Reaped fortune by a rise in merchandise,

Now sent his partner son with Dalton Earl

Toward the claspless girdle of the South.

And Stanley Thane was all that makes true men;

High thought, high purpose, loving right the best,

His mind was clear and fresh as air at morn.

He kissed the rosy tips of Coralline's hand,

And that day galloped with her through the town,

And wandered with her down magnolia lanes,

And watched, below the spray-woofed fall, the brook,

That seemed a maid, who, sitting at a loom,

Wove misty lace to decorate the rocks.

 [Pg 43] XV.

[Pg 43]

Long o'er his writings hidden in the tree

Pondered the slave, and found at last their worth.

Must he return them? To whom did they belong?

If he should give them back to Dalton Earl

Unjustly, Richard Wain might claim them still.

He chose to keep there folded round the Book,

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