Show I f I v- v ERMINIE RIVES e S LAUREN cy TOUT J S 5 SYNOPSIS John Valiant a a. Irich rich society favorite discovers that the Valiant corporation cor cor- which his hili tat father her founded and which was wa the principal source of ot his wealth had failed lie He voluntarily turns over his hIli fortune to the rec receiver lver for Cor the corporation Ills His entire remaining possessions consist of at an old motor car ar a white bull dog dos and Damory court a n neg- neg estate state In Virginia On the wn way to Damory Damor court t he meets meNs Shirley Dandridge Dand- Dand ridge an auburn haired beauty and decider decides de de- ie- ie cider cide that he lit Is III going to like Virginia Immensely Im Im- im- im Shirleys Shirley's mother Mrs and Major Bristow exchange rem rem- duri dUli which It Is III revealed that hut till the major Valiant's father tather and ld a Ii anan nan mAil named nl Sassoon were Cre ere rivals for tor th the th hand hanl of or Mrs Dandridge In her tier youth Sassoon Bassoon and Valiant fought a 0 duel on her hor In which th tin the ro foaner ner was killed Valiant finds Damory court overgrown rown with weds wf-eds and creepers rs and decides to rehabilitate th the place V Valiant llant saves sates Shirley Jf from the bite t of r a snake which h I bin him Knowing 1 nb ho h deadliness deadlines of the bite Shirl Shirley sucks the 1 poison polon from the wound and saves flans his lila life lire Valiant learns for tor the time that his lila father Cather left leU Virginia Virginia Vir Vir- ginia on account of or ti II duel In which Doctor Doc Doc- tor or Southall and Malor acted as ashI hi ils hI fathers father's seconds Vall nt and Shirley become good friend J Mrs Irs faints when vien s sue she meets im-ets I Valiant for the first time Valiant discovers that he has hns hasa a fortune In old walnut trees The yearly tournament a n of or the Jousting ot or feudal udal times limps Is held heM it at t Damory court At Atthe th the last moment Valiant takes tak's the th place of ot on one of ot the knights who Is sick Ick and enters the lists tf Ho Hp wins and chooses Shirley e na queen of beauty to the dismay of Catherine Ketherine Fargo o n a former who Is Ig visiting In Virginia lnla Th The tournament ball hall at Damory Damor court draws draw th the elite lite of or th tin countryside Shirley Shir- Shir Icy ley ey I I s a crowned by Valiant Val Il as queen of ot bellut beauty Valiant tells cells Shirley of or his love lov they become led engaged I fargo determining not lIot to give rIve up Vall- Vall ant int without a struggle II points out to Shir- Shir Ie icy ey how v terrible It would be bo for Cor tl the woman woman wom worn an who caused th the duel 11 to meet Valiant who looks so 50 much Ilk Ilka his father Shirl Shir- Shir l Icy ey uncertain but reeling feeling that her mother moth moth- er Cr was Ii In love 10 with will the victim of ot Valiant's Vali Vall- ants ant's pistol br breaks the en engagement Greef King a liberated convict viet whom Major Bristow had sent to prison pIlson makes makel threats n against his prosecutor Valiant pleads with Shirley hut but falls to tn persuade her hr herto herto to change her r decision Mater Malor Ia lor Bristow Is 19 fatally wounded hv by Iv Greef Greet KIn King but beor be- be for tor or din In hp hI confesses to Mrs Dandridge Dand- Dand ridge that he h. had kept a 8 letter latter r Valiant had lad written to her utter otter the duel CHAPTER Continued In the little haircloth trunk back in her room lay an old scrap It field wId a few leaves torn from letters and many newspaper clippings From these she had known of ot his work his marriage the great commercial success success suc sue cess for which his name had stood stood stood- the he name that from the day of his goIng gong goIng go go- Ing ng she had eo so seldom taken upon her lips Some of them had dealt with his lis habits and idiosyncrasies hints of ot otan an altered personality and aloofness or loneliness that had set him apart and made mad him in a a. way a stranger to those who should have known him best jest Thus her mind had come to hold lold a a. double image The grave gravo man these shadowed forth and the man she had loved whose youthful face was wasn in n the locket she wore always on her breast It was this face that was printed on her heart and when John Valiant had stood before her on the porch at Rosewood it had seemed to have risen instinct from that old grave He lie had not kept silence He had written It pealed through her brain like a muffled bell But Beauty Valiant Valiant Vali VaIl ant was gone with her youth In Jn the room near by lay that old companion who would never speak to her again a. a I S I l II H I I II I Z I l 1 He Went Upstairs Into the Bedrooms One by One the lifelong friend friend who who had really failed her ber thirty years ago and in a tin box a mile away lay a let let- ter lIe He wont won't rouse again the doctor had said but n rL little later as he and Valiant sat beside the tho couch the major opened his eyes suddenly Shirley b he lie whispered Wheres Shirley Shirey She was WIlS sitting on the porch Just outside the tho open window and when the she entered tears were on her face taco The Tho doctor drew back silent silently but when Valiant would have done so the