Under a strong guard Wiles was taken up the river road to be placed in the county jail. The planters and others returned to their usual work, while Judge LeMonde and his company rode home at their leisure.
Apple Blossoms.
May Day had come in Kentucky, and all the air was sweet with the odor of blossoms. Jasper Very had made an afternoon call at Judge LeMonde's mansion; and the day being so charming he had invited Miss Viola to walk with him to the apple orchard which was in full bloom. The two walked down the gentle hill on which the house was built and proceeded along a private road leading north toward the knob. They passed by tilled fields in which green things were peeping through the soil. They skirted a pasture where horses and cows were grazing in perfect content. Then they went through a wide gateway and at once came into the apple orchard.
The apple blossom was Jasper's favorite flower. He thought an apple tree in bloom was the nearest approach to Eden's tree of life of any sight on earth. And to behold scores of these trees filled him with such strange, happy feelings that it was difficult for him to control his emotions.
As they walked up the gradual slope which was the beginning of the swell of the knob they gazed upon many trees so thick with blossoms that they looked like gigantic bouquets. Under one of these trees they sat down upon a rustic seat and looked upon the myriads of blossoms above and around them. The mystic scene—radiant sunshine, smiling landscape, balmy, odorous air, humming of bees, and pyramids of apple blossoms—increased the preacher's rapturous love of nature, God's revelation of his glory, and by a reasonable transition his heart beat with a warm, tender, and holy affection for the beautiful girl at his side. Her mind also was open to the beauties of the scene, and a thousand voices were calling her to sip the magic waters of love. She removed her broad hat and, letting it fall by her side, held it there with careless grace by one of its strings. Her golden hair added an exquisite touch to the picture.
Jasper was the first to speak: "Miss Viola, what is so beautiful as an apple tree in bloom? Our heavenly Father seems to have mixed the elements of nature to make this blossom with a skill not seen elsewhere. It combines the pure whiteness of the plum or cherry with the delicate color of the pink or rose. How beautiful is the shading! How the pink tint improves the white and the white the pink! Every separate blossom is fit to adorn the head of a fairy; and when you look upon this wilderness of bloom, you feel that the floral world can go no farther with its gift of beauty. As I sit under this bower of loveliness I am inclined to adapt the poet's words:
'My willing soul would stay
In such a place as this,