s Prayer, but dat didn t obstruct 
 dat animal s onward course. It was a commin 
 straight fur me nearer an nearer, till till, I 
 could see its red mouf , and dat its body war a 
 quarter ob a mile long, sartin sho . 
 
 " I wus so stuck ter dat wall by fright you d 
 a thought I d tuck root dar. It could a gobbled 
 me down its froat like an oyster but I thought 
 ob my dish-washin , an Phelia an Washin ton, 
 an by a cummidigious effort I tore myself from 
 dat wall, and moved fur hum. 
 
 " Dey ain t no need f er yo to tell me der 
 52
 
 JULIE S "SEJ-SARPEN* 
 
 aint no sea sarpen s, fur dere s one a-roostin in 
 dis berry harbor, now and wedder it el go 
 browsin roun on de Ian seekin w at it may 
 devour, only de good Lawd knows. It could 
 crunch an eat dis ere cabin an all yo folks in 
 it, if it tuk a likin fur a meal." 
 
 Julib paused and glanced about the circle as 
 an audible shudder and chatter of teeth passed 
 round. The two bent figures in the corner 
 crouched together, their whitened, woolly heads 
 nodding in unison like dusky mandarins. 
 
 A sudden cry of dismay from Washington 
 was heard, and it was discovered that he had 
 sat down in an unexpected fashion on the hoe 
 cake. As his mother jerked him off, low mut- 
 terings were heard about " makin him hotter 
 yit." 
 
 This episode broke the silence. Deep breaths 
 were drawn, feet were shuffled and pipes re-lit 
 to bring back a feeling of security by familiar 
 sensations. An old woman with a high squeak 
 ing voice was the first to speak, between her 
 whiffs of bad tobacco. 
 
 " Tears like Julib hab seen de wonders of 
 53
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 natur sho nuff. P r aps it mought been de 
 debbil in pusson. Wat yo tink Deacon ? " to 
 Ophelia s father. 
 
 One of the figures in the corner came out into 
 the circle of fire-light, his wizened face wearing 
 the cynical smile of a Voltaire. 
 
 " Dat dere is a debbil," he began, " we all 
 knows, fer we has wrastled wid him. But es 
 fur sea-sarpen s, dey ain t a common breed, 
 least-wise roun dere ere parts. I se lived bout 
 t ree times es long as dis son-in-law ob mine, an 
 ain t seed no sich roarin beasts es he tells ob. 
 If dey is a wanderin roun loose, why ain t I 
 seed em? though," with sarcastic emphasis, " I 
 warn t in de habit ob spendin my nights a 
 loafin an a slappin ob gnats, wid my wife and 
 brats ter hum. Dey is circumstances, I low, 
 when a man will see sarpen s an pink debbils 
 an sich like in his head, w at don t happen ter 
 be outside ob it." 
 
 A murmur of dissent arose, and Julib sprang 
 to his feet. From the dim corner came a deri 
 sive laugh, and another shadow on the wall 
 54
 
 JULIE S "SEA-SARPEN " 
 
 sprang suddenly up to the ceiling as Brother 
 Williams, the Deacon s friend and secret rival, 
 rose, brandishing his stick. 
 
 " I se fraid dat de Deacon es more onsart in 
 ob de spiritual debbil den he be ob der sea-sar- 
 pen , fur I heah his religion hab been getting a 
 little cool ob late. He wus a shakin wid feah 
 a minit ago; I felt him. If he don t hab no 
 trust in sarpen s why didn t he train his darter 
 Phelia mo ter his own notions ? Yo b lieve in 
 em sho , don yo gal ? " 
 
 He sank back into the shadows with a tri 
 umphant cackle, glancing at the terror-stricken 
 Ophelia. 
 
 With memories of past tilts with his rival in 
 his mind, and their attendant discomforts, the 
 deacon hastened to pour oil on the water his 
 taunts had troubled. 
 
 " Wai, wat s de use ob discussin dese mat 
 ters. If it s de Lawd s will fur us ter reach de 
 Golden City by de straight and narrer way ob 
 dat sarpen s gullet, we se got ter trabel dat way. 
 I d rader be swallered whole, dan be kicked in- 
 55
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 ter Heaben by a mule like our deah departed 
 Brudder Shadd who we buried las week." 
 
 The old woman leaned forward with interest. 
 
 " Jes so ! Jes so ! " she said, and getting ex 
 cited, " Gone ter Heaben gone ter glory, with 
 der cherubins an de paraffines. Glory ! glory ! 
 Take him, Lawd ! I se a comin comin , glory, 
 glory!" 
 
 Her voice was drowned by Brother Will- 
 iams s, whose sonorous tones filled the cabin, 
 for he disapproved the impression the Deacon s 
 eloquence was making. 
 
 " Hit s a pity dat after hundreds ob years ob 
 experience mong pussons ob color, dat our deah 
 departed brudder shouldn t er know better dan 
 ter approach dat animal from de rear. Yes," 
 he continued, his eyes twinkling, " and I wus 
 at de berryin service. Somebody put a nickel 
 in a hat ter start de collection fur de po widder, 
 an after goin all roun it cum back empty, 
 He! he!" 
 
 A general laugh shook the frail shanty, to 
 the great disturbance of two drowsy chickens 
 56
 
 JULIFS "SEA-SJRPEN* 
 
 perched on a rafter above. But this hilarity 
 was brought to a sudden end by the Deacon s 
 stick rapping smartly on the floor. 
 
 " My frens ," he drawled solemnly, " it don 
 befit yo ter laff at no sich wickednesses. 
 Dere s a sponsibility ob five cents a-floatin 
 among dat congregation somewhar . Look out 
 dat it ain t mong us." 
 
 With a significant glance at his rival he 
 moved towards the door. 
 
 " Fs a goin am yo comin my way, Brud- 
 der Williams? Yes? den it will be spectable 
 for us to go togedder." 
 
 He patronizingly pulled the wool of the sleep 
 ing Washington, and with a dignified " good 
 ebenin " to the others, clattered out, followed 
 by Brother Williams. 
 
 57
 
 Chapter II 
 
 THE narrow roadway bordered by cabins, 
 was silent and deserted. As they 
 passed the white-washed " meetin 
 house " they paused. The closing verse of a 
 hymn sung with all the fervor and passion of a 
 negro " revival," drifted through the open win 
 dows. 
 
 " We re a-rol/m we re a-rolhV 
 We re a rollin through dis sinful worl 
 We re a rol/tV we re a rollin 
 We re a rollin home ter God." 
 
 They stood arm in arm, the old Deacon beat 
 ing time with his long foot on the sand. Per 
 haps something in the stirring melody subdued 
 their egotism, for as they moved among the 
 pine shadows, each leaned on the other with 
 more affectionate and familiar ease. 
 
 Nothing was said for some time, until, on 
 turning a corner, a dog rushed out on them 
 with sudden barking. Both started to run, then 
 paused trembling, looking at one another. 
 
 58
 
 JULIE S "SEA-SARPEN" 
 
 "Yo don b lieve in dat trash ob Julib s 
 bout de sea-sarpen , do yo Brudder?" asked 
 the Deacon in a somewhat shaky voice, as they 
 continued their way. 
 
 " Course not ! " was the scornful reply, given 
 with a shrinking glance toward the lonely road 
 ahead. " Julib means well, but he do tell sich 
 tales. Bress yo sole, Deacon, if I t ought dere 
 wus sich a beast I d go an look fur him. If 
 we d look long nuff, we d see him, sho ." 
 
 " Is yo gwine ter look? " asked the Deacon, 
 with sudden suspicion for the sincerity of his 
 companion s scepticism. 
 
 "Do yo take me fur a fule?" exclaimed 
 Brother Williams. " Do yo t ink I d sit a- 
 roostin all de night on dat sea-wall a waitin 
 fur roarin beasts w at nebber did lib nohow? 
 Sho ! I se too ole fur enny sich foolerin es dat. 
 Ere yo gwine fur ter look ? " 
 
 " Me ! " exclaimed the Deacon. The derisive 
 scorn of the answer convinced Brother Will 
 iams that there was no such possibility. 
 
 Each longed at the bottom of his heart to 
 59
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 know if such a creature did exist, and to see it 
 if it did. What glory to tell of it to the other ! 
 The Deacon thrilled with the delightful possi 
 bility. How much better than Julib he would 
 describe the grewsome details of that mysteri 
 ous creature, if he could but see it. For once 
 he might enter a realm of knowledge where 
 Brother Williams could not follow, and con 
 found his rival with his own marvelous experi 
 ence. Oh ! if he could only have one glimpse 
 of " dat sarpen ," for that it existed he began 
 to have no doubt. Wild ideas and plans floated 
 through his brain. 
 
 Meanwhile Brother Williams hobbling 
 through the sand, was also burning with 
 awakening ambition. That Julib had spoken 
 the truth he had not for a moment doubted, but 
 fear of the Deacon s ridicule had made him 
 deny any such belief. With sly caution and an 
 instinctive mistrust of his friend s sincerity, he 
 had a half-formed plan to see this monster of 
 the sea for himself. If he could but corrobo 
 rate his son s statement, and relate new horrors 
 60
 
 JULIE S "SEA-S4RPEN 9 " 
 
 of his own experience! The blissful anticipa 
 tion of being a conspicuous narrator while the 
 Deacon should sit neglected in a corner, gave 
 him exquisite pleasure. He could with diffi 
 culty refrain from executing a double-shuffle in 
 the middle of the road. 
 
 Both men were so engrossed in their own 
 thoughts, that little more was said till they bade 
 each other good-night at the Deacon s " clear- 
 in ." They parted with great magnanimity, 
 their hearts mellowed with the prospect of an 
 ticipated triumph. 
 
 Brother Williams scurried home, shying at 
 shadows and rustling jasmine vines, to his 
 cabin half a mile farther. 
 
 The Deacon entered his house and tied his 
 door firmly with a bit of twine. 
 
 61
 
 Chapter III 
 
 THE following night a heavy fog rolled 
 in from the sea. It crept along the 
 narrow streets, through sleepy gar 
 dens, and swathed itself about the motionless 
 palms, till St. Augustine in its gray veiling 
 looked like a city among the clouds. 
 
 Brother Williams, his legs stretched out to 
 the imaginary warmth of a pile of ashes in his 
 fire-place, sat lost in thought, his head sunk for 
 ward on his breast. All was still save the oc 
 casional rustle of Pete, the dog, aroused from 
 slumber to attend to a dream-disturbing flea. 
 Through the open window the fog drifted, 
 blurring the outlines of the tiny cabin, and cov 
 ering its bareness with a friendly veil. 
 
 Brother Williams at last rose with a pro 
 found sigh, and moving to the door, peered 
 cautiously out. His cabin stood in its acre of 
 " clearin ," the only sign of human life. A 
 group of tall pines with their scanty foliage 
 away at their tops, were like gawky boys grown 
 62
 
 JULIE S "SE4-SARPEN 
 
 " too big for their clothes." Mysterious chirps 
 and rustles came from the scrub palmettos, 
 whose sharp leaves seemed to point like deri 
 sive fingers at the solitary watcher. 
 
 With a searching glance this way and that, 
 Brother Williams crept softly back into the 
 house. The dog rose. " Yo jest be still Pete. 
 Don yo be fur snuffin yo nose into t ings w at 
 ain t yo perfession." 
 
 With slow caution he got into a great coat 
 which fell in ragged luxuriance to his heels. 
 With many a nervous glance and pause he went 
 out, latching the gate softly behind him, and 
 passed down the road. 
 
 Entering the town, he scurried past the bril 
 liantly lighted Ponce de Leon, keeping in the 
 shadow of garden walls as much as possible, 
 and dodging around the groups of colored men 
 loitering on the corners. He crossed the Plaza, 
 and reaching the sea-wall, paused. He fancied 
 he heard steps behind him on the stone coping, 
 but could see nothing for the mist. After lis 
 tening intently he went on. 
 
 63
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 " It s doin ob de secret t ings dat makes us 
 scart," he thought. " Dere ain t nobody a keep- 
 in step wid me fur fun on sich a night as dis 
 nohow." 
 
 Everything was still. The ripple of the 
 water below him was the only sound his 
 anxious ears could now hear. He went steadily 
 on to the Fort, and around the sloping wall to 
 its farthest extremity. Wrapping his cloak 
 well around him, he sat down, with eyes fixed 
 on the narrow strip of beach and water discern 
 ible through the mist on the left of the Fort. 
 
 If the gulls had been awake, they would have 
 seen a few moments later, a second figure 
 emerge from the fog with stealthy tread. Like 
 a cat in search of prey, the Deacon crept along 
 the Fort wall, his old shoes making no sound 
 on its hard surface. Not a hundred feet from 
 Brother Williams he paused, and peered tri 
 umphantly about him. No sign of human life 
 about. He was alone to discover what? 
 
 He shivered slightly as he seated himself. 
 Those gray, mysterious depths of mist and sea 
 64
 
 JULIE S "SEA-SARPEN" 
 
 might hide untold horrors. He shrank back 
 from the edge near the water, and got as far 
 up on the shelving wall, as its width permitted. 
 
 For a long time the two daring spirits sat 
 there motionless, the mist dripping from their 
 battered hats, and running in little streams 
 down their cavernous wrinkles. Now and 
 then the young moon would peer for a moment 
 upon them, to be lost again in the moving va 
 por. 
 
 " Fse a courageous man," said the Deacon to 
 himself. " Yo wouldn t ketch dat white-liv 
 ered Brudder Williams in no sich purdigri- 
 ment nohow. He s a stuffin hisself no doubt 
 at dis berry minnit wid Phelia s hoe-cake, wid 
 no mo care fur science than dat brat Wash 
 ington." 
 
 Brother Williams at the other end of the 
 wall, stirred uneasily, trying to find the soft 
 side of its clam-shell surface. 
 
 " It wouldn t be no sich man as de Deacon," 
 . he thought, " ter be out heah a sarchin fur 
 troof. Jes won t I make dat wool ob hissen 
 65
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 stan up wid s prise, when I tells him w at I 
 seen. He be allers soundin de loud timbral fur 
 his own smartnesses, but he d be narvious, he 
 would. I don scar a demnition bit, I don t." 
 
 A toad hopping along came in contact with 
 his hand. He barely stifled a scream. 
 
 " I low es dat did s prise me a little," he 
 muttered. " It wur fur usin a cussin word, I 
 specs." 
 
 The minutes dragged slowly by. They 
 seemed hours to the two men of science. They 
 grew more damp and more cold and were de 
 cidedly nervous. 
 
 " If I s fuled," said the Deacon to himself, 
 " dat cowerlin Brudder Williams 11 nebber 
 know, an if I isn t ! " The delightful possi 
 bility of surpassing his rival, sent a glow 
 through his trembling frame. 
 
 All at once both men gave a start. Off to the 
 right a sound was heard: faint, but still a 
 sound. A wheezing, gasping, gurgle came 
 across the water, accompanied by dull splash 
 ing. The Deacon s breath stopped, he felt he 
 was about to stifle. 
 
