to noble ends. I shall renovate it and
live in it while I am here, and at such times as I may return; or if I
should tire of it, I can give it to the town for a school, or for a
hospital--there is none here. I should like to preserve, so far as I
may, the old associations--_my_ associations. The house might not fall
again into hands as good as those of Nichols, and I should like to
know that it was devoted to some use that would keep the old name
alive in the community."

"I think, Henry," said Miss Laura, "that if your visit is long enough,
you will do more for the town than if you had remained here all your
life. For you have lived in a wider world, and acquired a broader
view; and you have learned new things without losing your love for the
old."

_Ten_

The deed for the house was executed on Friday, Nichols agreeing to
give possession within a week. The lavishness of the purchase price
was a subject of much remark in the town, and Nichols's good fortune
was congratulated or envied, according to the temper of each
individual. The colonel's action in old Peter's case had made him a
name for generosity. His reputation for wealth was confirmed by this
reckless prodigality. There were some small souls, of course, among
the lower whites who were heard to express disgust that, so far, only
"niggers" had profited by the colonel's visit. The _Anglo-Saxon_,
which came out Saturday morning, gave a large amount of space to
Colonel French and his doings. Indeed, the two compositors had
remained up late the night before, setting up copy, and the pressman
had not reached home until three o'clock; the kerosene oil in the
office gave out, and it was necessary to rouse a grocer at midnight to
replenish the supply--so far had the advent of Colonel French
affected the life of the town.

The _Anglo-Saxon_ announced that Colonel Henry French, formerly of
Clarendon, who had won distinction in the Confederate Army, and since
the war achieved fortune at the North, had returned to visit his
birthplace and his former friends. The hope was expressed that Colonel
French, who had recently sold out to a syndicate his bagging mills in
Connecticut, might seek investments in the South, whose vast
undeveloped resources needed only the fructifying flow of abundant
capital to make it blossom like the rose. The New South, the
_Anglo-Saxon_ declared, was happy to welcome capital and enterprise,
and hoped that Colonel French might find, in C