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 JULEPS AND CLOVER
 
 Juleps and Clover 
 
 BY 
 
 M. VAUGHAN WILDE 
 
 And has not such a story from of Old, 
 Down man's successive generations roll'd, 
 Of tuch a cloud of saturated Earth 
 Cast by the Maker into Human mold ? 
 
 OMAR K.HAXXAM. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 R. F. FENNO & COMPANY 
 
 9 AND I I EAST 1 6TH STREET
 
 Copyright, 1898 
 
 BY 
 
 R. F. FENNO & COMPANY 
 
 Juleps and Clover
 
 T5 
 
 JULEPS AM) CLOVER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 But come ... . . (and leave the Lot 
 Of Kaikobad and Kaikhosrii forgot : 
 Let Rustum lay about him as he will, 
 Or Hatim cry Supper heed them not.) 
 
 With me, along some Strip of Herbage strown 
 That just divides the desert from the sown 
 Where name of Slave and Sultan scarce is known 
 And pity Sultan Mahmud on his Throne. 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 " THIS air is like champagne, sir. It 
 fills my lungs as no other air in the 
 world can ; " and the speaker drew in 
 a long breath and fanned his face with 
 his black slouch hat. 
 
 His companion smiled grimly, with- 
 l
 
 2 Juleps and Clover 
 
 out replying to what he evidently 
 considered a harmless delusion ; his 
 Northern blood failed to respond to the 
 quickening influences of the atmosphere 
 the other man found so exhilarating. 
 A few moments later, the two horsemen 
 emerged from the shelter of the woods 
 into a low-lying river meadow where 
 the direct rays of the midsummer sun, 
 beating down upon them, speedily con- 
 vinced the Southerner that whatever 
 merits the climate might have, it cer- 
 tainly did not deserve to be termed 
 arctic. Then Wallace Ayer turned in 
 his saddle toward his friend and said : 
 
 " What I admire in you Southerners, 
 Lee, is the absolute unanimity with 
 which you all agree upon the beauty of 
 Southern women, the merits of Southern 
 air, Southern questions, institutions 
 in short, everything that concerns the 
 South. You feel called on to flare up 
 at the slightest criticism of anything 
 that affects your section of the country.
 
 Juleps and Clover 3 
 
 Now in the North, we have no special 
 respect for * Northern air or whiskey,' 
 or 'Northern ' horses or hotels as such, 
 and would never dream of resenting any 
 general criticism of our institutions. 
 
 " If I were to tell 3 7 ou," he continued, 
 "that the air right here in these moun- 
 tains, right here in God's country was 
 rather hotter and more stifling than I 
 have found it in the Sahara Desert, you 
 would probably flare up at the sugges- 
 tion." 
 
 Howard Lee laughed and replied good- 
 naturedly : 
 
 " Oh, come now, you must not take 
 us so seriously. We live by ourselves 
 a good deal down here and perhaps, 
 have become a trifle provincial. Those 
 very faults you speak of, have their use 
 they all serve to bind us to our coun- 
 try, and to keep us in the road laid out 
 by our ancestors. Other sections of the 
 nation could follow us with great ad- 
 vantage, in that respect."
 
 4 Juleps and Clover 
 
 " Perhaps you are right," replied 
 Wallace Ayer, "but then, too, some of 
 us have ancestors, though we don't at- 
 tach much value to their example. 
 There is one Southern institution, how- 
 ever, that I do admire, without any 
 qualifying adjectives whatsoever, and 
 that is your Southern woman." 
 
 " Now you are worthy of the hospi- 
 tality of the South," cried the Virginian. 
 " Why, sir, the finest work of the Creator 
 is a Southern woman who can make a 
 mint julep with just the proper quantity 
 of brandy and rum." Lee involuntarily 
 moistened his lips and continued : 
 
 " The very idea makes me feel thirsty. 
 In this fertile country nature provides 
 the need and the means to fill it at the 
 same time." 
 
 "Hum," returned the other, glancing 
 dubiously at the turbulent stream roll- 
 ing a few yards away through the 
 meadow they were skirting, " the Ma- 
 nola looks to me somewhat muddy."
 
 Juleps and Clover 5 
 
 Lee rode down to the river bank. 
 " It is muddy, two parts clay to one of 
 water," and after anxiously scanning 
 both banks of the rushing stream, he 
 again shouted over his shoulder to 
 Ayer: 
 
 " Do you mind a rather risky ford ? 
 Can you swim?" 
 
 "Not much," answered Ayer, "but 
 why attempt it ? " 
 
 "Because across that river and 
 through the woods yonder, two miles 
 from here, lives a Virginia lady who 
 can make the finest julep in the South," 
 answered Lee. 
 
 " These North Carolinians know noth- 
 ing of real mint julep, sir." 
 
 "It's too hot to ride further, so we 
 can spend the evening there and canter 
 back to the club after dark." 
 
 " Well, I'll take the chance of a dip 
 in the river. But do you know the 
 ford?" 
 
 " There was a ford a few years ago,
 
 6 Juleps and Clover 
 
 that started a little below here and 
 crossed the river obliquely," replied 
 Lee, " but as the river is swollen from 
 the recent rains, I doubt whether I can 
 find it." 
 
 Both the men were mounted on three- 
 quarter bloods powerful animals, but 
 badly broken, and Ayer especially, 
 could place but little reliance on the 
 good behavior of his horse when once 
 in the water. They rode slowly along 
 the shore until they came to a gently 
 shelving beach, which Lee declared was 
 the beginning of the ford. Here they 
 turned their horses into the stream and 
 allowed them to drink their fill. Then 
 they pushed slowly out toward deeper 
 water. 
 
 The Manola was about one hundred 
 yards wide, deepening gradually from 
 the bank where they were, until at the 
 further side it ran in a fierce current of 
 unknown depth. Piles of hewn logs, 
 driftwood, dead leaves, underbrush, and
 
 Juleps and Clover 7 
 
 other d(5bris were strauded on rocks and 
 shoals here and there throughout the 
 river, rocking and swaying with the 
 current. 
 
 Lee reined in his horse and turned to 
 his friend with a laugh. 
 
 "I don't believe there ever was a 
 ford here," said he, " we must swim or 
 turn back." 
 
 "Then we'll swim," replied Ayer, 
 rather nettled at the suggestive lack of 
 confidence in his horsemanship, and 
 with more ado he urged his horse for- 
 ward. 
 
 The horses waded into the water wil- 
 lingly and kept their footing without 
 much effort, until a third of the way 
 was crossed. The water rose slowly up 
 the legs of the riders, filling their boots 
 and creeping over the saddles, as the 
 horses lost their foothold and settled 
 down to swim. The farther bank was 
 soft and yielding, but Lee, who was in 
 front, succeeded in forcing his horse up
 
 8 
 
 after several violent plunges. As he 
 reached the top, he suddenly turned, and 
 shaping his hand, funnel-like over his 
 mouth, in order to be. heard above the 
 roar of the river: " Look out, that log is 
 coming down on you." 
 
 Ayer, in the act of urging the beast 
 up the bank glanced quickly back and 
 saw a mass of driftwood which had ac- 
 cumulated against a huge oak log, 
 slowly detach itself from its hold and 
 float toward him. The pile had been 
 held against the bank by some sticks and 
 saplings, and these had been loosened 
 by the struggles of Lee's horse in gain- 
 ing the shore. 
 
 The great log stuck for a moment, 
 but the force of the current on the mass 
 of rubbish behind, tore it free from its 
 hold, and it swept down the river. 
 
 Before it could reach him, Ayer 
 swung his horse down stream and sharply 
 spurred him. The river ran fiercely and 
 eddied in under the bank. They were
 
 Juleps and Clover 9 
 
 on the outer side of a bend and the 
 whole volume of the river was hurled 
 against the shore which had been un- 
 dermined and was jutting cliff-like above 
 the water. Magnolia and oaks tangled 
 with wild grapevine leaned far out 
 from the bank with exposed roots which 
 threatened to drag Ayer from his horse 
 as he swept under them. The logs and 
 driftwood had parted company and were 
 racing like terror-stricken soldiers, close 
 behind horse and man. Before him the 
 bank towered higher and higher until 
 around the bend it became a small bluff. 
 Not a foothold was there for man or 
 beast on that clay-bound shore, and he 
 realized there was but one chance to 
 save his horse. Slipping gently from 
 the saddle into the water, he let his legs 
 float as near the surface as possible, to 
 avoid the hoofs of the animal, who was 
 now laboring painfully in the current 
 which twisted and swung him around 
 like a straw in a whirlpool, now dashing
 
 lo Juleps and Clover 
 
 him against the slippery bank, now 
 hurling him against the masses of drift- 
 wood. 
 
 Ayer clung to the pommel with his 
 left hand and guided his horse with the 
 other. By this means he kept well 
 ahead of the log which was booming 
 along with tremendous speed, crashing 
 through the roots and debris caught 
 against the bank, until suddenly as the 
 bend was almost passed, a fallen tree 
 confronted him. Clinging by its roots 
 to solid earth, the trunk and branches 
 of an immense elm projected some 
 eighty feet into the river. As the cur- 
 rent dashed horse and rider against it, 
 Ayer sprang clear of his plunging ani- 
 mal and dived. 
 
 The current caught him, turned him 
 over and over and lodged him among 
 the submerged branches. He made one 
 desperate plunge, grasped a solid hold, 
 lost it, seized it again and drew his head 
 above water.
 
 Juleps and Clover 11 
 
 Gasping for breath and shaking off 
 the water, he slowly and painfully 
 pulled himself up on the tree. He 
 looked around. No horse could be seen. 
 The river ran as fiercely as ever, but it 
 seemed more silent. The log and drift 
 were piled up in hopeless confusion 
 among the branches of the submerged 
 end of the tree. Suddenly the mass 
 raised, and there appeared well-nigh 
 under it, his horse, which with one tre- 
 mendous effort broke clear of the tree- 
 top and floated down the stream. That 
 effort was the last spasm of the drown- 
 ing animal. Ayer shouted encourage- 
 ment to him with all his strength, and 
 the faithful beast with one dying strug- 
 gle raised his head above the stream in 
 his master's direction, struck half out of 
 the water, and then sank back beneath 
 the surface of the river. 
 
 Ayer watched with breathless inter- 
 est the convulsions of his drowning 
 horse, and when all was over he drew
 
 12 Juleps and Clover 
 
 himself slowly from limb to limb of the 
 gigantic elm tree, and so gained the 
 shore, not without confronting more 
 danger, however, as the fallen monarch 
 of the forest still tottered on its ruined 
 throne, and swayed by the torrent, it 
 seemed bent on tossing back its human, 
 burden, to the waters beneath.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Look to the Rose that blows about us " Lo, 
 Laughing," she says, " into the World I blow; 
 
 At once the silken Tassel of my Purse 
 Tear, and its Treasures on the Garden throw." 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 WHILE Ayer was struggling in the 
 Manola, Lee had made every effort to 
 keep abreast of him on the bank. The 
 dense underbrush had forced him to 
 take a circuitous route, and it was only 
 with the utmost difficulty that he made 
 any progress. His horse stumbled and 
 tripped over the tangled roots and 
 hanging grapevines, and the rider was 
 struck repeatedly by the low swinging 
 boughs and nearly swept off his horse. 
 Lee did not have much anxiety about 
 his companion however, as lie knew 
 Ayer was a thorough horseman, and be- 
 lieved he would extricate himself with- 
 13
 
 14 Juleps and Clover 
 
 out serious trouble from his difficult 
 situation. So that when he heard 
 Aj'er's shout and broke through to the 
 point from whence it came, he was sur- 
 prised to find his comrade without his 
 horse. 
 
 " Lee," said Ayer, as his friend rode 
 up, "I've lost the best horse in the 
 state. He went down, poor fellow, 
 just below that eddy by the snag there. 
 We must get him out and give him a 
 decent burial he was too fine an ani- 
 mal for the fish and buzzards." 
 
 Ayer then gave Lee a more detailed 
 account of the accident as he drew off 
 his boots and poured out the water. 
 
 " We can probably find your horse 
 stranded on some of the mud bars down 
 the river," said Lee, as his friend con- 
 cluded his story, " and can at any rate 
 get the saddle and bridle, but we would 
 better hurry over to Peters' before you 
 feel the chill settling in your bones." 
 
 "Not much danger of a chill on a
 
 Juleps and Clover 15 
 
 day like this," replied Ayer, "but I 
 should not mind a nip of that mint 
 julep you were talking about a few mo- 
 ments ago. Don't think Mrs. Peters 
 will object to my appearance, do you, 
 Lee ? My hat's gone." 
 
 " Your appearance is all right ; we 
 don't bother about ceremony down 
 here. Give me your coat and then 
 pick a way through the brush for my 
 horse, or I'll get my eyes prodded out 
 by some of these branches." 
 
 "All right, but which way is the 
 road?" inquired Ayer, starting toward 
 an opening in the tangled thicket. 
 
 "Straight ahead," replied Lee. "I 
 can't get through there on horseback." 
 
 " Then get off and lead him. It's 
 the only way. You should be thankful 
 you are on dry land," laughed Ayer, 
 watching his companion half slide and 
 half fall off his horse, after trying to 
 force out of his way a three inch maple 
 bough which just cleared the saddle.
 
 16 Juleps and Clover 
 
 " You don't seem to care much about 
 losing a valuable mount," replied Lee, 
 " you Northerners are disgustingly rich. 
 Stand and watch three hundred dollars 
 disappear in the river and joke about 
 it." 
 
 Ayer's face became serious and he 
 said more slowly : " I am sorry for the 
 poor brute. He fought hard and I love 
 any thing, man or beast, that dies game." 
 
 After a half hour's sharp work, they 
 emerged into a clearing which proved 
 to be part of the Peters' plantation. 
 As they drew near the rambling old 
 house they saw on the veranda several 
 persons two ladies and three men. 
 
 " Lee," said Ayer, " I think I shall be 
 much more presentable on horseback 
 after my ducking, and I wish you would 
 change places with me. I can take 
 your horse down to the stable and wait 
 there while you explain to Mr. Peters. 
 He then may send me down some dry 
 clothes. I don't want to make my ini-
 
 Juleps and Clover 17 
 
 bow before those two pretty women 
 in such garb as this." 
 
 Lee assented, and the change was 
 quickly made. The two then moved 
 up over the level greensward toward 
 the house. Just as he was about to 
 direct Ayer to the negro quarters and 
 the stables beyond, Frazier Peters spied 
 them, and running down the steps, 
 greeting Lee with profuse hospitality ; 
 would hear to nothing but that they 
 must come up and be presented to the 
 ladies at once. After shaking hands, 
 Lee turned toward Ayer and said: 
 "This is my Yankee college chum, 
 Wallace Ayer, of New York, whom I 
 have persuaded to join with me in buy- 
 ing some of the timber around here. 
 He's a good fellow for a Yankee loves 
 us Southerners, and tries hard to ap- 
 prove of our institutions. They don't 
 wear hats nowadays in New York and 
 clothes, as you see, sag a good deal this 
 season."
 
 i8 Juleps and Clover 
 
 During this speech, Ayer shook hands 
 with Mrs. Peters over the low railing of 
 the veranda, and twisted a little un- 
 easily in his saddle as Lee gave a sly 
 wink and laughed heartily at his own 
 joke. 
 
 "Mrs. Peters," said he, "don't mind 
 Lee that's what he calls badinage. 
 The Manola is responsible for my ap- 
 pearance, and he for my presence here." 
 
 Mrs. Peters laughed merrily. 
 
 " We are delighted to meet strangers 
 in this remote corner of the world, es- 
 pecially when they are Northerners, and 
 friends of Mr. Lee. Do come into the 
 house, Mr. Ayer, Frazier will fit you 
 out with dry clothes." 
 
 Frazier Peters, who was a portly and 
 most placid looking gentleman, hastened 
 to add : 
 
 " You must have a glass of some- 
 thing, or you will feel the chill. We 
 dread chills down here and always make 
 it a point to guard against them in time.
 
 Juleps and Clover 19 
 
 Come in, I've got plenty of clothes that 
 will fit you. Here, 'Lish, you lazy nig- 
 ger, take the gentleman's horse down to 
 the barn and give him oats, sir, oats, do 
 you understand, you grinning rascal ? " 
 
 Ayer gladly accepted Mr. Peters' 
 offer and dismounted. Ffteen minutes 
 later the Northerner emerged from his 
 host's room with his compact and mus- 
 cular frame encased in a white duck 
 suit belonging to Mr. Peters. That 
 gentleman had enjoyed the good things 
 of life and was short and decidedly 
 stout. His best duck suit had there- 
 fore on Ayer's figure, the fit of a set of 
 Pajamas. Ayer groaned silently, as he 
 looked down at the extraordinary ap- 
 pearance he presented and then put the 
 best face possible on the matter and 
 started downstairs. 
 
 When he reached the veranda, Mrs. 
 Peters laughed heartily, as also did Lee 
 and Miss Gwynne, to whom he was 
 now introduced, that Ayer speedily
 
 2O Juleps and Clover 
 
 entered into the spirit of the thing and 
 by the time the mint julep was produced 
 and passed around, he had quite forgot- 
 ten his clothes. 
 
 Mr. Peters insisted that Lee and Ayer 
 should not think of going back to 
 Wainhill that night and sent a man on 
 horseback to the Metropolitan Club, 
 where Ayer had a room, for some 
 clothes. Two negroes were also dis- 
 patched with ropes to find and bury the 
 drowned horse, and bring back the 
 trappings. 
 
 Ayer was quite at home with the 
 party, when the dinner was served at 
 seven ; and when he found himself 
 placed at table next to Miss Gwynne, he 
 slowly awoke to the fact that she was 
 the most supremely beautiful girl he 
 had ever met. Extensive as was his 
 knowledge of women in his own and 
 many other lands, Ayer had never be- 
 fore seen such eyes, to which her almost 
 perfect face was a mere setting. Dreamy
 
 Juleps and Clover 21 
 
 and languid, they rested on him in a 
 half curious, wholly interested manner. 
 He was the first Northerner Miss 
 Gwyune had really known, for in her 
 native Georgian town, so far removed 
 from the busy haunts of men, strangers 
 never penetrated. 
 
 The impression of her beauty on 
 Ayer was only transient, however. He 
 merely noted the fact that she was 
 beautiful, very young, apparently not 
 very bright and probably as badly 
 brought up as most Southern girls he 
 had seen ; so he turned and devoted 
 himself to his hostess. 
 
 Mrs. Peters was a Virginia woman, 
 tall and finely formed, a thorough 
 woman of the world and really brilliant 
 in conversation. Like most women who 
 are well married to a husband rather 
 too old, and decidedly slow, she was 
 fond of attention, and loved a little 
 affaire, quite innocent of course, but 
 still with enough snap in it to arouse
 
 22 Juleps and Clover 
 
 the torpid blood of her husband. Un- 
 der a stimulus of this sort, Mr. Peters 
 would invariably pull himself together, 
 abandon his quiet solitaire, chess, and 
 afternoon siesta, and devote himself 
 with all his youthful fire and grace to 
 his wife. 
 
 He would ride miles with her in the 
 hottest of weather to pay a call; would 
 accompany her to balls, a form of 
 amusement he detested, and would 
 emulate the brightest of her followers 
 with an unexpected flow of wit. When 
 he was at length thoroughly aroused, 
 for, perhaps, the twentieth time in his 
 married life, to the fact that he was the 
 luckiest of men to possess such a charm- 
 ing wife, and that he was a fool to think 
 of anything else when that state of 
 things was brought about Mrs. Peters 
 would suddenly become absorbed in her 
 husband and calmly drop the poor 
 attache whose attention had been the 
 cause of all this turmoil, and who, to
 
 Juleps and Clover 23 
 
 the end of his days never quite knew 
 what had happened to him. 
 
 The afternoon that Ayer and Lee ar- 
 rived at the plantation, Mrs. Peters had 
 been looking about for some time, un- 
 able to find a new victim, an event due 
 solely to the fact that there had been 
 no new arrivals in Wainhill, since Mr. 
 David Barbs of Philadelphia had sud- 
 denly departed on the daybreak train 
 during the preceding spring, leaving 
 behind a vast range of conjecture to 
 account for his haste. In consequence 
 of this dearth of available men, Frazier 
 Peters had relapsed into his placid som- 
 nolent state which, interspersed with 
 julep and chess, he regarded as the 
 proper condition in hot weather for a 
 gentleman and a Southerner. 
 
 In Ayer, Mrs. Peters thought she de- 
 tected precisely the proper person needed 
 to arouse her husband. Lee had been 
 through the mill himself some three 
 years before and could be relied upon
 
 24 Juleps and Clover 
 
 not to warn his comrade. Mrs. Peters 
 and Lee had been old friends in Rich- 
 mond, but had not met since Mr. Peters 
 had renounced city life and retired with 
 his wife to his native Carolina, after an 
 especially exciting but harmless affaire 
 of hers, with a naval officer. 
 
 The two men who were with the 
 Peters's when Ayer and Lee arrived, 
 proved to be neighboring planters who 
 had little to say for themselves at din- 
 ner, beyond addressing some rather 
 stilted phrase of compliment to Miss 
 Gwynne or Mrs. Peters. 
 
 They drank their whiskey straight, 
 and evidently did not approve of the 
 easy savoir faire of the Northerner 
 which put him at once on a more famil- 
 iar plane with the ladies than their re- 
 spectful and serious homage had at- 
 tained in years. Parker the younger, 
 seemed quite put out, at what he whis- 
 pered to his friend Davis, was " Damned 
 Yankee impudence, sir," and both with-
 
 Juleps and Clover 25 
 
 drew when the cigars were lighted. 
 After Peters had seen them mount and 
 ride off into the darkness he returned 
 to the dining-room and sank with a sigh 
 of relief into his armchair, remarking 
 to Ayer : 
 
 "Fine specimens of our Southern 
 gentry, sir, fine specimens, but they 
 take life too seriously. Can't say that 
 they like Northerners, either," he added, 
 reflectively. " Major Parker's father 
 was killed in the Peninsular, sir, and Joe 
 Davis' family lost about everything. 
 He's got a little lead in his right leg. 
 Noticed the limp, didn't } r ou ? He was 
 the youngest of four brothers in Pick- 
 ett's charge. Two of them up there 
 yet. Joe was sixteen then. You should 
 see their family silver finest in the 
 state. All they have left now except 
 land. Can't blame them for a little 
 feeling, sir. You folks up North didn't 
 turn out the way the people around 
 here did."
 
 26 Juleps and Clover 
 
 " Well," said Ayer, " some of us did. 
 I was, of course, too young, but my 
 father spent four hard years trying to 
 get into Richmond, and got there too." 
 
 " I think," broke in Lee, to prevent 
 a conversation on so dangerous a sub- 
 ject, " that all Southerners respect and 
 honor the men who fought. In fact, 
 what little feeling remains on either 
 side of Mason and Dixon's line is among 
 those who stayed at home." 
 
 " I quite agree with you in that," 
 said Ayer, warmly. "What we need 
 for a complete reunion is another 
 American party we Americans are 
 being slowly but surely pushed out of 
 our own land by the foreigners we have 
 let in. Serves us right, though, we've 
 got too much so-called ' liberality,' and 
 not enough race pride." 
 
 "Ayer and I had reached that con- 
 clusion once before to-day," said Lee ; 
 "but don't you think we would better 
 join the ladies."
 
 Juleps and Clover 27 
 
 " Why," said Peters, glancing at his 
 watch, " do you know what time it is ? 
 It's twelve o'clock. The ladies must 
 have retired long ago. Mr. Ayer, you 
 must need sleep after your swim. 
 They have given you the red room. 
 My man will bring you coffee and toast 
 about ten, and we won't let you go 
 back to-morrow until evening. I want 
 to show you over the place." 
 