major called him nearer No he panted I like to see you two together His voice was very weak cak eak and tired As she leaned and touched his Ius hand he smiled whimsically Its mighty curious he said but I cant can't get it out of my head bead that its Beauty Valiant Valiant Vali VaIl ant and Judith that Im I'm really talking to Foolish Foolish Isn't Isn't it iU But tho the idea seemed to master him and presently he began to call Shirley by her mothers mothers mother's mothers mother's moth moth- ers er's name An odd youthfulness crept into his eyes a subtle paradoxical boyishness His cheek tinged with color The deep lines about aboul his mouth smoothed miraculously out Judith he whispered you you sure you told me the truth a while ago when you said you said you said said sald- Yes yes Shirley answered putting putting put put- ting her young arm under him thinkIng thinking think think- ing lag only to soothe the anxiety that seemed vaguely vaguel to thread some vague hallucination He smiled again It makes it easier he said lie looked at Valiant his mind seeming to slip farther and farther away Beauty he gasped you didn't go away after all nil did you I dreamed it It-I It I reckon It'll be all be-all all allright right with you both He lie sighed peacefully and his eyes turned to Shirleys Shirley's and closed Im Im I so glad he muttered so EO glad 1 1 didn't really do it it Judith It would have have been been the the only only low down thing ever I I ever did The doctor went swiftly to the door and beckoned to Come In now Jerry he said in a low voice oIce quickly The old negro fell on his knees by bythe bythe bythe the couch Mars Monty he cried Is you ou gwine away en olf oh Jerry Jerry Jer ry I Is It o Mars Mars' 7 The cracked but loving loing voice struck across the void of the failing falling sense For a last time the major opened his misting eyes Jerry you you black black scoundrel he whispered and Shirley felt his head grow heavier on ott her arm aria I reckon Its It's about time time to to me going home going home CHAPTER I Renunciation The grim posse that gathered in haste that afternoon did not ride far Its work had been singularly well done It brought back to Damory court however a white bulldog whose broken leg made his would would-be Joyful bark trail into a sad whimper as his owner took him Into welcoming arms Next day the major was carried to his final rest in the myrtled shadow of I St. St Andrews Andrew's At the service the old I church was crowded to Its doors I Valiant occupied a humble place at atone atone atone one side the side the others he knew were older friends than he lie The light of the late afternoon came dimly In through the stained glass windows and seemed to clothe with subtle colors the voice ot of the rector as he read the solemn service The responses came brokenly broken broken- ly Iy and their were tears tear on many faces Caces Valiant could see the side-face side of the doctor its saturnine grimness strangely moved and beyond him Shirley and her mother Many glanced i I at them for the tho majors major's will had been opened that morning and few there had been surprised to learn that save save for a life annuity for ol old ho had left leCt everything ho he possessed to Shirley Miss Mies Mattie Sue was besIde beside beside be be- side them an and between wan with weeping sat Rickey Snyder Shirleys Shirley's arm lay about the small shoulders aa as if it would stay the passion passion pas pas- sion aba of grief that from time timo to time shook them The evening before had been further darkened by the childs child's disappearance and Miss Mattie Sue had bad sat through half haIr the night in tearful anxiety It was Valiant Vallant who had solved the riddle In her ber first wild compunction Rickey had bad gasped out the story of ot her meetIng meeting meeting meet meet- ing with Greef Greet King his threat and her own terrorized silence and when he heard of this he lie had bad guessed her whereabouts He had found her at atthe atthe atthe the Dome in the deserted cabin from which on a snowy night six years ears ago Shirley had rescued her She had baa fled tied there in her shabbiest dress her hel toys to-S and trinkets left behind taking with her only a string of blue glass beads bead's that had been Shirleys Shirley's la last t I present Let me stay she had walled wailed Im not fit to live down there Its It's all m my fault that It happened I was a coward I ought to stay hero in Half Acre forever and ever Valiant had carried carried car car- ried ned her back in his arms down the mountain mountain tibe she he had bad been too spent to tow w walk alk He lie thought of this now as he saw that arm about tho the child in that pro pro- almost motherly gesture It made his lila own heartache more able Such a little time ago he had bad felt that arm about him lie He leaned his hot head against the cool plastered wall trying to keep his mind on the solemn reading But Dut Shirley's Shirleys Shirleys Shirley's Shir Shir- leys ley's voice and laugh seemed to be running eerily through the chanting lines and her fa taco faco co shut out pulpit and lectern It swept over him suddenly that each ench abominable hour could but make the situation more impossible for them both He had seen her as she entered tho the church