 66
 
 JULIE S " SEA-SARPEN 9 
 
 " Hit s it ! hit s it ! " he gasped, with shak 
 ing limbs. 
 
 Brother Williams felt his blood congeal. 
 
 " Dat s de noise es Julib done told bout, but 
 I ain t scart, no I ain t." He rose with shaking 
 knees and peered into the mist. 
 
 The noise grew louder it seemed to fill the 
 air, his ears, his brain, with a confused horror 
 of sound. It resembled the snorts and breath 
 ings of some terrible monster. No such sound 
 had either of them ever heard before. No 
 lights were visible, so it could not be a vessel of 
 any kind and what vessel ever made such a 
 noise ! 
 
 The Deacon was now beside himself with 
 terror. He longed to cry out, to escape, but 
 power of motion and spirit had left him. 
 
 Brother Williams, torn between abject fear 
 and curiosity, knelt on the edge of the wall with 
 a pair of trembling hands raised to heaven. 
 
 " Oh ! Lawd, I se a sinner, a po weak sin 
 ner; but oh! good, kind Lawd, let me see it. 
 Yo let John see de Rebelations. Oh! keep 
 me oh glory, glory, o-o-o-o-h h h h ! " 
 67
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 The horrid noise was almost below him he 
 saw the hideous coils, the tossing head through 
 the mist. With one yell of ungovernable ter 
 ror, he turned and fled. Blind and dizzy with 
 horror, he sped along the wall to be sent tum 
 bling prostrate over the Deacon. With a 
 mingled yell of dismay they grappled and rolled 
 over and over, each ignorant of what or who 
 was the other. At that moment the moon 
 looked down, and they shook themselves apart. 
 
 " Yo Deacon " ! gasped Brother Williams, 
 glaring at his foe. 
 
 "Yes! yes! it s me. Oh! w at is it? oh! 
 oh!" 
 
 He clung trembling to his companion, who 
 now, with his rival there before him, felt some 
 small courage return. 
 
 The two old men clung to each other and 
 crept slowly toward the noise. The terrible 
 monster had passed the Fort, moving toward 
 the beach at the left. They crept, step by step, 
 to the point in the wall, both beginning to feel 
 partially secure, when suddenly a snort of pro- 
 68
 
 JULIE S "SEA-SARPEN" 
 
 digious strength caused them to jump as though 
 shot. 
 
 A whirling of water, and another snort. 
 They were both about to cast science to the 
 winds and fly ignominiously, when the mist 
 lifted, disclosing, not fifty feet away five 
 horses emerging in single file from the water, 
 shaking their dripping flanks, and then walk 
 ing calmly across the beach. 
 
 The two men turned and faced each other 
 with mingled wrath and shame. 
 
 " Es fur yo , Brudder Williams, yo mus 
 feel mighty like a sheep ter be makin sich a 
 screechin fuss bout a few po horses swimmin 
 home from de island. Here wus I," his voice 
 rising in virtuous indignation, " a sittin quiet 
 an peaceable-like, a composin my experience 
 speech fur ter-morrow s meetin , when yo 
 comes a gallopin along like a boltin lion, a- 
 knockin me ober, an actin like Balaam s ass. 
 Yo is a noodlin fule, I se bressed if yo ain t." 
 
 " Yo tell me, Deacon, dat yo wus sittin hear 
 speechifying! Go long wid sich lyin . Yo 
 69
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 roostin in dis hear wet ! Tell dat story ter de 
 ole women-folks. I ain t no chicken ter be 
 filled wid no sich stuffin . So yo t ink I bin 
 scart! I done seed yo sittin hear all de time, 
 an knowed yo s bin watchin fur dat sarpen . 
 Yes, I jess done dat screechin ter scar yo . 
 An I done gone and done it too, sartin . He! 
 he! ha! ha!" 
 
 Brother Williams broke into a feeble cackle 
 and turned homeward. He not only felt 
 shaky about his knees, but feared his imagina 
 tion might fail if called upon to do more lying. 
 
 At the " experience meetin " the following 
 evening, these two brave men sat very far 
 apart, and had no experience to relate. It was 
 noticed however that they prayed at each other 
 with unusual fervor. 
 
 [The Sea-serpent illusion, as described in the above 
 story, was actually experienced by Mr. W. H. P., a 
 winter resident of St. Augustine, when visiting the 
 Fort on a cloudy evening.]
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 Nassau. 
 
 Chapter I 
 
 THE occasion of my first meeting Lady 
 Gladys was in this wise. I was stop 
 ping with my friend Maxwell Keith, 
 an Americanized Scotchman, upon the semi- 
 tropical island off the coast of Georgia, which 
 he had purchased for a winter home with a 
 game-stocked Park, as much like the ideal Eng 
 lish seat as possible. He was a younger son 
 whose sole patrimony had been a vigorous 
 physique and a splendid energy, and with these 
 he came to America, where ten years among 
 iron manufacturers had secured him a hand 
 some fortune, and had also lessened his venera 
 tion for the decaying and idle upper classes of 
 England. 
 
 He spent his summers in Scotland, and his 
 old friends there raised their eyebrows at his 
 generous American fashion of presenting vari- 
 
 73
 
 ous towns with Public Libraries, and were still 
 more open in their displeasure when he an 
 nounced his views upon the education of the 
 lower classes. Meanwhile he entertained his 
 friends lavishly on both sides of the water: 
 carried them about on four-in-hands and in 
 steam yachts, and was, in short, a delightful 
 and forcible advertisement for the success of 
 American industries. 
 
 His luxurious island home was a charming 
 mingling of English form and American con 
 venience, and here for the time being he 
 dreamed himself a country squire of good old 
 English style but without the climatic discom 
 forts of "the tight little isle." This winter 
 he had a dozen friends to bear him company 
 among them Mr. Kenby, a prominent politi 
 cian, Mr. Ruddrow, a newly arisen novelist 
 who said sharp things, and the usual profes 
 sional beauty. There was also an amateur 
 actor of classic profile, to relieve the tedium of 
 possible dull weather. 
 
 After a fortnight of shooting and explora- 
 74
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 tion of the beautiful island, our energetic host 
 suggested that a cruise on the steam yacht lying 
 idly in the little harbor, would be a pleasant di 
 version. The idea was hailed with delight. 
 The women were quickly prepared, while the 
 men provided themselves liberally with fishing 
 tackle, not forgetting a generous supply of ci 
 gars and champagne, and we sailed merrily 
 away for the sunny waters of the South. 
 
 Our objective point was Nassau, but we 
 lingered along the Florida coast with its flat 
 stretches of wind-swept marshes, and back 
 grounds of grim pines. We ran twenty or 
 thirty miles up the St. John s river, fishing in 
 its placid waters, or, anchored at pleasure in the 
 numerous inlets, we idled away the hours, 
 watching the pink and gray cranes, standing in 
 one-legged stateliness under the vine tangled 
 palmettos. 
 
 The women of our party, having heard of 
 
 the social gaieties at Nassau, presently had 
 
 enough of this idyllic life, so bowing to their 
 
 decree, we wound up our reels and were soon 
 
 75
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 steaming under the frowning ramparts of Fort 
 Fincastle. 
 
 The sky line of the quaint little city, with its 
 towers and Cathedral campanile, was losing 
 itself in the yellow glow of a setting sun. 
 Sounds of martial music floated across the 
 water from the evening Parade at the Garri 
 son. Sailboats of all sizes laden with parties of 
 young people were being poled in by their skip 
 pers, with sails hanging limp about the masts. 
 
 On the morrow began a different life for our 
 party. There was golf, riding and bathing by 
 day, and dancing every evening, with occa 
 sional dinners among the residents. The con 
 trasts of the place were curious a mixture of 
 almost theatrical prettiness and nineteenth cen 
 tury smartness. If King George could but 
 traverse these narrow streets; see the electric 
 lights swung from corner to corner, or look in 
 upon a " hop " at the Victoria Hotel, how as 
 tounded that monarch would be at such innova 
 tions. And all with never a " by your Majes 
 ty s leave." 
 
 76
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 One afternoon, the rest of our party having 
 departed in congenial couples to the Queen s 
 staircase, golf links and quaint Grant town, I 
 took a boat for a row and quiet pipe. 
 
 Leaving the gay little town behind me, I 
 rowed by the Fort toward a stretch of lonely 
 marshes which looked invitingly quiet. For a 
 while I could find no water-way to their midst, 
 but after some hard pulling a narrow creek 
 came into view. This I followed with no spe 
 cial purpose except a whim to get as far away 
 as possible from everything and everyone. 
 Gray sand dunes, blown by the wind into fan 
 tastic shapes, stretched away on every side, 
 broken by spaces of brown grass over which 
 gulls wheeled with plaintive cries. Far away 
 to the right, I could hear the surf booming, 
 but here not a ripple stirred the waters, save 
 when insect wings touched its placid surface, 
 or a crane started up from the tufts of salt 
 grass. 
 
 I rowed on and on, taking no thought of 
 time, with only a happy sense of bien etre, until 
 77
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 I was aroused from my somnambulent mood by 
 an obstacle ahead. 
 
 A causeway stretched across the entire 
 breadth of my vision from the forest on the 
 extreme left, to what appeared a thickly wooded 
 island or else a promontory of the main land, 
 on my right. No sign of human life disturbed 
 the perfect quiet. I left the boat, and climbed 
 to the top of the causeway. Beyond, the 
 marshes stretched away in flat monotony. No 
 tracks of wheels or footsteps were visible upon 
 the causeway, but the center was worn in a nar 
 row track by horses feet. My curiosity was 
 now fully awakened. I pulled the boat high 
 out of water and started for the island. 
 
 It was the forest primeval into which the 
 track led me. Grass grew breast high, with no 
 reminder of the scythe. To the left the old 
 paths were almost obliterated by tangled un 
 dergrowth. It was a wilderness beautiful in 
 Nature s own prodigality. I pushed my way 
 through vine and bracken with curious expec-
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 tancy, as though a haunted castle and sleeping 
 princess lay hid in this mazy woodland. 
 
 Suddenly I heard a childish voice close to 
 me crooning a lullaby. I pushed aside some 
 brushwood, and there in a little opening among 
 the ferns sat a child rocking a doll to and fro 
 in her arms. She was sitting at the foot of a 
 giant palmetto, whose roots protruding from 
 their earth covering stretched in all directions. 
 Between these roots the child had placed toy 
 tables and chairs made from bits of bark and 
 sticks. Flowers were stuck here and there as 
 decoration for her idyllic house. Suddenly she 
 gave her doll a shake. 
 
 " You tiresome child ! " she said, " Why 
 won t you go to sleep? You must be very 
 happy to be so forever smiling. Grandpa says 
 only the dead are happy. Perhaps you re 
 dead." 
 
 She became conscious of a strange presence, 
 and turned toward me one of the loveliest child 
 faces I have ever seen. It was oval in shape 
 
 79
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 and very small, made more so by the great vio 
 let eyes which looked straight into mine with 
 innocent astonishment. A mass of curls framed 
 the face. She was clad in a frock of rough 
 gray serge, much too short for her, fastened by 
 white bone buttons. But this small person was 
 in no way disconcerted by her unexpected vis 
 itor. She clasped her doll closer. 
 
 " Do you want to find your way to the 
 house? " she asked. " It is straight on, but you 
 know grandpa doesn t receive visitors." 
 
 I replied that I was not in search of the house 
 or her grandfather, in fact supposed I was the 
 only person about. Her mouth broke into a 
 laugh ; then, as though fearing I might feel the 
 awkwardness of my position, the child grew 
 politely grave. 
 
 " I am Lady Gladys Cope," she said, " and 
 my grandfather is Lord Carnsforth and lives 
 here. I take care of him." To say I was as 
 tonished but mildly expresses my feelings, as I 
 gazed at the tattered little princess before me. 
 I had met here and there in my western trips 
 80
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 some titles among the numerous younger sons 
 of English aristocracy who had been driven 
 there by necessity, and even in southern Florida 
 I had run against a self-exiled Duke, but had 
 heard nothing of this distinguished exile. I 
 apologized to the best of my ability for having 
 trespassed, but she interrupted me. 
 
 " I am very glad to see you, and think you 
 are a very nice person. But you must be tired ; 
 won t you sit down ? " 
 
 With regal air she motioned me to a mossy 
 stump, and resuming her position, smoothed 
 down her doll s scanty petticoats. 
 
 I was warm and tired, and very willing to 
 rest for a while with so unique a companion. 
 She was voluble, and we chatted on, much to 
 our mutual gratification. We soon became 
 good friends. She explained to me the mys 
 teries of her housekeeping, and how the cater 
 pillars were at times very troublesome in up 
 setting her furniture. She said this was her 
 country house, her town house was in a dis 
 tant field in a hay rick. I inquired politely for 
 81
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 her children s health and showed her how to 
 make rabbits out of my pocket handkerchief. 
 The sun was sinking and the woods growing 
 chill, so I suggested that I should escort her 
 home, and we pushed our way through the sun- 
 reddened leaves. She chatted freely of her 
 home and home life, as freely as only a child 
 could who had never known what strangers 
 were. 
 
 " Grandpa is very old," she said; " he and I 
 live here quite alone with Allan and Tabby. 
 They are the servants. You see Grandpa is 
 very poor now, but he didn t use to be. We, 
 that is, Mamma and Grandpa, came over here 
 from England because our old home went to 
 someone else. He bought this orange grove, 
 but Mamma died, and all the trees died, so it 
 left only me to take care of Grandpa. Tabby 
 says if I had been a boy I would have been an 
 Earl like he is, but I m glad I wasn t, for I 
 don t think Earls are happy people. Grandpa 
 doesn t seem so." 
 
 By this time we had come in sight of the 
 82
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 house, and I shall never forget the beautiful 
 desolation of the scene. The house, a long 
 rambling structure of brick, with a sky line 
 much broken by quaint chimneys, rose against 
 the sky. It had evidently been the home of 
 some wealthy Southern planter before the war, 
 and in its day, luxurious to an unusual degree. 
 Ivy clambered over doors and windows, some 
 of which evidently had been closed for years, 
 and wild vines ran riot to the very edge of the 
 gabled roof. A wide piazza, stretched along 
 the front of the house, its decayed wooden 
 steps leading to a garden choked with weeds. 
 A wilderness of roses filled the air with their 
 scent. The only sound of life was the sleepy 
 splash of a dilapidated fountain, and the twit 
 tering of birds as they settled themselves to 
 rest. As my small guide led me up the broken 
 steps, I felt like some ghost come out of the 
 dead past to revisit the scene of brilliant life 
 and gaiety as dead and forgotten as myself. 
 By the great central door at which we paused 
 a rabbit nibbled the vines which covered the 
 83
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 lintel and seemed in nowise disturbed when 
 Lady Gladys raised the knocker in both hands 
 and woke the silence to resonant clamor. At 
 last a step was heard and the door swung open, 
 disclosing a wizened little man in rusty, black 
 knickerbockers and buckled shoes. 
 
 " Ah ! it is your ladyship." Then catching 
 sight of my stalwart figure looked quickly from 
 her to me. 
 
 " Allan, this is a gentleman I met in the 
 woods," she explained. Then turning to me, 
 " Please come in ; I want to take you to grand- 
 pa." 
 