 Ayer took the candle handed him, 
 and after bidding his host good-night, 
 was shown to his bedroom by a small 
 darkey boy, called 'Lish. 'Lish's chief 
 occupation in life seemed to be that of 
 general disturber, in the household. 
 He possessed a persistent faculty for 
 getting in everybody's way. Begin- 
 ning with the master ; to the cook in the 
 kitchen, and so on down to the hostler 
 of the stables, he was alternately be- 
 rated, scolded and petted. What his 
 opinion was of such treatment, no one 
 ever knew, for through all his many
 
 28 Juleps and Clover 
 
 and various exciting episodes, 'Lish 
 kept his own counsel. 
 
 The bedroom was spacious and well 
 aired. It contained a comparatively 
 modern bed, and chintz covered fur- 
 niture. The amount of furniture was 
 scant and ludicrously out of proportion 
 to the size of the room, although some 
 of it was very old and valuable. 
 
 The matting on the floor was new 
 and immaculately clean, and Ayer felt 
 that his host, while not rich, was cer- 
 tainly far removed from the threadbare 
 gentility of so many of his neighbors. 
 
 A row of books on the mantel at- 
 tracted his attention, and he walked 
 over, and with the aid of the candle ex- 
 amined the titles. All were bound in 
 cloth and well thumbed. "The Lost 
 Cause," " Holy Bible," " Shakespeare," 
 " Milton," " Speeches of John C. Cal- 
 houn," "Life of Jefferson Davis," and 
 Owen Meredith's "Lucille," stood 
 ranged in strange communion. Just
 
 Juleps and Clover 29 
 
 above the books hung a fine old en- 
 graving of " Wolf, On The Plains Of 
 Abraham," while flanking either side of 
 the bed, in quaint keeping with the 
 mouldy rose flowered wall-paper, were 
 two cheap, gaudy prints of "The Blonde 
 Beauty," and " The Brunette Beauty," 
 framed in a narrow moulding which had 
 at some remote period, been gilt. 
 
 Ayer smiled, and blowing out the 
 candle, dropped to sleep with the 
 thought : " charming people, but hope- 
 lessly out of the great current of mod- 
 ern life." He too, possessed much of 
 the fast disappearing chivalry which he 
 admired and laughed at in others, but 
 in his make-up, the gentle blood was 
 strengthened with sterner and stronger 
 qualities.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 And much as Wine has played the Infidel 
 And robb'd me of my Robe of Honour Well ! 
 
 I wonder often what the Vinters buy 
 One half so precious as the goods they sell. 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 THE next morning, Ayer was aroused 
 by 'Lish, who brought in a tray of 
 coffee and corn muffins, and informed 
 him with all the dignity of a Methodist 
 elder at campmeeting that his horse 
 had been found and buried. 'Lish 
 threw open the blinds. The sunlight 
 and fresh morning air streamed in, 
 laden with the dewy fragrance of the 
 honeysuckle clustering about the win- 
 dow casings ; and beyond, the river 
 crinkled with the light of a new day. 
 
 Nothing human was in sight and 
 Ayer took " Lucille " from the mantel 
 30
 
 Juleps and Clover 31 
 
 shelf and ran through its pages as he 
 leaned on the pillow and sipped his 
 coffee. He read awhile, and then lit 
 a pipe which 'Lish had thoughtfully 
 brought with the coffee. 
 
 u Strange," thought he, " that a 
 woman like ' Lucille ' could make so 
 much trouble and rouse such world- 
 lings as Arthur Vargrave and the Due 
 de Luvois from themselves, into deeper 
 feelings. It's so much pleasanter to 
 drift along and avoid the intenser 
 emotion. Well, I've escaped thus far 
 but I suppose my time will come," 
 and laying down the book, he recalled 
 the men whom he had known the 
 reckless and the brilliant the conscien- 
 tious and plodding all alike, they had 
 one by one bowed beneath the yoke of 
 matrimony. 
 
 " Love, yes, that is easy, but marry, 
 never." 
 
 Ayer sat up at the thought. As he 
 did so, there was a light knock, the
 
 32 Juleps and Clover 
 
 door opened and Mr. Peters' face ap- 
 peared. 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Ayer," said he, 
 "I hope you rested well last night. 
 Dress and come downstairs. I want to 
 take you over the stables. Oh ! by the 
 bye, my man has brought your clothes 
 from the club. I'll send them up." 
 And the host departed. 
 
 A few minutes later, Ayer once more 
 arrayed in presentable garb, came 
 downstairs and found on the veranda, 
 Mrs. Peters and Miss Gwynne quietly 
 reading in easy chairs. The sun had 
 now reached the zenith, its hot glare 
 shrivelling the grassy lawn as a simoon 
 from the desert, even the leaves on the 
 old apple tree cornering with the ve- 
 randa, curled up their velvetry green- 
 ish-gray edges in mute protest. 
 
 "I hope you liked the red room," 
 said Mrs. Peters, after the morning 
 greetings had been exchanged, " it's the 
 coolest one we have."
 
 Juleps and Clover 33 
 
 "I slept like a log," replied Ayer, 
 " and have been wondering ever since 
 breakfast why you call it the red room." 
 
 " I can't imagine why, but it has al- 
 ways been called so." She coquettishly 
 waved him toward a low seat on her left. 
 " Sit down and talk to us. Frazier is 
 so tiresome always dragging men out 
 to the stables and down to the new 
 wine cellar in such hot weather, and we 
 see so few visitors here." 
 
 " Do stay, Mr. Ayer," chimed in Miss 
 Gwynne, " I want to know a real 
 Northerner ; Mr. Peters," continued 
 she, as that gentleman appeared in the 
 doorway, "Mr. Ayer says he would 
 much rather stay here in the shade 
 while you take Mr. Lee to the stables 
 to see the niggers and horses." 
 
 "I said nothing of the sort, Mr. 
 Peters ; " laughed Ayer, " but as a mat- 
 ter of fact, it is too hot to go out. 
 Can't I see them later in the after- 
 noon?"
 
 34 Juleps and Clover 
 
 " Certainly, if you prefer. I'll let 
 Miss Gwynne show you around then," 
 and Peters disappeared into the house. 
 
 Ayer chatted an hour or so with the 
 ladies, Mrs. Peters doing most of the 
 talking and the younger woman break- 
 ing in occasionally in a soft accent com- 
 mon enough in the extreme South. 
 
 Miss Gwynne was spending the 
 season with her relations, the Peters, 
 in what was to her, a cool summer re- 
 sort the Carolina mountains and had 
 as yet, rather a dull time of it. She 
 was nineteen as the years go, but in ex- 
 perience could probably have given 
 her flirtatious cousin Joy, cards and 
 spades. A figure that was large and 
 simply superb in its proportions. 
 Beautiful teeth, and a mouth whose 
 corners would turn up in the most pro- 
 voking manner. The subtle charm of 
 her eyes, and voice however, were her 
 greatest attractions, and their influence 
 made themselves felt, slowly, but irre-
 
 Juleps and Clover 35 
 
 sistibly. This fact was known to none 
 better than to Clover Gwynne herself. 
 Ayer found in her a new type. He 
 was so accustomed to the admiration of 
 women, that their evident preference 
 for his society hardly excited his vanity. 
 
 He accepted the fact as a birthright, 
 along with many other advantages 
 which Nature in a beneficent mood had 
 seen fit to confer upon him at his birth 
 famous ancestors his lithe, muscular 
 frame fine eyes good breeding as 
 much a matter of course, as his well 
 assured position in New York as a so- 
 ciety and club man. 
 
 He had seen through Mrs. Peters the 
 first hour he talked with her, had per- 
 ceived her harmless little schemes, and 
 did not propose to forego the amuse- 
 ment they promised him. But the girl 
 was different. Her attitude puzzled 
 him. She did not respond to his sallies, 
 nor show any signs of approval al- 
 though he made for him unusual ef-
 
 36 Juleps and Clover 
 
 forts to fascinate, and brought forward 
 his most amusing stories and anecdotes; 
 he was deeply versed in the light gos- 
 sip women find so absorbing. And the 
 girl's presence seemed to exhilarate 
 him as a strong stimulant. A new sen- 
 sation to one so blase*. 
 
 When a little later he was summoned 
 by the servant to Mr. Peters whom he 
 found holding forth in the wine cellar 
 on the merits of Kentucky whiskey, 
 Miss Gwynne said to her cousin : 
 
 "I thought Northern men were such 
 boors. This one seems to me to be way 
 beyond our Georgia men. He has seen 
 more and knows more than the men 
 down here, and oh ! how easy and 
 graceful are his manners. Isn't he 
 handsome ? He makes you think of 
 one whose grandfather must have been 
 very highly bred. They always told 
 me that the Yankees were such vulgar 
 people." 
 
 " Yes, my dear," replied Joy Peters,
 
 Juleps and Clover 37 
 
 " no doubt he compares favorably with 
 Georgians, for he is really an excep- 
 tionally fine gentleman, but you should 
 see our Richmond men. We have lots 
 like Mr. Ayer. Besides, you know, 
 New Yorkers are not really Yankees, 
 and generally resent being called so. 
 They are to my mind, the most civilized 
 of the Northerners. You know many 
 of them sympathized with our side dur- 
 ing the war. Although," she added, 
 after a moment's pause, "Frazier tells 
 me Mr. Ayer's father was a Union offi- 
 cer." 
 
 " I am glad he fought, or his father 
 did," said Miss Gwynne. "My father 
 always said that the meanest white men 
 alive, were the copperheads up North." 
 
 The ladies resumed their reading and 
 the afternoon sun slipped quietly down 
 behind the tree-tops of the orchard. 
 
 Miss Gwynne at length put by her 
 book to watch a stray cat sniffing around 
 a bed of mint, which was the particular
 
 38 Juleps and Clover 
 
 pride of Mrs. Peters. Pussy disap- 
 peared in the mint, and Clover turned 
 toward her cousin, giving utterance to 
 her thoughts. 
 
 "I think the men might like some 
 more julep. Mr. Lee said yesterday 
 that you Virginians were the only peo- 
 ple that knew how to make it," and 
 then after a pause, she added : " don't 
 you think it is funny that two men so 
 unlike as Mr. Lee and Mr. Ayer, should 
 be such great friends ? I don't believe 
 Mr. Ayer likes Southerners. Did you 
 notice how haughtily he looked at Mr. 
 Parker when he spoke of * Black Re- 
 publicans,' at dinner last night ? For 
 the moment I feared he meant to chal- 
 lenge Parker. I believe he is just as 
 quick to flash up as any of our cava- 
 liers, as you call them. I like him to 
 look so masterful and strong." 
 
 "Don't you bother too much about 
 what Mr. Ayer thinks, or what he 
 does," replied Mrs. Peters in a high,
 
 Juleps and Clover 39 
 
 harsh tone, and as Clover raised her 
 eyebrows, in unfeigned astonishment, 
 Mrs. Peters got up, saying : 
 
 "I must get the julep, or Frazier 
 will be storming around here. Noth- 
 ing arouses him so much as having 
 visitors." 
 
 'Lish, who had just succeeded in pok- 
 ing the stray cat out of the mint bed, 
 with the aid of his long hickory fishing- 
 pole, was dispatched for the men. 
 They came, bringing some julep, which 
 Mr. Peters had attempted to make him- 
 self, in defiance of the unwritten law, 
 which holds in the South, that this 
 delectable concoction can only be mixed 
 by a woman " a woman of birth, sir," 
 as Mr. Peters explained. The julep 
 was somewhat stronger than usual, and 
 under its influence, the genial nature 
 of the host asserted itself. 
 
 " Joy, my dear," said he, " do you 
 remember that Ohio fellow who was 
 brought over here last Spring by Mr.
 
 4-O Juleps and Clover 
 
 Joshua Barbs? What was his name; 
 Busby, wasn't it? Yes, Busby. He 
 was a good fellow, a little stiff and sat 
 so near the edge of his chair, I feared 
 he'd slip off. Well, one afternoon Mr. 
 Busby rode up with Barbs, and I sent 
 word to Joy to make some julep for a 
 Yankee that means not too much whis- 
 key, they're not used to it, you know. 
 It was very hot and Busby looked 
 thirsty. The loving cup ; this one. 
 You see it has a glass bottom was 
 filled and handed to him first. It was 
 his first julep, and I think it was his 
 first loving cup at any rate, he gath- 
 ered all the straws, and commenced to 
 drink. Finally he settled back in his 
 chair with a sigh of perfect bliss, still 
 drinking, and his eyes wandered with a 
 far away expression, up to the ceiling. 
 The julep could be seen through the 
 bottom of the glass sinking slowly 
 you know this cup holds two quarts. 
 A look of horror crept over Joshua
 
 Juleps and Clover 41 
 
 Barb's face you see he felt responsible 
 for Busby's behavior, and I believe 
 from what Joy told me afterward, that 
 I"- 
 
 " Yes," cried Mrs. Peters, breaking 
 in and ending the story for him : " I 
 was ashamed of you. You looked as 
 though your last chance for a julep was 
 going for life. Mr. Busby did stop 
 at length, and looking around, he said : 
 
 " ' Ain't any of you folks goin' to drink 
 with me ? ' 
 
 "Mr. Barbs groaned aloud, and Mr. 
 Peters for the first time since I married 
 him, lost his temper, and cried : 
 
 "'That sir, depends entirely upon 
 you, sir.' ' 
 
 Peters laughed heartily at his own say- 
 ings, and told how Mr. Busby had been 
 tied on his horse in case as Joshua 
 Barbs suggested that the sun proved 
 too much for him. 
 
 " For my part," continued the South- 
 erner, "I don't blame the Ohio man
 
 42 Juleps and Clover 
 
 much. Just imagine having wasted 
 thirty-five years of life without ever 
 having known the unspeakable delight 
 the satisfaction consolation and 
 lastly, the amount of absolute refresh- 
 ment for soul and body, to be obtained 
 in a mint julep, made only as a South- 
 ern lady, born and bred, can make it. 
 
 " First off, you know, she takes a long 
 thin glass, in her pretty hands, and 
 while she's looking around for the 
 sugar bowl, she bruises a sprig of mint 
 in the glass carefully throwing out the 
 crushed leaves afterward. Then with 
 her great-grandmother's silver spoon, 
 she stirs half a tablespoonful of fine 
 ' sugar, with just enough water to melt 
 it. Two sprigs of mint next go against 
 either side of the glass, stems down, 
 and to hold them in place, she fills the 
 glass two-thirds full of crushed ice. 
 After that, comes a half a jigger of 
 your best brandy. Next, the same 
 quantity of fine old Jamaica or St.
 
 Juleps and Clover 43 
 
 Croix rum. Now drop into this nectar 
 of the gods, a strawberry or two 
 wild ones if possible, their odor is finer 
 than the tame a bit of pineapple, half 
 a slice of orange with the peel left on ; 
 then take two long white oat straws, 
 and while you consume it slowly, re- 
 turn thanks to the Giver of all Good." 
 
 And suiting the action to the word, 
 Peters buried his Roman nose in the 
 mint glass. Joy smiled at her husband's 
 unwonted eloquence. 
 
 " It takes a powerful emotion to drive 
 Frazier to utterance," she said to Lee. 
 
 While Peters was holding forth on 
 the merits of Virginia women and mint 
 juleps, Wallace Ayer and Clover had 
 drifted to the opposite end of the long 
 veranda. Clover, half reclining in 
 the hammock, with her misty white 
 gown clinging round her plump figure, 
 as though it loved to reveal the perfect 
 curves of so fair a maiden. To keep 
 the hammock swaying, one shapely foot
 
 44 Juleps and Clover 
 
 tapped the floor. " The prettiest ankle 
 I have ever seen " idly thought Ayer 
 as he sat on the veranda railing, with 
 his back resting against a pillar. 
 
 The sun fell in level red rays athwart 
 the white swaying gown, and creeping 
 over to Lee, reminded him that many 
 miles lay between them and Wainhill. 
 
 " Ayer," he called, " I am truly sorry 
 to tear you away from such pleasant 
 company." And ordering their horses, 
 they were soon homeward bound. Ayer 
 was mounted on Peters' best hunter. 
 As they caught a parting glimpse of 
 the house through the trees, Ayer dis- 
 cerned the figure of Clover at the 
 window of her room, watching them 
 out of sight.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Whether at Nseshapiir or Babylon, 
 Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run, 
 The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop 
 The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one. 
 
 THREE days after the events re- 
 counted in the last chapter, Ayer 
 knocked at Lee's room, which faced his 
 own across the hall. A sleepy growl 
 came from within, which quickly 
 changed to an intelligible voice on 
 Ayer's explaining who it was. Lee un- 
 locked the door, and then rolling back 
 into bed, said : 
 
 " I thought it was that nigger Pete. 
 Don't mind my yawns, I'll be awake in 
 a moment." 
 
 Ayer seated himself on the foot of 
 the bed, and after smoking contem- 
 platively for a moment, remarked : 
 
 " It seems to me, Lee, that we could 
 
 45
 
 46 Juleps and Clover 
 
 do worse than ride over to the Peters' 
 place and thank them for their kindness 
 to us the other day." 
 
 "All right," said Lee, stretching him- 
 self, and showing no disposition what- 
 ever to rise, "I'll send for my coffee 
 and then go with you. It's only eight 
 o'clock now, and we can get there be- 
 fore it's too hot to ride comfortably. 
 Had your breakfast ? " 
 
 Ayer shook his head. 
 
 The only servant in the club, after 
 repeated summons, appeared, and 
 breakfast, or rather coffee was ordered 
 for both in Lee's room. 
 
 The old Metropolitan Club like 
 many other things in Wainhill, was 
 more name than reality, and lived some- 
 what precariously on the proceeds of 
 the bar bill and the money spent by the 
 occasional visitors who came to town 
 from time to time. 
 
 The arrival of Lee and Ayer had 
 created a mild furore in the town, and
 
 Juleps and Clover 47 
 
 their taking rooms at the club had 
 averted its financial ruin for that sea- 
 son, at least. 
 
 " Lee," said Ayer, as they were eat- 
 ing breakfast, "tell me something about 
 this Georgia girl at the Peters'. Is she 
 as unsophisticated as she seems ? " 
 
 " Oh, she's young, all right ; " replied 
 Lee, guardedly, "but I think you'll 
 find very little of the schoolgirl in her. 
 Her people of course, are * first fam- 
 ilies.' In fact, her father is noted 
 even in Georgia for his family pride, 
 and her grandfather was" 
 
 " Never mind her grandfather, tell 
 me something about herself. Is she a 
 flirt, or does she take people, men I 
 mean, au grand serieux ? " 
 
 " Now that's something you can 
 judge for yourself, better than I can 
 tell you. You know women, and ought 
 to be able to read a young girl like that 
 at a glance." 
 
 " I don't profess to understand
 
 48 Juleps and Clover 
 
 women," replied Ayer. " No man does 
 who has seen much of them. They 
 don't understand themselves half the 
 time. But you have not answered my 
 question, old fellow." 
 
 " Is she a flirt ? Is she unsophisti- 
 cated ? Is she quiet ? Is she fast ? " 
 laughed Lee. "All Southern women 
 are the first and none of them are the 
 last." 
 
 " That's a trifle obscure," said Ayer, 
 with a smile ; " if I had made such a 
 sweeping remark about anything 
 Southern, you would have resented it 
 instantly. I see that I shall have to 
 find out for myself. However, you 
 may tell me something of her family 
 without going back to her remote an- 
 cestors, if you will." 
 
 " She has a father and two unmar- 
 ried brothers, older than herself," said 
 Lee, checking off the items on his fin- 
 gers. " Mother died years ago. They 
 are quite rich for Georgia big planta-
 
 Juleps and Clover 49 
 
 tion. Had hundreds of niggers, * befo 
 de wah,' and anything else you'd like 
 to know? " 
 
 " Oh no, your description is a per- 
 fect picture. You admit nothing ex- 
 cept the family silver, or, is it possible 
 horrible thought that the Gwynne's 
 have none." 
 
 " Lots of it," laughed Lee, " at least 
 they had. Buried it you know, to save 
 it from Sherman's bummers, and have 
 not yet found the hiding place. I sup- 
 pose you've heard that story before." 
 
 " Many's the time," replied his 
 friend ; " what immense quantities of 
 silver must have been used in the 
 South ! Come, get up, you can't pos- 
 sibly stay in bed any longer." 
 
 Two hours later when the men ar- 
 rived at the Peters' plantation, Mrs. 
 Peters and Miss Gwynne came out on 
 the veranda and greeted them with 
 evident pleasure. 
 
 " It has been awfully stupid here the
 
 50 Juleps and Clover 
 
 last few days," said Miss Gwynne, ex- 
 tending both hands, and grasping 
 Ayer's. " I'm so glad you have come. 
 I intended to ride this afternoon, all 
 alone Joy don't care to go." 
 
 " Mayn't I go with you ? " said Ayer, 
 instantly. " We can start about four 
 and I'll bring you back in time for 
 dinner." 
 
 " Of course, you may ride with me," 
 said Clover, archly, " only you must 
 take me into town, as I have to dine 
 with the Barrys, at the Beauregard 
 this evening." 
 
 " How are you going to get back 
 here," inquired Ayer, "or are you to 
 spend the night there ? " 
 
 " Well," said Clover, with apparent 
 hesitation, " Mr. Peters promised to 
 call for me, but I suppose you'll volun- 
 teer now." 
 
 " Most certainly I shall," replied 
 Ayer, and so it was arranged. 
 
 " My dear Clover," said Mrs. Peters
 
 Juleps and Clover 51 
 
 to Miss Gwynne, when the ladies were 
 alone after luncheon, " I shall certainly 
 have to write your father that you will 
 need looking after. You were shock- 
 ingly bold with Mr. Ayer this morn- 
 ing. Here I am, giving you an oppor- 
 tunity to establish yourself. For the 
 sake of the family, I trust you will be- 
 have with becoming dignity." 
 
 " Oh, father won't mind. Northern 
 men are so conventional, I was forced 
 to talk that way. Mr. Ayer could not 
 take a gentle hint. Besides," she ad- 
 ded, innocently, looking Joy straight 
 in the eye, " I didn't suppose you 
 wanted him." 
 
 " Clover," said Mrs. Peters, with dig- 
 nity, " you are an extremely silly girl, 
 and will get yourself into trouble, if 
 you go on in this way. Mr. Ayer is 
 not a man to flirt with and then throw 
 over. You will not get off so easily 
 with him." 
 
 " I'm not afraid," replied Clover, with
 
 52 Juleps and Clover 
 
 a smile. " I reckon he can take care of 
 himself. Mr. Lee told me the other 
 day he was an awful trifler. Always 
 something new on hand and never in 
 earnest about anything. I guess a 
 little rough handling will do him good, 
 and besides I'd give anything to ruffle 
 his calm assurance of manner." 
 
 Mrs. Peters, who had been watching 
 with increasing uneasiness Ayer's de- 
 meanor toward her cousin, had con- 
 cluded that her own chances of absorb- 
 ing his attention were fast declining, 
 and felt called upon to interfere with 
 true feminine love of meddling in the 
 little game commencing under her 
 eyes. 
 
 "Have a care, Clover," said she. 
 " I've seen more men than you have 
 and sometimes one happens along, who 
 is very hard to manage. If you take my 
 advice, you " but Miss Gwynne cut 
 short any further admonition by tumb- 
 ling out of the hammock, saying that
 
 Juleps and Clover 53 
 
 she thought it about time to put on her 
 riding habit. 
 
 Meanwhile Ayer had patiently lis- 
 tened to Mr. Peters' somewhat lengthy 
 recollections of war times. The con- 
 versation had then turned on the re- 
 spective merits of North Carolina and 
 Virginia. 
 