had thought her even paler than In the wood the bluish shadows deeper under her eyes Those delicate charms were in eclipse And It was he ho who was to blame It came to him with a stab of enlightenment en en- lie He had been thinking only of himself all the while But Dut for her it was his presence that had now become the unbearable thing A cold sweat broke on his forehead for I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were 0 O I spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence The intoning voice fell dully on his ears cars To go awa away To pass out of or her life to a future empty of her How could he do that When he ho had parted parted part part- ed from her in the rain he had felt a frenzy of obstinacy It had seemed so eo clear that the barrier must in the end yield before their love He had never thought of ot surrender Now he told himself that flight was all that was left leCt him She She her her happiness happiness noth noth nothing ing else mattered Damory court and its future the future the plans he had made the made tho Valiant Vallant name name name-In in that hat clarifying Instant instant In in- stant he lie knew that all these from that May 1 day on the the Red road had clung about her She had been the Inspiration inspiration tion of all Lead kindly Light amid tho the encircling gloom gloom- The voices of the tho unvested choir rose clearly and some one at his lila side was whispering that this had been the majors major's favorite hymn But he scarcely heard When the service was ended the people filled the big yard while the th thelast thelast last reverent words were spoken at the grave Valiant Vallant standing with the rest I saw Shirley with her mother and the doctor pass out of the gate She was I not looking toward him A mist was before his eyes as they drove away and the vision of her remained waverIng wavering wavering waver waver- ing and indistinct a a pale blurred face under shining hair He realized after a time that the yard was empty and the tho sexton was locking the church door He went slowly to the gate and Just outside some one spoke to him It was Chisholm Chisholm Chis- Chis holm Lusk They had not met since the night of ot the ball Even In his own preoccupation Valiant noted that Lusks Lusk's face seemed to have lost its exuberant youthfulness It was worn as if it with sleeplessness and had a alook alook alook look of suffering that touched him And all at once while they stood lookIng looking looking look look- ing at each other Valiant knew what t the e other had waited to sayI sayI sayI say I wont won't beat about the bush said Lusk stammering Ive 13 got to ask you something I reckon youve you've guessed that I that I-that that Shirley Shirley- Valiant touched the young fellows fellow's arm Yes he said I think I know Its no new thing with me said the other hoarsely Its been three years The fhe night of ot the ball I thought perhaps that that that-I I dout dont mean to ask what you ou might have a right to resent but but I must find out Is there any reason why I shouldn't try my luck uck Valiant shook his head No he said heavily there ia is no reason The boyish look sprang back to Lusks Lusk's face He drew a long breath Wh Why then I I. I will he lie said I Im I'm Im I'm sorry if It I hurt you Heaven knows I didn't want waat to lie grasped the others other's hand with a aman's amans amans aman's amans aman's mans man's heartiness and went up the road with a swinging stride and Valiant stood watching him go with wilh his hands tight-clenched tight at his side S S S S S SA A little later Valiant climbed the sloping driveway of Damory court It ItH seemed emed H to stare at him from a thousand thousand thou thou- sand reproachful eyes ees The rhe bachelor red squirrel from his tree-crotch tree I looked down at him askance The redbirds flashing through the hedges fluttered disconsolately Fire Cracker Cracker the peacock was shrieking from the upper lawn and tho the strident discord teemed to mock his mood I The Tho great house bouse had bad become home I to him he lie told himself that he would make no other The few things he lie had I brought his brought his books and trophies trophies hind had grown to be a part Jart of it H and they I should remain The Tho ax should not be laid to tho the walnut gr grove ve As his fa fa- fa ther had done he would leave behind him the life lite he ho had lived there and tho old court should be once more closed and deserted Uncle Jefferson on and Aunt Daphne might live hive on in the cabin back of the kitchens There was pasturage fO the horse and the cows and for old Sukey and some acres had already been cleared lot for planting And there would be the swans the ducks and chickens the peafowl and the fish A letter had come to him that morn morn- Ing The corporation had resumed business with credit unimpaired Public Public Pub Pub- lic opinion was more than friendly now A place waited for him there and one ot of added honor in a con concern ern that had rigorously cleansed itself and already looked forward to a new career ca en- reer of prosperity But he thought of ot this now with no thrill The old life no longer called There were still wide ide spaces somewhere where a mans man's hand and brain were no noless noless noless less needed and there was work |