 But I hastened to excuse myself. " You for 
 get that I have not the pleasure of knowing 
 Lord Carnsforth," I said, " and doubtless he 
 is not prepared to receive visitors." 
 
 " Oh, he will surely be glad to see you," she 
 urged. 
 
 I took out my card. "Take this to him 
 first," I said, "and then if he is willing, I 
 should be delighted to meet him." 
 
 Like a flash she was gone, Allan shambling 
 84
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 after her, leaving me in a great hall. I made 
 out in the dim light a carved staircase of great 
 beauty, and that everything was pervaded by 
 an atmosphere of dreary disuse. Lady Gladys 
 emerged from a dusky corner, flushed and 
 breathless, and, following her beckoning finger, 
 our footsteps on the hard and polished floor 
 awakening uncanny echoes in the silence, she 
 paused at an open door with finger on lip. 
 From the light of a glass-stained window at 
 the farther end I discerned a room of noble 
 proportions. Midway between floor and ceil 
 ing a gallery ran round the room, the walls of 
 which were lined with books. A smoldering 
 fire gleamed from a cavern-like fireplace, and 
 before this sat an old man in a wheel chair. 
 A hound lay stretched at his feet. 
 
 " Saint Pere," she cried, " I ve brought the 
 gentleman." 
 
 " It gives me great pleasure to meet any ac 
 quaintance of yours my darling," Lord Carns- 
 forth said, as he courteously tried to rise, but 
 sinking back with a sigh of pain, motioned me 
 85
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 to a seat. Lady Gladys perched herself on the 
 arm of his chair and explained our meeting. 
 
 " I seldom meet anyone from the outside 
 world," he remarked, " and it is many years 
 since I trod its highways myself, though I feel 
 a strong admiration for your wonderful coun 
 try of yours and its progressive people." 
 
 I expressed my admiration for what I had 
 seen of English life. " It shows nothing of 
 that striving for effect that is the bane of our 
 new world. Perhaps it is because you live so 
 much in the country and are content with the 
 world as your fathers left it. We are forever 
 trying to better ourselves and circumstances, 
 and I almost begin to think it a mistake." 
 
 Lord Carnsforth leaned forward. " My 
 dear sir, you are wrong there. It is that con 
 stant effort for what is better which has made 
 you what you are the greatest empire the 
 world has ever seen. It is difficult for Eng 
 lish gentlemen of the present generation to 
 better their condition. I wish it were not so. 
 The old idea of trade being ignoble has died its 
 86
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 natural death and many would like to enter 
 healthful business careers, but lack the knowl 
 edge to do so. I envy some of my old friends 
 who have been able to face the loss of rents and 
 strike out for themselves. My friend the Duke 
 of Eastminster has made a great success of his 
 London hansoms. You doubtless have heard 
 of my straitened circumstances. For this little 
 one s sake I wish I were younger. It is hard 
 to sit in my chimney corner idle when heart 
 and brain would so gladly make themselves 
 useful." 
 
 " Lady Gladys told me something of her past 
 life," I replied frankly. " But you have much 
 left in so loving and charming a companion." 
 
 My heart ached for the pathetic pair of com 
 rades. He, worn and spent from his unsuc 
 cessful battle with life and she so frail to 
 commence the warfare. 
 
 " You see she is such a wild little bairn," 
 
 he continued, " that I can do nothing better for 
 
 her. She runs about in the sunshine much as 
 
 the quail do, but she is an ever present comfort 
 
 87
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 and solace to me. I regret the uselessness of 
 a life like mine." 
 
 " Why, Saint Pere," the child broke in, " it 
 is not true that you are useless. Have you not 
 written all those splendid books the papers 
 praise, and how could I live without you when 
 I love you so? " 
 
 The eager voice seemed to break the sad 
 ness which had settled on us all. The old ser 
 vant entered with lamps, and realizing the late 
 ness of the hour I rose to leave. I expressed 
 my pleasure at the chance which had brought 
 me there. 
 
 Lord Carnsforth held out his hand in fare 
 well, begging me to come again soon. " It has 
 been like a breeze from your Rockies to see 
 you," he said. 
 
 Lady Gladys showed me to the door. And 
 so I left her at the top of the steps, a gray little 
 ghost in the evening mist. 
 
 88
 
 Chapter II 
 
 ON my return to the yacht, I joined my 
 host who was having a smoke at the 
 bow. 
 
 " Keith," I said, throwing myself on the rug 
 at his side, " did you ever hear in your country 
 of Lord Carnsforth ? I have recently heard of 
 him as having a peculiar history." 
 
 " Carnsforth," he replied, " of course I have. 
 His place, Carnsforth Heyes, is in the adjoining 
 county to my summer home, and we frequently 
 drive over the estate, as indeed everyone does, 
 to see the remains of one of the finest seats in 
 the Kingdom." 
 
 " What was the cause of his misfortunes? " 
 I asked. 
 
 " A scapegrace son," said he. " The greatest 
 gambler who ever disgraced his country at 
 Monaco. He lost heavily at home on the turf 
 and then his passion led him to Monte Carlo, 
 where he sunk more than the entire value of 
 
 89
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 the family estate. He then shot himself at 
 the door of the Casino." 
 
 " Married, wasn t he? " 
 
 " Yes ! He had married into the Cadogan 
 family in the face of their bitter opposition 
 owing to his well-known character ; in fact they 
 never forgave the wife, and she has been com 
 pelled to share the Carnsforth misfortunes." 
 
 " What became of Carnsforth Heyes ? " 
 
 " Creditors took possession, but out of re 
 spect to the Earl s age and troubles, they al 
 lowed him the use of three or four rooms dur 
 ing his life, and a pony chaise for driving about 
 the Park. Frequently, while driving four-in- 
 hand through his place, we have met, and I 
 recalled the old saw about the whirligig of 
 time. The avenues of trees planted by his an 
 cestors centuries ago, are one of the wonders 
 of the country. Every ancient seat has its 
 special feature, but those avenues of mammoth 
 trees with their noble vistas are unequaled even 
 in the Park at Windsor. 
 
 " But the old Earl s pride could not brook 
 90
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 such a position long in his ancestral halls. His 
 heart was broken, and in a few years he dis 
 appeared with his daughter-in-law and her child 
 it was said, to live in some retired village 
 in France."
 
 Chapter III 
 
 AFTER this conversation some days were 
 spent in the usual round of mild dis 
 sipations at Nassau, but my mind wan 
 dered continually to my enchanted island. I 
 had said nothing of my interesting episode, 
 knowing that the idle folk would straightway 
 wish to gratify their curiosity. One day a rain 
 storm was sending the clouds scurrying across 
 a sullen sky, and I decided to see my little 
 princess again. I wanted to escape unques 
 tioned and unnoticed. Most of the party were 
 congregated at the Colonial Hotel, playing ping 
 pong. Feeling I should not be missed, I 
 donned a mackintosh and rowed off in the 
 storm. 
 
 Nature was a study in brown and gray sky, 
 sand dunes and water, all were in one tone of 
 colorless bleakness. I climbed the causeway, 
 and after a rapid walk, reached the house. It 
 looked more desolate than ever. The rain 
 splashed on the moldy walks, whirled against 
 92
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 the walls in spasmodic fury, and fell in streams 
 from the mossy eaves upon the weeds below. 
 Rose leaves, whipped off by the wind, lay in 
 red and pink drifts on every side. 
 
 I knocked vigorously, to be sent tumbling in 
 by the wind over Lady Gladys, who had opened 
 the door. She danced about with delight as I 
 doffed my dripping garments, her golden head 
 a veritable sunbeam in the grim hall. 
 
 " Oh ! I knew you would come," she cried. 
 " I was just longing to see you and have 
 watched for you all day." Then her face grew 
 grave ; she pulled my face down to hers. 
 
 " I wanted to see you," she whispered, " for 
 grandpa has been acting so strangely. I m 
 sure something troubles him. Last night he 
 moaned when he thought me asleep, and when 
 I ran to him he said, Nothing, child, only a 
 bad dream. 
 
 We reached the room where Lord Carns- 
 
 forth was sitting. A fire burned on the hearth, 
 
 sending a rosy warmth about the room. By 
 
 its light I saw he had aged since I last saw him. 
 
 93
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 When we had exchanged greetings he left the 
 conversation to Lady Gladys. I drew a chair 
 up to the hearth, the child leaning against me. 
 He noticed this, and called her to him, and 
 clasped her closely, looking gloomily at me 
 over her sunny head. I tried different topics 
 of conversation but in vain ; the courteous host 
 of my previous visit remained silent, looking 
 moodily into the fire. At last Lady Gladys 
 relieved my embarrassment by saying; " Saint 
 Pere, I m going to show him the house ; " so 
 we left the room he vouchsafing no reply. 
 
 When the door closed behind us she looked 
 at me with trembling lips. " You see there 
 is- something," she said. " He has been that 
 way for two days. Sometimes he seems quite 
 to forget me, and just sits there and thinks, 
 thinks. Then, again, he won t let me leave him 
 even for an instant, and kisses me so hard it 
 hurts." 
 
 She burst into a flood of tears. I sat down 
 and drew the trembling little figure into my 
 
 94
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 arms. That something had occurred I did not 
 doubt. 
 
 " He is probably not well, Gladys," I said. 
 " You know when one is old, one is apt to have 
 moods like that. Doubtless it will pass away 
 like those clouds out there, and we ll soon have 
 the sun shining as brightly as ever." 
 
 Gradually the sobs ceased, and the storm 
 of grief subsided as quickly as it had come. 
 So hand in hand we passed through several 
 rooms whose web-covered windows let enough 
 light through to show their bareness, and came 
 to a once gaily decorated ball-room. 
 
 The stately drawing-room was quite empty 
 of furniture except a few old-fashioned pieces 
 mute remnants of a once brilliant home. As 
 Gladys was about taking me farther Allan ap 
 peared and announced tea, and I for one was 
 glad to get back to the warmth and cheer of 
 the fire. 
 
 Lord Carnsforth turned to the child. " My 
 darling, you are not dressed; run and ask 
 
 95
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 Tabby to give you a better frock in honor of 
 our guest." The child seemed surprised, but 
 did as she was bidden. When her light foot 
 fall died away he roused himself and said: 
 
 " You may be surprised that I should speak 
 to you on a matter of so personal a nature, but 
 I have a question to decide which involves the 
 life and happiness of that child, and much suf 
 fering for her as well as for myself. I cannot 
 refrain from soliciting the sound judgment and 
 sympathy which I feel sure you will give me." 
 His voice sank almost to a whisper. He shaded 
 his eyes from the fire and continued : 
 
 " You may have already learned of my un 
 fortunate circumstances. I have reached my 
 threescore years and ten, and my little Gladys 
 will soon be left without a home. She loves 
 me, and I had hoped to have that love spared 
 me to the end, but I fear it is to be otherwise. 
 Two days since I received a letter from a dis 
 tant relative by marriage, the Hon. Mrs. Stret- 
 field, a woman of position and wealth, offering 
 to take Gladys, educate and provide for her on 
 96
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 the condition " the old man paused, as though 
 to gather strength " that I give her to her 
 keeping immediately. She is now about seven, 
 and these years have been comparatively wasted 
 as far as conventional education is concerned. 
 That she must leave me I begin to realize, but 
 my love prevents me clearly appreciating the 
 importance and advantage of the offer." 
 
 He leaned forward and gazed for a moment 
 into a vacancy from which he returned with a 
 suppressed shudder. 
 
 " I have not told Gladys yet. It is the want 
 of a little human sympathy which has made me 
 tell you this. The prospect of loneliness is ter 
 rible, and I pray God it may not be long. Sir, 
 can you comprehend what it means for me? 
 From her infancy she has been my all. Her 
 laugh is my lost youth ; her faintest sigh a keen 
 pain to me. She may learn to forget, she is so 
 young. It would be but natural, but the 
 thought of it seems almost more than I can 
 bear. The long days here alone, and still alone 
 till the end." The quivering voice paused. 
 97
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 " Dear Lord Carnsforth," I said, " I am in 
 expressibly grieved by what you have told me, 
 but it is the inexorable law that the old must 
 surrender to the young. Were you to be taken 
 from her, the shelter and care which are now 
 offered would in all probability prove an im 
 measurable blessing. Besides she could some 
 times come to you here, and you would con 
 stantly be informed of her growth and educa 
 tion." 
 
 He interrupted me with a feeble gesture. 
 " You mistake there," he said, " I shall prob 
 ably never see her. The family of the child s 
 mother never approved of the marriage, and 
 Mrs. Stretfield is on her side of the house. She 
 takes Gladys for her mother s sake, not mine. 
 But the child is coming say nothing." 
 
 He relapsed into silence as Lady Gladys 
 bounded into the room in her fresh white gown. 
 She noticed neither Lord Carnsforth s silence 
 nor my abstraction, but clambered into a high 
 chair to pour tea. The firelight played on the 
 little hands as they hovered over the shining 
 98
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 silver and fragile old cups, and danced in fan 
 tastic shadows over the silent figure in the 
 chair. The hound rose and pushed his nose 
 into the nerveless hand, but got no answering 
 caress. 
 
 99
 
 Chapter IV 
 
 "All things are transient. 
 They being born have lived, 
 And having lived are dead, 
 And being dead are glad 
 To be at rest." 
 Inscription on an ancient Hindoo bell. 
 
 A FEW days after, when starting for my 
 morning swim, a note was handed 
 me. It ran thus : " Lady Gladys 
 leaves in a few hours, and would bid her friend 
 good-by. Carnsforth." 
 
 I found Lord Carnsforth sitting under a 
 giant oak near the house, but very shrunken 
 and enfeebled. Gladys was not there. Near 
 him sat a handsome woman of about five-and- 
 thirty. With an indescribable air of thorough 
 breeding she turned her well poised head to 
 acknowledge the introduction, and raised a 
 lorgnette to her cool, gray eyes. 
 
 " I am very pleased to meet you," she said, 
 with a slight drawl. " Lady Gladys has spoken 
 of you." 
 
 100
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 I told her of our unexpected meeting and her 
 fine mouth parted in a low rippling laugh. 
 
 " She has not been so fortunate in meeting 
 as many of your countrymen as I have," she 
 replied. 
 
 " Just before leaving London I went out to 
 dinner with quite an interesting American, a 
 Mr. Bill Mr. Buffalo Bill I believe. He was 
 from Arizona. Do you know him? He was, 
 ah ! somewhat unusual." 
 
 With a suppressed smile I expressed my re 
 gret at not having that pleasure, that, in fact, 
 I knew but few people in Arizona. Whether 
 the woman was chaffing me or not I could not 
 tell. Her thin mouth was smileless, and her 
 drawl quite even. Just then a small figure 
 coming down the terrace steps sent all thoughts 
 of " Mr. Bill " out of my mind. 
 