 This last topic was a source of con- 
 tention between the two Southerners, 
 as Lee shared strongly in the feeling 
 prevailing throughout the South, that 
 North Carolinians, with exceptions of 
 course, were a pretty poor lot, and he 
 was not at all times able to disguise 
 this sentiment. 
 
 " Of course, Mr. Peters, you under- 
 stand," said Lee, " I have no personal 
 feeling in the matter whatever, but I 
 have always held to the idea that Caro- 
 lina's Penal Colony in her early days of 
 precarious existence may have had a 
 certain amount of unpleasant bearing 
 on a few strains of Carolina's blood
 
 54 Juleps and Clover 
 
 mind now, I don't say all, but only a 
 small minority ; and then again, when 
 one considers the early influence of the 
 bold buccaneers and fierce pirates 
 who infested her shores, finding in the 
 peculiar formation of her many reefs 
 and harbors, a haven of refuge in times 
 of trouble. 
 
 " For more than a decade after its 
 founding, nearly all of Carolina's cur- 
 rency consisted of the Spanish gold and 
 silver, brought in by free-booters. But 
 when the pirates were so unwise as to 
 turn against their friendly hosts, and 
 the swaggering Blackbeard held 
 Charleston itself to ransom, a new light 
 as to the iniquity of piracy dawned 
 upon the Carolinians in that early day, 
 and they finished Kidd's career at Exe- 
 cution Dock and swung Blackbeard's 
 shaggy head from the bowsprit of a 
 Virginia cruiser." 
 
 This argument to the great amuse- 
 ment of Ayer, grew gradually warmer
 
 Juleps and Clover 55 
 
 until Lee brought the discussion to an 
 abrupt close by saying : 
 
 " Why, even Ayer knows that all the 
 people living in the northern tier of 
 counties in your state, call themselves 
 Virginians * just over the border, sir,' 
 and all those that live in the southern 
 part claim to be South Carolinians. 
 Isn't that so, Ayer ? " 
 
 " Don't appeal to me," said Ayer, see- 
 ing that even the good-natured Mr. Pet- 
 ers was about to lose his temper at this 
 fresh insult to the state of his nativity. 
 "Come outside, I want Mr. Peters to 
 show me the stables. Have you got a 
 horse to sell me, Mr. Peters? The one 
 I rode over here to-day is a wretched 
 beast. Does nothing but rack." 
 
 Peters brightened up instantly at the 
 prospect of a horse trade, and forget- 
 ting the vindication of North Carolina 
 and Mackworth County, which he was 
 on the point of delivering, led the way 
 to the stables.
 
 56 Juleps and Clover 
 
 The merits of the various horses con- 
 sumed the time rapidly, and while they 
 were still talking, the order came for 
 Miss Gwynne's horse. 
 
 Ayer at once had his horse brought 
 out and mounting, rode up to the ve- 
 randa. There he found Clover alone, 
 buttoning her glove. The tight fitting 
 riding habit showed her figure to the 
 utmost advantage, and for the second 
 time, Ayer felt creeping over him the 
 suggestion of her strange power of 
 fascination. Her horse was brought 
 up, and when Ayer lifted her with a 
 quick steady movement into the sad- 
 dle, she smiled shyly at him and mur- 
 mured in her prettiest soft Southern 
 drawl 
 
 " How strong you are ! I like strong 
 men ! " 
 
 At the implied compliment, Wallace 
 Ayer blushed with pleasure in fact he 
 blushed twice the second time at the 
 idea that the appreciation of a simple
 
 Juleps and Clover 57 
 
 country maiden could cause him such 
 elation. 
 
 He, the conquering hero of in- 
 numerable skirmishes among the daugh- 
 ters of Eve in every clime and nation 
 he, Wallace Ayer, who had taken 
 for his own, the motto of the dissolute 
 patricians of ancient Rome : " ZONAM 
 SOLVERE." 
 
 It was a new point of view, a new 
 sensation, for him to regard a woman as 
 an individual. Previous to his ac- 
 quaintance with Clover, women, collect- 
 ively, had represented in his estima- 
 tion and experience, only an emotion. 
 Whether they were of high or low de- 
 gree, cultured or coarse if he thought 
 of it at all he regarded their position 
 in life as a mere matter of accident, in 
 nowise affecting the essential fact, viz, 
 their sex. If they were pretty and 
 young, they gratified his highly cul- 
 tivated sense of the beautiful if not, 
 " voila toute \ " they were still women.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 And this I know : Whether the one True Light 
 Kindle to Love, or Wrath consume me quite, 
 One flash of It within the Tavern caught 
 Better than in the Temple lost out-right. 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 THAT afternoon they rode far out 
 into the mountains, through long un- 
 used roads and woodland bridal paths, 
 where the trees met and interlaced 
 above their heads. Once they emerged 
 from the forest into an open space, 
 where they could see the whole valley 
 of the Manola at a glance. The scene 
 was superb, with its pine clad moun- 
 tains in the background, and the river 
 and waiving cornfields at their feet. 
 
 Nature was beautiful, but man had 
 defaced her in many places with his so- 
 called improvements. 
 58
 
 Juleps and Clover 59 
 
 Clover and Ayer gladly turned into 
 the woods again and cantered over the 
 soft roads. The day was almost perfect. 
 Cooler than it had been for weeks, and 
 singularly restful. Here and there they 
 passed a mountaineer's cabin, built in 
 some secluded nook, surrounded by the 
 ghastly trunks of huge pine trees, 
 branchless and dead, but still standing 
 sentinel-like proudly erect, trees that 
 had been girdled and killed by the 
 shiftless settlers, who were too lazy to 
 cut and burn them. The earth had 
 been barely scratched around their 
 roots and corn or wheat planted. With 
 the wretched crop thus raised, a few 
 hogs, and perhaps an illicit whiskey- 
 still, the mountaineer arid his gaunt 
 family would eke out a forlorn ex- 
 istence. 
 
 Sad-faced, half-naked children, with 
 blue eyes and shocks of faded yellow 
 hair that bore evidence to the pure 
 Anglo-Saxon stock of their ancestors,
 
 60 Juleps and Clover 
 
 stared at them from the cabin door- 
 steps, or hung listlessly from the tum- 
 ble-down fences, as they rode past. 
 
 Sometimes they met a woman, near 
 the clearing, often with a pipe in her 
 toothless mouth and a look of hopeless 
 poverty on her faded face. Not an 
 overworked, or a diseased-stricken face, 
 but one that seems never to have 
 known what joy or comfort was. A 
 woman that had never smiled. Men 
 too, they occasionally passed, tall and 
 gaunt, without a trace of brightness in 
 their faces, but withal, a certain dogged 
 independence of bearing, as though 
 conscious of their hopeless wretched- 
 ness, but asked no help from man. 
 
 Such appeared to Ayer, the Carolin- 
 ian mountaineers. The most distinctly 
 American people on this continent 
 " white trash," their lowland neighbors 
 called them, but still in some cases, the 
 descendants of the stalwart old fron- 
 tiersman, who reclaimed Kentucky and
 
 Juleps and Clover 61 
 
 Tennessee from the Indians, after the 
 fiercest border wars on record. 
 
 Brave, the Northerner knew them to 
 be, for they and their class in the South 
 had filled the rank and file of the Con- 
 federate armies and formed one of the 
 most gallant and devoted soldiers the 
 world has ever seen. These were the 
 men who fought for months, subsisting 
 on nothing but parched corn, and who 
 fell by the thousands, to uphold an 
 oligarchy, and a social system which 
 bore most oppressively upon them and 
 their fellows, and which had been 
 largely instrumental in lowering them 
 to their present state. 
 
 Ayer and his companion talked but 
 little except when the former told of 
 scenes in far distant countries, which 
 were recalled by their present sur- 
 roundings. Sometimes they forded 
 small streams, and once found them- 
 selves lost for a few moments, but the 
 road was soon recovered, and at sun-
 
 62 Juleps and Clover 
 
 down they drew up their tired horses 
 at the Beauregard Hotel, on the out- 
 skirts of Wainhill. There Ayer left 
 Miss Gwynne, promising to call for her 
 at nine that evening, and he rode 
 slowly on to the club. 
 
 Ayer was on hand promptly at the 
 time appointed and was kept waiting 
 half an hour before Clover appeared. 
 He was presented to the Barrys, a 
 rather attractive family from Savannah, 
 and after a short chat with them, 
 Clover and he mounted and bade good- 
 night to the little group which gathered 
 to see them off. 
 
 They crossed the Manola by the 
 Long Bridge, and skirted along the 
 river until they reached the meadows a 
 few miles above. Here they enjoyed a 
 sharp gallop in the moonlight, to which 
 a spice of excitement and danger was 
 given by the horses shying at the way- 
 side stumps. Then they let the horses 
 walk, and gave themselves up to the
 
 Juleps and Clover 63 
 
 subtle influences of the scene and the 
 hour. The moon half-grown, covered 
 the trees and long meadow stretches 
 with a soft downy light, and brought 
 out with startling clearness the white 
 road in front of them. Occasionally a 
 hare scuttled across the way almost 
 under the horses' feet, or an owl hooted 
 in the distance. 
 
 The two rode on, chatting in an un- 
 dertone until long past midnight, and 
 when at length the Peters' place ap- 
 peared, Ayer felt that he would be will- 
 ing to ride on indefinitely in the moon- 
 light for a lifetime if Clover were at 
 his side. 
 
 The house loomed up silent and de- 
 serted. As he lifted Miss Gwynne 
 gently from her horse it seemed to him 
 that her arm rested on his shoulder in 
 a half reluctant manner, an instant 
 longer perhaps than was necessary for 
 mere support. He glanced keenly at 
 her face. Her deep, soft eyes were
 
 64 Juleps and Clover 
 
 tremulous with an emotional light, 
 and the mouth smiled mischievously. 
 "L'audace, Toujours 1'audace,'' thought 
 Ayer, and before she was firmly on the 
 ground, he caught her up in his arms 
 and carried her lightly up the steps to 
 the veranda. She struggled for a mo- 
 ment and then let her face sink on his 
 shoulder. For what seemed to him 
 afterward the supreme moment of his 
 life he held her there without a word 
 from either. Then she wrenched her- 
 self suddenly loose and pointing quickly 
 with her riding whip toward the horses, 
 disappeared. The door shut behind her, 
 and Ayer with his blood on fire, looked 
 around to find the object which oc- 
 casioned the sudden interruption, in- 
 tending to visit his anger in no light 
 measure on the man, beast or devil, 
 who thus interfered with his pleasure. 
 
 The tired horses stood listlessly hang- 
 ing their heads, and a little darkey was 
 holding their bridles. The grin faded
 
 Juleps and Clover 65 
 
 quickly from the boy's dusky face when 
 he saw Ayer's menacing expression. 
 Annoyed as the Northerner was at be- 
 ing interrupted and spied upon, he 
 could not help smiling at the terror of 
 the child. He recognized the small 
 'Lish, who had brought him breakfast 
 on his first visit to the Peters. 
 
 " What are you doing prowling 
 around at this time of night, 'Lish ? " 
 said Wallace, not unkindly; gathering 
 up his reins and springing into the sad- 
 dle. 
 
 " Marse Peters he dun tole me to set 
 up an' fetch yo' bosses to de stable," 
 said the child, greatly relieved to find 
 that his untimely interruption was to 
 have no painful results. 
 
 " Very well, 'Lish," said Ayer, check- 
 ing his horse for a moment, " tell Mr. 
 Peters that I find I cannot accept his 
 invitation to stay here to-night. I have 
 some business in town early to-mor- 
 row."
 
 66 Juleps and Clover 
 
 The little darkey watched the horse- 
 man disappear behind the trees. Then 
 he scrambled up on Miss Gwynne's 
 horse and bursting with importance 
 clattered to the barn. 
 
 " I dun thought he gwine to kill me 
 shur dis time ; " 'Lish confided to the 
 mare as he stood on tiptoe to take off 
 her bridle. 
 
 The first faint flushes of dawn were 
 showing in the sky when Ayer drew 
 rein before the club. He rang repeat- 
 edly before Pete appeared, rubbing his 
 eyes. A few sharp words aroused him, 
 and he led to the stable the now ex- 
 hausted horse the second Ayer had 
 used up that day. The rider, too, was 
 tired out, and drew off his boots with- 
 out waiting for slow moving Pete's as- 
 sistance. He threw himself on the bed 
 and sank into a sleep that was not 
 dreamless.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Oh threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise ! 
 One thing at least is certain This Life flies ; 
 One thing is certain and the rest is Lies ; 
 The Flower that once has blown, forever dies. 
 Omar Khayyam, 
 
 AYEE'S previous life had rendered 
 him unfitted to look very seriously on 
 what he considered a mere episode. 
 He was surprised at himself when he 
 found how persistently every detail of 
 his midnight ride and final scene with 
 Miss Gwynne came back to him during 
 the week that followed. His thoughts 
 kept drifting back to her and resting 
 with a strange satisfaction on their last 
 interview. He could at times scarcely 
 throw off the impression that her gentle 
 touch was on his shoulder and he was 
 haunted by a pair of dreamy eyes. 
 However, he was not in the habit of 
 67
 
 68 Juleps and Clover 
 
 showing his feelings, and while Lee no- 
 ticed the abstraction of his friend he 
 failed to divine the true cause. At 
 first he joked Ayer about his devotion 
 to Miss Gwynne but soon dropped the 
 subject, as it seemed neither to annoy 
 nor interest Ayer in the least. 
 
 " You have not changed a bit since 
 college days, old man," Lee had said 
 one day at lunch, "you rush a girl as 
 though she were the only woman on 
 earth, and then drop her without the 
 slightest apparent cause. 
 
 "Now the other day you rode off 
 with Miss Gwynne with an enthusiasm 
 I have rarely seen, even in you, and the 
 next morning you walked around in a 
 day dream and smoked like a blast 
 furnace ; now you don't seem to care 
 whether you ever go near the Peters' 
 place again or not." 
 
 "I'd just as lieve go, I'll go to-day 
 with you, if you say so, shall we ? " 
 said Ayer, apparently without much
 
 Juleps and Clover 69 
 
 interest; "as to Miss Gwynne, I'm 
 afraid you're right about my changeable 
 habits." 
 
 " Why, Wallace," said Lee, " do you 
 remember that pretty Landsdale girl 
 you brought down from Providence to 
 the Promenade ? You were the type of 
 devotion to her at the Sophomore Ger- 
 man and completely turned her head. 
 You were rather a good looking fellow 
 in those days and you used your ad- 
 vantages unmercifully. Then at the 
 Promenade itself, you remember we 
 shared a box in old Carl's Opera House, 
 you suddenly marched off with pique 
 and practically abandoned Miss Lans- 
 dale without reason, as fur as any of us 
 ever knew. I think you took Jim 
 Barnard's girl up in the gallery and 
 kept her from him half the evening. I 
 never understood you that night ; Miss 
 Lansdale was far and away the best 
 girl there, and I really think she was 
 very fond of you."
 
 jo Juleps and Clover 
 
 " Lee," commenced Ayer, seriously at 
 first ; but when some of the events of 
 that evening came back to him, he 
 could not help laughing. " Lee, the 
 whole thing was perfectly simple. I 
 was extremely fond of Miss Helen 
 Lansdale in those days, and the trouble 
 was simply this ; you know that I am 
 the least jealous man in the world, but 
 there is one thing I cannot, and will 
 not do, and that is to run opposition to 
 a * cad-a-chump ' we used to call them 
 in the old days. 
 
 " If I like a girl and see much of her 
 am at all devoted I don't care how 
 many others there are in the game, if 
 they are decent fellows, but, if a girl 
 wants some counter jumper around, 
 why she can have him, but I with- 
 draw." 
 
 "You're a proud man," said Lee, 
 putting down his pipe and looking his 
 friend in the face, "and you'll get into 
 trouble some day. You have an aristo-
 
 Juleps and Clover 71 
 
 cratic contempt for those beneath you 
 that won't do in this country." 
 
 " I've no contempt for those beneath 
 me, but merely for those who are in- 
 feriors and assume to be equals. It's a 
 nice state of things for a Southern gen- 
 tleman to question such an attitude. 
 You quite agree with me in practice, if 
 not in theory. You remember Billy 
 Cobbs ; you had about the same opinion 
 of him. that I had. He got introduced 
 to Miss Lansdale by some one or other 
 (to go back to the original subject) 
 after I had refused to present him. I 
 objected to her cutting Jim Dunstan's 
 dance to waltz with Cobbs the second 
 time. She informed me that she would 
 do as she pleased, and that she con- 
 sidered Mr. Cobbs a most charming in- 
 dividual. I told her in reply that he 
 was not a man she should care to know, 
 and incidentally added that I would 
 leave if she cared to have anything more 
 to do with him."
 
 J2 Juleps and Clover 
 
 "And she told you to go," broke in 
 Lee, with a laugh ; " any girl of spirit 
 would." 
 
 " She did and I went," replied Ayer. 
 " Some of these days when I am in a 
 confidential mood, I'll tell you why I 
 feel so strongly on such a trivial sub- 
 ject. For that was not mere boyish 
 fancy, but a conviction that is still as 
 strong as ever in me." 
 
 " Tell me your story now, Ayer." 
 
 "No," said the Northerner, gloomily, 
 as he rose up, "I am going into the 
 library to read until we start for the 
 Peters'." 
 
 The sun was well down when Lee 
 and Ayer reached the Peters' place. 
 The planter was on the veranda, and 
 seemed delighted to see them. 
 
 " The ladies are out for a drive," 
 said Mr. Peters, " but they will soon be 
 back. You must dine here and spend 
 the night both of you. It is really 
 shameful the way in which you have
 
 Juleps and Clover 73 
 
 deserted us of late, Mr. Ayer ; Clover 
 Gwynne has been wondering what 
 could have happened to you." 
 
 " I shall be most happy to stay to- 
 night," replied Ayer, "especially as I 
 may have to go North soon." 
 
 " That's a bluff," said Lee, winking 
 at Peters. " I do not believe he will go 
 at all. Our climate is affecting him, 
 Peters. He is not nearly so restless as 
 he used to be." 
 
 " Really becoming lazy, I assure 
 you." 
 
 Dinner was ready when the ladies 
 returned, and Ayer merely shook hands 
 with Clover before she ran upstairs to 
 dress. She greeted him with a frank 
 smile, and seemed relieved and pleased 
 to find him there. 
 
 During dinner, the conversation was 
 of course, general, and Ayer had 
 abundant opportunity to reflect on how 
 foolish, not to say, rude, he had been 
 to keep away from such a pretty girl
 
 74 Juleps and Clover 
 
 for an entire week. He had attributed 
 the impression made on him by their 
 ride, to his prolonged absence from the 
 society of ladies, but now realized, as 
 he watched her across the table, play- 
 fully bantering Lee about that gentle- 
 man's neglect, that something more 
 than an ordinary affaire, awaited him if 
 he saw much more of her. 
 
 " Why not," he reflected. " It is fair 
 game and no favor. She is not un- 
 skilled and can hold her own. Besides, 
 if she takes my attention seriously- 
 well, that might be embarrassing but 
 then that has happened before, and no 
 great harm came of it." 
 j So after dinner, he excused himself 
 from smoking with the men and went 
 out on the veranda. Clover was alone. 
 Apparently she had expected him, for 
 she turned quickly at the sound of his 
 step. 
 
 " I knew you would come," she said, 
 frankly. " What do you think of me
 
 Juleps and Clover 75 
 
 after the other night, Mr. Ayer. I was 
 afraid from your absence that I had lost 
 your respect." 
 
 "Nonsense, I have been busy in 
 town lawyers, you know, "replied the 
 Northerner. 
 
 " I don't believe that. You're laugh- 
 ing at me. You know you could have 
 come if you had wished." 
 
 "Well, I'm here now," said Ayer, 
 " and if I had known that you cared to 
 see me, Miss Gwynne," he added more 
 seriously, "I should have been here 
 long ago. You might have written a 
 note ; but come and take a stroll along 
 the river road, so that I may smoke. 
 Will you need anything over your 
 head ? Can't you use this shawl ? " 
 taking a white crepey thing off of a 
 near by rocking chair. 
 
 " That's Cousin Joy's, but throw it 
 over your arm, I may need it." 
 
 Clover Gwynne went with Ayer 
 without the slightest hesitation. They
 
 76 Juleps and Clover 
 
 crossed the lawn, and in a few steps 
 came to the road that skirted the river. 
 This road they followed for perhaps a 
 quarter of a mile, until they found a 
 fallen tree conveniently near the bank. 
 Clover ensconced herself among the 
 upturned roots, leaving Ayer a more 
 humble seat at her feet. 
 
 " Mr. Ayer," she began, " you must 
 have a bad opinion of us Southern girls." 
 
 " Southern girls are very much like 
 the Northern ones, perhaps rather nicer, 
 Clover," said Ayer, moving closer and 
 striving to rest his arm on her knees. 
 
 "Stop!" said Clover, firmly, but 
 without a trace of annoyance in her 
 voice ; " if you wish to sit quietly where 
 you are I will stay here. If you come 
 any nearer, I shall go back to the 
 house." 
 
 Ayer cheerfully slid back to his seat 
 and bided his time. He drew a pipe 
 from his pocket and proceeded to fill it. 
 He glanced up mischievously and said,
 
 Juleps and Clover 77 
 
 " Do you mind a pipe it's a pledge of 
 good behavior, you know? " 
 
 "If it keeps you still, smoke all you 
 like, Mr. Ayer." 
 
 At their feet the river made a soft 
 monotonous sound as the waves lapped 
 and swished against the grassy bank. 
 
 On either shore, the grass grew down 
 to and indeed, under the water's edge, 
 and in the brilliant, full moonlight, it 
 looked to the silent pair, as though it 
 had just been newly poured from the 
 Giver's hand out over a fresh green 
 meadow-land. A whip-poor-will sung 
 his plaintive solo. 
 
 From the plantation across the moon- 
 lit water, came the sound of the deep 
 baying hounds; probably out with 
 the negroes on a coon-hunt. 
 
 And above and resting on it all, fell 
 the moonlight like a veil of silver, turn- 
 ing into a veritable fairyland, the sylvan 
 glade until it was a fit place only for 
 the loves of true lovers.
 
 78 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Wallace understood Clover's mood 
 and smoked on in silence. The beauty 
 of the night brought him a strange rest- 
 fulness of soul. An owl's sudden hoot 
 in a tree near by startled Clover and 
 aroused them both from their dreamy 
 mood. Presently Ayer began to talk 
 of life in the North. This was a topic 
 of undying interest to the Georgia girl. 
 Brought up remote from cities, she 
 listened with intense interest to his 
 stories of fashionable New York. The 
 Horse Show and the smart dances, the 
 opera and the dinners were all a dream 
 to her, but still far more near and vivid 
 than the Old World scenes he had here- 
 tofore dwelt upon. From society the 
 conversation drifted to the Northern 
 summers, and he told her of golfing and 
 coaching in the Berkshires, gay New- 
 port, and of the lawn parties and yacht- 
 ing along the seashore. Of the water- 
 ing places on Mt. Desert Island, Clover 
 already knew much from other South-
 
 Juleps and Clover 79 
 
 era girls who had flourished there. 
 Tales of life on the water never palled, 
 and she listened while Ayer told her of 
 canoe trips and yachting along the 
 Maine shores, until he feared she would 
 forget the speaker in the fascination of 
 the subject. 
 
 Ayer never appeared to better ad- 
 vantage than when in a serious mood, 
 and seeing his opportunity, he improved 
 it to the utmost. 
 
 Several hours had passed when Ayer 
 lit his last pipe full of tobacco, and said : 
 "Here I've been doing all the talking, 
 and chiefly about myself, too. Won't 
 you tell me about your Georgia life ? 
 It would interest me much more than 
 hearing myself talk." 
 
