The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-07-06

cut on the ocean of mist that lay over the
imagining that the end of all things had come,
and having turned your back on the known,
you were yenturing out into chaos.
Janey was not born to pretty fancies, and
yet her thought was not unlike what yours
might have been, except that it envelopcd her
"a chill and unrelen ing certainty-just as the
mist settled down upon the valley and shut out
the sun. The beauty of a fog is so much .
matter of ones elevation.
At the store a group of men were standing,
talking idly. They separated as she came up,
and one OF them helped her out of the wagon
with a smile and good-natured word. The Hour
merchant talked to her kindly as he busted
himself among his brown paper bags. A woman
came in and set her baby on the counter. The
tiny creature crept along and laid its pink,
velvety hand on Janey's wrist. Some of the
warm, confiding little life thrilled through her
arm, and got into her sluggish blood. 1t
might be that people were not cruel. Two of
the men sauntered in from the platform, aud
seated themselves behind her.
bad" said one of them leisurely; " Swiggart's
packin' raisins this week; he's offerin' a dollar
a day"
The merchant warmed up and grew garru.
lous with the sudden me ropolitan rush OF
trade.
"There's a letter for your pa. Pemberton
was up Saturday; he says them rascals have
hauled off about the springs: Pm glad OF it;
it'n ease your pa up good deal. 1t was a
nasty job, anyway"
The girl looked up at him, wistful and dumb.
He counted out the change to her carefully.
81 guess that's all right; there was three
cents due on the letter; it's a good big onei
you'll be careful not to lose it."
The man followed her out to put the pack
ages in the wagon
tits Luke Delmar's half-witted girl" he
said, when he came back. cpd a good deal
sooner be his dog-poor thing
Safe in the wagon again, Janey drew G long,
gasping breath of relief. Possibly she was
nearer happiness than she had been before in
all her short, stagnant life. If she had known
what she would probably never know, that her
father had missed her. and longed for her re-
turn with a blind, unreasoning sense of pro-
lection in her presence, a sense of which van
ished the instant she came in sight, the day
might have passed into Janey's calendar az
even more noteworthy than it was.
Luke had watched the wagon crawling
homeward like a leisurely insect across the
plain below, and the time dragged intermin
ably, until the limp, faded sun-bonnet. with
its encircling cloud of dust, appeared above
the line of grease-wood near the home.
81 thought you an the mare had fell asleep;
it's been more'n an hour sence We got to the
brush he said gruffly, as the creaking vehicle
stopped before the door. Involuntary Jauey
looked toward the vineyard. 1t lay there just
as she had left it, a brown, irregular network
growth still untouched. Luke followed her
glance with his restless, blood-shot eyes.
"What We lookin' at the vineyard fer?' he
said, angrily. ''The knife was dull an l
couldn't find the MILESTONE. Gil me the to-
packer"
She gave him the package and got down
from the seat YEARLY. Beyond a vague won
der that he should think of accounting to her
for his actions atall, the girl was conscious of
nothing but the old deadening tyranny. The
letter slippei from her shawl and fell to the
ground. 1t lay at Luke's fee an imposing,
officiallooSing document, covered with mys-
FERROUS stamps and lettering.
There was no need for Janey to be AFRAID of
him now. He clutched the wagon wheel, and
turned toward her piteously.
"What is it? Where did you get TT l
hain't done nothin'i Who told 'em. What
do they wantl'
He seemed to her suddenly a querulous,
trembling old man.
Janey picked the letter up and wiped the
dust from IL with her shawl.
1.-THE man at the store gave it to me. He
said it was foryou. 1didn't ask nothing abo ut
i'll thought you'd know"
He shrank further away from her, covering
and error-stricken The lines on his ashen
face seemed to deepen and grow palmer.
SITS nobody's business-the land and every
thing is mite. Eff you told 'em anything
He had staggered against the horse. and was
holding himself up by the shaft; his breath
came in slow, labored gasps. Janey stared at
him stupidity.