 Such a pathetic vision as came toward us 
 across the lawn. The face was as white as a 
 drenched lily. Dark circles lay under the violet 
 eyes, which looked from one to the other of 
 us with dull uncertainty. The mouth was 
 101
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 folded into straight, sad lines. All bloom and 
 youth seemed suddenly to have been crushed 
 out of her. She went to Lord Carnsforth and 
 leaned against him. For a moment no one 
 spoke. Those two silent figures seemed to 
 destroy even Mrs. Stretfield s well bred com 
 posure. At last I said : 
 
 " Dear little Gladys, won t you come and 
 speak to me? " She listlessly turned her head 
 and gave me a limp hand. I lifted the wan 
 little face till the lustreless eyes looked into 
 mine. 
 
 " And so you are to leave us for the great 
 world you once so longed to see. You will find 
 many new friends there, but I feel that you will 
 not forget the old ones. Perhaps we may 
 meet some day when you will have grown to be 
 a fine lady. I shall remind you of our first 
 meeting under the beech tree and ask you if 
 you remember how to make rabbits out of my 
 pocket handkerchief." 
 
 She did not even smile in response, but 
 looked into my eyes as though no word had 
 102
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 reached her. Lord Carnsforth stirred in his 
 chair and she ran to him. 
 
 " My little bairn, will, I hope, become a noble 
 woman," he said in a faint voice. " I am sorry 
 that I shall not be here to see her then." For 
 answer the child clasped his hand convulsively 
 to her breast. Mrs. Stretfield leaned forward 
 and said sweetly : 
 
 " Gladys dear, it seems very hard to leave 
 your home, I know, but your new life will be 
 so full of other interest you will soon forget." 
 
 The child turned on her with despairing 
 fury. " Forget ! " she cried ; " I wish I had 
 never seen you, that you should take me away. 
 I feel that I shall hate you. You are cold, as 
 cold as stone. You will never love me. No, 
 not even as much as Allan and Tabby. And 
 how can Grandpa live without me? Who is to 
 take care of him when I am gone ? Oh ! Grand 
 pa, Grandpa, don t send me away." 
 
 She burst into a storm of tears. Mrs. Stret 
 field looked at her jewelled watch. I took the 
 hint and rose to go. Raising the trembling 
 103
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 little figure in my arms I kissed her. " Good- 
 by, little one," I whispered. " Be brave and 
 true, and God keep you." 
 
 I set her down and turned to Mrs. Stretfield, 
 standing calm and tall in her sweeping draper 
 ies. 
 
 " We both know that it is for her good that 
 she should go," I said. " But she is a child 
 and has never known anything but love. I feel 
 sure you will be gentle with her." 
 
 She swept me with a charming, supercilious 
 glance. " Do not imagine she goes to a prison, 
 and that I am the cruel jailer," she said. " I 
 am already much attached to my little kins 
 woman." 
 
 With a bow over her extended hand, and a 
 last glance at the child sobbing in Lord Carns- 
 forth s arms, I left them. All through the 
 gay luncheon, and later, as our merry party 
 steamed over the lucid torquoise waters of the 
 harbor, I was haunted by the scene of that 
 morning. There was laughter and chatter 
 around me, and mandolins tinkled to the sing- 
 104
 
 GRANT TOWN
 
 THE END OF AN EARLDOM 
 
 ing of the young people. A pretty girl, who 
 sat next to me, turned to her neighbor. 
 
 " He is so spasmodic," I heard her say, " he 
 either talks too much, or not at all." 
 
 When we once more dropped anchor, I found 
 it still lacked over an hour to dinner and I 
 started for the island. I could bear no longer 
 the thought of Lord Carnsforth, companionless 
 and without sympathy. 
 
 To my surprise I found him sitting on the 
 piazza, the hound at his feet. I softly climbed 
 the moldy steps and approached him. He was 
 asleep. Roses clambered over the broken balus 
 trade, and swallows darted and twittered about 
 him, now skimming low, then flashing above 
 to the mossy eaves. 
 
 The air moved the thin locks above his fore 
 head ; a look as of youth had settled about the 
 mouth. The deep lines and furrows seemed to 
 have been smoothed away by some gentle hand, 
 leaving an expression of perfect rest and peace. 
 
 Suddenly the hound rose and stood motion 
 less looking into his master s face, and stoop- 
 105
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 ing, licked the hand which hung over the chair s 
 arm. Then raising his head he broke into a 
 long, dismal howl. 
 
 I bent forward. No breath stirred the chest. 
 The hound s mournful cry was the dirge of an 
 earldom. 
 
 106
 
 PRINCE CHARMING 
 OF MIAMI
 
 PRINCE CHARMING 
 OF MIAMI 
 
 Chapter I 
 
 If all the birds sang out of tune 
 When winds their plumage tossed. 
 
 If flowers imprisoned their perfume 
 When they their sun-god lost, 
 
 If brooks refused to dance and play 
 
 When pools were dark with shadows grayv 
 Sad would Dame Nature be! 
 
 If all the pain on worn hearts Iain 
 
 No surface smiles concealed. 
 Had all the tears in all past years 
 
 Been from their depths revealed; 
 If Love could not Grief s course restrain. 
 Choke back the tears, crush down the pain. 
 Fruitless would be Love s plea. 
 
 M 
 
 I AM I seemed as dead as its patron 
 saint that hot, breathless afternoon. 
 The sun beat down into the narrow 
 streets and on the closed blinds of the quaint, 
 white-washed houses, whose overhanging bal- 
 109
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 conies made the only shade in the general glare. 
 In the sleepy old gardens not a leaf or bird 
 stirred. Blisters rose on the new paint of the 
 Plaza railing, and even the negroes lying on 
 the benches were compelled to move their sun- 
 loving bodies into the shade. The sea wall was 
 deserted. On the narrow strip of sand left by 
 the receding tide, " fiddlers " sidled to and fro, 
 and the delicate sea moss clinging to the co- 
 quina turned to brown nothingness in the in 
 tense heat. To the west, beyond the palm 
 groves, gray shadows were gathering, which 
 meant a storm, later on. 
 
 Old Lopo Sanchez, perched on his springless 
 wooden cart, noticed the western shadows and 
 urged his ambling steed to a trot, which jolted 
 his stiff joints and caused the horse s ears to 
 flap in unison with its rattling harness. Lopo 
 presented a curious appearance, owing to a 
 large piece of burlap tied to the top of his green 
 umbrella, which, falling down and around him, 
 looked not unlike a nun s veil. From under its 
 ragged edge peered his elongated visage, with 
 no
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 thin locks falling over the bent shoulders. The 
 brown skin and browner eyes told of Spanish 
 blood, but there was little of Spanish pride or 
 spirit in the lined old face. Twenty years be 
 fore he had fallen in love with a young North 
 ern girl who taught the rising generation in the 
 yellow school house. He wooed and won her 
 in true Southern fashion, though the town won 
 dered that the " school missus " should take 
 good-for-nothing Lopo Sanchez for her hus 
 band. He had adored her as a weak nature 
 will sometimes adore a stronger one. Her 
 thrift and mental briskness he admired, though 
 but dimly understood, and when she died after 
 the birth of their baby daughter, he felt that 
 something in him had snapped the main 
 spring of his life was broken. 
 
 He sold out his curiosity shop and moved 
 out of town a couple of miles to a deserted 
 plantation on the shore. There, surrounded by 
 relics of the home to which he had brought his 
 girl-wife he gradually separated himself from 
 his old interests, and was soon forgotten, or 
 in
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 only remembered as that queer old man who 
 lived with the crabs on the edge of the sand 
 dunes. Round his daughter he twined the 
 broken tendrils of his lost love, and as she 
 grew to girlhood, wreathed her with the same 
 adoring affection he had felt for her dead 
 mother. 
 
 But somehow he was not as happy as he told 
 himself he should be. Was not Ria a girl to 
 be proud of ? Had she not a face like a flower, 
 and ways the most gentle and bewitching? 
 But he felt that she had never given him an 
 affection as ardent and unselfish as his own. 
 He thought he must be growing old and selfish, 
 and when his heart felt particularly empty, 
 would tend his potato patch with renewed 
 vigor, or try by some little attention to make 
 up for her lack of thoughtfulness for him. 
 
 The two led simple lives; solitary, save for 
 the woman who helped Ria in her household 
 matters, and their weekly visit to town to sell 
 their oranges or flowers. For eight years Ria 
 had studied at the convent, and read somewhat 
 112
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 promiscuously from the public library, but she 
 loved far better to lie for hours like a lizard in 
 the sun, or take " headers " from the end of 
 their dugout. Her father she loved in a gentle 
 fashion. She would cling and purr around him 
 in her pretty way, though much in the same 
 way that her kitten would rub itself against a 
 tree-trunk. It pleased her mental epidermis. 
 
 As the cart jolted on over the sandy road, 
 Lopo thought vaguely of these things, but only 
 vaguely, for something had occurred lately 
 which occupied all his spare moments. 
 
 A fortnight before, on coming from the 
 beach, he found Ria under the orange trees 
 with her lace work, and kneeling before her, a 
 tall young fellow, whose blue eyes were watch 
 ing with interest her little brown hands, cast 
 ing the shuttle to and fro. 
 
 She was smiling and dimpling, and he seemed 
 all unconscious of the brown earth his white 
 flannel knees were pressing. When Lopo 
 joined them the young fellow had risen with 
 unembarrassed grace, and explained that hav-
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 ing walked from the town and feeling very 
 tired and thirsty, he had ventured to ask for 
 some water. Lopo replied civilly, though won 
 dering what lace work had to do with thirst, 
 and why Ria s face should be so aglow. 
 
 To the girl the stranger was the Prince 
 Charming, of whom she had so often dreamed. 
 To be sure he had no flowing curls or silken 
 doublet, but, after all, were not close-cropped 
 hair and well-fitting flannels as comely? She 
 looked from him to her father standing awk 
 wardly in the sun how rough and ugly he 
 looked. Dick Barclay was not looking at Lopo, 
 but at his daughter with her dusky eyes and 
 soft, full mouth. Indeed he had continued that 
 occupation every day ever since. Day by day 
 the girl seemed to blossom into greater beauty 
 a thousand little coquetries showed them 
 selves to Lopo s observant eyes. The young 
 man seemed to mean well enough, and it might 
 mean great good fortune for his little girl. 
 
 He turned " Fly Catcher " into the grove 
 surrounding the house, and, feeling in his 
 pocket for the ribbon he had bought her, he 
 114
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 stroked it with his fingers. He drove around 
 to the shed fed his horse, then went slowly 
 up the path bordered by tall oleanders, to the 
 house. He felt faint and tired. At the open 
 door he paused and looked in. 
 
 Hither and thither spun a slender white fig 
 ure, her skirts held in old-time fashion, while 
 her feet kept time to the waltz she was singing 
 She spun round and round, here and there, like 
 a bit of thistle-down, her head thrown back in 
 very abandonment of joyous animation. The 
 walls and ceiling of the room were covered with 
 ivy, which grew on bamboo trellises, nailed to 
 the coquina ; against this dark background the 
 airy figure of the girl stood out in spirited dis 
 tinctness. Dick Barclay sat perched on the 
 window-sill, his blue eyes following every 
 movement with evident admiration. 
 
 " Brava! Brava! " he cried, as she passed in 
 her whirling flight. " You are a fairy, a wind 
 sprite." 
 
 She laughed, and stood in pretty confusion, 
 pulling at the roses in her belt. " You see," 
 she said, " father will never let me go to the 
 US
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 hotel hops, so sometimes I have a ball all to 
 myself. I imagine the room," with a free 
 sweep of her arm, " a great hall lit by hun 
 dreds of glittering lights shining down on 
 stately men and beautiful women. There are 
 perfumes and laughter, rustle of silks and bril 
 liant glances, and all the bright and beautiful 
 things I read about. Oh! I can see it quite 
 distinctly, and can hear the music, till I have to 
 dance, dance." 
 
 She paused, seeing Lopo in the doorway, and 
 ran to him. 
 
 " Oh ! father your supper. I quite forgot 
 and it must be cold. We made some cakes, 
 Mr. Barclay and I. You should have seen him 
 in Melvyna s old apron." She turned to her 
 companion with a laugh. Lopo passed through 
 to the kitchen, and cut himself some bread, after 
 tasting the cakes now cold and heavy. He had 
 not given Ria the ribbon. With her head full 
 of such splendid fancies it would have seemed 
 a poor gift. Through the closed door he could 
 hear a murmur of words from Dick, then a 
 116
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 ripple of laughter from her. He suddenly felt 
 old and tired. He looked at the sun, a red ball 
 sinking behind the bank of dark shadows. He 
 felt a strange longing to be far away, alone, 
 where nothing could jar or hurt him any more, 
 where the hungry feeling at his heart could be 
 forgotten. Rising he crossed to where a bit 
 of mirror hung on the wall. Putting his face 
 close to it he examined it carefully. He saw 
 a pair of dull eyes, a pained look in their depths ; 
 a thin, worn face, sensitive chin and mouth, 
 with weak lines at the corners. He glanced 
 down at his rough hands and coarse wrists, 
 then brushing his coat sleeve across his eyes, 
 went quietly out.
 
 Chapter II 
 
 A WEEK of sea-breezes followed the 
 storm of that night. Lopo spent 
 most of the time fishing or gathering 
 the oranges, which hung in golden plenty be 
 hind the house. Ria sang about the house or 
 lay for hours on the sand, her head on her 
 arms, looking up to the blue vault above, where 
 hawks sailed lazily on motionless wings. Dick 
 Barclay continued his daily visits, each one 
 being a little longer than the last. Lopo 
 noticed their talk was less unconstrained when 
 he was near, so kept away as much as possible. 
 The young fellow entertained her by the hour 
 with stories of his travels, or his home in far 
 away New York. He explained to her the 
 mysteries of base ball, and would send oranges 
 whirling through the air shouting to her, 
 "Run! run! first base!" But she liked best 
 to hear of the Assembly balls, or coasting at 
 Tuxedo. It seemed very wonderful and grand. 
 One evening she nestled herself in her father s 
 118
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 arms and told him all about it. " Oh ! why 
 can t I go where he lives ? " she sighed. 
 
 One scented moonlit evening Lopo had spent 
 making out his accounts in his slow, cramped 
 fashion by the light of a kerosene lamp. Mos 
 quitoes came buzzing through the window and 
 beetles bumped about the ceiling. At last he 
 put out the lamp and went out. Through the 
 jasmine vines covering the piazza the moon 
 cast flickering shadows; a mocking bird was 
 singing in the almond tree. Lopo was con 
 scious in his sensitive fashion of the peaceful 
 scene. He heard the murmur of the young 
 people and went toward them. Suddenly he 
 paused, a dazed look growing on his face. In 
 a shadowy corner stood Dick, his arm around 
 the girl, her face hidden on his breast. 
 
 " Oh ! Ria, little one," he was saying, " you 
 don t know what love is. It means longing by 
 day and dreaming by night; it means this 
 this." He raised her face and kissed her 
 mouth, hair and slender throat. Lopo stirred ; 
 Dick, startled, looked up, then sprang down, 
 119
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 ran to his horse and away. Ria, with a little 
 cry, fled past him into the house. 
 
