Produced by Al Haines. [Illustration: Cover] [Illustration: Carolina Lee] CAROLINA LEE By LILIAN BELL Author of "Hope Loring," "Abroad with the Jimmies," "At Home with the Jardines," etc. With a frontispiece in colour by DORA WHEELER KEITH NEW YORK A. WESSELS COMPANY 1907 _Copyright, 1906_ BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY (INCORPORATED) _All rights reserved_ I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO MY FRIEND Ella Berry Rideing AS AN AFFECTIONATE RECOGNITION OF THE EVIDENCES OF HER BEAUTIFUL WORK AND LOVE FOR ME AND MINE CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Captain Winchester Lee II. The First Grief III. The Danger of Wishing IV. The Turn of the Wheel V. Brother and Sister VI. The Stranger VII. Mortal Mind VIII. Man’s Extremity IX. The Trial of Faith X. Cross Purposes XI. In Which Truth Holds Her Own XII. Whitehall XIII. Guildford XIV. Kinfolk XV. The Blind Baby XVI. A Letter from Carolina XVII. In the Barnwells’ Carryall XVIII. A Letter from Kate XIX. The Fear XX. Moultrie XXI. The Light Breaks XXII. In The Voodoo’s Cave XXIII. Loose Threads XXIV. The House-party Arrives XXV. Bob Fitzhugh CAROLINA LEE CHAPTER I. CAPTAIN WINCHESTER LEE Having been born in Paris, Carolina tried to make the best of it, but being a very ardent little American girl, she always felt that her foreign birth was something which must be lived down, so when people asked her where she was born, her reply was likely to be: "Well, I was born in Paris, but I am named for an American State!" Then if, in a bantering manner, her interlocutor said: "Then, are you a Southerner, Carolina?" the child always replied: "My father says we are Americans first and Southerners second!" Colonel Yancey, himself from Savannah, upon hearing Carolina make this reply commented upon it with unusual breadth of mind for a Southern man, with: "I wish more of my people felt as you do, little missy. Most of my kinfolk call themselves Southerners first and Americans second and are prouder of their State than of their country." "I don’t see how they can be," said the child with a puzzled frown between her great blue eyes. "It would be just as if I liked one hand better than my whole body!"