36S WILD SPOKTS IN THE SOUTH. 



formed no slielter from the sun, but crackled with a 

 shardy sound, and when the Avind blew fresh from sea, 

 from time to time the tree loosened one of its large 

 cocoa-nuts from its stem, letting it fill to the ground 

 Avith the thud of a cannon-ball. 



The prospect to the eye from the lantern on the tower 

 was a Aveary stretch of sand islands betAveen the sea and 

 the bay, and beyond the bay the desolation of limitless 

 swamps. Hea\y surges beat on the shore, long hot days 

 made the land glimmer in the mirage, and the tower and 

 the little house cowered before the breaker, or danced 

 in the white heat. 



Here Lou Jackson had come, and with her father's 

 bi-other Avas living in the house and keeping the light. 



It is difficult to explain the motives that in some per- 

 sons lead to their course of life. The human heart is not 

 alike in all, and Avords that are meaningless to one fa"on 

 another like blows, and acts that are ordinary to one's 

 standard are monstrous to another's. Analyze most of 

 our acts, those that are disconnected from sudden, tran- 

 sient impulses, and we will find at the bottom of the re- 

 tort a deposit of pride that would color the Avhole solu- 

 tion. It may be unsuspected — it certainly is to the 

 extent discovered, but our words are couched in its lan- 

 guage and many of our acts — all of those in ]3ublic — are 

 under its stern Avill. "Shall Z yield?" says Pride, em- 

 phasizing the personal pronoun, and refuses what the 

 heart would have granted. " Shall Isiccept a favor from 

 these people who ought to be no more capable of giving 