 "There's not much to tell," replied 
 Clover, sitting up with a sigh. "I 
 would much rather have you go on. 
 This is all so new to me. Our men 
 either can not or will not talk to us 
 girls seriously. You have seen a great
 
 80 Juleps and Clover 
 
 deal, Mr. Ayer. Life must interest you 
 deeply, to observe everything so closely. 
 One thing, however, I don't understand, 
 and that is, what possible reason you 
 can have for liking a little backwood's 
 girl like me after you have known so 
 many society women. Why is it?" 
 
 "I have not said that I did like you, 
 Clover" said Ayer with a smile, 
 which was invisible in the darkness. 
 
 " But, I know you do," said Clover, 
 quietly. 
 
 " We must go back now," she added, 
 after a pause. 
 
 Ayer protested that it was still quite 
 early, but Miss Gwynne insisted. She 
 took his arm as a matter of course, and 
 leaned on it confidingly, as they leis- 
 urely strolled back to the house. Some- 
 thing of her former softness came back, 
 and her voice was low and tender. She 
 sat on the veranda for a few minutes 
 with him, and then rose to bid him 
 good-night, extending her hand with a
 
 Juleps and Clover 81 
 
 grace that was simple and old-fash- 
 ioned. 
 
 Ayer laughed and dropping, half in 
 fun, half respectfully on one knee, pressed 
 his lips upon it. She allowed her hand 
 to linger for a moment in his, and her 
 wonderful eyes lit up for an instant 
 with an expression and fire that was 
 not lost on Ayer, and she was gone. 
 
 After that moonlit evening by the 
 river, Ayer simply gave himself up to 
 Clover Gwynne ; rode with her, walked 
 with her and devoted himself exclu- 
 sively to her, to the ill concealed an- 
 noyance of Mrs. Peters. 
 
 At a cotillon given by the Barrys at 
 the Beauregard, Clover did not dance 
 with any one else, excusing herself when 
 Major Parker came up early in the 
 evening for a waltz, on the ground that 
 she was tired. 
 
 " Now," said she to Ayer, when the 
 angry major had marched off with great 
 dignity, " you'll have to spend the rest
 
 82 Juleps and Clover 
 
 of the evening outside with me. After 
 refusing the major, I cannot dance with 
 any one else ; " so they remained on the 
 veranda until supper. He left her for 
 a moment to get some ices, and on his 
 return found Miss Barry remonstrating 
 with her for her obvious preference for 
 him. 
 
 " Your fine-looking friend from New 
 York will get himself into trouble, if 
 you don't come in and dance with some 
 of our men," he heard Miss Barry say. 
 
 " I don't think he'll give me up for a 
 little risk. Would you, Mr. Ayer ? " 
 said Clover with a flush of pleasure, as 
 that gentleman came up. 
 
 Miss Barry retired discomfited. 
 
 The dance settled the question that 
 had been agitating Wainhill for some 
 time, and the people forthwith concluded 
 that Ayer and Miss Gwynue were en- 
 gaged that it was an excellent match 
 and lost further interest in the matter. 
 All were not of this opinion, however,
 
 Juleps and Clover 83 
 
 as was proved by Colonel Bellows, one 
 evening at the club. 
 
 " He's been a lovin' of her these two 
 months," said that ancient veteran, 
 smoothing his patriarchal beard over 
 his vest to conceal the absence of a 
 necktie and holding out his glass to 
 Pete to fill from the whiskey decanter ; 
 "I've been watchin' 'em an.' I sez to 
 Parker the other day, sez I: 'thet 
 Yankee's got his eye on Dan Gwynne's 
 girl. Them fancy fellers up North hev 
 got a heap of cheek. I reckon old 
 Gwynne will be mad enough when he 
 hears 'bout this business. He holds his 
 head pretty high.' " 
 
 " Mr. Ayer is a gentleman," said 
 Frazier Peters, who had joined the 
 group as the colonel was speaking, 
 " and even if what you surmise is cor- 
 rect, Colonel Bellows, Mr. Gwynne has 
 nothing to object to that I can see." 
 
 " Well," returned the veteran, thought- 
 fully, "mebbe you're right, but them
 
 84 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Yankees is Yankees, and I don't believe 
 in mixed marriages." 
 
 Miss Gwynne and Ayer were invited 
 out together to dinner as a matter of 
 course by the neighbors, and even 
 Frazier and his wife accepted the situ- 
 ation and exchanged grave looks of ap- 
 proval when Ayer dropped in acciden- 
 tally for mint julep, an event which 
 now occurred every afternoon. Even 
 Lee at length began to think the matter 
 looked serious, but, as it was none of 
 his business, he wisely said nothing. 
 
 Discussing the affaire one afternoon 
 with Joy Peters on the veranda, he 
 shifted his responsibility in the matter: 
 
 " Well, Ayer is free, white, and 
 twenty-one; if he had wanted my ad- 
 vice, he would have asked for it."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Moving Finger writes ; and, having writ, 
 Moves on : nor all your Piety nor wit 
 Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, 
 Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. 
 
 Omar Khyyam. 
 
 Miss GWYNNE received the North- 
 erner's attention as a matter of course, 
 a proper tribute from a man to a woman 
 of beauty, as she well knew herself to 
 be. Like many Southern women, she 
 had been brought up to regard men's 
 attention as a most natural and desir- 
 able thing, and, while her vanity was 
 somewhat pleased at having taken from 
 her cousin and kept to herself so diffi- 
 cult a man as Wallace Ayer, she was 
 not overelated. 
 
 Cases of intense, sometimes half 
 frantic devotion she had met with 
 before, and she put her latest conquest 
 85
 
 86 Juleps and Clover 
 
 into this same category, although she 
 found it at times hard to understand an 
 undercurrent of seriousness that she 
 had noticed at first, but which now 
 seemed increasing. Affairs of this sort, 
 she argued to herself, occurred every 
 summer, and it mattered little what the 
 pace was, for the time was short, and 
 although Ayer kept putting off his de- 
 parture from day to day, she knew that 
 a few weeks at the most would separate 
 them. When she thought of going 
 back to her quiet Georgia life, she did 
 feel a pang of loneliness at the idea, 
 and frankly told Ayer so. That gentle- 
 man seemed even less concerned about 
 the future. Enjo} 7 ing the present, he 
 failed to see any reason why things 
 should not stay as they were. The 
 idea of marrying Clover had not en- 
 tered his mind, he simply knew that he 
 was fond of her, was becoming more 
 and more so every day, and had entire 
 possession of the field.
 
 Juleps and Clover 87 
 
 Previous experience would have told 
 him, had he troubled himself to look 
 back into his own short but crowded 
 life, that the pace they were going 
 could not last. 
 
 He had often told Clover that he was 
 fond of her and had freely used the 
 most endearing terms with a smile 
 which robbed them of half their mean- 
 ing, but the words : " I love you " ; he 
 had avoided from some fantastic princi- 
 ple he still retained, despite his many 
 peccadillos, hidden away in a corner 
 of his brain. 
 
 Once, however, he had used it. On 
 the night of the Barrys' dance he had 
 driven home with her. The delicate 
 odor of the roses she wore the white 
 feather boa wound about her throat 
 the excitement of the dance still ting- 
 ling in his blood, had all proved too 
 much for him and had thrown him off 
 his guard, and he had whispered in her
 
 88 Juleps and Clover 
 
 ear the words he had so carefully 
 shunned. 
 
 " Never use those words again, Wal- 
 lace," she said, " unless you mean them 
 with all your soul. Don't trifle, or you 
 will ruin our friendship. Don't be sen- 
 timental, aud behave for just a little 
 longer and then I'll be home in Geor- 
 gia." 
 
 For a moment Ayer would have been 
 willing to repeat what he said and stand 
 by it, but, perhaps, the little unrecog- 
 nized doubt that has saved many a man 
 at a vital crisis, came to his rescue. Be 
 that as it may, the subject dropped and 
 so matters drifted on. Little by little 
 Miss Gwynne entered deeper into Ayer's 
 life, and he never knew how much he 
 really cared for the girl until he was 
 rudely awakened from his day dream. 
 
 One afternoon as the summer season 
 was drawing to its close, Ayer started 
 on horseback for the Peters' place, to 
 keep an engagement with Miss Gwynne.
 
 Juleps and Clover 89 
 
 It was at least an hour before he need 
 start, but he had been impatient all the 
 morning to be up and away. 
 
 All his purchases of timberland had 
 been completed and nothing now de- 
 tained him in Wainhill. Letters from 
 home that day had brought to mind the 
 gaieties he was missing in the North 
 the hunting season was approaching and 
 here he was, lingering and wasting his 
 time in the mountains. He stopped at 
 the Long Bridge to draw tighter the 
 girth of his saddle. The horse was 
 restive and it seemed to him as he 
 pulled tight the strap, that he was 
 bracing himself to leave Clover. 
 
 At the end of the bridge he passed 
 a crossroad, that came from the rear of 
 the Peters' plantation. On this road he 
 saw a buggy with a man and woman in 
 it. They were too far away to distin- 
 guish their features, but the idea oc- 
 curred to him that the girl looked a 
 trifle like Clover Gwynne.
 
 90 Juleps and Clover 
 
 He persuaded himself that it was only 
 a fancy, however, and riding on without 
 looking back he soon disappeared from 
 the view of the occupants of the buggy, 
 whoever they were. He was in high 
 spirits, and ran his horse unmercifully 
 over the soft road in pure excess of vi- 
 tality. The air was getting cooler, with 
 a foretaste of Indian Summer, and his 
 blood tingled with the mere joy of ex- 
 istence. It was in his finest and hap- 
 piest mood that he drew rein on his 
 horse and cantered slowly up the sward 
 toward the house. 
 
 On the veranda he found Clover's 
 maid, who seemed to be very busy 
 about nothing at all, as it occurred to 
 him afterward to his intense surprise, 
 she informed him that : 
 
 " Miss Gwynne had gone out, leaving 
 no word behind ; Mrs. Peters was not 
 well and was lying down, Mr. Peters 
 was at the stable." 
 
 Somewhat perplexed at this very un-
 
 Juleps and Clover 91 
 
 usual proceeding on the part of Clover, 
 he led his horse to the stable. Clover 
 had never before broken an engagement 
 with him a virtue he had admired in 
 her the more, as it was so rare in other 
 women. No one could be found at the 
 stable except the small 'Lish, who 
 emerged from the oat bin when he heard 
 Ayer's voice. 'Lish had profited much 
 of late from the Northerner's generosity 
 and was his most devoted admirer. 
 
 Ayer told him to give his horse some 
 water when he was cool and blanket 
 him until he returned. He then in- 
 quired where Mr. Peters was. 
 
 "I don' 'no', Marse Ayerfo'shur; 
 I'se 'spects he dun gone huntin'." 
 
 As Ayer turned to leave the stable, 
 he noticed Miss Gwynne's horse stand- 
 ing quietly in the stall. 
 
 " 'Lish," said he, "didn't Miss Gwynne 
 ride to-day ? " 
 
 " No, Marse Ayer, she dun' druv in a 
 buggy," 'Lish replied.
 
 92 Juleps and Clover 
 
 The buggy seen at the bridge cross- 
 ing flashed back on Ayer's mind. 
 
 " Whom did she go with, 'Lish," he 
 asked ; " was it not Mr. Peters ? " 
 
 'Lish's big eyes rolled over toward 
 the oat bin. He hitched up one trouser 
 leg and glanced furtively toward the 
 stable door. 'Lish scented trouble in 
 the air. He seemed to hesitate between 
 the two places, which one to select for 
 safety. 
 
 Ayer flung him a quarter : 
 
 " Here, here boy, speak up," his voice 
 husky with nervous impatience. 
 
 " Miss Gwynne dun gone with Marse 
 Harvey White." 
 
 " Who is Harvey White ? " 
 
 "Dunno." 
 
 " When did you first see him around 
 here?" 
 
 "Las' night, he come from Marse 
 Parker's place an' he staid pretty late, 
 when " 
 
 'Lish was about to proceed when
 
 Juleps and Clover 93 
 
 Ayer stopped him, and straightening 
 himself up, he said : 
 
 "That is sufficient. Just tell Miss 
 Gwynne that I called for her. Bring 
 out my horse again." 
 
 As he rode away 'Lish laid his newly- 
 acquired money on the barn floor, 
 danced a coon-jine on it, and finished up 
 the hilarious celebration by turning a 
 handspring, catching up the coin as he 
 went over, a trick of which he was very 
 proud. 
 
 Ayer was surprised to find how much 
 annoyed he was at having his appoint- 
 ment broken in such an unceremonious 
 manner, and for a stranger, of whom he 
 had never heard. 
 
 " Still this White may be kin of hers. 
 They are all related down here," he re- 
 flected. 
 
 At all events he himself had no claim 
 on her, no right to her time, and yet 
 he did not like sharing with another. 
 
 "Who is Harvey White?" asked
 
 94 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Ayer, as he strolled with Lee through 
 the village street that evening. 
 
 " He is a ' Billy Cobbs,' the sort of 
 cad you were talking about the other 
 day." Something seemed to be wrong 
 with Lee's pipe. It engaged all his at- 
 tention. 
 
 " Where is he from, Lee ? " 
 
 " Oh, he's from Raleigh, this state 
 I have met him only once and did not 
 like him." 
 
 Lee resumed with an awkward as- 
 sumption of indifference. " He is a fair 
 sample of the New South, wealthy, un- 
 educated and of very plain origin. You 
 won't care for him. But how did you 
 hear of him ? Is he in town ? " and Lee 
 looked at Ayer curiously. 
 
 " So I understand," said Aver, briefly, 
 "but I have not seen him." 
 
 The men smoked on in silence. Lee 
 glanced at his companion now and then, 
 as though he would divine his moody 
 thoughts. Lee was discreet, however,
 
 Juleps and Clover 95 
 
 and concluded not to force an unwilling 
 confidence. 
 
 Presently Ayer aroused himself as 
 one awakening from a trance. 
 
 " Heigh oh ! the lights of the village 
 are going out. It must be about time 
 we were retracing our tracks." And 
 knocking the long dead ashes from his 
 pipe, they started toward the club at a 
 livelier pace, through the balmy dark- 
 ness of the soft summer's night.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough, 
 A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse and Thou 
 Beside me singing in the Wilderness 
 Oh ! Wilderness were Paradise enow : 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 I would rather be near to you, sweet, 
 
 Than to win an immortal name. 
 I would rather be dear to you, sweet, 
 
 Than to leave an undying fame 
 In the minds of a mighty throng, sweet. 
 
 For man's memory fades away, 
 And there's nothing that lasts so long, sweet, 
 
 As the love of a summer day. 
 
 John Bennett. 
 
 THE next morning Ayer received a 
 note which read as follows : 
 
 " PETERSDALE. 
 "DEAR MR. AYER: 
 
 " I was so sorry to have missed 
 your call yesterday. I reached the 
 house not ten minutes after you had 
 
 96
 
 Juleps and Clover 97 
 
 gone. You might have waited for me. 
 Joy wishes me to ask you to lunch with 
 us to-day. 
 
 " We shall expect you at one. 
 " Hastily and sincerely, 
 " Wednesday. CLOVER GWYNNE." 
 
 Ayer, with a light heart, ordered out 
 his horse after reading the note, and 
 rode over to the Peters'. Miss Gwynne 
 came down in her riding habit and shook 
 hands cordially. She made no explana- 
 tion of her absence of the day before, 
 calmly leaving on him the blame for 
 coming too early and not waiting for 
 her. At lunch, as she was very viva- 
 cious and in the highest spirits, he soon 
 forgot his annoyance. Naturally good- 
 natured, Ayer either readily forgave a 
 slight or resented it on the spot. As 
 Miss Gwynne was in her riding habit 
 and as he had ridden every day for sev- 
 eral weeks with her, he naturally as- 
 sumed that she was going with him that 
 afternoon. He was surprised, when just
 
 98 Juleps and Clover 
 
 as they were finishing lunch, a knocking 
 on the front door summoned the butler, 
 who came back a few moments later and 
 whispered a few words to Miss Gwynne. 
 
 Tell Mr. White," said she, quickly, 
 " that I am quite ready, and send word 
 to John in the stable to bring up my 
 horse." 
 
 " Good afternoon, Mr. Ayer," she 
 said, rising and going to the door, "I 
 hope I shall find you here on my return ; 
 I'm going for a canter out toward Pine 
 Ridge." 
 
 Ayer realized the situation as she was 
 speaking and it flashed over him that 
 he had remained too long in Wainhill. 
 He looked her fixedly in the eyes as he 
 sipped his coffee. She returned his 
 look smilingly for a moment, and then 
 with a trace of hauteur abruptly left 
 the room. 
 
 His first impulse was to follow and 
 remonstrate with her, but the useless- 
 ness of such a course quickly deterred
 
 Juleps and Clover 99 
 
 him. Then after chatting about indif- 
 ferent matters with Peters for some 
 time, it seemed to him that as Mrs. 
 Peters had left them and Frazier had 
 apparently not noticed anything un- 
 usual in Miss Gwynne's actions, he 
 could say good-bye to his host then and 
 there, pleading business in the North, 
 ride back to the club, pack up and 
 leave the next morning. 
 
 Miss Gwynne would be apprised of 
 his sudden departure by note. 
 
 To have left Wainhill that day, how- 
 ever, required more wisdom and caution 
 than Wallace Ayer possessed. 
 
 Nevertheless he came near acting on 
 the idea, at least so far as to leave Pet- 
 ersdale, when Lee unexpectedly arrived. 
 
 Surprised at finding Ayer alone with 
 Frazier Peters, and Miss Gwynne no- 
 where to be seen, he demanded the 
 reason. 
 
 '' Clover's gone out to ride with Har- 
 vey White," answered Peters. "Sit
 
 loo Juleps and Clover 
 
 down. She can't be out much longer. 
 It's nearly time for dinner," and the 
 kind-hearted Southerner, to relieve the 
 situation, rang for some more mint julep, 
 his panacea for all earthly ills. 
 
 Lee looked at Ayer and gave a long, 
 soft whistle. 
 
 That whistle settled Ayer. All his 
 stern Northern blood surged up in his 
 veins, and he determined to see the game 
 through to the end. No thought of re- 
 tiring from the field occurred to him 
 again, and in its place was a fixed plan 
 to punish Clover Gwynne for the slight 
 she had put upon him. 
 
 When toward evening laughing voices 
 in the distance announced the approach 
 of the riders, Ayer was still there, smok- 
 ing quietly. His face was a trifle paler, 
 but his manner as he shook hands with 
 Mr. White whom Clover presented to 
 him, was entirely free from any trace of 
 annoyance, and nothing showed the 
 struggle he had passed through.
 
 Juleps and Clover 101 
 
 Once as he looked at Clover, she 
 caught a dangerous glint in his eyes 
 that seemed for a second stern and 
 cruel. Clover shuddered involuntarily, 
 and looked again. She must have been 
 mistaken nothing but kindliness was 
 to be seen there. 
 
 White proved to be a large and 
 rather fine looking man, though there 
 was something about his bearing that 
 told Ayer's trained instinct that his 
 claim to the title of gentleman, had not 
 been unquestioned. 
 
 Mr. White did not stay long and was 
 not invited to dinner by Mr. Peters ; 
 although he evidently expected it, Mr. 
 Peters quietly remained standing, keep- 
 ing the others on their feet also, until 
 White found it advisable to leave. He 
 had a moment's conversation aside with 
 Miss Gwyune, and waving his hand 
 familiarly to the group on the porch, 
 he mounted and rode away. Lee had 
 taken no trouble to conceal his dislike,
 
 1O2 Juleps and Clover 
 
 and the Peters appeared to feel but lit- 
 tle regret at the departure of Mr. 
 White. 
 
 That evening the dinner passed off 
 pleasantly, and Ayer found no difficulty 
 in securing an interview with Clover at 
 its close. 
 
 As he joined her on the veranda, 
 Clover leaned against the railing and 
 facing him, said: 
 
 "I see that you are annoyed at some- 
 thing, Mr. Ayer. What it is, I cannot 
 imagine, as you usually are such an in- 
 different person. What can possibly 
 have gone wrong? Are your lawyers 
 still troubling you?" 
 
 " Not at all," replied Ayer, slowly, 
 "my business in Wainhill is finished, 
 and I rode out here to tell you that I 
 was thinking of leaving the South for 
 good." 
 
 He watched the expression of her 
 face as he said this, but if he expected 
 any show of feeling at .the announce-
 
 Juleps and Clover 103 
 
 ment of his departure he was disap- 
 pointed. She did seem sorry, but no 
 stronger emotion was visible to his eyes. 
 
 "What, going? Oh, I'm so sorry. 
 We shall miss you a great deal, Mr. 
 Ayer ; I shall be lonely down here." 
 
 " Is that all you have to say, Clover ? 
 I did hope that my departure might 
 interest you more." 
 
 " Why, yes I'm sorry, I tell you," 
 said Miss Gwynne,with a laugh. " What 
 more do you wish me to say ? Would 
 you like to have me weep copiously and 
 entreat you to stay ? " 
 
 "No, you're too cold for any such 
 demonstration as that but seriously, 
 Clover, I for one am heartily sorry to 
 leave you. I've grown fond of you in 
 these last two months and you know 
 it." 
 
 " Just as seriously then, Mr. Ayer, I 
 too, am heartily sorry to have you go," 
 said Clover, laughing at his earnest- 
 ness, " but I don't see why you should
 
 104 Juleps and Clover 
 
 care. You came down here on business 
 amused yourself a little with me and 
 amused me a great deal with you ; and 
 now you go North, probably never to 
 return to this country again, and you 
 wonder why I don't feel as you pretend 
 you do." 
 
 " There is no pretense about it," in- 
 terrupted Ayer, now thoroughly aroused, 
 " I wish " 
 
 " You can go back to Lenox," con- 
 tinued Clover, without noticing the in- 
 terruption, " and in a week you will be 
 devoting yourself to some Northern 
 girl not so informal and affectionate 
 as I have been, but much more stylish 
 and suitable for the debonair Mr. Ayer. 
 Hue ! In ten days I shall be forgotten." 
 
 " Clover," said the Northerner, " I 
 shall not forget you. I shall always re- 
 member you as the most beautiful and 
 heartless woman I have known. I did 
 think you cared for me somewhat," and 
 his voice trembled.
 
 Juleps and Clover 105 
 
 " I never said so," replied the girl, 
 quietly, using Mr. Ayer's own words. 
 
 " But you acted so," said Ayer. 
 
 Clover sat on the vine hung railing 
 and looked out into the night beyond 
 without answering. The light from the 
 hall lamp fell on her face, softly illum- 
 ing her features and hair. Ayer was 
 surprised at the change of expression 
 he saw creeping over her. The old 
 tenderness was back again, when she 
 turned once more to look at him, Bay- 
 ing: 
 
 " Mr. Ayer, why should I trust you ? 
 I know little of men, but something 
 tells me you are trifling with me." 
 
 " Trifling with you, Clover ? I may 
 have been more or less of a trifler in my 
 life, but I am honest when I tell you 
 that I mean just what I say. Clover, I 
 do love you with all the strength of a 
 strong man's soul. If you look me in 
 the face you will believe," and he took 
 her hand and turned her toward him.
 
 106 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Clover smiled and looked at him 
 archly for a moment, then back into the 
 night and murmured : 
 
 " If I only could trust you, but I am 
 almost afraid to love you." 
 
 "What can I do to convince you of 
 my sincerity," said Ayer, with increas- 
 ing earnestness. " Name anything." 
 