 He stood bewildered for a moment, looking 
 out on the sea, listening to the receding sound 
 of the horse s hoofs. " So he loves her," he 
 murmured, then turned and went into the house 
 and up to his room. The moonlight showed the 
 bare furnishings distinctly : the narrow bed, the 
 Madonna and crucifix on the wall, a few 
 daguerreotypes on the high bureau. The vines 
 outside cast shadows like moving water on the 
 painted floor and bit of rag carpet. 
 
 He sat quietly for some time, his lips moving 
 and eyes fixed on vacancy, then rose and 
 crossed to an old-fashioned chest of drawers 
 with brass handles, which stood in a dim corner 
 under the eaves. He knelt stiffly down and 
 opened the lowest drawer. Out of this he drew 
 a long-tailed blue coat, a snuff-colored waist 
 coat, and ruffled shirt, his wedding clothes. 
 Slowly, with trembling fingers he put these on, 
 fastened the high stock round his throat and 
 drew on a pair of mold-spotted white gloves, 
 1 20
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 Then taking from the drawer a beaver hat, he 
 went down, and out of the house. 
 
 It was midnight. He left the gate open be 
 hind him, and followed the road through the 
 woods to the shore. The tide was at its ebb. 
 His heavy boots crushed with a faint sound 
 the bits of shell on the sand. No living thing 
 seemed alive but himself and a crane, disturbed 
 from its sleep among the reeds. Tiny waves 
 ran up to the shore and back again, and some 
 crabs scuttled swiftly to their holes as though 
 frightened by the strange, lonely figure. Lopo 
 plodded on with bent head for a mile, then 
 turned into a lane which led to the grave-yard. 
 No tree or shrub grew there, only the brown 
 moss, dotted with graves, stretched down to 
 the shore. The ruins of a chapel stood bare 
 and gaunt in the pale light, with vines grow 
 ing over its shattered altar. 
 
 Lopo looked neither to the right nor left but 
 passed on to a low mound near the water s 
 edge. On a wooden cross at its head, painted 
 in black letters were the words : 
 
 121
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 RACHAEL, 
 BELOVED WIFE OF LOPO SANCHEZ, 
 
 BORN 1847, DIED 1866. 
 
 At the foot of the cross I lived, and now repose. 
 
 He laid down his hat, and lovingly stroked 
 the brown turf. The shadow of the cross fell 
 on his bent head. He felt he was near one who 
 had loved him and who would understand. 
 Was not the only living thing he cared for 
 about to leave him, and give her wealth of love, 
 which never had been his, to a stranger ? That 
 she loved, he was convinced; for the instant 
 her face had been lifted to Dick s rain of kisses 
 there was a look there he had never seen be 
 fore in all the years of her love-tended life. 
 She had always shrunk from his caresses 
 perhaps he had loved her too well he had 
 heard women were sometimes so. Dick would 
 come on the morrow and ask him for his all, 
 his little girl, and carry her North, many weary 
 miles away. How he would miss the click of 
 122
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 her little feet about the house; the warmth of 
 her young arms about his neck. His heart 
 shrank before the vista of loneliness. She 
 should not go poorly to her husband ; he would 
 give her the two thousand dollars he had saved. 
 She had always liked things fine and gay ; well, 
 she should have them. Perhaps she might 
 miss the old peaceful life now and then, and 
 come back to him for a while, but he thought 
 not. Her little brown hands would grow soft 
 and white, there would be no more cakes to 
 make or chickens to feed. She would have 
 many fine horses instead of old Fly Catcher, 
 and ride in a splendid carriage instead of the 
 wooden cart. Yes, he would tell this fine lover 
 on the morrow to take her, and no sign should 
 escape him of any selfish pain. 
 
 The shadow of the cross had passed from 
 him and the moon bathed the old blue coat with 
 kindly light. He was still sitting there when 
 the stars paled before the gold and rose of the 
 coming day. 
 
 123
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 It was nearly ten o clock. Lopo put the 
 house in order and ate his breakfast alone. He 
 had stolen several times to Ria s door on tiptoe, 
 but no sound reached him. He supposed she 
 had slept but little during the night and felt 
 tired. Had he not wandered about the pine 
 barrens all night in sleepless ecstasy when 
 Rachael first said she loved him? At last he 
 went down to the beach, pushed off the skiff, 
 and, rod in hand, waited for her to appear. 
 He would notice nothing; lovers were always 
 strange and shy at first. 
 
 At last she appeared in the doorway. He 
 saw she had on her white Sunday gown. She 
 did not see him, but stood motionless, looking 
 up, then throwing out both arms with a glad 
 little movement ran down and out to the gar 
 den. An hour later, when Lopo entered the 
 house, she was arranging great masses of palm 
 branches about the house. Every available cup 
 and vase were filled with roses. Her cheeks 
 glowed like pomegranate blossoms, her whole 
 being radiated youth and hope. During the 
 124
 
 PRINCE CHARMING OF MIAMI 
 
 day nothing was said on either side of what 
 both were feeling so intensely. After their 
 noon dinner, which was the time Mr. Barclay 
 usually came, Lopo put on a stiff white collar 
 and his polished boots, and settled himself in 
 elegant leisure. He had aged during the night, 
 but Ria did not observe it. A rose blossomed 
 in the girl s hair and she had carelessly pinned 
 another in his black coat. She wandered rest 
 lessly about the house, starting at every little 
 sound. Tea-time arrived. The girl had spread 
 the table herself, studying the placing of each 
 old silver spoon and flower. The sun slowly 
 sank in the glowing west and twilight crept 
 up from the sea, but Dick had not come. They 
 finally sat down to the gay little table. Both 
 made feeble efforts at conversation, and once 
 at a sudden noise outside, the girl half rose 
 from the table flushing, then paling. 
 
 " The Fly Catcher seems uneasy to-night," 
 the old man carelessly remarked, a dull pain at 
 his heart as he saw the strained, gray look settle 
 on the girl s face. 
 
 125
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 The stars came out one by one in the deep 
 vault above the beauty and peace of the eve 
 ning before were again there, but neither knew 
 it. Both were listening for the sound of a horse 
 which did not come. Ria had grown strangely 
 quiet. Lopo could see her white face through 
 the dusk as she sat on the topmost step of the 
 piazza, looking intently into the dark shadows 
 of the trees. Ten, eleven o clock. Ria had 
 crept into her father s arms, her face hidden 
 in his neck. The little rose was quite faded, 
 and the muslin gown was starchless and rum 
 pled. They sat quietly, saying nothing, his 
 hand stroking the tossed curls on his shoulder. 
 It was difficult to tell which suffered more. 
 Slow tears rose to Lopo s old eyes and ran 
 down the natural gullies of his furrowed 
 cheeks, to the slim arm which wound itself 
 about his throat. They gradually made a little 
 damp spot on the thin sleeve. She stirred and 
 passed her hand over his face. 
 
 " Will he never come ? " she sobbed at last. 
 
 " I m afraid he never will, daughter," was 
 the answer. And he never did. 
 126
 
 THE ADVENTURE OF A 
 
 PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 OF ORMOND
 
 THE 
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR 
 OF SHOES AT ORMOND 
 
 Chapter I 
 
 MY troubles and my happiness began in 
 Ormond, March 17, at precisely half 
 after three in the afternoon. 
 The day had been fearfully warm, and tired 
 of the chatter and buzz of the hotel piazzas, I 
 tucked a volume of Emerson in my pocket and 
 fled down to the water for a quiet pipe. Tak 
 ing a row boat I paddled out, but the sun 
 proved too ardent even there. I was about to 
 give it up, when I spied the long pier which 
 juts out over the water two or three hundred 
 feet. It would certainly be cool under there I 
 thought; and was soon in its shadow. I tied 
 the boat to the barnacled posts, shipped oars, 
 and stretched myself full length in the bottom 
 of the boat. The light filtered dimly through 
 129
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 the cracks of the boards above, and the tide 
 gently swayed the boat as it gurgled and 
 swirled round the great palmettos which 
 formed the piles. 
 
 Emerson held my interest for awhile, but 
 the green, wavering light blurred the page. 
 Gradually my eyes closed, and I was fast asleep. 
 In the midst of a most interesting dream, where 
 I was reciting poems to a row of crabs perched 
 on their hind legs on the edge of the boat, I 
 was awakened by the sound of voices. The 
 faint tones surged around me; but whether 
 they came from the mermaids below, or the 
 above mentioned crabs, I could not for a mo 
 ment tell. 
 
 Suddenly I discovered, dangling almost over 
 my head, a small pair of feet. They were en 
 cased in a remarkably well made pair of patent 
 leather shoes, evidently new, as the number, 
 "2 a " was distinctly marked in the curve of 
 the heel. The little toes were pointed, and 
 from them rose a beautifully curved instep, 
 clad in dark blue stockings, embroidered with 
 130
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 tiny white polka dots, though these were almost 
 lost in a foamy mass of lace-edged draperies. 
 
 This bewitching pair of feet dangled not 
 three yards from my astonished visage, but in 
 vain I stretched and twisted for a glimpse of 
 their owner. She was sitting on the edge of 
 the pier and with her a man, whose voice only 
 betrayed his presence. 
 
 The gurgling of the water dulled their con 
 versation, but words floated down to me. Sud 
 denly my now thoroughly awakened ears heard 
 the deeper voice say: 
 
 " But you must have known I loved you all 
 this time, dear ? " And the girl s voice in ar 
 dent protest ; 
 
 " Why of course I knew you loved me, as I 
 did you, Jack ; but after all these years of boy 
 and girl affection, I never dreamed of this. I 
 thought men never fell in love with their sis 
 ters." 
 
 Great heavens, here was a state of things! 
 What should I do? If I moved they would 
 know it if I stayed, to what depths of perfidy
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 might I not be the innocent victim? Impulse 
 prompted me to row out from under them at 
 once, but I hated to cause the owner of those 
 pretty patent leathers such embarrassment. 
 Besides I didn t know them, and probably never 
 would: so in a whirl of mortification I lay 
 down in the bottom of the boat again, with my 
 fingers in my ears. 
 
 The words became inaudible, but those little 
 dangling feet seemed to have a language all 
 their own. They twitched and beat the air in 
 paroxysms of either grief or wrath as " Jack s" 
 tones grew louder, and hung limply down, as 
 his pleadings waxed pathetic. I felt sure she 
 was pretty as well as clever. 
 
 For quite half an hour I laid there scarcely 
 daring to breathe, and studied every line of the 
 arched instep, slender heel, and even counted 
 the polka dots. It was with difficulty that I 
 refrained from tying the strings which her ner 
 vousness had undone. I found myself growing 
 anxious. Was she going to accept him? I 
 
 132
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 began to hate "Jack." Bother the fellow 
 why couldn t he take " no " and quit? 
 
 Who could she be? I searched my memory 
 for all the shoes of the women I had met, but 
 no such patent leathers crossed my mental 
 vision. The voice only seemed a bit familiar, 
 but the splash of the water made that too indis 
 tinct to place. And " Jack," who was he? 
 
 Gradually my curiosity and interest grew to 
 a resolve to know the owner of those feet. Or- 
 mond was comparatively a small place. Surely 
 I could trace her by those very shoes and polka 
 dots ; or else listen for the name of " Jack " on 
 piazzas, and haunt hotel registers till I found 
 him, and then her. 
 
 As this resolved itself in my cerebrum, the 
 feet suddenly disappeared, first one, then the 
 other, leaving empty air and a lonely feeling 
 somewhere within me. A rustle of readjusted 
 skirts and the tramp of heavy feet on the 
 boards above me. I grasped the oars and flew 
 out from underneath, to see this so far bodiless 
 
 133
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 girl. But alas ! they had vanished. A pile of 
 lumber obstructed all view, and they quickly 
 reached, and were lost in the crowd. 
 
 It was nearly twilight when I reached my 
 hotel. The tiny, colored lights which served as 
 illumination for the loggias of the Hotel Or- 
 mond, gleamed faintly among the palms and 
 creepers. The moon above gleamed adown 
 one side of the building, leaving the depths of 
 the loggias in profound shadow. 
 
 Entering the deserted hall I instinctively 
 looked about for any feminine figures, but only 
 one was visible she of mammoth proportions, 
 and evidently not a wearer of " number 2 s." 
 While dressing, and all through dinner, I was 
 haunted by those polka dots, and that half 
 heard caressing voice. 
 
 My seat for several weeks had been at Mrs. 
 Cabot s table. She was from Boston, and was 
 acting as chaperone to her niece, Miss Ran 
 dolph, a charming New York girl. Mrs. Cabot 
 was as true a type of the former place as her 
 niece was of her native city. She was thin, 
 134
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 pale and highly finished. Her native east wind 
 seemed to blow all frivolity from her proxim 
 ity, leaving an atmosphere of rather depressed 
 refinement. One felt it always vulgar to be 
 anything but resigned to the incongruities of 
 life in her presence. 
 
 Not so her niece however. She had the half 
 flirtatious, but wholly fetching air of the aver 
 age New York girl. Her tall and slender fig 
 ure was always draped and tailored artistically. 
 She affected large hats, which admirably set 
 off her golden-brown hair, and rose-leaf com 
 plexion. Her open and childlike glance was a 
 constant foil for her fashionable tricks of 
 speech and gesture. She was both worldly and 
 innocent, but with a fund of common sense 
 which prevented an exaggeration of either. 
 
 They left the table before me, and while 
 cooling my coffee, I considered the advisability 
 of calling her womanly shrewdness to my aid. 
 But on the other hand, I dreaded that direct 
 gaze of astonishment when she should learn of 
 my idiocy. That I should find the owner of 
 135
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 those patent leathers I was determined, but 
 how to do it ? Suddenly a brilliant idea struck 
 me. 
 
 Shoes were always blackened, varnished or 
 oiled, and for that purpose were placed out 
 side the doors at night. Eureka! I would 
 search the midnight corridors above till I found 
 them ; get number of room, inquire at office 
 nothing easier. " All is fair in love and war." 
 And then " Jack " ! with skill I could learn the 
 names of the numberless young men one con 
 stantly met in this informal life. If, however, 
 all my plans should fail, I would take Miss 
 Randolph into my confidence. There would be 
 no risk in this, as I had been with her con 
 stantly, and had never seen her pretty feet in 
 any thing but tennis shoes or button boots. 
 
 My coffee and cogitations finished, I saun 
 tered out from the brilliant dining-room to the 
 rotunda. Men and women in evening dress 
 sat or strolled about. Little groups were con 
 stantly forming and breaking, like bits of color 
 in a kaleidoscope. Here and there among the 
 136
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 columns, pretty women sat, around whom clus 
 tered an ever changing number of black coats. 
 
 In one of these groups was Miss Randolph, 
 her delicate face slightly flushed by the heat, 
 and the effort of being heard in the noise and 
 confusion. I instinctively went toward her, 
 but thought " business before pleasure." So 
 I sauntered here and there, my eyes glued to 
 the floor, snatching side-long glances at the 
 slippers, shoes and boots peeping from under 
 draperies. But to no purpose. 
 
 Then I went to the hotel register. With out 
 ward calm but inward trepidation, I turned the 
 pages and eagerly searched for anything be 
 ginning with J. Several Jacobs, Johnstons and 
 Jones were there, but no " Jacks." 
 