"Ididn't tell 'em nothin'. I didn't know
nothin' to tell. The man said the springs
was y"ur'n, and he gave me the letter-that's
all"
1t was the weak uncertainty of her voice
more than her words that treasured Luke. He
turned away, fumbling nervcusly with the
harness.
she reckonel you had been to boardin'
school, an could read writin', he said, with 8
low, sneering lau n. 81 hain't no use for iheir
letter: Ye kin kindle a fire with it. Burn il
up-d'ye hear met"
49, -a-.I1 - =
blindly. To-day, a very little fric ion with
her own kind had stirred her blood. She slip
ped the letter under her shawl, and went fnta
the house. When che heard the shafts fall,
to fill his pipe, and the mare was dragging hel
halter, and nosing the tender %al6leria on hel
way TO the shed.
"Herc's the whetstone," said the girl, list
lessly; it was in the tee+box, where you left
Il was the first time she had ever spoken tc
him in that way. Luke started and looked 81
her with a muttered oath.
cuttin'sF" she asked, in her slow, meaningless
monotone. "Ef you're goin' to set out the
other clearin' s'pose you'll want to heel ZEN
in over there.h
The mans face took on a sullen, dogged res
olution. He came close to, her side.
"D'ye think Pm a foolln he said, in a cold
cruel undertone; "d'ye think I'm soin' to i'm
prove another mans for w They kin plan
their own vineyards. I'm a-goin' to Arizony-
I'd gone long ago it, We hadn't been a-hausin'
on 10 me like a bur"
He had nsrved himself to meet her gaze. L
was not much to do after all. She parted hei
lips, and looked at him, in white, speeches
misery. His voice had a far away sound t.
her, like an echo. She repeated the words ate
!; him, stupidity.
The mare had strayed into the young barle,
l now, and Luke had gone after her. Jsney wal
standing there alone. There must have beef
+ something chilling in her dull, colorless face
The hound came up and locke at her, an Id
: Self against his masters legs. Inside the hous
she could hear the clock ticking noiselessly
. She wondered if she would ever be able tc
r wind t. when h. was gone. Arizona was &
e long way off. She had heard of it, though
. Great S retches of d 'sert, and hot, barrel
. mountains, where men dug silver. Womer
! and children never went there. The houuC
l might go, and possibly the horses; but sh
t barley, and get H. in when it was ripe, ant
. plow the vineyard!
, Something darted into her dulled conscious
! ness with a sharp sudden pain. She put on
l her hands hlindly in the warm sunlight.
\ sit amt his'n " she said, looking about he
J with alow piteous moan; "the land amt his'n
! they've took it away from him, an there's NJ
. place for me to stay" ,
: Perhaps the first shock Of grief or fear 1
u worst to those whose perceptions are keenest
w ShAhS SShS "
to imagine a murderous blow frightening it
. self out through Weary houfs; and yet tn
d girl went about until nigh fall; with the sam
white, tortured face she had worn as she stoo
y there in the warm, breathless noon, when tn
|, full meaning of her fathers word dawned upo
her. Luke was pruning the vineyard. II
. was glad of any pretext that kept him out o
sight of the homely awkward figure movinI
6 silently about the house. 1t did not occur II
him to ask her what she was doing. That al,
. resolution was shaping itself in her diml,
! lighted brain did not enter his thoughts.
v He left his work at sunset. and smoked hi
pipe by the kitchen door in silence. Jane
was moving about inside with slow, listles
steps. There was anew moon-a wet moon
v Luke said TO himself, noting its curve. tn
blackened branches Of the sycamore rose ou
of the canon in gaunt silhouettes against III
sky. A fog drifted in presently, wrappin
. them about like a winding-sheet. The ma
~ got up, shuddering, and went into the house
u Janey was standing by the bed, tying the col
ners of a rude bundle. She looked at hir
with her dull, expressionless eyes.
n Pm goin' away" she said, slowly. IF
you wan to go to Arizony l won't hang on I
YOU ike-like a bur, no longer. They'r