 " How like a man ! " replied Clover 
 jestingly, " they always want to do some- 
 thing. You might swim the Manola 
 again ; although that would not be 
 much of a test, as you did it once for 
 the sake of a mint julep. No, Wallace," 
 she added, gently, "we would better 
 leave matters as they are. I should be 
 out of place in New York and you 
 would find life monotonous on a planta- 
 tion." 
 
 "You would carry New York by 
 storm, Clover, with your beauty and 
 your sweet ingenuous manners." He 
 paused "I cannot be eloquent in 
 these matters, I simply appeal to you.
 
 Juleps and Clover 107 
 
 Will you marry me? No? Then say 
 you cannot love me, but not that you 
 cannot trust me. Clover, answer me." 
 
 She glanced at him shyly for a second, 
 and then with a half convulsive gasp, 
 she stood up near to him, and said : 
 
 " Wallace, I will not say that I can- 
 not love you, for I have loved you from 
 the day we met, and now I will trust 
 
 you." " 
 
 Wallace Ayer was never able to re- 
 call with any clearness the rest of that 
 interview his new found happiness 
 seemed to overwhelm his senses. After 
 the mortification of the afternoon, the 
 contrast seemed all the greater. Look- 
 ing back in after days on that evening 
 of perfect happiness as he crouched 
 before the camp-fire or toiled through 
 the dreary snow clad wastes of the far 
 North, in a ballroom with the scent 
 of roses he would seem to be again on 
 that moonlit veranda with a girl in 
 white. Sometimes it seemed to him an
 
 io8 Juleps and Clover 
 
 hallucination a pliautom sent to mock 
 his heart desolation, or again, he would 
 start up from his blankets in the frozen 
 night, with strange noises in his ears 
 a strange burning at his brow, and 
 glancing at the motionless form of his 
 companion, and the stars, scarce more 
 distant than the pine tops, he would 
 murmur, " but it was worth all all. 
 No matter what happens now, the re- 
 membrance still is mine." 
 
 It was in absolute peace and content 
 that he sought out Lee's room late that 
 night after leaving Miss Gwyune, and 
 aroused him. 
 
 Lee felt that something serious had 
 happened to make Ayer wake him at 
 that unholy hour, and was much re- 
 lieved when a light was struck and he 
 saw how cheerful his friend looked. 
 
 " Congratulate me, Howard," said 
 Ayer, sitting down on the edge of the
 
 Juleps and Clover 109 
 
 bed. " I'm engaged to Clover Gwynne. 
 I have her permission to tell you, but it 
 is to be a secret to all others, until 
 her father is informed. Shake, old 
 man." 
 
 "Engaged?" repeated Lee, "en- 
 gaged?" sitting up in bed with a start 
 and ignoring the proffered hand of his 
 friend. " Are you crazy engaged ? 
 you, Wallace Ayer, engaged to Clover 
 Gwynne ? Impossible." 
 
 " Crazy ! impossible ! what do you 
 mean ? It is you, Howard, that is crazy. 
 Why don't you congratulate me ? " 
 
 Lee gazed at his friend for a moment, 
 sadly, and then said, " It's all my fault. 
 What an ass I have been. I never 
 supposed }'ou were in earnest. Yes, I 
 suppose I congratulate you. Are you 
 going to be married ? " 
 
 " Lee, I don't understand your con- 
 duct," said Ayer, with growing annoy- 
 ance, "you talk strangely. As to the 
 wedding, nothing is settled except that
 
 lio Juleps and Clover 
 
 you are to be best man. What is the 
 meaning of all this ? I demand to know 
 what you mean." 
 
 " Do not demand, or I shall say 
 nothing," replied Lee, getting out of 
 bed. " Come, Wallace, old man, we 
 are too good friends to quarrel over 
 words, or anything else. This is a 
 serious matter. Can you talk ration- 
 ally for a moment and listen to me, 
 who can tell you things that no other 
 being could mention in your pres- 
 ence ? " 
 
 " You are obscure in your language, 
 Lee, but pardon me for what I said. 
 I'm so happy to-night, and I rushed to 
 you to receive your congratulations, and 
 you have nothing for me except long 
 faces." 
 
 " Wallace," said the Southerner, 
 "listen to me patiently for a moment. 
 You must not marry this girl. 
 
 " Do you remember telling me of a 
 friend that married a woman you knew,
 
 Juleps and Clover 1 1 1 
 
 in blissful ignorance of her past, and 
 there was not a man dared breathe a 
 word to her fiancd, and how you all 
 laughed as he inarched proudly down 
 the aisle with her hanging coyly on his 
 arm? You said his very coat must have 
 laughed in its sleeve. Now, I am not 
 going to be as cowardly as you men 
 were on that occasion and I why, 
 what's the matter ? " 
 
 Ayer had risen to his full height, and 
 clutching the back of his chair with a 
 grasp that left his fingers white and 
 bloodless, he said hoarsely and slowly, 
 emphasizing each word : 
 
 " Howard Lee, you are my best friend, 
 and you know me. Never as long as 
 you live breathe a word of this to me. 
 I know what you mean and am thank- 
 you have not said it, or else we could 
 never speak again." 
 
 His eyes became bloodshot, and with 
 a tremendous effort he mastered himself
 
 112 Juleps and Clover 
 
 and continued in the same strained 
 voice : 
 
 " Past ! Miss Gwynne is too young 
 to have a past. Believe it I will not 
 believe it ; no, never. She is as artless 
 as a weed. Hers is absolutely the pur- 
 est soul I have ever been permitted to 
 gaze into. Why, Howard, my whole 
 life has changed its course. With her 
 love to strengthen me I feel strong to 
 battle with all the world to conquer it. 
 A past? Clover has the fresh guile- 
 lessness of a child, combined with the 
 half-awakened reserve of the spring- 
 time of dawning womanhood." Ayer 
 ceased to speak, his voice having fallen 
 to a hoarse whisper because of over- 
 powering emotion. 
 
 Lee, when he saw Ayer quivering 
 with excitement, had anticipated vio- 
 lence, but when he perceived the North- 
 erner's self-control, he touched him 
 gently on the arm. 
 
 " Ayer," said he, " I ask your
 
 Juleps and Clover 113 
 
 pardon. I was honest in my belief 
 when I spoke, but, if you do not believe 
 it, I shall not. Can you forgive me ? It 
 would be impossible for any one else to 
 do so, but I know you will." 
 
 Ayer looked up, and his face was 
 calm and set. He took Lee's proffered 
 hand and wrung it. 
 
 " I do forgive you, Howard, with my 
 whole heart, and you must do the same 
 for me if I was hasty in words. We 
 Saxons are not given to demonstrations, 
 but let acts speak. I may need a friend 
 some day." 
 
 " You'll never find me wanting," re- 
 plied the Southerner, returning Ayer's 
 grasp with interest. 
 
 Little thinking of the truth of the 
 words he spoke, Howard Lee stood 
 there in the dim light of the flickering 
 candle, a magnificent specimen of the 
 Southerner. His clear cut features and 
 proud bearing showed how much blood 
 he owed to Norman ancestors, and his
 
 114 Juleps and Clover 
 
 black curly hair, clustered about his 
 temples, gave him an almost boyish 
 look. Quick to respond to generous 
 impulses, he still had much of the 
 stability of his Northern friend, al- 
 though his physique was cast in a 
 smaller mould. 
 
 Ayer resembled the Southerner 
 closely in many points, and had much 
 the same sympathy with all that was 
 chivalrous and brave, but he had lived 
 in a more practical and workaday 
 world, and his good sense seldom left 
 him. Strongly made, with strong fea- 
 tures and light brown hair, his eyes 
 were piercing and keen, and he had 
 a quiet ease of manner rare among his 
 restless countrymen.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Oh Thou, who Man of baser Earth didst make, 
 And ev'rt with Paradise devise the Snake : 
 For all the Sm wherewith the Face of Man 
 Is blacken'd Man's forgiveness give and take. 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 AT breakfast, the next day, Clover 
 was radiantly beautiful, and seemed so 
 superlatively happy, that Mrs. Peters 
 looked at her sharply and exchanged a 
 significant glance with her husband, and 
 even Lee put a trifle more pressure into 
 shaking her hand than usual by way of 
 silent congratulation. 
 
 It was necessary for Ayer to return 
 to town that morning and arrange his 
 affairs for a prolonged stay in the South, 
 where, as far as any of his plans were 
 fixed, he now meant to settle. Miss 
 Gwj^nne objected strongly to his leav- 
 ing her on the first day of their en- 
 115
 
 n6 Juleps and Clover 
 
 gagement, but when he reminded her 
 that she too ought to write her family 
 and get her father's consent, she re- 
 luctantly yielded on condition that he 
 should be on hand promptly at seven 
 for dinner. This he promised to do and 
 the horses were sent for. 
 
 On reaching the club, Ayer tried to 
 apply his mind to business and catch up 
 with his correspondence, but his thoughts 
 were elsewhere, and after several at- 
 tempts to work he threw down his pen 
 and called Lee, who was reading in the 
 adjoining room. 
 
 " Lee, I can't work to-day. I'm too 
 restless. Will you take a good stiff 
 ride with me, after we have had some 
 lunch?" 
 
 Lee laid down his book and joined 
 Ayer. " I thought you would not stick 
 very long at your letters, to-day," said 
 he. "Yes, I feel like having a good 
 run," and he rang the bell for Pete, to 
 consult in reference to luncheon.
 
 Juleps and Clover 117 
 
 The meal was quickly served and 
 disposed of, and the horses brought 
 out. The two friends seemed to feel 
 that perhaps this was their last day to- 
 gether in the old way, and Lee, espe- 
 cially, was very blue over the coming 
 separation. 
 
 They raced and ran their horses 
 throughout the long afternoon, until 
 about four o'clock they found them- 
 selves near the top of Pine Ridge, a low 
 mountain about three miles from Peters- 
 dale. The country between was hilly 
 and sloped gently toward the Manola. 
 
 After a particularly sharp run, which 
 brought them almost to the crest of the 
 ridge, Ayer noticed a slight limp in his 
 horse's near forefoot, and on dismount- 
 ing, he found that the animal had cast 
 a shoe. Here was a pleasant predica- 
 ment. The bridle path they were on 
 led them a good ten miles, before 
 coming out at the Peters', and the road 
 was covered with loose stones, which
 
 n8 Juleps and Clover 
 
 were almost certain to cut the animal's 
 unprotected hoof. 
 
 " You certainly are an unlucky horse- 
 man," said Lee. " The only thing you 
 can do now, is to walk home and lead 
 your horse, and that will make you late 
 for dinner. Imagine Miss Gwynne's 
 despair on your not appearing. Come 
 to think of it, though, you can let me 
 lead your horse back at leisure, and 
 you can make a cross cut through the 
 woods." 
 
 " That's a capital idea, Lee," said 
 Ayer. " Peters' must be in this direc- 
 tion," pointing westward. 
 
 " Yes," said Lee, riding a few yards 
 ahead. 
 
 " Come over here, can you see from 
 here, that gully? There is a small 
 stream that starts in it, a little below 
 here, and flows almost directly to the 
 Peters'. It runs into the Manola just 
 above the stables. Follow that and you 
 cannot lose your way."
 
 Juleps and Clover 119 
 
 Lee took the horse and soon disap- 
 peared down the winding road. Ayer 
 watched him out of sight and then 
 started toward the gully. 
 
 A little hard climbing brought him 
 to the spring that Lee had described. 
 He leaned over and took a drink from 
 the clear, cold water where it sprang 
 from its underground sources, and then 
 strolled leisurely along, keeping within 
 sight or hearing of the running water. 
 A mile or two brought him to a ravine 
 where the brook, now swollen to a re- 
 spectable stream, poured down through 
 the stones with a bustle and noise out 
 of all proportion to its size. 
 
 Ayer climbed a neighboring rock and 
 saw that he was within easy distance of 
 the buildings on Peters' place. Glanc- 
 ing at his watch he found it was only 
 five o'clock. " Plenty of time," thought 
 he to himself, " I'll find a cool place by 
 the brook and rest a bit." 
 
 So he returned to the stream and
 
 12O Juleps and Clover 
 
 picked his way slowly over the moss- 
 covered rocks. A little lower the brook 
 broadened into a deep, clear pool near 
 the edge of the gorge. Beyond this it 
 emerged into a bushy undergrowth 
 tract of land, and then through pastures 
 ran into the Manola. 
 
 The flash of a trout caught Ayer's 
 eye as he came to the pool, and, after 
 watching for a moment to see the fish 
 appear again, he sought out a con- 
 venient seat between two rocks, uncon- 
 sciously concealing himself behind the 
 one on the lower side. 
 
 The place and its surroundings re- 
 minded him of his own Northern woods. 
 The clear trout stream and moss-grown 
 rocks, the pines and hanging ivy recalled 
 many a stream where he had fished, in 
 his boyhood. All this was past now, 
 he thought to himself, a sober married 
 life awaited him in the future ; no more 
 wanderings; no more lonely hunts in 
 the forests he loved so well ; no more
 
 Juleps and Clover 121 
 
 reckless riding across country ; his life 
 was of value now; no more flirtations 
 no certainly, no more of them. His 
 thoughts turned to sweet Clover. 
 
 " It must be time to start for the 
 house, if I am to dress for dinner," he 
 thought, but he did not stir. The sun 
 was sinking and the shadows lengthen- 
 ing. The trout began to come out 
 from their hiding places under the bank, 
 and to snap eagerly at stray flies float- 
 ing down the current. A squirrel 
 scampered on the rock opposite. It 
 had seen Ayer, and at first, inspected 
 him with fierce chattering, and had 
 ventured slowly near him and then 
 dashed back in feigned alarm, but the 
 little animal soon concluded the silent 
 figure was harmless and did not deign 
 to take further notice of it. It had 
 been scampering in and out through 
 the last rays of the sun, when suddenly 
 it sat up and, switching its tail, began 
 to scold furiously.
 
 122 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Ayer was too good a woodsman not 
 to know from the squirrel's behavior, 
 that it had perceived something ap- 
 proaching. He lay still and crouched 
 lower, hoping to see some wild wood- 
 land creature come to the pool for its 
 evening drink ; perhaps some stray fox 
 or wild-cat might venture from the 
 wood, or, more probably a deer might 
 stray along the brook. To his surprise 
 a moment later he heard voices,, 
 
 The speakers came rapidly nearer, 
 and then emerged from the bushes 
 below, and sat down on a fallen tree at 
 the outlet of the pool, not twenty feet 
 away from where Ayer lay. 
 
 Ayer recognized the voices of Clover 
 Gwynne and Harvey White. 
 
 " You still have a little time to talk, 
 Clover, before you must go back. Sit 
 down on this tree ; " Ayer heard White 
 say. " So you're really going to marry 
 this Yankee. Well, well, it's a good
 
 Juleps and Clover 123 
 
 joke. When did you bring him to 
 time?" 
 
 " Only last night," replied Miss 
 Gwynne, " I do not see any joke about 
 it. Now that it's over, I am glad I did 
 it. I rather like my Northerner," she 
 added, caressingly. 
 
 " Oh ! I reckon he'll do. He seems 
 to be very much in earnest. Let me 
 give you a piece of advice, Clover. Be 
 careful how you arouse him. I am in- 
 clined to think," White added, " that 
 he will prove your master in a very 
 short time. But tell me, why do you 
 want to actually marry him ? " 
 
 " I really don't know," replied Clover, 
 "perhaps I shall change my mind be- 
 fore we are married, but I don't think 
 I shall this time. He has plenty of 
 money and can give me any position I 
 want in New York. I'm tired of living 
 down here in the backwoods," and after 
 a moment, she resumed, " besides, I 
 shall get away from you, Harvey."
 
 124 Juleps aijd Clover 
 
 " After all these years, I reckon not," 
 replied Mr. White, with a laugh. " I 
 calculate to go North myself next 
 winter. I'll have your husband put me 
 up at the clubs and introduce me to 
 society." 
 
 " He won't do it," replied Clover, 
 quietly. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " I won't let him." 
 
 " You will not let him ? you will see 
 that he does it," replied the man. 
 
 Clover was silent for a few moments, 
 and then said : 
 
 " I think I shall go back now." 
 
 "Not yet," said White, "come sit 
 down again, nearer, so. I'm not through 
 yet. You have not told me the true 
 reasons why you are going to marry 
 this man Ayer." 
 
 " Well, if you must hear the truth 
 again," replied the girl, desperately; 
 " as you know already, my father with 
 his old time pride of family will not
 
 Juleps and Clover 125 
 
 hear to my marrying you, and on the 
 other hand, you are too proud to marry 
 me without full recognition, even if I 
 were to consent to defy my family. 
 Besides, I am not going to allow myself 
 to be under your influence any longer. 
 
 " Harvey," she added, more gently, 
 " you know I have always cared for you 
 and I always shall. You will think 
 more of me, Harvey, when you have lost 
 me." 
 
 " Lost you. I told you, Clover, that I 
 had no intention of losing you. What 
 difference does it make to me whether 
 you are married or not ? " 
 
 " Harvey White, I do not think you 
 have a particle of honor in you, or you 
 would riot talk so to me when I am try- 
 ing to do the right thing ; " and after a 
 moment's pause, Clover said, without 
 emotion : 
 
 " You're a brute." 
 
 White merely repeated his cynical 
 laugh and answered :
 
 126 Juleps and Clover 
 
 " Go on, call me any name you like, 
 my sweet girl. You look all the prettier 
 when you get angry. So you call it 
 doing the right thing to marry another 
 man just because I won't truckle to 
 these tide water aristocrats. Perhaps 
 you'll go to this Ayer with some 
 romance about my persecuting you, 
 when you are married and try to arouse 
 his Yankee blood to call me out, eh ? " 
 and White laughed again at the idea of 
 a Northerner having blood enough for 
 such extreme measures. 
 
 " Perhaps he might come out if you 
 tried him," said Miss Gwynne. " At any 
 rate, Harvey, I must go now or there 
 will be another scene after dinner. I 
 think Mr. Ayer was a little jealous of 
 my riding with you the other day," she 
 said, coquettishly. 
 
 " All right," replied White, " perhaps 
 you had better start back now. It is 
 understood then that you are to meet 
 me to-morrow at four by this pool. It
 
 Juleps and Clover 127 
 
 may be the last time that I shall see 
 you for months." 
 
 " Yes," said Clover, " I suppose I 
 shall be here ; but do go now. You 
 must not come down to the house, as 
 Howard Lee is there and he is not so 
 infatuated and blind as my North- 
 erner." 
 
 "Very well, Clover," said White, 
 with a sort of rough tenderness in his 
 voice ; "I shall keep out of the way 
 until you are married. I am sorry to 
 let you go back alone, for it is getting 
 late, but your fine friend may come 
 looking for you in this direction, and I 
 should hate to have to hurt him, now 
 you are so very fond of him. Good- 
 night, little girl. Good-night," and 
 White held her close as she held up 
 her fresh young lips for his passionate 
 kiss. Ayer heard the bushes crack as 
 the Carolinian disappeared. 
 
 Clover Gwynne apparently had not 
 stirred.
 
 128 Juleps and Clover 
 
 The sound of White's footsteps grew 
 less and less, and finally all was silent, 
 Ayer became conscious that night had 
 fallen unobserved during this interview. 
 The trees and rocks across the pool 
 were shadowy and indistinct in the 
 growing darkness. "So," he thought, 
 " this was what Lee, good slow-going 
 conscientious faithful Lee, attempted 
 to tell last night and came near being 
 brained for his courage." 
 
 He raised himself noiselessly to his 
 feet. 
 
 He was stiff and cramped from lying 
 motionless for so long a time. Clover's 
 figure could be seen outlined against 
 the bushes and without a sound, he 
 folded his arms and looked at her, sum- 
 moning all his self-restraint. 
 
 " Clover Gwynne," he said, slowly, 
 suppressing any signs of anger in his 
 voice. The girl sprang from the rock 
 as though a snake had stung her, too 
 startled even to scream. She could
 
 Juleps and Clover 129 
 
 not see more than a dim figure, as he 
 stood in the deep shadow of the rocks. 
 
 " Miss Clover Gwynne," he repeated, 
 slowly, " I am Wallace Ayer, whom 
 you promised less than four and twenty 
 hours ago to love and marry. 
 
 " Don't run," he added, fiercely, as he 
 detected a motion on the girl's part, 
 " You have nothing to fear from me. I 
 shall not touch you, if you remain quiet 
 and listen to what I have to say. If 
 you run I shall bring you back." 
 
 " Oh, Wallace," cried Clover, in an 
 agony of despair, " don't talk to me like 
 that, you don't understand. Let me 
 tell you " and she took a step toward 
 him. 
 
 " You need come no nearer, Miss 
 Gwynne," said Ayer, coldly, with bit- 
 ing contempt in his words: 
 
 " Pray be seated. I have much to 
 say." 
 
 Clover Gwynne sank back on the 
 moss-grown rock, and buried her face
 
 130 Juleps and Clover 
 
 in her Lands, completely overawed by 
 the man's terrible calm. 
 
 " I came here by accident, Miss 
 Gwynne, and sat down by this pool to 
 think of you. This was the first day 
 that I had loved a woman. I don't think 
 that I have been worse than my fellow- 
 men, but I suppose I have done my 
 share toward making it impossible for 
 other men to find innocence and purity. 
 I have done enough damage, God 
 knows, to richly deserve this punish- 
 ment. Women of all kinds, have I 
 known, good and bad, high and low, 
 but never until this day did I think 
 that a face like yours could hide a 
 heart so false. I have heard all all I 
 tell you," his voice wavering with sup- 
 pressed emotion. 
 
 "Is such your boasted Southern 
 honor ? No ! There are men who are 
 as brave and honorable here as else- 
 where, and I believe that here too are
 
 Juleps and Clover 131 
 
 women whose lives are riot a lie. But 
 you are not among them. 
 
 " I would not have cared for any 
 fault of yours if you had not said you 
 loved me. All else I could forgive 
 that never " Clover seemed to 
 shrivel and whiten as does a bit of 
 paper when consumed by red-hot coals. 
 He paused for a moment, and then as 
 speaking more to himself than her, he 
 continued : 
 
 " I shall leave you to yourself. Your 
 friend shall answer for you. I under- 
 stand that he is the best shot in Caro- 
 lina so much the better." 
 
 He stopped abruptly, and there was 
 silence by the pool, unbroken, save by 
 the sobs from where Clover Gwynne 
 now lay upon her face. 
 
 Ayer sat for some time buried in 
 thought. Then he slowly rose and 
 strode to Clover's side. He leaned over 
 her, and picking her up roughly, placed 
 her on her feet, saying in a harsh tone :
 
 132 Juleps and Clover 
 
 "Come back to the house with me 
 now." 
 
 "I want to be alone. Leave me," 
 the girl sobbed, sinking back on the 
 ground. 
 
 " Come, Miss Gwynne, I tell you 
 come. You obey Mr. White readily 
 enough perhaps you will find it con- 
 venient to obey me for a few 
 moments," he said sternly. 
 
 The girl silently rose and followed 
 him as he led the way down the dim 
 path that ran from the pool to the 
 farm. Just before they came to the 
 house they passed a small summer- 
 house. Here Ayer paused, and taking 
 his companion by the arm, he entered 
 it. 
 
 " A few words more before we part, 
 Miss Gwynne. I have no ill will 
 toward you, now that the first heat of 
 my anger is gone, and I hope this even- 
 ing's work will not wreck your life as 
 it has mine.
 
 Juleps and Clover 133 
 
 " The next time an honest man and 
 a gentleman offers you his love, take it 
 and be as happy as you can. You have 
 ruined my faith in women, but you are 
 young and have much to live for. This 
 need only be a warning to you. You 
 will have no further trouble from White 
 in the future. I will answer for that. 
 