 " Of course," I concluded, " he wouldn t 
 register himself so how stupid of me!" I 
 decided to give up my quest for the present, 
 and wait till the feminine portion of the guests 
 had retired. Then would I carry out my clever 
 scheme in the silent halls above. I decided to 
 wait till midnight. Everyone would surely 
 137
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 be abed by that time, and, besides, I might be 
 mistaken for a midnight marauder if seen 
 prowling far from my own quarters. So I 
 smoked and dreamed of those polka-dots till 
 everyone had retired, save some sleepy hall- 
 boys, and a sleepier clerk at the desk. 
 
 I got off the lift at my own floor to avoid 
 suspicion. The electric lights were mostly out. 
 In the dimness a vista of door-mats and occa 
 sional boots and shoes stretched away on 
 either hand. The big affairs I steered clear of, 
 but darted hither and thither among smaller 
 shoes. Such shapes and sizes of leather foot 
 gear may I never meet again ! Surely the aver 
 age American foot is not the fairy-like thing 
 we so fondly imagine. Up and down the halls 
 I wandered, getting more and more nervous, 
 but to no purpose. Once, as I stooped to ex 
 amine a possible pair, the door suddenly opened 
 and a curl-papered face glared at me and then 
 vanished with a slam of the door. She evi 
 dently thought me a lunatic or a thief. Then 
 again I darted across the hall and dropped to 
 138
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 my knees on a door-mat, as a bell-boy flew 
 round the corner, a pitcher of icewater borne 
 on high. 
 
 " Is enything happened to yo sah ? " he 
 asked, with an evident suspicion of intoxica 
 tion. 
 
 " No," I exclaimed, energetically, " only 
 stumbled a little." But I know the little darkie 
 thought he knew better. 
 
 Having explored every door to the very at 
 tic, I concluded I had been a fool long enough 
 for that night, and would wait till morning for 
 a continuation of that character. 
 
 139
 
 Chapter II 
 
 THE next morning found me still on 
 patent leathers intent, though while 
 dressing I could not help laughing at 
 the spectacle I must have presented the night 
 before. However, I was still resolved to do the 
 same thing at every respectable hotel in the 
 place till I had exhausted the supply. 
 
 All that day my gaze refused to wander 
 heavenward. Out sailing that morning and at 
 tennis that afternoon, I searched the " little 
 mice peeping in and out " of my feminine com 
 panions in vain. My subtle scheme to learn the 
 masculine Christian names did me credit. 
 
 That night I circumnavigated the halls of 
 two hotels in vain, and so it went on for sev 
 eral days. At last one day while watching the 
 bathers, I heard a girl s voice say (not the 
 voice) behind me: 
 
 " I wish Jack Townsend would go in ; he is 
 a famous swimmer." I started. I gasped for 
 breath ! Turning round, I eyed the girl in such 
 140
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 a way that she looked frightened. But I did 
 not know her, and felt certain I had never seen 
 her with any one I did know. " Jack Jack 
 Townsend," he was the man. I felt it; I knew 
 it. Yet how to find him. He might be one of 
 the group then entering; but still he was as far 
 from me as the North Pole. 
 
 All that day I asked every one I met if they 
 knew Jack Townsend, but always to be disap 
 pointed. I again searched hotel registers, and 
 at last found his autograph in a firm finished 
 hand, and " New York " after the name. I 
 gave the clerk my most effective smile. 
 
 " Can you tell me what Mr. Townsend is 
 like? " I asked. " I am anxious to know if he 
 is the same person I met some time since." 
 
 " No," he replied, with lofty indifference, and 
 a supercilious stare at my disappointed counte 
 nance : " I can t remember all the transient 
 guests of this house." 
 
 With a sigh I turned away. Almost had I 
 reached him, but a miss was as bad as a mile. 
 
 That afternoon, while riding along the won- 
 141
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 derful road bordered by giant palmettos 
 which skirts the Halifax river, I passed a merry 
 party also a chevaL As they cantered by me, 
 a girl s voice cried : " This way, Mr. Morris, 
 you know we agreed to meet Jack Townsend 
 out here." 
 
 My heart gave a bound; and whipping up 
 my horse, I trotted after to join the party, 
 several of whom I knew. " At last," I mur 
 mured, " the enemy is mine! " 
 
 Half a mile on I joined them, just as a tall, 
 thin man on a short, fat horse met them. Could 
 this gray-haired, solemn visaged person be the 
 " Jack " whose manly young voice had said " I 
 love you " with such feeling? They were all 
 chattering around me, and I roused myself 
 when one of the women introduced him to me 
 as " Mr. Townsend." " He is my Uncle Jack," 
 she added. 
 
 "It is warm riding, eh?" he asked, in a 
 voice which made me think of " Hark from the 
 tombs a doleful sound." I turned away in dis- 
 
 142
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 gusted despair, and excusing myself, rode 
 homeward. I was as far as ever from those 
 adorable patent leathers. 
 
 A few days after, Miss Randolph, having 
 gone off with another man for the morning, 
 had left me in a decidedly sulky frame of 
 mind. There was no use in my devoting my 
 self to another girl, as she was not there to see; 
 so I started off for a solitary stroll. Having 
 often heard of the picturesque quaintness of 
 " Africa," the so-called negro quarter, I turned 
 my steps toward that dark portion of the globe. 
 I passed the hotel gardens with their stretches 
 of lawn and shrubbery, on through a narrow 
 street, to find myself indeed in a strange land. 
 Everything was black which should have been 
 white, from the faces around me to the picka 
 ninnies pinafores, which were the blackest of 
 all. Tiny cabins edged the road, their holes 
 and gaps smothered in jasmine vines and creep 
 ers. Shiny black children rolled in the dirt 
 about the steps, while their elders lolled over 
 
 143
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 the broken-down fences smoking their pipes, 
 and as free from all signs of care as any of our 
 " coupon-cutters " of Wall Street. 
 
 My esthetic enjoyment was brought to a sud 
 den end by a sight which rilled my very soul 
 with rapture. My long-sought polka-dots were 
 fluttering gaily in the breeze not ten feet away ! 
 There on a line they dangled, attenuated and 
 damp, but still my polka-dots. In a trice I 
 was knocking on the mossy lintel of the door. 
 The fattest human creature mine eyes had 
 beheld since my boyhood day at Barnum s 
 rolled toward me, shaking the unsubstantial 
 building to its foundations. Her round, good- 
 natured face beamed a shrewd kindliness on me 
 as I said : 
 
 " Aunty, I notice a pair of stockings er, 
 the blue ones. They are just like those belong 
 ing to er my er " 
 
 " Yo lady, sah?" she benevolently inter 
 rupted. " Why bress yo soul, de Lawd hab 
 sent yo sho nuff. Dem stockings hab gib me 
 mo trouble sah! Dey done come here in de 
 144
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 wash, and when I sent em back, they don t 
 b long to nobody. I done gone most clean 
 crazy wid em, fur I nebber gits my close 
 mixed, like dem washer-ladies in de town, no 
 how. Yo kin ask if Aunt Hetty is sich a po* 
 chile es dat." 
 
 "Well, Aunt Hetty," I replied, with some 
 embarrassment, " I can t be quite sure that they 
 do belong to my er lady, though she has 
 some like them which I should like to find." 
 
 Meanwhile a hundred thoughts whirled 
 through my brain. I could not take them, 
 surely not. But why not take one of these mis 
 sing links? Aunt Hetty stood there stroking 
 them with her parboiled fingers, and I took 
 one reverently in my hand. 
 
 " After all," I said to her, " I don t believe 
 they are quite like my lady s. I tell you what 
 we ll do. I ll take one and inquire, and you 
 keep the other in case the owner turns up. If 
 she should, mind now, here is my address. 
 Send me her name and address, and she shall 
 receive it at once, see? " 
 145
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 " Bress yo soul, honey, dat ll be all right," 
 was her comforting reply. " My ole man is a 
 great han fur writen, an I ll hab him do it. 
 Fs powerful weak when it comes to plannin 
 but yo am a sho nuff manager, he-he-he ! " 
 
 So I left the smiling vision in the frame of 
 the doorway and turned homeward. I was in a 
 mingled state of triumph and dismay. One of 
 the polka-dots was in my breast pocket, but I 
 refrained from looking at or touching it. But 
 it was there, its silken texture heaving with my 
 every breath. Surely Stanley had made no 
 happier discoveries in darkest Africa than 
 had I. 
 
 146
 
 Chapter III 
 
 THAT evening the annual yachting fes 
 tivities were given, comprising fire 
 works, an illuminated yacht race, and 
 ball in the hotel. Miss Randolph was to leave 
 the following day for Atlanta, her aunt joining 
 her later in Washington. We had been asked 
 with several others on the yacht which was to 
 lead the procession. Every vessel large and 
 small was illuminated from bow to stern. Jap 
 anese lanterns outlined each mast and sail, and 
 the Club house was also a mass of twinkling 
 brightness. As the first flight of rockets burst 
 against the sky, the yachts formed in proces 
 sion and moved up the river, a fleet of starry 
 splendor. 
 
 Miss Randolph and I had strolled to the stern 
 of our yacht, and stood listening to the music 
 admiring the novel sight. She was in her 
 ball-gown, and looked a fitting part of the 
 dreamy beauty. Suddenly she remembered her 
 evening s mail which I had kept in my pocket 
 147
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 for her. As she read her letters, I thought of 
 my resolve to tell her the history of those fate 
 ful shoes if my own efforts failed. I felt that 
 her woman s wit might solve the problem. 
 
 She looked up from the last sheet with a se 
 rious and preoccupied face. If she had been a 
 man I should have thought " bills " ; but being 
 an attractive girl I decided, a man. But her 
 face looking pale under the moon s rays, grad 
 ually regained its old archness, and I felt my 
 way to the matter in hand. 
 
 " Miss Randolph," I said, " does a woman 
 feel flattered at a man s confidence? " 
 
 "In herself?" she asked. 
 
 " No, a confidence given her." 
 
 " Well," she said, " that depends on the na 
 ture of the confidence. If about himself, yes." 
 
 This was encouraging, but I thought she 
 eyed me somewhat mockingly. 
 
 " But I want to tell you something very 
 much," I said. " It is about myself in a way. 
 I am in a dilemma, and feel sure you can help 
 me." 
 
 148
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 She looked politely interested, and I plunged 
 into my story. At the commencement she ex 
 pressed no opinion of my eavesdropping; but 
 as I described the tender avowal I had so un 
 wittingly heard, and the two little feet dang 
 ling so near me, she said : 
 
 " Poor girl, I hope she ll never know. But 
 he must have been a stupid Jack to propose 
 in broad daylight, right after lunch. He might 
 have known he would get no. * 
 
 I dwelt lightly on my search for the shoes, 
 trying to place my midnight prowls in as digni 
 fied a light as possible. But at this part of the 
 story she laughed immoderately. 
 
 " If you ever do meet her," she said, " don t 
 tell her that ; it robs the situation of all its ro 
 mance." Then she sobered. " Poor Jack; he 
 is probably suffering now for love of his un 
 loving sweetheart." Her hand smoothed the 
 letter she held: she was probably pitying the 
 writer as another " Jack." 
 
 The polka-dots I had kept in the background. 
 I instinctively felt she would not approve the 
 149
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 presence of that stolen property at that mo 
 ment reposing in my pocket. She listened to 
 all I had to say with interest, but not with the 
 degree of sympathy I had hoped for. When I 
 finished she suddenly rose. All laughter left 
 her face. 
 
 " Well," she said, " it was kind of you to tell 
 me this. I fear I can do nothing to help you, 
 as I leave to-morrow. I hope you may find the 
 girl after I am gone, and that she will prove 
 worthy of your labor. She is certainly fortu 
 nate to have you so literally at her feet." 
 
 She gathered up her shawl and moved to 
 ward another group. I somehow felt dis 
 missed, disapproved of, and, yes, a little snub 
 bed. I bowed and left her, and strolled away 
 alone. And to-morrow she was to leave ! How 
 I wished I had not told her, for she evidently 
 thought me idiotic. The rest of the evening I 
 cursed those patent leathers. 
 
 At breakfast the next morning, Miss Ran 
 dolph chattered gaily, and treated me with the 
 same friendliness as of yore. But there was, 
 150
 
 ADVENTURE OF A PAIR OF SHOES 
 
 after all, a difference. I felt it in her cordial 
 " good-by " and the enigmatical glance she 
 threw me from the car window as the train 
 moved away. At all events she was not of 
 fended. 
 
 The hotel seemed strangely silent on my re 
 turn. I knocked at Mrs. Cabot s door, hoping 
 for a little pity or petting. 
 
 " Come in," she said ; and I entered. She 
 was sitting by the window, a volume of Ibsen 
 on her knee, and I drew my chair near hers. 
 
 " Well, Mrs. Cabot, you miss Miss Ran 
 dolph as we all do," I began. 
 
 " More," she answered. " My niece is 
 charming company for me, as I do not enjoy 
 hotel life. One cannot get into sympathy with 
 so many people." 
 
 While she was speaking her gaze wandered 
 at intervals beyond me in a conscious way, and 
 she spoke absently. I turned, my eyes follow 
 ing her line of vision. Suppressing an excla 
 mation of surprise, I leaped from my chair at 
 the extraordinary sight which met my eyes.
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 There in the centre of a huge sheet of paper 
 nailed to the wall, and bordered two inches 
 deep with black, hung those fateful patent 
 leathers ! I recognized them at a glance as they 
 hung from the nail, bunches of immortelles 
 falling out of them. Underneath, in big, black 
 letters, I read the legend, 
 
 " To the memory of the dear departed." 
 
 I turned to Mrs. Cabot with some inarticu 
 late words. 
 
 " Yes, they are my niece s shoes," she 
 drawled, in her cool, even voice. " I can t im 
 agine why she left them there, but she begged 
 me to leave them for a day or two. Yesterday 
 afternoon her old Aunt Hetty, as she calls her, 
 was here, and they apparently had some joke 
 together. It is a little strange, but New York 
 girls are always somewhat inexplicable to me." 
 
 The situation was now clearly before me in 
 all its awfulness. Alas ! she knew everything, 
 even the polka-dots. Suffice to say I too left 
 the next day for Atlanta, and well, I can now 
 afford to patronize the memory of " Jack." 
 152
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 An Episode of Tampa 
 
 Chapter I 
 
 IT was a long perspective on which her faded 
 eyes looked down. To her it seemed as 
 though her real self had died a long time 
 ago, in the past which ended when she said 
 " good-by " to her brief girlhood and to her 
 well-ordered, thrifty life in the New England 
 town where she was born. 
 
 She remembered the neat, white house with 
 its wide piazzas and white, fluted columns, on 
 which the elms threw flickering shadows in 
 Summer, and whose eaves were shrouded with 
 snow in Winter ; the quiet of the wide, grass- 
 grown streets: the green-shuttered Meeting 
 house opposite, flanked by the post-office, and 
 the familiar farmers grouped upon the well- 
 worn granite steps. 
 
