The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1866-12-13


said Joseph, speaking again through the
window from the outside. IF she'd any
thing to do wi it, granny bewitched her
Be ashamed O. yourself, granny, lettin' the
child be found fault wi for it y he angrily
added ~ -s'-s t#-}~f5 ~
WAS it that foo tow'd 'em p feebly
asked the dame twitching with passion al
the sound of Joseph's voice.
1T vas yourself who told me. had not
heard Of it from any one, said the rector.
But can it be true that you, sinful woman,
removed the COW from Bates's and drove il
to Astburys. merely as means of revenge
for some slight put on your grandson" :
Hadn't nobody tow'd 'ein p demanded
granny, strengthening herself, and speaking
quite strongly. fEa
Nobody but yourself has breathed of it,
which shows how Providence has decreed
that sinful secrets shall out, was the rec
tors solemn answer.
''Oh, it a goes wrong! gasped the old
woman, with bewildered stare of the
black eyes, and sank back with gurgle in
her throat. all present thinking she was dy-
ing But life chung tenaciousIy to the old
weather seasoned frame, and in minute OF
|
Their lost the power of speech, or else now
she would not use it.; not word further
did she utter. -s.e
Matty, however, was closely questioned,
and Mark and Joseph and the widow told
each what they knew. In this way the
facts were brought out, and both rector and
squire were forced to give them credit,
strange as such story seemed, with the
paralyzed old woman and the alarmed and
weeping child before them as the chief &C
tors in it, In vain Mrs. Leatham appealed
to Mr.. Cotton, that. since they were the
only sufferers, the circumstances, for the
credit of their humble name, should not be
published The sense of responsibility was
strong, upon the squire and be answered
that the matter must be left in the hands of
his fellow magistrates. Even the rector
was silent in the face of that consideration,
and could only, before his departure, covert
ly whisper to the widow that granny was
TOO old and Matty too young to be punished
for what they had done. AT length the Wis
itors left, the squire announcing after anoth-
er survey of the sick cattle i'll the yard, that
he should have them slaughtered at once,
adding that, if the others sickened they,
too were to be killed without delay Moth
or and son looked wildly at each other
the ruin they had so often talked about
now stared them in the face. Granny,
also, was aware of il, if meanings betoken.
ed anything, though her shrunken lips were
closed, and her black eyes were covered
with the closed lids Matty never moved
from her crouching position on the hearth,
watching the movements of others with
large terrified eyes. and letting the kitten,
which had crept out from its hiding, gam
Dol about her unheeded. Joseph stood
stock-stiIl in the yard gazing dumbfound
at the doomed cattle.
A few words will suffice for the rest.
Within a week only one COW was left out
of the whole seven. and the disease broke
out at several other places in the neighbor
hood The localities were all somewhat
distant, and it could not be positively al
legged that they had derived it from Leath
am stock; still, on the news of Granny's
attempted revenge leaking out (Which it
did, though the magistrates took no action,)
public feeling rose 80 high that the family
must have left the district, even if their
ruin had been less complete. Another ten
ant was found for the farm, and granny,
who still fingered, though her mind had
wholly gone, was removed into an aims
house at an adjoining village. Mark, who
had forfeited every remaining chance he
had of wedding Ellen Astbury took service
in another part Of the country When
granny dies, he, his mother and Matty will
enigrate to America, where some of their
friends are settled. Joseph is serving man
at the old farm under the new master, and
talks most bitterly of granny.