 " When we reach the house you will 
 go to your room you have a headache 
 you understand. I shall attend to 
 the other excuses. Lee and I leave for 
 the North very shortly and I shall not 
 cross your path again and now good- 
 bye : what ! have you nothing to say ? " 
 
 Ayer paused for a moment to await 
 her reply, and then turning his back on 
 the girl he had loved so passionately, 
 left the place. 
 
 Upon mounting the steps of the ve- 
 randa, Ayer found Mrs. Peters with her 
 husband and Lee just coming from din- 
 ner. In a few words he declined 
 Peters' offer to have dinner served
 
 134 Juleps and Clover 
 
 again, and told that gentleman that he 
 feared he would have to leave for the 
 North very suddenly and might not see 
 them again. 
 
 " I cannot tell you, Mrs. Peters," 
 said he, turning to that astonished 
 lady, "how much I feel indebted to you 
 for the glimpse of Southern life I have 
 enjoyed under your roof and it is quite 
 useless to try and express my thanks. 
 Good-bye," he continued, shaking 
 hands. " I have said good-bye to Miss 
 Gwynne and explained to her the rea- 
 sons for my departure, which probably 
 seems so strange to you ; good-bye, 
 Peters," and he left abruptly for the 
 stable, followed by Lee, dazed with 
 amazement. 
 
 The two friends rode some distance 
 without speaking Ayer being wrapped 
 in the gloomiest of thoughts. Every 
 inch of the road they were passing 
 over, brought up some association with 
 Clover Gwynne.
 
 Juleps and Clover 135 
 
 Lee had far too much tact not to 
 await his friend's own time to speak. 
 From the little he had seen of Ayer's 
 face, and from the obvious effort he had 
 shown in speaking to the Peters, Lee 
 knew that some catastrophe had oc- 
 curred of sufficient moment to cause 
 the engagement to be broken. The 
 Northerner's features had been 
 white and drawn, but his eyes had 
 gleamed fiercely when the light from 
 the stable lamps fell on them. At 
 length Ayer turned in his saddle and 
 speaking quickly and without visible 
 emotion, he told Lee the events of the 
 afternoon, repeating the conversation 
 he had overheard and his own talk 
 with Miss Gwynne. He stated only 
 the facts as they occurred, without 
 comment. 
 
 As Ayer finished his story of 
 treachery, Lee drew his horse closer to 
 his friend's, and clasped Ayer's hand in 
 a grip that would have wrung a cry
 
 136 Juleps and Clover 
 
 from a Stoic, but which brought no re- 
 sponse from Ayer, in whom mental suf- 
 fering had left no room for physical 
 pain. Something of Ayer's calm waa 
 caught by the Southerner, whose first 
 impulse was to ride to Parker's planta- 
 tion and settle with White, then and 
 there. He waited a moment for any 
 suggestion from Ayer and then said : 
 
 " Do you suppose that man will keep 
 his date to-morrow, or will he be 
 warned of what has happened ? " 
 
 " I left Miss G wynne in a condition 
 from which she will not recover in 
 time to think of White. The girl is 
 not really bad and I think she is a 
 trifle broken up over this little affair." 
 After a moment's reflection, Ayer said : 
 
 " No, Miss Gwynne won't warn him."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare 
 And those that after a TO-MORROW stare 
 A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries 
 Fools ! your Reward is neither Here nor There ! " 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 THE next afternoon at four found 
 Mr. White on a rock at the outlet of 
 the trout pool, where he had left Miss 
 Gwynne the preceding day. He was 
 tapping his riding boot with his whip 
 and whistling softly to himself. The 
 world had gone well with him. Brought 
 up in poverty and obscurity, Harvey 
 White had suddenly become one of the 
 richest men in his state by his father's 
 unexpected discovery of coal in land he 
 owned in Tennessee. 
 
 Harvey White endeavored to make 
 up for lost years and to acquire the 
 137
 
 138 Juleps and Clover 
 
 rudiments of an education. He had 
 partially succeeded in so doing when 
 his father died, leaving to his two sons, 
 Harvey and Richard, his great wealth. 
 Harvey thereupon became ambitious to 
 figure in society, and to be classed 
 among the aristocracy of the South. 
 He had not as yet found much encour- 
 agement, but he had no end of energy 
 and push, and as his sensibilities were 
 not delicate, most of the rebuffs he had 
 met, served only to strengthen his re- 
 solve to force an entrance on his own 
 terms. 
 
 He was figuring to himself a future 
 bright with social and political triumphs 
 as he sat by the pool ; and so absorbed 
 was he in his day dreams that he did 
 not notice footfalls, and only when his 
 eyes, fixed abstractedly on the mirror 
 of the water, saw a stern, pale face re- 
 flected in it, that he became conscious 
 of the presence of another. He looked 
 up quickly and saw Wallace Ayer re-
 
 Juleps and Clover 139 
 
 garding him fixedly across the narrow 
 stream. 
 
 " Why, Ayer, how are you ? You 
 gave me quite a start," White called 
 out, pleasantly, at the same time glanc- 
 ing around to see whether Miss Gwynne 
 was anywhere in sight. " Clover will 
 hear our voices if I talk loudly," he 
 thought, " and she is clever enough to 
 keep hidden." 
 
 " How did you wander up here, Mr. 
 Ayer," he added, in stentorian tones. 
 
 " You need not yell so," suggested 
 the Northerner, " I can hear quite 
 plainly without so much effort on your 
 part. She," he added, significantly, 
 *' will not be here." 
 
 At this reference, White arose and 
 his face lost its bland politeness and 
 began to cloud darkly as he caught the 
 other's meaning. 
 
 " She," he cried, " what ' she ' do you 
 mean, sir? 
 
 " Do I understand you to intimate,
 
 140 Juleps and Clover 
 
 sir, that I am waiting for any one ? If 
 so, what are you doing prowling around 
 here ? " 
 
 " You know perfectly well what I 
 mean," replied Ayer in a deliberate, 
 measured voice; "I came 'prowling 
 around ' to find you." 
 
 " Well," said White, with a sneer, and 
 drawing his body to its full height, 
 " now you have found me, what do you 
 propose to do with me ? " 
 
 " Shoot you," replied Ayer, quietly 
 folding his arms across his chest. 
 
 "Oh, ho! that's your game, is it? 
 Very well, if there is any shooting to 
 be done, I think I'll take a hand in it," 
 and watching carefully for a sudden 
 movement on Ayer's part, he instan- 
 taneously drew a revolver from his own 
 pocket and leveled it at his antagonist's 
 forehead. 
 
 Ayer did not move a muscle, but 
 fixed his eyes, glittering with hate, on 
 White and stood motionless. The
 
 Juleps and Clover 141 
 
 afternoon sun glinted lacy shadows 
 down through the breeze-ruffled leaves 
 on the smooth surface of the pool. 
 
 The bushy-tailed squirrel perked his 
 inquisitive little brown nose up over a 
 mossy tree root. Seeing the two mo- 
 tionless human figures, he drew back 
 an instant, chattering the while to an 
 unseen companion from whom he evi- 
 dently gained courage, for, making a fly- 
 ing leap over the tree root, he startled 
 a water-rat, who plunged head foremost 
 into the pool, splashing a fine spray of 
 water on White's boots and trousers. 
 
 He shuddered and lowered the pistol. 
 
 " You see your mistake, do you not, 
 my fine Yankee ? It won't do for 
 dudes from the North to threaten a 
 Southern gentleman." 
 
 "Yes," replied Ayer, "I did make a 
 mistake if I classed you for a moment, 
 among Southern gentlemen. We make 
 a distinction, in the North at least, be- 
 tween gentlemen and assassins."
 
 142 Juleps and Clover 
 
 White bit his lip at this taunt, and 
 for a second his finger tightened on the 
 trigger. 
 
 " It was you that threatened to shoot, 
 I only acted in self-defence." 
 
 " And I shall do as I said," said Ayer, 
 contemptuously. " If I had chosen to 
 shoot iu the manner you seem to con- 
 sider proper for a gentleman, I should 
 have done so before you knew of my 
 presence. You call yourself a Southern 
 gentleman. Very well. In the lot be- 
 low here at daybreak to-morrow, I 
 shall give you an opportunity to prove 
 your assertion. 
 
 " You understand me, I trust, Mr. 
 White ? " 
 
 "Perfectly," replied White, return- 
 ing his pistol to his pocket, " the time 
 and place suit rne. Any other details 
 my friend Mr. Parker will attend to. 
 Good-day, Mr. Ayer." 
 
 Ayer bowed formally and turning his 
 back on the pool strode to where his
 
 Juleps and Clover 143 
 
 horse was tied. As he galloped his 
 horse past the Peters' house, he thought 
 he recognized a figure at the window 
 in the ivy covered corner where Miss 
 Gwynne had her room. He turned 
 slightly in the saddle away from the 
 house, and dug his spurs so deeply into 
 his horse that the animal plunged fu- 
 riously down the road.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 And fear not lest Existence closing your 
 Account, and mine, should know the like no more ; 
 The Eternal Saki from that Bowl has pour'd 
 Millions of Bubbles like us, and will pour. 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 ON the following morning, three men 
 were driving slowly over the Long 
 Bridge in a buggy. Lee held the reins 
 and between him and Wallace Ayer, 
 sat Dr. Mason, the surgeon, a friend of 
 Lee's, carrying on his knees a satchel of 
 instruments and bandages. The doctor 
 was puffing a cigar and enjoying the 
 sharp morning air, as though there 
 never had been bloodshed in the world 
 before, nor would be again. 
 
 Ayer sat back in the narrow seat ab- 
 sorbed in many thoughts, asking him- 
 self again and again the awkward ques- 
 144
 
 Juleps and Clover 145 
 
 Aon : " Was it right to throw away his 
 own life, or to take that of another on 
 a mere point of honor? " 
 
 But as he drew near the field another 
 idea came to him. He had never fought 
 a duel, although he had taken part in 
 sudden frays, which were decidedly dif- 
 ferent from a cold-blooded, systematic- 
 ally arranged duel. He did not fear 
 death or injury, although the surgeon, 
 with his ghastly anecdotes of wounds 
 and operations, was far from quieting. 
 
 Wallace Ayer was conscious of be- 
 ing afraid of but one thing which was, 
 that he might prove weak or even cow- 
 ardly at the last moment. How could 
 any man know he thought to himself 
 until he had been tested, whether or 
 not, his nerves will fail him in the field ; 
 whether or not, when all the grim prep- 
 arations of the duel are done, and he 
 stands face to face with his adversary, 
 and glances along the shining steel, he 
 may weaken and show the white feather.
 
 146 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Few men and especially brave men, 
 have gone to battle or to the duelling 
 field without thoughts like these and 
 Wallace Ayer had his full share of 
 them. 
 
 When the buggy drew up at the side 
 of the road a few yards from the lot 
 where the meeting was appointed, they 
 found a team already there, showing 
 that their adversaries were in advance 
 of them. 
 
 As they stepped from the wagon, 
 Lee said to his friend in an undertone : 
 
 " You must take off that collar, 
 Wallace. It makes too good a mark." 
 
 Ayer drew off the white band with- 
 out a word, and then Lee stepped back 
 and surveyed him from head to foot. 
 He was dressed in plain black, and the 
 color was not relieved in any way ex- 
 cept by the face, a trifle paler than 
 usual. 
 
 " You'll do," said Lee ; " now come." 
 
 Dr. Mason had gone on in advance
 
 Juleps and Clover 147 
 
 and was waiting with the other party 
 for them. 
 
 Ayer whispered a few final directions 
 to his second. 
 
 The two friends entered the field and 
 approached the group at the further end. 
 As they drew near, Ayer raised his hat 
 courteously, which salute was immedi- 
 ately returned by White and Parker ; 
 the philosophical old doctor smiling 
 sardonically at this exhibition between 
 men who were about to attempt each 
 other's life. 
 
 Ayer after bowing, passed over the 
 grass on toward the western end of the 
 lot and waited. He glanced idly at the 
 dark streak his footprints had made 
 over the dewy grass-plot. A harmless 
 green, scaly lizard distracted his atten- 
 tion, as it ran along the fence the only 
 living creature astir. It too was on 
 murder bent, for it was chasing a 
 beetle. 
 
 The sun was not yet over the trees,
 
 148 Juleps and Clover 
 
 and Frazier Peters peacefully sleeping, 
 not half a mile away, was quite uncon- 
 scious of the use being made of his 
 property. 
 
 Parker and Lee, after a formal greet- 
 ing, drew off to one side and quickly 
 arranged the preliminaries. The ground 
 was paced off from north to south, and 
 marks made at twenty paces. There 
 was a forest background at either end, 
 and the disadvantages of sunlight was 
 as evenly divided as possible by this 
 arrangement. The air was as yet abso- 
 lutel} 7 still, so there was no need of con- 
 sidering that element in laying out the 
 ground. The seconds matched coins 
 for the positions for their principals. 
 Ayer drew the north, and his antagon- 
 ist, the south. 
 
 It was agreed that the men should 
 fire together at the counting of "one," 
 "two," "three," and continue firing at 
 will, until one fell, or the pistols were 
 emptied.
 
 Juleps and Clover 149 
 
 Both seconds had brought cases of 
 pistols and Parker's weapons were 
 chosen as the best, on his assuring Lee 
 that these particular revolvers had 
 never been even seen by White. The 
 pistols were loaded carefully, and one 
 handed to each antagonist. They were 
 then escorted to their positions, and 
 Lee whispered a few final directions to 
 his friend, entreating him to remain 
 cool, aim low, and fire instantly on the 
 word. 
 
 Lee knew that White was a famous 
 shot, and had taken part in several 
 affairs of this sort. He feared greatly 
 that his friend would fall before he had 
 the opportunity to deliver his fire, for 
 White had the reputation of shooting 
 exactly on the word and so crippling 
 his adversary, without receiving the re- 
 turn fire. 
 
 The two principals took their posi- 
 tions and stood for a moment face to 
 face, and then swung slowly sideways
 
 150 Juleps and Clover 
 
 until their right shoulders were oppo- 
 site to each other. 
 
 White's dark complexion was darker 
 than ever, and his eyes betrayed excite- 
 ment, but he drew himself proudly to 
 his full height and there was a scornful 
 expression about his lips, and haughty 
 defiance on his face, as he waited for 
 the word, not doubting for one moment 
 the result, and only surprised that a 
 Yankee should dare meet him. 
 
 Ayer saw the expression of scorn and 
 arrogance on the Southerner's face and 
 all his pride came surging up. 
 
 Just as proudly and just as scorn- 
 fully, he raised his weapon and listened 
 to the words from Parker. 
 
 " Gentlemen, are you ready ? " 
 
 " Ready ! " 
 
 "Ready!" 
 
 One." 
 
 Ayer's brown hair fluttered a trifle in 
 the morning air, which was just stirring 
 into life by the increasing power of the
 
 Juleps and Clover 
 
 sun, but his face and body were like a 
 rock. With a stoical indifference to 
 danger he thought only of his aim, and 
 his hand was never steadier. 
 
 "Two." 
 
 Lee saw a shadow pass over his 
 friend's face, and his aim for a second 
 wavered, but, instantly, it was gone, 
 and Ayer's eyes gleamed with unnat- 
 ural brilliancy, and the steel was once 
 more firm. 
 
 " Three ! Fire ! " 
 
 The two reports were so nearly 
 simultaneous, that no one ever knew 
 which fired first. 
 
 Ayer wheeled half round, wavered 
 and went down with a thud. 
 
 His second watching him intently, 
 could not restrain a cry, as he sprang 
 toward him. The Northerner lay on 
 his face and his hand tightly clutched 
 the smoking pistol. Lee rolled him 
 over, and to his intense relief, Ayer 
 opened his eyes and murmured :
 
 152 Juleps and Clover 
 
 " It's nothing nothing, onl y a scratch 
 I have time for another shot," and 
 with great effort, he sat up, supporting 
 himself on his left arm, and gazing 
 vaguely around. 
 
 Lee, the moment he found his friend 
 was not dead, rushed for Dr. Mason. 
 As he reached the group opposite him, 
 he noticed for the first time that White 
 was down also, and heard the surgeon 
 say: 
 
 " It's no use. Poor fellow, he's done 
 for. He cannot live ten minutes." 
 
 " Is White killed, doctor? " cried Lee. 
 
 "Yes," said Parker, looking up. 
 " Your damned Yankee has killed the 
 best shot in the South. He shall an- 
 swer to me for this morning's work." 
 
 Without replying to Parker, Lee 
 turned to the doctor and said : 
 
 " If White is dying, come to my man. 
 You may save him yet if you are quick. 
 For God's sake, come ; " he added, as 
 Dr. Mason hesitated.
 
 Juleps and Clover 153 
 
 When the shots were fired, Ayer had 
 fallen, as though struck down by an in- 
 visible hand, but White had received 
 his antagonist's fire without flinching, 
 and was making a movement to re-cock 
 his revolver, when he suddenly pitched 
 forward, caught himself, pitched again, 
 and then with a groan, sank gently to 
 the ground, with a bullet through the 
 lower part of his lungs. Blood gushed 
 from his mouth, and the surgeon saw at 
 a glance that his wound was fatal. 
 
 The dying man lay on his back, with 
 his head and shoulders supported by 
 Parker, when he heard Lee's voice. He 
 opened his eyes, and speaking with an 
 effort, whispered : 
 
 "Parker Parker no more blood 
 shed on my account. Did I hear that 
 the Yankee is hit ? Bring him here. I 
 want to tell him something." And 
 his eyes closed again and his head sank 
 lower. 
 
 Dr. Mason turned sadly away, and
 
 154 Juleps and Clover 
 
 hastened to where Ayer had fallen. A 
 short examination showed the surgeon 
 that Ayer had been struck in the 
 shoulder, and although his wound was 
 severe, there was no immediate danger. 
 Taking the wounded man in their arms, 
 Lee and the doctor carried him care- 
 fully, to where the dying man lay. 
 
 When Ayer saw the pale face of his 
 late enemy, flecked with flashes of red 
 blood and heard his labored breathing, 
 he forgot his own agony in the thought 
 that he was responsible for this man's 
 death. He spoke to him gently and re- 
 gretfully. White opened his eyes and 
 saw Ayer at his elbow. 
 
 He smiled feebly and then with all 
 the bravery of his brave race, he sum- 
 moned his last remnant of strength, and 
 put his hand on Ayer's shattered arm. 
 The Northerner conquered the pain the 
 other's touch caused him, and taking 
 the offered hand with his own left 
 hand, he gently pressed it.
 
 Juleps and Clover 155 
 
 " Ayer," he murmured, " I am dying ; 
 but before I go, I forgive you. You 
 others, Parker, doctor, Lee, are wit- 
 nesses that I forgive him " 
 
 Parker raised his head as his throat 
 seemed to choke up. He continued : 
 
 "Ayer, my brother Dick will never 
 forgive you. He will trail you down as 
 a bloodhound. You must all tell him 
 forgive but it will do no good. 
 
 " Ayer, you're a brave man. I was a 
 fool to think you a coward and now, 
 I pay for it." 
 
 He paused for a moment, and Parker, 
 now in tears, gently wiped the mouth of 
 the dying man with his handkerchief. 
 The doctor made an effort to stop his 
 speaking, but White, with a weak 
 gesture of impatience, waived him aside 
 and resumed : 
 
 " I am not afraid to die have always 
 tried to be a Christian and a gentleman, 
 and when one dies that way, there is 
 nothing to fear come closer. I can-
 
 156 Juleps and Clover 
 
 not see you closer so . Now listen, 
 you are mistaken about Clover, sweet 
 Clover." 
 
 He lingered on the name as though 
 he loved it. Then with a stronger 
 voice than with which he had previ- 
 ously spoken, he said, half raising on 
 one elbow : 
 
 " Ayer, I give you a gentleman's dy- 
 ing word a gentle " 
 
 Before he could finish the word, a 
 rush of blood came and a second later, 
 White had passed beyond human venge- 
 ance, or petty justice. A braver, 
 better, nobler man in his death, than 
 ever he had been in life. Showing at 
 the last, the game qualities which have 
 made the Anglo-Saxon masters of the 
 modern world. 
 
 The group around White stood mo- 
 tionless for a moment. Even the stern 
 old surgeon being visibly affected. 
 Parker rose reverentially, and laying the 
 dead man's head on the grass, gently as
 
 Juleps and Clover 157 
 
 a woman, he spread his own long coat 
 over the body of his friend. He then 
 took off his cap, and speaking in a voice 
 choked with emotion : 
 
 " My friends we have seen how a 
 Christian gentleman and a Southerner 
 can die, thinking not of himself, but of 
 others. Let us hope we may meet our 
 fate as bravely." And bowing his head, 
 he stood a moment in silent prayer, an 
 example which the others willingly fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 Dr. Mason was the first to speak. 
 The old fellow cuffed his cheek sharply 
 with the back of his hand, and said: 
 
 " Come, come now, we must attend 
 to your wound, Mr. Ayer. Just hold 
 him up, Lee, until I can snip up this 
 sleeve," and taking a pair of scissors 
 from his vest pocket he slashed the 
 sleeve to the collar, laying exposed the 
 wound and Ayer's right side. 
 
 " Phew ! " said the surgeon, examin- 
 ing the wound :
 
 158 Juleps and Clover 
 
 " The first thing to do is to go after 
 that ball. I don't think the bone is 
 broken. What's this ?" 
 
 He raised Ayer's arm and found a 
 large blood clot over the tendons in 
 front of the arm pit. " That simplifies 
 matters. The ball has passed through 
 your arm, under the bone, and lodged 
 in the breast muscles. Have you raised 
 any blood ? " 
 
 " No ! " Ayer shook his head. 
 
 " Then the bullet is not in your 
 lungs." 
 
 With that the doctor tore open 
 Ayer's shirt, still wider and commenced 
 to feel carefully over the breast muscles 
 for the missing bullet. A}'er was 
 strongly muscled, and his flesh so firm 
 that the doctor was unable to locate the 
 b^l. After trying in vain for some 
 moments, he stopped and searched for 
 something in his satchel. 
 
 " My damn fool of an assistant has 
 forgotten to put any anaesthetics in my
 
 Juleps and Clover 159 
 
 case, and you must be operated on at 
 once, Ayer. That bullet must be found. 
 If you were to be in good quarters, and 
 to have proper medical attendance, it 
 might not matter so much Many a 
 man down here, has lead in him." 
 
 " I can do without anaesthetics," re- 
 plied Ayer. " Go ahead, doctor, and 
 probe for the ball." 
 
 Dr. Mason glanced at him with ad- 
 miration. And, then selecting some 
 long instruments from his case, he mo- 
 tioned to Lee and Parker to hold Ayer 
 up properly. In five minutes, the bullet 
 was located and cut out of the muscles 
 toward the centre of the right breast, 
 where it had lodged. 
 
 The ball had glanced along one of 
 the ribs, without injuring any part of 
 the lungs. The operation caused Ayer 
 great suffering, but he seemed superior 
 to pain, for his face bore almost a smile, 
 and he did not stir until the doctor had 
 finished.
 
 160 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Dr. Mason dropped his instruments 
 back into the bag with a clatter, and 
 said : 
 
 " Mr. Ayer, you are a Stoic. I saw 
 much fortitude during the war, and had 
 begun to think this generation inferior 
 to mine, but you have shown true 
 American nerve and that poor fellow 
 did too," he added, nodding toward the 
 silent figure lying on the grass. 
 
 A blanket was brought from the 
 wagon and placed under Ayer. He 
 was given, for the first time, a drink of 
 brandy, and carried gently to the brook 
 just below where it left the eventful 
 trout pool. The blood stains were 
 washed away, and his wound dressed 
 by the side of the limpid, running 
 stream. When the last bandage was 
 in place, the doctor gave some hurried 
 directions to Lee, in reference to the 
 care of his friend, secretly advising him 
 to put Ayer in some secluded spot until
 
 Juleps and Clover 161 
 
 his wound was healed and they could 
 escape North. 
 