 The simple life had filled every nook in her 
 nature: of the outside world she knew noth- 
 155
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 ing, and cared nothing for. Those sheltering 
 New England hills had for twenty-five years 
 shut out all care and anxiety. Her mother, a 
 neutral tinted woman, had always been an in 
 valid, whose bodily infirmities exacted only 
 knitted shawls and inactivity of mind and body. 
 
 As Priscilla grew into girlhood, the adminis 
 tration of the household fell naturally on her 
 young shoulders. It was to her that her father 
 looked for advice as to the management of the 
 farm, and she was the umpire to whom he ap 
 pealed, when old Henny, their maid-of-all- 
 work, would give him what she called a " root- 
 in ," for meddling with things which she con 
 sidered none of his business. 
 
 Priscilla had been well educated, first at the 
 village school, and finished off by her father, 
 who had graduated from Harvard as his grand 
 fathers had done before him. It was he who 
 kept before her child-eyes the past glories of 
 the house of Alden, their important function 
 in the first establishment of civilization in this 
 country; and it was his ambition to live up 
 156
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 to the standard of his ancestry, as far as his 
 limited field of action allowed. 
 
 Gideon Alden had been born with the inef 
 faceable impression that he was not as other 
 men are. He felt that he was a genius, though 
 in what direction his gifts tended, neither he 
 nor his friends had been able to decide. He 
 had married at twenty, and was still a compara 
 tively young and prepossessing man. His tall, 
 slender figure was always fastidiously dressed ; 
 he wore his hair rather long, and affected loose, 
 flying cravats. Among his towns-people he 
 was regarded as very decorative and accom 
 plished, though not of much practical benefit. 
 They looked upon him much as they did on the 
 ornamental cornice of the town-hall; as a 
 " trimmin , but of no real use to the commu 
 nity. At the public meetings he was always a 
 conspicuous figure, and his resonant voice and 
 rounded periods always commanded attention 
 as an exponent of Harvard eloquence. 
 
 At intervals he would appear in his most be- 
 ruffled shirt and highest stock, which were the 
 157
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 visible signs of a commercial mood; and on 
 these occasions he would go to Boston for days 
 at a time, to return with an elated bearing, san 
 guine and happy over some wonderful scheme, 
 by which his family would again take the posi 
 tion to which he considered them entitled. For 
 tune was, to him, always hovering benignly in 
 the near future, and this assurance gave him a 
 gentle acquiescence to his rather cramped finan 
 cial status. 
 
 As a child, Priscilla had regarded her father 
 as the acme of all that was great and noble. 
 When in the long winter evenings they sat 
 around the wood-fire, she would listen with 
 wide admiring eyes, as he described the mys 
 terious world beyond the hills, and their future 
 career there when the money should begin to 
 come in. With graphic emphasis he would ex 
 patiate on the wealth his shrewd investments 
 were sure to bring. 
 
 The child, in her dim, fire-lit corner, would 
 watch the shadows flicker on the portraits of 
 her Puritan ancestors upon the wall, until they 
 158
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 seemed to wink and nod an assurance of the 
 bright life which awaited her. What a beau 
 tiful world it would be ; what untold happiness 
 would she find in this golden future which the 
 genii were preparing for her, beyond those 
 snow-clad hills. 
 
 Time passed on, and the child became a 
 woman with reasoning powers, which gradu 
 ally awakened her from fantastic dreams. 
 From regarding her father as an oracle of de 
 lightful truths, she began to realize his shallow- 
 ness and visionary proclivities. The gradual 
 realization of his vanity and selfishness at first 
 hurt her keenly, and it was a slow and painful 
 task to reconstruct her impression of his char 
 acter, to exchange her confiding faith in him 
 for a sort of protecting pity for the smallness 
 of his nature. Her newly awakened percep 
 tion quickly gauged the value of that fairy 
 land which his sanguine hopes had depicted, 
 and by degrees her doubts resolved into convic 
 tion, that he was deceiving himself as well as 
 them. But at last he grew querulous when 
 159
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 Henny reminded him of unpaid bills, and had 
 unusual moods of silence. 
 
 One day he returned from Boston and, run 
 ning through the house and up to his wife s 
 room, fell on his knees beside her. " It is lost 
 all lost," he cried, burying his white face in 
 her lap. 
 
 Not long after, the house was sold. Her 
 mother s health gave way under the shock, and 
 this, with the necessity of an economy which 
 they did not care to exhibit before their neigh 
 bors, made it easy for them to accept the doc 
 tor s advice to seek a Southern climate. The 
 letting down seemed more easy in exchanging 
 the bleak farm for Florida, and the early No 
 vember snows found them journeying South 
 ward. To Priscilla the journey was crowded 
 with anxious thought, for every turn of the 
 iron wheels carried her on to a wide sea of new 
 experiences. 
 
 In those days the locomotive did not deign 
 to visit so obscure and remote a place as 
 Tampa. The only approach to it was by a rude 
 160
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 stage-coach, which three times a week dragged 
 its slow length for fifteen or twenty miles, 
 bringing the mail and an occasional stranger. 
 The girl from New England gazed about her 
 with intelligent curiosity, as they drove into 
 the old town, beneath the row of water-oaks, 
 which were then young like herself, but have 
 now grown into veritable gray-beards, whis 
 pering sadly among themselves of the changes 
 which have sprung up about them. 
 
 In the starlight, strange, white- walled houses 
 rose on every side, their over-hanging balconies 
 seeming almost to meet. The tinkle of a guitar 
 from a shadowy door-way, the quaint Plaza 
 with its moss-draped trees and ancient Cathe 
 dral, all seemed to the girl like a bit of Spain, 
 which had floated across the Atlantic to be 
 lodged among the palmettos. 
 
 The next day found Priscilla, with the buoy 
 ancy of youth, beginning to construct a new 
 world for themselves. Her father seemed to 
 think he had done his share of unappreciated 
 toil and left everything in her hands. They 
 161
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 secured a modest house, vine-clad and roomy, 
 and here Priscilla arranged the household 
 gods which they had brought with them, as 
 much like the old home as possible. The Pu 
 ritan forefathers looked down on them in be- 
 wigged wonder from the coquina walls, and the 
 tall clock ticked from the corner as of yore. In 
 the corner of the parlor were the collection of 
 daguerreotypes; the silver candle sticks on the 
 mantel were flanked by a print of George 
 Washington and a sampler depicting a weep 
 ing willow and a family of thirteen children 
 kneeling round a tomb. But in spite of Pris- 
 cilla s efforts, it all seemed sadly strange. Her 
 mother seemed to feel it most keenly. At first, 
 as she lay on the rose-scented balcony, inhaling 
 the soft air, a little color crept into her cheeks, 
 but, as the months went by, Priscilla knew she 
 was fading. 
 
 Her father adopted the new order of things 
 more easily. He evolved schemes for regener 
 ating the South, and arranged his neckties as 
 artistically as of yore. His days were spent 
 162
 
 I KISCIT.I.A S GAKDK.N
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 chiefly sitting in the sun on the Plaza, or talk 
 ing to the natives, who were only too glad to 
 find a new idler to amuse them. 
 
 Priscilla felt that she was a square peg in a 
 round hole. Her thrift and mental briskness 
 were not understood by her neighbors, and they 
 resented these as a reproach to themselves. 
 The odd ways of " dem Northerners " were re 
 ported by the astonished Chloe, whom Pris 
 cilla stood over until every nook and cranny 
 was made to yield up its stores of hoarded spi 
 ders and dust. Every piece of furniture was 
 put through a course of scrubbing and polish 
 ing, at which Chloe would continually mutter 
 to herself, " Well, I nebber." 
 
 Then the weed-choked garden was marked 
 off in irreproachable paths and beds, and seeds 
 of hollyhocks, ragged-robins and pansies from 
 the old home were planted. The broken-down 
 fence had new life and new pickets put into it 
 and was painted a vivid white. 
 
 When order reigned everywhere within the 
 pale of home, Priscilla turned her cool, gray 
 163
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 eyes upon her moral and social surroundings. 
 Her father s acquaintances of the Plaza had 
 become interested and sent their wives to call. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Vinci Lopez, her next door neigh 
 bors, declaimed their descent from a Spanish 
 grandee, during the first half hour of acquaint 
 ance, and proved their cordiality by sending 
 every day one of their seven dark-eyed children 
 to borrow a little tea or sugar and other house 
 hold commodities, all, however, in quantities 
 too small to be worth returning. They were 
 all kind and anxious to make the new-comers 
 as much at their ease as they were themselves. 
 Priscilla soon found that there was to be no 
 outlet for her New England proclivities. There 
 were no husking-bees, no warm stockings or 
 mittens to knit for the farm-hands; and as to 
 the poor, they seemed to be the most happy and 
 contented of them all. She looked up the Prot 
 estant church of the place, which she found to 
 be Episcopal; a newly organized and strug 
 gling congregation, under the rectorship of 
 Doctor Rankin, a refined, well-educated, but 
 164
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 dreamy old man, hardly equal to the exigencies 
 of his position. Priscilla could not feel at home 
 there. The form and ritualism seemed strange 
 to her orthodox mind and smacked of " po 
 pery." She got quite flustered Sunday morn 
 ings, hunting for the places in her new prayer- 
 book, and the new-fangled hymns she found it 
 difficult to follow. She then interested herself 
 in the seven uncared-for children next door; 
 at first winning their confidence by cookies, 
 then trying to instil under their tangled curls 
 some rudiments of learning and personal neat 
 ness, but in vain. As long as cookies held out 
 they were docile enough, but with their dis 
 appearance they returned to the sun outside 
 and laughed and rolled in the sand, regardless 
 of all laws save those of sleep and hunger. 
 
 The very poor also did not seem to need her. 
 Some oysters from the harbor to eat, the sun 
 to warm them and a calico gown made their 
 sum of happiness, and any overtures from the 
 " Yankee woman " were resented as interfer 
 ence. Occasionally a party of Northerners 
 165
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 would linger in the quaint, old city for a while, 
 but with the first hot days of early Spring they 
 would disappear. These people she rarely met, 
 so her life narrowed down to but little beyond 
 her own garden. 
 
 Much of her time was given to her mother, 
 who soon found it impossible to make her daily 
 journey to the jasmine-covered balcony. A 
 year, two years passed, in which Priscilla knew 
 little beyond the needs of the mother who had 
 been her dearest treasure. At last one day she 
 fell asleep. They buried her in the little grave 
 yard, in the melancholy shadow of the Florida 
 moss which swathed the towering palms, and 
 in her grave were left Priscilla s last hopes. 
 Her youth was over. She grew silent and was 
 much alone. Threads of gray were seen among 
 the brown hair, which she wore plainly off her 
 forehead. Lines appeared in her cheeks, from 
 which the roses of youth had fled. She knew 
 it, and would smile grimly to herself in her 
 little mirror under the eaves. Who was to 
 care? Her father seemed to have the facility 
 166
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 of throwing unpleasant truth away, as a boy 
 would toss away a pebble. He slept, ate and 
 smiled as of yore. One of his Spanish friends 
 had taught him the guitar, and he would sit 
 in the twilight singing their weird love-songs, 
 his fine profile turned to Priscilla s tired eyes. 
 He had acquired the habit of sitting by the 
 hour on the end of the wharf, watching the sail 
 boats and gulls floating about the harbor. 
 Priscilla of late had seen but little of him. He 
 sometimes stayed away all day, to return at 
 night gay and debonair and chide her for her 
 quiet life. 
 
 " Why don t you stir up a bit ? " he would 
 ask, " and make friends as I do ? There are a 
 number of people quite worth talking to." 
 
 Time glided monotonously by. She only 
 marked the seasons by the falling of the oak 
 leaves from the great trees on the Plaza and 
 the increased stagnation of the town in the 
 Summer months. 
 
 167
 
 Chapter II 
 
 ONE soft evening in March, Priscilla was 
 sitting in the shadows of the vine on 
 the lower piazza. From across the 
 way the tinkle of a guitar and occasional 
 laughter floated to her inattentive ears. She 
 was wondering if her life was always to follow 
 its present monotonous channel. The past few 
 years had been very desolate. She longed for 
 the scents and sounds of her old home. In a 
 few weeks the apple-boughs would be laden 
 with their pink blossoms; how sweet were 
 those Northern Springs! But those apple- 
 blossoms were a thousand miles away and there 
 was no money to carry her back to them. She 
 saw her life as it might have been. 
 
 " Perhaps," she thought, " I might have had 
 a lover like other women. Some one to love 
 and care for me; a home of my own, and chil 
 dren. I wonder whether it is myself or circum 
 stances which is at fault? All women, I 
 thought, had some one whose whole affections 
 168
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 were theirs. But I have never had any one." 
 
 She was luxuriating in a vague pity for her 
 self, when she brought herself up with a turn. 
 
 " Priscilla Alden," she said half audibly, 
 " are you losing your head ? Haven t you 
 more sense than to sit here mooning, and won 
 dering what the use of living is, when you 
 know you ve a father who doesn t know enough 
 to come in when it rains? How would he get 
 along without you, I wonder; who is there to 
 care for him ? " The thought comforted her. 
 
 As the words died on her lips, she heard a 
 sound at the gate and, looking up, saw two per 
 sons coming up the path. One she recognized 
 as her father, and by his side was a girlish fig 
 ure apparently hanging back as though loth to 
 follow. She heard her father s voice in gentle 
 protest, as he urged her forward. They reached 
 the steps. Priscilla, with a cold thrill of pre 
 monition, stepped out of the shadow and stood, 
 a tall, severe figure, in the full light of the 
 moon. 
 
 " Who is this, father? " she asked. 
 169
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 " Now don t excite yourself, Priscilla, 
 will welcome my wife cordially." Then, turn 
 ing to the girl, " This is my daughter, and I 
 feel sure you will soon be good friends." 
 
 For a moment all was blurred to Priscilla s 
 vision. The mockingbird s roulades from a 
 neighboring tree seemed faint and far away. 
 Then she took a deep breath and looked at the 
 girl. A face was upturned to hers in which 
 beauty and bloom were combined with the 
 weakness of a child. A pair of dark eyes 
 searching hers with some timidity. Priscilla 
 held out her hand. " This is of course a sur 
 prise to me." With rather an ironic smile she 
 turned to her father. " I will try to be a good 
 mother to your wife," then turned and fled up 
 the creaking stairs to her room. 
 
 For several days they all three were self- 
 conscious, but they soon, at least outwardly, 
 adapted themselves to circumstances. Car- 
 mona soon forgot any awkwardness of her po 
 sition and flitted about the once quiet house like 
 a bird of brilliant plumage. She was the " 
 170
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 daughter of the light-house keeper and had a 
 little patrimony of her own. A piano was 
 bought, and soon waltzes and negro melodies 
 echoed through the rooms, which before had 
 only resounded to the stately tunes of " China," 
 These two women could not understand each 
 other. One grave, methodical, with a con 
 science keenly alive to all deviations from the 
 strictest propriety: the other gay, inconse 
 quent, oblivious of everything save the amu 
 sing side of life. But Priscilla came gradually 
 to like the girl, from the very necessity of car 
 ing for her. The gay little gowns were to be 
 mended and the rooms tidied up after her 
 twenty times a day. Carmona would lie about 
 like a kitten, watching Priscilla, and asking 
 curious questions. Of course she was a Ro 
 manist, but hardly an orthodox one. She had 
 somewhat audacious ideas of her own in regard 
 to right and wrong, and an accommodating 
 conscience, which was apt to stretch to suit the 
 exigencies of the hour. Priscilla s unswerving 
 code of religion and life she felt to be unrea- 
 171
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 sonable, and did not hesitate to say so. Pris- 
 cilla felt in a way responsible for these here 
 sies, but when she endeavored to enlighten her 
 young step-mother, she was met by a light rail 
 lery which baffled her. 
 