 The three men carried Ayer to the 
 buggy. After shaking hands, Parker 
 drew Lee aside and promised to con- 
 ceal the events of the morning until 
 the last possible moment, in order to 
 give Lee an opportunity to get his 
 friend out of the way of the law, and 
 the swift and certain revenge of the 
 dead man's brother, Richard White. 
 
 *' Of course," added Parker, " after 
 the coroner's inquest is over and when 
 the pursuit is once started, I shall have 
 to do my part, but you have my best 
 wishes, at all events. I warn you that 
 Richard White is persistent and very 
 energetic. He will devote himself to 
 revenging his brother's death. So, be 
 on your guard." 
 
 The doctor and Parker saluted the 
 occupants of the buggy, as it drove 
 rapidly off in the direction of the town, 
 and then turned to their mournful task.
 
 162 Juleps and Clover 
 
 What was mortal of Harvey White 
 was wrapped in a blanket and laid in 
 the bed of the wagon. 
 
 They drove slowly down to Peters' 
 place, and before going up to the house, 
 deposited their burden on the floor 
 in the summerhouse, where Clover 
 Gwynne and Wallace Ayer had their 
 last interview. 
 
 Sweet, yellow-throated honeysuckle 
 twined about the open doorway and 
 arching casements, weighing the fresh 
 morning air with all its dainty fra- 
 grance. The first long shafts of the 
 rising sun poured through the lattice 
 walls, making diamond shadow patterns 
 dance across the floor, and run fantastic 
 riot over the blanket-wrapped, inani- 
 mate Thing, lying there, at once, 
 equally majestic and helpless. 
 
 Brilliant hued humming-birds darted 
 hither and you, like living jewels on 
 the soft morning breeze, while the busy 
 bees from the near by row of hives,
 
 Juleps and Clover 163 
 
 buzzed a droning accompaniment to the 
 bird's fluttering wings. A meadow- 
 lark alighted on the apex of the sum- 
 merhouse roof pausing a moment in 
 his flight he held upward his slender 
 throat and trilled out a triumphant 
 burst of silvery melody. A requiem 
 for the passing soul on its journey to 
 the Elysium fields of the Blessed Dead.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky 
 Where under crawling coop'd we live and die, 
 Lift not your hands to It for help for It 
 As impotently moves as you or I. 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 LATE that night, Ayer and Lee 
 struck Buck Mountain, nearly twenty 
 miles beyond Wainhill. They had 
 driven until the afternoon, and had left 
 the horse and buggy at an outlying 
 farmhouse, the owner of which, Ben 
 Smith, Lee knew could be relied upon. 
 
 Old Ben lived alone. Lee had 
 thought of him the day before the duel, 
 and in the hurry of preparation, had 
 had the foresight to despatch a darkey 
 with two horses, to the old man's 
 for safe-keeping. The animals had 
 reached there the night before and 
 
 164
 
 Juleps and Clover 165 
 
 were in first-class condition. On the 
 arrival of the wounded man and his 
 friend, old Ben made no remarks, but 
 prepared a lunch of corn-pone and 
 bacon, which with a little brandy to 
 wash it down, served to sustain Ayer 
 for renewed effort. 
 
 The horses were then saddled by 
 Lee himself, and led out. Ayer, in 
 spite of his protests that he did not 
 feel weak, was strapped securely to the 
 saddle, and Lee, after paying Ben 
 Smith out of the stock of money he had 
 with him, took the bridle of his friend's 
 horse, and started down the road toward 
 Avon. 
 
 When well out of sight of the house, 
 Lee turned sharply into the open pine 
 wood, and rode some distance by com- 
 pass, until he came to an abandoned 
 lumber road. - This he followed, slowly 
 working up the mountain valley, until 
 at dusk they emerged into a clearing. 
 
 Smoke could be seen in the distance,
 
 i66 Juleps and Clover 
 
 and the two men rode slowly toward it 
 Lee stopping now and then to shout: 
 
 Baxter Hullo ! Will Baxter ! " 
 
 As they were passing some large 
 rocks on the left of the road, a strange 
 figure slouched out from the shadow, 
 with an abrupt command to halt. 
 
 " Who may you uns be ? " the 
 stranger demanded, "an' what may 
 you uns want with Will Baxter?" 
 
 " Will, you remember me ? " replied 
 Lee, " I am Howard Lee, who defended 
 you in Richmond, two years ago, when 
 the authorities had you up for making 
 moonshine whiskey in Cumberland 
 Gap." 
 
 The old mountaineer brought down 
 the butt of his long rifle with a thud, 
 and stepping up to Lee, scrutinized him 
 closely. When Baxter had fully satis- 
 fied himself that it was indeed the 
 lawyer who had befriended him, he 
 stretched out a gaunt hand and seized 
 Lee's with a hearty grasp of welcome.
 
 Juleps and Clover 167 
 
 "I'm mighty glad to see yer, Mr. 
 Lee, you all dun me a power o* good 
 wonst, an* yer kin jist count on Will 
 Baxter fer not fergittin' it, nuther." 
 
 And then with a chuckle, as though 
 it was the best joke in the world, he 
 added : 
 
 " Blamed ef I didn't come near plug- 
 gin' you uns. I reckoned you uns wus 
 them revenue fellers. I drawed a dead 
 bead on that white rag, crossiu' yer 
 friend's breast, when you hollered out 
 my name, jist in time to save him. 
 
 " What's the matter with yer friend ? 
 hurt?" 
 
 " Baxter, I may as well tell you the 
 whole story," replied Lee, "this is a 
 friend of mine, Mr. Ayer, who had a 
 difference of opinion with a gentleman 
 down in the settlement, in consequence 
 of which he has a broken shoulder. 
 
 " The sheriff is on our trail by this 
 time. I knew of no safe place to take 
 refuge, until I remembered that you had
 
 i68 Juleps and Clover 
 
 a house up here, and then I said to my- 
 self: ' Will Baxter is the man who has 
 courage to hide a man who was wounded 
 in a square fight, and he will do it too.' " 
 
 " So I will, so I will," said the moun- 
 taineer. u I reckon the sheriff and his 
 possy won't get you uns up here ; not 
 while Will Baxter kin pull a trigger. 
 But, Mr. Lee, how about the other fel- 
 ler ; he get shot ? " 
 
 " Shot dead," answered Lee. 
 
 The old moonshiner grinned at this 
 welcome piece of news, and walked 
 solemnly over to Ayer, and shook his 
 free hand in token of the admiration, 
 with which he now held his prowess. 
 Then swinging his rifle over his shoul- 
 der, he led the way to the tumbled-down 
 shanty, he called home. 
 
 As they passed up the narrow road, 
 they were silently joined by three gaunt 
 boys, whose ages ranged from thirteen 
 to eighteen, and who " toted " rifles 
 rather longer than themselves.
 
 Juleps and Clover 169 
 
 They fell in behind the men, Indian 
 file, without exchanging looks or com- 
 ment. At the first warning of the ap- 
 proach of the strangers, they had posted 
 themselves along the road at intervals, 
 behind trees and rocks, one of the 
 many adjuncts and precautions of the 
 illicit manufacturer of moonshine whis- 
 key, which the vigilance of the govern- 
 ment authorities makes necessary 
 among humble lovers of corn juice. 
 
 Ayer was so faint from his long ride 
 that he had to be lifted from his horse 
 in fact, only the precaution Lee had 
 taken in tying him to his saddle, had 
 kept him from several ugly falls during 
 the day's ride. 
 
 A stiff drink of Baxter's moonshine 
 revived him, and he was able to swal- 
 low a little " hog and hominy," which 
 formed the staple of the backwoods- 
 man's fare. 
 
 After this wretched supper, Lee had 
 a long interview with Baxter and it
 
 170 Juleps and Clover 
 
 was decided to send one of the boys to 
 the nearest settlement on an old mule 
 of Baxter's, to purchase some provis- 
 ions fit for the wounded man to eat. 
 Lee knew this might lead to a visit 
 from the authorities, but he realized 
 that Ayer must have good food, if he 
 was to recover his strength. 
 
 The boy was given some money, and 
 started on his errand. 
 
 Ayer, who had borne up bravely 
 during the day, had now collapsed and 
 had to be carried to a place of conceal- 
 ment, where, Baxter assured Lee, they 
 could lie hidden in perfect safety. 
 
 This refuge proved to be Baxter's 
 whiskey-still, deep buried in the forest, 
 a mile back of the house. It was half 
 cavern and half shanty, but would 
 serve to keep out the weather. Here 
 the mountaineer carried up most of his 
 blankets, and Ayer was soon stretched 
 on a comfortable bed. 
 
 After a renewed application of " moon-
 
 Juleps and Clover 171 
 
 shine," he fell into a heavy sleep, while 
 Lee and Baxter sat on the log threshold 
 and kept watch over him during the 
 night. 
 
 Lee feared that the excessive fatigue 
 and excitement of the day would bring 
 on brain-fever, but fortunately no such 
 symptoms appeared, and the next morn- 
 ing found him weak, but with less pain. 
 
 The boy arrived during the afternoon 
 with some provisions, which Lee had 
 prepared at once for his friend. 
 
 Young Baxter reported that in Wain- 
 hill, where he had been obliged to go, 
 the town was in great excitement, and 
 parties were being formed to hunt for 
 them in every direction. This occa- 
 sioned Lee and the mountaineer but 
 little anxiety, as they felt quite safe in 
 the loyalty of old Ben Smith, and even 
 if he betrayed what he knew, the pur- 
 suers would only have a slight clue to 
 work on. 
 
 So it proved, as the days went by
 
 172 Juleps and Clover 
 
 Ezra Baxter at length reporting on his 
 return from one of his expeditions that 
 the search had been practically aban- 
 doned, although the fugitives had been 
 traced to Ben Smith's, but without get- 
 ting any satisfaction or information 
 from the old man. 
 
 Ayer improved rapidly under the 
 nursing of his friend, and in two or 
 three weeks was able to \valk around 
 without feeling exhausted. He was al- 
 most well enough to travel, when one 
 morning, Ezra Baxter returned from 
 Wainhill with an ominous-looking docu- 
 ment and a note. 
 
 Young Baxter said that while in town 
 on the previous day, his attention had 
 been directed to a notice on the fence 
 surrounding the court house, and about 
 which there was gathered a great crowd. 
 As he could not read, he learned with 
 some difficulty from others, that the no- 
 tice referred to a reward offered for a 
 Yankee, dead or alive.
 
 Juleps and Clover 173 
 
 He waited until night, and then 
 sneaked up to the fence on all fours, 
 where the notice was posted; he cut 
 out the poster bodily with his jack- 
 knife, leaving only a hole in the fence 
 where the notice had been, to tell the 
 story. 
 
 It seemed, according to Ezra's story, 
 that while waiting for the cover of 
 darkness to perform this exploit, he for- 
 tified himself with "corn juice," in 
 quantities sufficient to loosen his tongue 
 without impairing his energy. 
 
 While in this condition, early in the 
 afternoon, he had entered a store to buy 
 some lint, as directed by Lee. The 
 clerk would not give him the proper 
 kind until he explained that it was u for a 
 wound a gunshot wound." The man 
 thereupon gave him what he wanted, 
 without exhibiting any suspicion, but a 
 tall, dark young lady, who was buying 
 something at the same counter, seemed 
 suddenly greatly interested in Ezra, and
 
 174 Juleps and Clover 
 
 after he made his purchase, followed 
 him to the door. 
 
 The young mountaineer, though an 
 awkward, overgrown lout, was not 
 without his ideas of gallantry, and 
 was greatly flattered when the young 
 lady, with a dazzling smile, requested 
 him to help her mount her horse. He 
 willingly did so, in a most bungling 
 manner. 
 
 "Thanks; so you have a wounded 
 man at your house, have you ? " said the 
 young lady, as she gathered the reins of 
 the horse and seemed to want to detain 
 him. 
 
 Ezra blundered out a rambling reply, 
 about " ' Papp ' being shot in the hand 
 by accident." 
 
 " Too bad, I'm sure," replied the 
 young lady, "it is very considerate of 
 your family to buy lint, and you must 
 be rich, too, with so much money to 
 spend," she added, nodding toward 
 Ezra's hand which still held the change
 
 Juleps and Clover 175 
 
 of a ten dollar bill he had given the 
 shopkeeper. 
 
 Ezra, half drunk as he was, realized 
 that he had probably betrayed his 
 father's guests, and pulling himself to- 
 gether, he proceeded to tell a most in- 
 tricate and mendacious tale. Finally 
 he stopped, after hopelessly snarling up 
 his story, and mopped, with his soiled 
 shirt-sleeve, the beads of perspiration 
 which had gathered on his forehead 
 through the unaccustomed mental effort 
 involved by overtaxing his imagination. 
 
 The girl had listened to his story with 
 a smile, and when he paused, she asked 
 him his name. Now Ezra was on firmer 
 ground, and he promptly replied with a 
 great show of truthfulness and veracity: 
 
 " John Barton." 
 
 The young lady eyed him sharply, 
 and then said : 
 
 " All right, Mr. Barton, I wish to send 
 a note to your poor old ' Papp.' Just 
 wait a minute."
 
 176 Juleps and Clover 
 
 She hastily drew a letter from her 
 pocket and taking the envelope, she 
 tore it open and wrote on the inside, 
 using the pommel as a desk, while the 
 astonished mountaineer stood with 
 staring eyes and wide open mouth. She 
 then folded the note without addressing 
 it, and gave it to Ezra, saying: 
 
 " Please give this to your wounded 
 ' Papp,' and he will understand it if he 
 is the man I think. Be careful, Mr. 
 Barton, and be a little more prudent 
 with your tongue, or you will get your 
 4 Papp ' and yourself into hot water." 
 
 With this warning, the girl cantered 
 off, leaving poor Ezra in a dazed state, 
 not knowing which way to turn. He 
 finally wandered to the fence where his 
 mule was tied, and sat there until it was 
 dark enough to secure the poster, with- 
 out detection. 
 
 After he had cut out the notice, he 
 rode back as rapidly as his slow-paced 
 mule and the darkness would permit,
 
 Juleps and Clover 177 
 
 .md the next morning, with a scared 
 face, presented the board with the note, 
 to Ayer. 
 
 The Northerner opened the crumpled 
 missive in nervous haste, and recognized 
 a familiar hand. He called Lee, and 
 read the note, or rather a portion of it, 
 to him. The note ran as follows : 
 
 " DEAR WALLACE : 
 
 " Your messenger has stu- 
 pidly exposed you to discovery and 
 given me this chance to warn you. 
 
 " The sheriff has had deputies watch- 
 ing all the roads, but he has now given 
 up pursuit. 
 
 " Richard White, however, is now in 
 town, and knows that you are hidden in 
 the mountains. He has quietly armed 
 men to watch for you at all railway sta- 
 tions and has given orders that the coun- 
 try shall be scoured in out-of-the-way 
 places. 
 
 " Be ready to defend yourselves, for 
 he means to shoot on sight. I hope and 
 pray you will escape. 
 
 " Oh Wallace ! You don't know how
 
 178 Juleps and Clover 
 
 I have suffered since that horrible day. 
 You don't understand, and you think 
 terrible things of me. 
 
 " Let me come to you now, that you 
 are in trouble, and I will show you that 
 I am not so wicked as you think. For 
 heaven's sake, send me a line if you 
 won't let me see you. 
 
 " Your heartbroken 
 
 " CLOVER." 
 
 When Ayer finished reading, Lee 
 snatched up the board which Ezra had 
 hacked out of the fence, and read : 
 
 REWARD ! I ! 
 
 $2,000. 
 
 The above reward will be paid upon 
 
 the delivery of the person, 
 
 dead or alive, of 
 
 WALLACE AYER; 
 
 To the Sheriff of Mack worth County: 
 At the County Court House : 
 
 In the Town of Wainhill. 
 (Signed) JAMES E. CAMPBELL, 
 
 Governor.
 
 Juleps and Clover 179 
 
 NOTICE ! 
 
 In addition to the above reward, 
 the sum of $5,000 has been placed in 
 my hands and will be paid upon the 
 apprehension and delivery to me, of 
 the body of the above-named Wal- 
 lace Ayer. 
 
 (Signed) ROBERT COOK, 
 Sheriff of Mackworth County, 
 
 North Carolina.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 And not a drop that from our Cups we throw 
 For earth to drink of, but may steal below 
 To quench the fire of Anguish in some Eye 
 There hidden far beneath, and long ago. 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 WHILE Ayer and Lee were studying 
 the Governor's Reward Will Baxter 
 strode up with a troubled look on his 
 face and his rifle uneasily balanced in 
 his hand. 
 
 " Lem's got a feller down thar below 
 the house that wants to speak to you 
 uns, Mr. Lee," the mountaineer re- 
 marked. "He's tony, and don't lo<;k 
 like he wus much dangersome ; Lem's 
 got him hilt up, an' I jist come up here 
 to tell you uns." 
 
 " It must be some one has followed 
 Ezra, Howard," said Ayer, "you would 
 180
 
 Juleps and Clover 181 
 
 better go and see who it is. It may be 
 some message in connection with this 
 note. I'll wait here." 
 
 Lee went with Baxter and in a quar- 
 ter of an hour he returned accompanied 
 by a man who proved on near approach 
 to be Frazier Peters, but not the placid, 
 dignified gentleman that Ayer had 
 known. 
 
 Peters was thinner by many pounds, 
 and his clothes looked as though he 
 had slept in -them a week. His face, 
 which he mopped freely, as he picked 
 his way up the steep path, looked hag- 
 gard, and showed traces of prolonged 
 fatigue. He brightened up a bit when 
 he saw Ayer, and shook hands cor- 
 dially. 
 
 " Hullo, Ayer, my boy," he cried, 
 with a trace of his former manner. "I 
 never expected to see you alive again. 
 A little pale and thin, but not worse 
 than I am. I've lost twenty pounds 
 this month, and I reckon I must have
 
 182 Juleps and Clover 
 
 lost two more standing in the sun 
 down there, with that fiendish young 
 barbarian pointing his gun at my head. 
 He made me hold up my hands too 
 Oh, Lord ! I thought I should drop 
 dead in my tracks." 
 
 And Peters mopped his feverish brow. 
 
 " I'm going to write to the governor 
 to-morrow to send troops up here and 
 clear all these moonshiners out. The 
 idea of allowing a child of that age to 
 lug around a gun bigger than himself 
 and to point it at any stranger who 
 comes along it's preposterous ! Then 
 his dad walks up and says : 
 
 "'It's just a mistake and no offence 
 meant.' Why it's an outrage, but then 
 the entire state is run infamously, from 
 the sheriff up. I'm going back to Vir- 
 ginia I'm ashamed of my native state 
 ashamed, sir. Got anything good to 
 drink up here ? " And Frazier Peters 
 sank down on a log to catch his breath, 
 and fanned himself with his slouch hat.
 
 Juleps and Clover 183 
 
 Ayer brought from the hut a half 
 empty bottle of whiskey made by Bax- 
 ter, and poured some out for Peters. 
 This and a few minutes' rest restored 
 Peters to something like his usual calm- 
 ness. Ayer knew that it must be im- 
 portant business that had brought 
 Peters in quest of him, but wisely al- 
 lowed the Carolinian to take his time in 
 stating the nature of his errand. 
 
 When E'razier had fully recovered 
 his breath he apologized for talking 
 about his own annoyances before ask- 
 ing how Ayer was, but on being assured 
 that his wounds were practically 
 healed, he settled himself comfortably 
 with the log at his back, and taking 
 another sip of the whiskey, which he 
 pronounced " vile," but which never- 
 theless, he consumed to the last drop. 
 He told them of the events in Wainhill 
 since the duel. 
 
 " Ayer, you know I used to be a 
 pretty easy-going fellow, but I assure
 
 184 Juleps and Clover 
 
 you I have not had a moment's peace 
 since that duel. That morning I rose 
 early and drove to Wainhill to inspect 
 some horses that had just arrived, so I 
 missed Parker and the doctor when 
 they came to the house with White's 
 body, and I did not hear a word about 
 the fight until that afternoon. 
 
 "I reached the Metropolitan Club 
 about lunch time, and found Colonel Bel- 
 lows, with two or three other gentle- 
 men there. It was a powerful hot day 
 and we were all thirsty, so I ordered 
 Pete to make a mint julep. 
 
 " He's a miserable nigger that Pete 
 knows nothing about mixing drinks, 
 but he finally got some sort of stuff 
 stirred up, and we were sitting quietly 
 on the porch, sipping it, when who 
 should ride up to the club but Sheriff 
 Cook, and behind him two or three 
 men leading horses. 
 
 " They rode right over the grass up 
 to the house, and totally without invi-
 
 Juleps and Clover 185 
 
 tation from us ; the sheriff dismounted 
 and came unto the porch. 
 : "Being Southern gentlemen, we ig- 
 nored this most extraordinary proceed- 
 ing, and invited him to join us as po- 
 litely as we could. At the same time 
 explaining just why the julep happened 
 to be so bad. 
 
 " Instead of acting like a gentleman 
 and a man of honor, this specimen of 
 poor white trash said : 
 
 " ' Drat your julep, sirs ; I don't want 
 no julep what I want is men, and 
 mighty quick too. There has been 
 murder done here this morning by a 
 damned Yankee, and he is escaping. 
 
 " ' I summons you all as citizens of 
 these yere United States of America 
 to come along with me and catch him. 
 
 " ' There are horses enough out yere 
 to tote you all drunk or sober, to 
 Jericho/ 
 
 " Yes, sir," continued Peters, after 
 taking another pull at Baxter's bad
 
 186 Juleps and Clover 
 
 moonshine whiskey, "He addressed us 
 with marked disrespect, sir, and that 
 ain't all. He turned to Pete, and sings 
 out to him : 
 
 " ' Here, you nigger, get them there 
 men's hats. Now come, I'll swear you 
 in as we ride along.' 
 
 " We protested that we were gentle- 
 men, and could not be expected to go 
 riding around rough shod over the 
 country catching runaway Yankees, 
 and besides, I hadn't my riding clothes. 
 Nothing but just a light duck suit. 
 But Cook would not listen to us as I 
 intimated before, he has not the in- 
 stincts of a gentleman. 
 
 " Major Rathburn begged to be ex- 
 cused, as he was exceedingly anxious 
 concerning Mrs. Rathburn's health. 
 He explained he was just on the point 
 of riding over to Dr. Mason's to confer 
 with him in reference to Mrs. Rath- 
 burn's delicate health, but Cook was 
 merciless.
 
 Juleps and Clover 187 
 
 " During the major's argument with 
 Cook, Colonel Bellows took a short cut 
 home, out through the back windows 
 of the club, but two of the sheriff's 
 men caught him and fetched him back, 
 and swore him in with the rest of us, 
 so in the end, we all had to go. 
 
 " The sun was terrific, and we had no 
 lunch, and no dinner either for that 
 matter. That night I patroled about 
 five miles of road, and my horse was 
 such a beast ! 
 
 "Well, gentlemen, that sheriff gave us 
 no rest for a week kept us prancing 
 all over the country, until I was worn 
 to skin and bone. I didn't get a decent 
 drink for days at a time." 
 
 Peters heaved a reminiscent sigh and 
 continued : 
 
 " The only redeeming feature about 
 the whole thing was that we couldn't 
 find you. I didn't understand then, 
 and I don't now, Mr. Ayer, what the 
 row was about," holding up his hand
 
 i88 Juleps and Clover 
 
 warningly as Ayer was about to speak 
 " I am not here to inquire ; but when 
 I got home again and saw Dr. Mason 
 I learned that you were pretty badly 
 hurt, and probably could not have had 
 strength enough to get very far away. 
 