 One night Priscilla had knelt down in her 
 room for her nightly prayer. She heard the. 
 door open and Carmona s soft steps enter and 
 pause in the center of the room. She kept on 
 to the audible " amen," and rose. The girl was 
 standing in the center of the room, with dishev 
 eled curls, and with a sharp, bird-like expres 
 sion on her face. 
 
 " Aunt," she said, as she always called her, 
 " if God thinks a thing good for you, He will 
 give it won t He?" 
 
 " Certainly Carmona," Priscilla answered. 
 
 " And if He thinks a thing bad for you, He 
 won t give it, will He ? " 
 
 " Certainly not." 
 
 " Then what is the use of asking Him at all, 
 if He always does as He likes? Isn t it rather 
 interfering with His business ? " 
 172
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 The curious eyes searched hers with inno 
 cent inquiry, but, as often before, Priscilla 
 could not know how much was jest or how 
 much was earnestness. She endeavored to in 
 culcate some idea of the reality and importance 
 of life into the girl s empty mind, but in vain. 
 She preferred chattering to her girl friends, 
 who now habitually loitered away their days 
 in Priscilla s well-ordered premises. 
 
 A year passed, and a son was born; named 
 by Priscilla, Benjamin Alden. She dreaded the 
 child having a foreign name and was rejoiced 
 that his mother made no objection. Carmona 
 regarded the child as a new plaything, and as 
 he grew older they would roll and tumble about 
 together in the sun like two kittens. The care 
 of the baby fell naturally on Priscilla s should 
 ers, and she poured out upon him all the affec 
 tion of her famished heart. She carried him 
 about in her long, lean arms, crooning baby 
 songs in a voice which grew musical only in 
 his service. The child slept in her arms at 
 night, and the happiest hours of her day was 
 173
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 when he waked her in the morning, cooing and 
 gurgling with laughter clutching with baby 
 ringers at her gray wisps of hair. 
 
 When the child was a year old, her father, 
 too, went to sleep beside her mother in the 
 shadow of the hoary live-oaks, and the long, 
 gray moss swayed alike over them both. It 
 was then that Priscilla might have given up, 
 had not baby fingers held her to life with 
 powerful persuasion. Carmona crept about the 
 house with awe for awhile, and the guitar and 
 piano grew tuneless and silent. But the girl s 
 nature rebelled against continued gravity, and 
 in a few months her shallowness asserted 
 itself, and she was as light-hearted as ever. 
 
 All Priscilla s thoughts now centered in the 
 boy. She worked and economized, that he 
 might be educated and trained as befitted an 
 Alden. The austere eyes of her Puritan an 
 cestors, she felt, followed her in dumb warning 
 as to the responsibility in bringing up this boy, 
 the last of a long line of upright gentlemen. 
 How she watched the child s nature as it un- 
 174
 
 IN THE SHADOWS"
 
 PRISCILLA ALVEN 
 
 folded. What the boy s life should be she had 
 not yet determined, but slowly a resolution 
 formed in her mind to send him at the proper 
 time North, to Harvard, where he should be 
 fitted for some profession. That he should be 
 a loyal American she was determined. No be 
 lief in slavery or Southern shiftlessness would 
 she allow to grow in his nature not a germ of 
 it. She would do what she could to engraft 
 Northern ideas and principles. 
 
 The boy was dimly aware of the wealth of 
 affection this quiet woman gave him, and, after 
 a fashion, returned it. He rebelled at times 
 against the strict habits she enforced; the reg 
 ular hours of study, and the watchful care as to 
 his companions. Sometimes when he was 
 called from some boyish game, they chaffed 
 him. Once Priscilla heard a boy shout after 
 him : " Goodie, goodie, go home to the Yan 
 kee." 
 
 He whirled about and with eyes aflame 
 rushed at the taunter. " You speak properly of 
 my Aunt," he cried, glaring over his prostrate 
 175
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 foe, " and you apologize, too, before you get up, 
 you puppy." 
 
 His anger was so quick to act and his fist was 
 so hard, that they soon learned to suppress their 
 sentiments toward the " queer Yankee woman." 
 
 176
 
 Chapter III 
 
 OF course Carmona would marry again : 
 that fact made itself evident after two 
 months of widowhood. Among the 
 number of young fellows who now haunted 
 the house, "a courtin " the pretty widow, a tall, 
 lithe fellow named Leon Medici was most per 
 sistent. He had much the same style of pic 
 turesque beauty as Carmona, but marred it by 
 flaring collars, gaudy waistcoats, and a general 
 air of cheap splendor. His tight trousers, which 
 flared over his little, high-heeled boots, were 
 Priscilla s abhorrence, but the good-natured fel 
 low, with his flashing smile and seraph s voice, 
 seemed to find special favor in Carmona s eyes. 
 He kept the principal cigar store of the place 
 and was fairly prosperous. Young Medici 
 spent most of his time under the orange-trees 
 in the garden, singing like an angel to Car 
 mona s newly strung guitar, and showered 
 pop-guns and whistles in generous profusion 
 on young Benjamin. He took the girl buggy- 
 177
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 driving and did his best to ruin her digestion 
 by copious treats of soda-water and bad ice 
 cream. Priscilla saw how things were going, 
 but Carmona would only laugh and toss her 
 head in good-natured derision of any such pos 
 sibility. 
 
 One morning the girl came down late to 
 breakfast, a look of brilliant happiness in her 
 eyes. She caught Priscilla nearly off her feet in 
 a wild embrace, and then held up her left hand, 
 on which sparkled a new amethyst ring. 
 
 "Leon Medici?" Priscilla asked. "Of 
 course," was the ecstatic rejoinder. 
 
 In the busy weeks which followed, the house 
 was gay with echoing voices and stuffs of every 
 hue. In all the bustle and confusion, one 
 thought haunted Priscilla. " Was the boy to 
 be taken away ? " She could not bring herself 
 to ask Carmona the question, but at night, star 
 ing into the darkness, she wondered with dull 
 pain if she was to lose him. All day long, 
 while busy in a thousand ways, the thought 
 was a leaden weight on her heart. She hoped 
 178
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 Carmona would speak of it, but the evening 
 before the wedding came, and the question had 
 not been asked. She waited till Carmona came 
 in from the garden, and stood trembling as they 
 lit their candles. Something in her look at 
 tracted Carmona s attention. 
 
 " What is it, Aunt ? you look as though 
 you had seen a spook." 
 
 She could only answer with a pallid smile, 
 as together they mounted the stairs. Priscilla 
 kissed the girl at her door. 
 
 " I hope you will be very happy," she said; 
 then turned brusquely and passed into her own 
 room. 
 
 She could not sleep or even undress ; but sat 
 at the window watching, with unseeing eyes, 
 the moon-flowers opening their petals to the 
 moist, night air. 
 
 At last she rose stiffly, and crossing the hall 
 to Carmona s door softly opened it. The Ma 
 donna above the bed stretched protecting arms 
 in the dim light. Priscilla s heart seemed to 
 stop its beating as she stood there. All her 
 179
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 happiness lay in this childish creature s will. 
 She fell on her knees with a loud sob. Car- 
 mona woke with a start. 
 
 "What is it?" she cried. 
 
 " Oh, Carmona, you won t take my boy 
 away? You will leave him with me, won t 
 you ? He loves me and I ll give him all I have : 
 all my care, all my love only leave him." 
 
 Carmona sat up and stared at her half fright* 
 ened and not wholly awake. 
 
 " Take him from you, of course not. I 
 shouldn t know how to care for him. I can 
 see him when I like, I suppose. Is that what is 
 troubling you ? " 
 
 With careless tenderness she soothed Pris- 
 cilla s sobbing, for now the tears flowed freely, 
 carrying a load of pain from her over-burdened 
 heart. 
 
 180
 
 Chapter IV 
 
 AFTER the merry wedding, the house 
 settled back into something of its old 
 quiet. Priscilla now gave herself to 
 the one absorbing purpose of her life ; the care 
 and education of the boy. There was no school 
 save the parish school and the convent, and she 
 was puzzled as to the groundwork for his col 
 lege education, when she bethought herself of 
 Dr. Rankin. She went to see him in the new 
 parsonage under the palms, to ask if he would 
 teach her boy. The old man beamed at her 
 over his spectacles, delighted with the idea, 
 and so it was arranged, greatly to her satisfac 
 tion. 
 
 And now began her struggle to get together 
 the money to pay for his coming college ex 
 penses. It was a long succession of secret self- 
 denial. She made all her own and his clothes, 
 and learned to weave palmetto leaves into 
 baskets. Her too luxurious tea was given up ; 
 also her " Boston Evening Transcript," which 
 181
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 had been the one connecting link with the out 
 side world. To save buying vegetables she 
 planted a plot in her garden, and her tall figure 
 was a familiar sight, bending over rake or hoe. 
 It was a wearisome waiting as the cents grew 
 into dollars, which every Saturday night she 
 carried to the bank. 
 
 She kept the boy as much with her as pos 
 sible, taking long walks with him and telling 
 him of the far-away world in the North, and 
 how men lived earnestly and with purpose 
 among those granite hills where his forefathers 
 were born. She kept before his eyes the honor 
 and heroic independence of those upright Pur 
 itans, and drew graphic pictures of what his 
 life should be, when he, their worthy descend 
 ant, should, in his turn, take an active part in 
 the stirring life of the North. 
 
 And the lad s cheeks would glow and his 
 eyes kindle as he listened. How impatiently 
 he longed for his emancipation, and to what 
 glorious heights would he attain. There was 
 no limit to his ambition; his fervent nature 
 only dreaded inaction. 
 
 182
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 It was at this time that the first distant mut- 
 terings of the coming political storm were 
 heard. The anti-slavery questions held the 
 minds of the country. Thrice a week when the 
 mail came, papers were received full of bitter 
 editorials. Priscilla knew but little of it, it 
 hardly reached her. She saw men talking in 
 excited knots on the Plaza and knew that in 
 the Town Hall meetings were held at night, 
 where violent harangues were delivered. Ben 
 jamin now spent many of his evenings there 
 and would come in late, his eyes shining, but 
 told her little of what he heard and saw. She 
 would smooth his tossed curls with gentle touch 
 and say: 
 
 " I have longed all these years, dear, for this 
 deliverance from evil." 
 
 But Benjamin evidently did not take to poli 
 tics and cared but little to talk on that subject. 
 
 At last the storm broke, and war was de 
 clared. When Priscilla heard of the first shot 
 at her country s flag on Fort Sumter, a thrill 
 of indignation shook her loyal soul. Troops 
 [were forming all over the country: men were 
 183
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 leaving their homes and business to fight for 
 their individual ideas of right and wrong. Gray 
 coats formed and drilled, and Confederate flags 
 floated from every roof. 
 
 In the midst of all this clamor and warlike 
 confusion, a stinging doubt knocked at the 
 door of the woman s conscience. Ought not 
 Benjamin, to fight for those Northern prin 
 ciples which she had trained him to revere? 
 
 She paced the narrow garden paths, anxious 
 and undone. At last she decided that the honor 
 of self-sacrifice should be his alone and put the 
 vexed question away. The following Autumn 
 he would leave her for his college life. The 
 money was almost ready and she was almost 
 glad, for the young fellow seemed sadly in need 
 of change and a wider field of study. Beside, 
 he was not as robust and merry as usual, he 
 was silent and moody. She sometimes thought 
 she saw a strange regret in his eyes. 
 
 One night he stayed out later than usual, 
 and, becoming anxious, she went to the Plaza 
 where the towns-people congregated. At the 
 184
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 end of the square opposite a crowd was listen 
 ing to the Mayor and applauding as he made 
 some virulent remark about the North. Pris- 
 cilla saw Carmona, her husband and Benjamin 
 on the edge of the crowd, and she watched 
 them with a feeling of uneasiness. Leon was 
 talking excitedly and Benjamin seemed to listen 
 with interest. Priscilla turned away and hur 
 ried home. She went to her room but did not 
 undress and sat in the darkness, listening for 
 Benjamin s steps. 
 
 He always came in for her good-night kiss 
 and " God keep you " before going to his own 
 room. An hour went by, and she heard the 
 gate latch and the door-key turn in its lock. 
 Then his slow steps up the stairs. But on 
 the landing they ceased. She heard him hesi 
 tate, take a few steps toward her door, and then 
 pass on to his room. She wondered at this, 
 but concluded he thought her asleep and wished 
 not to disturb her. 
 
 The next morning she cautioned him against 
 listening to such speeches as she had heard 
 185
 
 AMONG THE PALMS 
 
 the evening before, but he showed the same 
 lack of interest in the subject, and, embracing 
 her with more than his usual ardor, took his 
 books and started for Dr. Rankin s. 
 
 He did not return at noon, and twilight 
 deepened, but no light step came up the path. 
 All night she sat waiting for him, with a fear 
 which grew and stifled her, but dawn crept 
 into the sky and he had not come. That terror 
 crept higher and higher in her heart, dulling 
 every other sense. At last as the sun rose, a 
 disk of red in the East, she went out. She had 
 tasted no food since the previous day and sud 
 denly felt old and feeble and tottered slightly 
 as she walked. By the Cathedral a group of 
 people she knew were talking. They saw her 
 coming and looked with curious pity at her 
 quaint figure as she approached. She could 
 hear the fountain s drowsy splash and the 
 muffled notes of the organ through the church s 
 open windows. 
 
 " I am anxious about my Benjamin," she said 
 
 186
 
 PRISCILLA ALDEN 
 
 tremulously. " He did not come home last 
 night." 
 
 They looked at one another. " Holy Mary ! " 
 a woman whispered, " she doesn t know." 
 
 Then a stout, black-whiskered man, whom 
 she remembered as the violent speaker at the 
 meeting on the Plaza, broke into a coarse laugh. 
 
 " Miss Alden, your boy joined the Confed 
 erate army and marched away this morning." 
 
 A shrill cry drowned the notes of the organ. 
 She clutched at the church door and fell. 
 * * * 
 
 They carried her home, but mind, as well as 
 heart, was broken. She still lives, an old, old 
 woman. I saw her last winter, a shrunken, 
 old-fashioned figure, sitting under the blossom 
 ing oleanders, in the garden of the Tampa, Bay 
 Hotel, with the good-natured Carmona, who 
 humors her by talking of Benjamin. She still 
 guards the money for him, whom she expects 
 to return in the old, shambling coach of other 
 days. 
 
 187
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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