 "Joy seemed delighted to have me 
 back, although I must have looked like 
 anything but a gentleman, as I had not 
 shaved for days, and my duck suit 
 looked, if possible, worse than these 
 clothes do. 
 
 " Well, to resume I was in bed for a 
 week or more. Doctor said it was over- 
 exertion in the sun. I said it was the 
 awful stuff that scoundrel Cook gave 
 us to eat and drink. At any rate, when 
 I got around again, matters were worse 
 than ever. 
 
 "Clover, it seems, had been ill too, 
 and was looking listless and pale. I did 
 not know what the trouble with her 
 was, because she is such a close- 
 mouthed girl, until yesterday evening,
 
 Juleps and Clover 189 
 
 when she came home on a gallop and 
 said she had found out where you were, 
 Ayer, and that she was going to you, 
 and that I must go with her. We 
 tried to dissuade her, but nothing 
 would do. She would have gone alone 
 if I had refused. 
 
 " So here I am, and Clover is down at 
 the foot of the valley, waiting to see 
 you, Ayer. Oh, such a frightful ride. 
 How she knew the way is more than I 
 can imagine. I have had all the riding 
 I want for a year to come." 
 
 Ayer sat for some minutes, buried in 
 thought, as Peters finished, then start- 
 ing suddenly to his feet, he turned 
 without a word, and went down the 
 path leading to Baxter's hut, leaving 
 Lee to look after Peters as best he 
 might. 
 
 Frazier Peters watched him out of 
 sight, and then said to Lee : 
 
 " Do you know, Lee, it never oc- 
 curred to me until yesterday, that the
 
 190 Juleps and Clover 
 
 quarrel originated in Clover's careless- 
 ness. It does beat all, how careless 
 some women are ! I had until then be- 
 lieved in the story which has been cir- 
 culated around town, that it was some 
 confounded row about North and South. 
 Joy said I was blind, and I believe she 
 was right ; about right, sir." 
 
 As Ayer descended the valley lead- 
 ing from Baxter's house, his mind was 
 filled with conflicting emotions. He 
 could not refuse to see the girl who 
 had braved so much to come to him, 
 but he felt that no good could result 
 from any interview with Clover. 
 
 It was cruel to be rough with her, or 
 to reproach her, and more cruel still, 
 to be cold and distant. Relent, he 
 could not and would not, when once 
 betrayed as he had been. 
 
 Clover Gwynne saw him in the dis- 
 tance, and for a second her face flushed 
 with pleasure. She rose from the rock 
 on which she was seated, as Ayer
 
 Juleps and Clover 191 
 
 bravely approached, and with a smiling 
 face, she nodded welcome. 
 
 They stood for several moments look- 
 ing into each other's eyes, without 
 speaking. The woman anxiously noted 
 the traces that suffering had left on the 
 face of the man. At length she said, 
 coolly enough : 
 
 " You received my note ? " 
 
 Ayer bent his head in assent, and 
 after a pause, Clover said : 
 
 " I have not come here, Wallace, to 
 reproach you, or to ask anything of 
 you, as in wild impulse yesterday, when 
 I sent that note. I simply desire to 
 have a talk with you, and to set my- 
 self straight in your eyes, which is cer- 
 tainly my right ; so whether you wish it 
 or not, you must hear me out. 
 
 " I want nothing from you to-day, ex- 
 cept silence. I shall not bore you long." 
 
 " Miss Gwynne," said Ayer, " I am 
 absolutely at your service. Only, do 
 not feel called upon to make any ex-
 
 192 Juleps and Clover 
 
 planations. None are required. What 
 has been done, is past and we can only 
 forget. Sometimes it is wiser not to 
 open old wounds, especially when it can 
 serve no useful purpose. So I would 
 advise you to tell me nothing which 
 you may in after years regret. How- 
 ever, I have no bitterness toward you 
 none whatever." 
 
 " I appreciate your delicacy, Mr. 
 Ayer," said the girl, with a touch of 
 irony in her tone. " But it seems to 
 me that it is serving a very useful pur- 
 pose to me at least, if I can regain 
 your respect; more than that, I should 
 not dare to take, from one so prone as 
 you, too hasty conclusions. 
 
 " Don't you think, Wallace, that you 
 might have given me a chance the ad- 
 vantage of a doubt before you con- 
 demned me off-hand, and punished an- 
 other ? " Her body shook with sup- 
 pressed sobs. She hesitated a moment, 
 and continued:
 
 Juleps and Clover 193 
 
 " But stay this is not what I came 
 to say it is too much in line with the 
 way in which you talked to me on a 
 certain occasion. 
 
 "Listen to me, and you shall hear 
 this story truthfully. I have known 
 Harvey White all my life. His uncle 
 owned the adjoining plantation to ours, 
 in Georgia. We grew up together, and 
 even as children, we were great friends ; 
 but I never knew any stronger feeling 
 for him or any other man, until my 
 father, who is a proud and stern man, 
 and who, despising the Whites, con- 
 temptuously included Harvey in his 
 denunciation with the rest of the White 
 family. 
 
 "As I was saying, until my father 
 called me in one day from the veranda, 
 where I was sitting with Harvey, who 
 had just called, and informed me that 
 4 1 was no longer a child, and must as- 
 sociate with none but my equals.' 
 
 " As there was no one of that descrip-
 
 194 Juleps and Clover 
 
 tion, in his opinion, for miles around, 
 this meant no companions for me what- 
 ever, except the rare occasions when 
 visitors from a distance came to visit 
 us, and stayed for weeks at a time. 
 
 " I obeyed my father about a week, 
 and then met Harvey half by accident. 
 He laughed my father's orders to scorn, 
 and convinced me that I had no spirit 
 if I submitted. 
 
 "I had no mother to advise me, no 
 sister of which to make a confidant, and 
 my two brothers, being older, only no- 
 ticed me when they wanted to find fault 
 or tease me. 
 
 " To be brief, I got into the habit of 
 meeting Harvey secretly and often. I 
 was lonely, and craved sympathy. He 
 had known my mother, and I used to 
 love to talk of her to him. I never 
 dared to mention her name to father. 
 My old black mammy had warned me 
 not to mention her, for his grief was so 
 intense they despaired of his sanity for
 
 Juleps and Clover 195 
 
 months after her death, and mammy- 
 had to lock my mother's rooms up we 
 children used always to walk on tiptoe, 
 and look over our shoulders, when we 
 passed those locked doors. 
 
 " Little by little, Harvey became my 
 hero, just in proportion, as it became 
 difficult to see him. In my foolish im- 
 agination, I invested him with attri- 
 butes, the poor fellow certainly did not 
 possess. When at last my father dis- 
 covered my disobedience, he said not a 
 word, but sent me post-haste to a 
 boarding school in Richmond. Harvey 
 came into his money shortly after this, 
 and went to Richmond also, ostensibly 
 to study. I had but few chances to see 
 him there, but he was seldom out of my 
 thoughts. 
 
 "And so it has gone on for years. 
 Harvey always declared that he loved 
 me, and I believe he did but he never 
 seemed anxious to marry me. Except, 
 that it was tacitly understood that
 
 196 Juleps and Clover 
 
 somewhere in the vague distant future 
 we should be married, and until that 
 time came, each was to be free. Harvey 
 however, always followed me around the 
 country just as he came to Wainhill 
 last month though he came here, I 
 must admit, in consequence of a too 
 frequent mention of a certain Wallace 
 Ayer in my letters. 
 
 " You are probably wishing to ask me 
 whether I loved Harvey White, or not. 
 I can scarcely answer anxious as I am 
 to conceal nothing from you. 
 
 " Still, I suppose I did give Harvey the 
 love that comes more from habit and 
 association than from spontaneous sym- 
 pathy the sort of love that must love 
 something, and which turns to whatever 
 object is close at hand the first love 
 the half love of a child. 
 
 " In the light of these terrible weeks 
 just passed, I have realized that I loved 
 Harvey White because he represented 
 ' man ' to me. When you came into my
 
 Juleps and Clover 197 
 
 life, I saw the mighty difference between 
 what I had imagined love to be, and 
 what it actually is. I loved you because 
 it was heaven on earth to be with you. 
 
 " My whole being seemed attuned to 
 the music of the heavenly spheres, when 
 I thought of you. The mere touch of 
 your hand thrilled me from head to foot. 
 I used to get up at break of day, steal 
 out of the house, and climb to the top 
 of the woodland hill beyond the pool, 
 and holding high my arms to the rosy 
 east, shout to the rising sun, my great 
 love for you. My heart was so full of 
 its wonderful new happiness, it seemed 
 to me that nothing but the sea, sky and 
 air was big enough to hold it all." 
 
 Clover sank to the ground. She 
 seemed to have been unaware of the 
 presence of her auditor. Suddenly she 
 looked up from where she knelt, and 
 said : 
 
 " I see polite, well-bred disbelief ex- 
 pressed in your face, but because you
 
 198 Juleps and Clover 
 
 cold-hearted, restrained Northerners can- 
 not understand, and are not equal to a 
 warmth of feeling, such as we know, 
 you should I must ask that you with- 
 hold your judgment until I finish, and 
 then but I care little what your judg- 
 ment may be now. 
 
 " I find myself taking a strange delight 
 in letting you know how much I have 
 loved you. 
 
 " But where was I in my story, that I 
 came to tell," and she smiled like a 
 corpse. " Oh yes ! so matters drifted 
 on just as for a while we drifted, you 
 and I, neither of us caring whither the 
 current led. 
 
 " My father was mortified, but he was 
 growing old, and could not control me. 
 My friends were scandalized, and there 
 is no disguising the fact, that many un- 
 kind and untrue things were said of me 
 some people think a woman cannot 
 have a man's devotions and have noth- 
 ing more.
 
 Juleps and Clover 199 
 
 " But I cared little for what the world 
 said, although when last month I saw 
 that Howard Lee believed those silly 
 tales, it did hurt me just a bit. During 
 all this time, I have had many other 
 men devoted to me, but Harvey was 
 always at my elbow, ready to do my 
 slightest bidding, and he never quite 
 lost control of me. The control that I 
 gladly yielded, for his was a strong, 
 coarse nature, that answered to some- 
 thing in mine. 
 
 " He was good to lean upon ; and then, 
 he seemed always to be standing in the 
 background, with that provoking, con- 
 temptuous smile of his, at any one's pre- 
 suming to aspire to the girl of whom he 
 felt so sure." 
 
 Clover dropped down exhausted ; 
 resting on one knee, she looked at Ayer 
 beseechingly : 
 
 " You said when you reproached me 
 that evening by the pool, that you could 
 forgive everything but the lie I told
 
 2oo Juleps and Clover 
 
 you, when I said I loved you. It was 
 no lie. It was true. Beautiful and 
 true. And I am left wondering where 
 such a gorgeous fabric has gone for- 
 gone it is : like a thief in the night, it 
 has stolen away, and I am left desolate, 
 with all the broken bits of my beautiful 
 rainbow lying in a heap at my feet. 
 What have you done with it? What 
 have you done to me? What have you 
 done to the playmate of my childhood ? 
 
 " The love I had given him before I 
 knew you, did not beggar you. You ! 
 you ! " she cried, as she now strode back 
 and forth in front of him, with all the 
 animal intensity of a caged tigress. 
 
 " You, to exact absolute inexperience 
 from the girl you do the high honor to 
 offer the sharing of your life. Can you 
 name all the women in whom you have 
 been interested? Can you number 
 your love affairs ? " 
 
 Clover waited for him to answer. 
 Ayer's head was bowed on his arms.
 
 Juleps and Clover 201 
 
 He made a motion of dissent, without 
 looking up, and she went on : 
 
 " It is all over now, and I see clearly 
 what made me care for you ; for there 
 is no use denying that I did care for 
 you. You came from a world in which 
 I had never lived. A world that was 
 mine by right of birth and beauty. A 
 world that I had dreamed of. You 
 taught me in that world of yours that 
 there was something more to life than 
 provincial dandies and a languid exist- 
 ence in the shade of a plantation porch. 
 I thought my past over. It looked full 
 of nothingness and petty flirtations ; 
 with one great strong infatuation, which 
 had overshadowed all else, which had 
 nearly broken my father's heart, and 
 tarnished my name, young as I was. I 
 determined to break with it and him 
 forever. And I turned to you, Wallace 
 Ayer, for aid. 
 
 " Harvey White had become hateful 
 to me; all things associated with him
 
 202 Juleps and Clover 
 
 became hateful, and jet I distrusted 
 the strength of his influence over me 
 but what if I loved him after all ? and 
 what if this feeling for you, was only 
 another passing fondness, I argued. 
 So, when he came to Petersdale last 
 mouth, I met him unchanged in de- 
 meanor. I saw him again and again 
 repeatedly often when you had no sus- 
 picion of it, and each interview con- 
 firmed me in my abhorrence of his 
 personality. 
 
 " Can't you understand my need to 
 know the truth, Mr. Ayer? After all, 
 it was only justice to you. 
 
 " With a Southern man in your place, 
 I would have told him the entire story, 
 feeling sure that he would have for- 
 given me, but you were so pitiless and 
 cold. The very anecdotes you told 
 from time to time, warned me that con- 
 cealment was my only chance to retain 
 your respect, and this deception, be- 
 lieve me, was the only sin I committed
 
 Juleps and Clover 203 
 
 against my love for you. Absolutely, 
 the only one. I feared to trust your 
 magnanimity and your boasted knowl- 
 edge of a woman's heart. 
 
 " There is little more to say, except 
 that when you burst upon me in the 
 growing dark, I was thinking, and 
 thinking oh ! so earnestly, of how I 
 could go to you, and ask your help 
 ask you to take me away from Wainhill 
 away from the South, and poor Har- 
 vey White. 
 
 "As he talked to me while you lay 
 listening, I was thinking how different 
 he was from my chosen lover, the man 
 whom I adored, and then you came 
 'upon me, white with anger, and as deaf 
 to reason as this log ; I saw that I was 
 mistaken in you too. 
 
 " I feared, for a moment you meant 
 to kill me before you stopped talking; 
 I hoped you would. 
 
 " A man such as you could not under- 
 stand me : rny emotions and affections
 
 204 Juleps and Clover 
 
 are too complex you do not under- 
 stand, or believe me now." 
 
 Clover finished the last words softly 
 with a persuasive note of sadness in her 
 voice, as though half hoping he would 
 make some overtures of reconciliation. 
 As she waited for him to answer, she 
 looked at him appealingly, and her 
 hands twitched nervously at her riding 
 habit. While she waited, the moments 
 seemed to lengthen into years. 
 
 Finally, he raised his head and looked 
 over and beyond her into the hazy blue 
 of the mist, hanging on the opposite 
 mountain side. He hesitated. She 
 listened to his inarticulate protestations 
 and scrutinized his face closely. Then 
 she rose and said, with chilling hauteur: 
 
 " Say no more, Mr. Ayer. I did not 
 expect anything but the hearing I have 
 fortunately been grafted. I did not 
 come with the expectation that you 
 would believe me. I know nothing can 
 change matters now, but there will
 
 Juleps and Clover 205 
 
 come a day when your pride and self- 
 sufficiency will fail you, and then per- 
 haps, you will understand. 
 
 "I am going back with Mr. Peters 
 poor man he is quite worn out. 
 Please go tell him that I am waiting 
 for him." 
 
 Ayer sat in silence and let the re- 
 quest go by unheeded. Clover re- 
 peated it, and he looked up. She added, 
 coolly : 
 
 " You are trying to think of some- 
 thing to say to me that will pacify me, 
 and at the same time, let you off easily 
 and gracefully. Don't be so punctili- 
 ous, pray. Your society manners are 
 hardly adequate for an occasion such as 
 this. It's rather late in the day, don't 
 you think to begin trying to save my 
 feelings in this matter," she sneered. 
 
 "Suppose you dp what you asked me 
 to do, the last time we met. ' Obey 
 without further conversation.' We have 
 each explained things to the other and
 
 206 Juleps and Clover 
 
 I, at least, have nothing more to say, or 
 to listen to ; may I again request you 
 to call Mr. Peters, as it is growing 
 late? 
 
 " No, I won't go to the house, thank 
 you. Good-bye, Mr. Ayer." 
 
 A few minutes later, Mr. Peters found 
 Clover Gwynne waiting for him on her 
 horse, which she had mounted without 
 help. He looked curiously at her face, 
 but she kept it turned away from him, 
 and rode in front all the way down the 
 narrow bridle-path, until they were far 
 from Buck Mountain, and the night had 
 fallen. 
 
 But Frazier Peters, as he watched the 
 youthful figure in front of him, saw 
 enough to make him shake his head 
 sadly, and as he murmured pityingly to 
 himself: 
 
 " Poor little girl, poor little girl and 
 we were all so happy this summer. I 
 don't understand the way things are run 
 in this world. It doesn't seem fair to
 
 Juleps and Clover 207 
 
 her and then that Northerner It's 
 all very fine, to look after honor, but 
 it's mighty tiresome when they make 
 such an infernal row about it."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Whose secret Presence, through Creation's veins 
 Running Quicksilver-like eludes your pains ; 
 Taking all shapes from Mah to Mahi ; and 
 They change and perish all but He remains ; 
 
 A moment guess'd then back behind the Fold 
 Immerst of Darkness round the Drama roll'd 
 Which, for the Pastime of Eternity, 
 He doth Himself contrive, enact, behold. 
 
 Omar Khayyam. 
 
 AYER returned to his friends in a 
 very sullen mood, and it was only with 
 the utmost difficulty that Baxter and 
 Lee could induce him to discuss plans 
 for leaving the country ; a move that 
 Lee well knew must be made at once. 
 
 " It's quite wrong to Baxter's family 
 here," urged Lee, " to expose them to 
 the chance of having a fight with the 
 sheriff. Then, if you are taken, a trial 
 will be additional scandal and would 
 208
 
 Juleps and Clover 209 
 
 probably compromise Miss Gwynne be- 
 yond redemption. You ought to think 
 of that too, after her plucky conduct 
 to-day, Wallace. 
 
 *' It's all very well to say that you're 
 not afraid of Richard White, but what 
 good can result of more bloodshed ? 
 
 "Why will you not come to Canada 
 with me, as we originally planned, and 
 let this row blow over. There is noth- 
 ing to be gained by staying here." 
 
 "I suppose that you're right, 
 Howard," said Ayer, in an ugly mood. 
 " I hate this country, and will be glad 
 to leave it ; but on the other hand, I 
 hate the appearance of running away. 
 I'm no coward." 
 
 This was trying Lee's unselfish pa- 
 tience a bit too far. He had run the 
 risk of offending for life, his old time 
 friends, had nursed Ayer through three 
 weeks of hardship, and felt he owed 
 some deference to his judgment. For 
 the first time, through all the trouble
 
 2io Juleps and Clover 
 
 in which they had been involved by 
 Ayer's impetuosity, he answered him 
 impatiently : 
 
 "Very well then, stay here, if you 
 want to, but White is certain to track 
 us down. I don't suppose you're fool 
 enough to give yourself up to be tried 
 by a jury, drawn from a section in 
 which Harvey White was so popular. 
 
 "Baxter and his boys will take a 
 hand in the fight and there will be 
 half a dozen innocent men killed, and 
 the rest of us very properly hanged. 
 Why won't you act reasonably, old 
 man, and go to Canada while you can 
 get away quietly. Once there, you can 
 remain in peace through the winter, 
 and get entirely over your wounds. 
 
 " If White is really so anxious to find 
 us, he can easily follow us into the 
 woods up there, and we'll meet him on 
 equal terms. So come, let's start to- 
 night," and Ayer yielded a reluctant 
 consent.
 
 Juleps and Clover 211 
 
 They made immediate preparations 
 for their departure, taking food, pro- 
 visions and some of Baxter's bad moon- 
 shine liquor, in order that they might 
 not be forced to call upon untrust- 
 worthy strangers for sustenance. 
 
 Baxter accompanied them to a remote 
 railroad station toward the West, guid- 
 ing them across the mountains by lonely 
 roads in the night. 
 
 As a matter of due precaution, two 
 of Baxter's sons leaving one on guard 
 at home accompanied them with their 
 trusty guns, until they were well away 
 from the suspected neighborhood. The 
 journey was a fatiguing one, and peril- 
 ous for Ayer, lasting nearly a week, on 
 account of their having to proceed so 
 slowly, but it was finished at last, and 
 the small town of Pacton reached just 
 before daybreak. 
 
 Leaving the two friends in hiding on 
 the outskirts of the little settlement, 
 the mountaineer rode to the railway
 
 212 Juleps and Clover 
 
 station and learned that the Knoxville 
 Express was due in an hour. 
 
 He had great difficulty in persuading 
 the station agent to flag the train, but 
 finally succeeded in overcoming his re- 
 luctance with a two dollar bill. 
 
 A silent, sleepy looking fellow lying 
 on a bench in a dusty corner of the 
 waiting-room, exhibited deep concern 
 in the conversation. Baxter had not 
 failed to observe him. 
 
 " You uns kin jist git on the train an' 
 leave ter me the fixin' o' him," said 
 Baxter on his return. 
 
 The train was flagged, and after bid- 
 ing Baxter good-bye, Ayer and Lee 
 mounted the platform, and as the train 
 slowly drew out, Lee brought to Ayer's 
 notice, the figure slouching carelessly 
 in the doorway, saying : 
 
 " Baxter will keep an eye on him, 
 never fear." 
 
 And Baxter did. Even while he as- 
 sisted Ayer on the moving train, old
 
 Juleps and Clover 213 
 
 Baxter had one eye on the stranger, 
 and one hand on the trigger of his 
 trusty gun. 
 
 As the train thundered away and 
 disappeared in a cloud of dust, the man 
 shuffled over to where the telegraph 
 ticked spasmodically in the corner. As 
 he reached out his hand to the instru- 
 ment, Baxter, who had slipped up 
 silently behind him, knocked his arm 
 up in the air. 
 
 The man started nervously, and 
 looked over his shoulder. 
 
 " I reckon you'd jist as well come 
 along 'o me, young feller," said the 
 mountaineer. 
 
 " Who the devil are you ? Why 
 should I go with you ? " replied the 
 other in astonishment. 
 
 " This is why," said the mountaineer, 
 grimly tapping the lock of his long 
 rifle with a significance that was not 
 lost on the amateur detective. The 
 latter glanced at the station agent the
 
 214 Juleps and Clover 
 
 only man stirring at that early hour 
 in mute appeal for aid, but that worthy 
 person was wise in his generation and 
 knew the mountaineers too well. He 
 was absorbed in contemplation of the 
 luxurious crop of jimpson-weed, which 
 could be seen from the narrow-paned 
 window. 
 
 "Come," said Baxter, and the man 
 passed out of the door into the gray 
 mists of the morning, with the gaunt 
 figure of the determined mountaineer 
 treading on his heels, prodding him 
 none too gently, now and then with the 
 muzzle of his rifle. 
 
 A farmer driving a cow to pasture, 
 in an outlying settlement, a little after 
 sunrise that morning, saw a scared, dust 
 covered man mounted on a mule and 
 leading a horse, while behind him rode 
 a threatening form clad in mountaineer's 
 clothes, and carrying a rifle of extra- 
 ordinary length, urging him on toward 
 the mountains.
 
 Juleps and Clover 215 
 
 This was all the news of his young 
 detective that Mr. Richard White was 
 able to gather, on his visit of investiga- 
 tion to Pacton, a few days later. 
 
 " And if the wine you drink, the lip you press, 
 End in what All begins and ends in Yes ; 
 Think then you are TO-DAY what YESTERDAY 
 You were TO-MORROW you shall not be less." 
 Omar Khayyam.
 
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