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

JANEY.
"T-he springs is mine! I bought 'em an
paid for 'emi Curse their titlesl They're
minel Ye amt bright, but ye know that,
fancy! Why don't ye answer me-, girla Hev
ye gone dumb!'
The dull face grew a little duller with fright
and slrank away from the light of the candle
that farrd upon the table between them.
al always s'posed they was your'n, father
everybody said so. If they take 'em-'
"Yc s'poscd it, did yea Eff ye had yer
The mans voice grew thick and hcarse with
passion.
'sTake 'em-they'fe mine! Who said they'd
take 'eml ] heard their lingo in town to-day;
it's a lie! Dye think IIl let 'em walk over
met Dye think one fool in the family amt
enough?n
She covered further back into the shadow,
and looked at him with her dull, affrighted
gaze.
The man leaned forward until the light of
the candle fell upon his flushed, passionate
face.
"I've seen Tim in town to-day, and Tn see
lin ag'in-d'ye he2rl Curse his white hands
an his lies he's comm out here tomorrow.
y, We needn't turn white about the gillsl Pm
goin' to burn grease-wood brush on the
clearin'. ] want We to slam the door in his
face-d,ye hear me?n
"Yes, father"
"Ef We speak a civil word to him-d'ye see
that!" he pointed to the low, open doorway;
"them as stays about me don't parley with
thieves-ye can take yer bundle an CO."
The girl looked out into the night with q
Glow, terrified shudder.
.'Why don't We speaka Where's yer spunk7
Hain't ye sperit enough to hate a man that
wants to steal yer bread and butterl'
81 dunno Inn, father; how'll l know lin
"Know 'ima You don't know a thief when
We see i'm! Bring i'm over to me AM IN pint
'im out to ye?n
The man got up with a low, brutal laugh,
and took a gun from the corner.
ibid We fill the ca'Irldges."
"Most of 'em; the caps stuck in q few;
they're in the can with the shot"
"BTiug 'em here '
She brought them aud then crossed the room
with a heavy ~listless step, and SAT- dow in the
doorway. "Not bright % her father said. Per.
haps not. Dull enough to want q caress now
and then, Xix a faithful dog; but not quite
brute enough to cry out under a blow. The
lights in the village below were the same 70
her as the stars above them. The wild iEG-
mortelles on the mesa waved in The night ,tc
like ghosts Of spring blossoms, and sent their
dry, honeyed fragrance all about her. The
mountain breeze lifted her colorless hair and
blew soft against her coarse red hands. Poor
Janeyl Did she sit there because the summer
night was sweet to her? 1 do notknow. The
hound at her feet might have been indoors il
he had chosen. A bat darted obliquely past
her, and then back again like a shadow.
She got up shiyering, and wentinto the house.
The maj looked up from mis- work with a gruff
oath.
There was . bat, an I was afeared, so 1
came in. Dye want me2n
want yea what 'u'd 1 VANITY yer feri G'long
to bed"
OF course it is only an untamed brute that
snaps at those nearest him, when he is hurt,
You and !, my good ~neighbor, from the sub
lime heights OF our philosophy, have doubtless
learned TO trace our ills back through endless
complexities to their origin, and hoard oul
vengeance or.the real offender. But his man,
Luke Delmar, toiling the next day on the
warm, odorous upland, soiling his hard hands
with half-burnt brush, and pausing now and
then to wipe his brow, and add a sooty strair
to his frown-thism man was not of our kind.
"Curse i'm !" he muttered; sits easy talk
ing; where was he when 1 grubbed an brung
the water out on the other clearin'l Eff the
lands his'n, why amt he out here burnin
brushs Curse his deeds, an his flaws, an his
big words a lies a lier"
The sun rose higher, and drew puuuent
spicy odors from the growth of the mesa
Yellow butterflies fioated in the still air, likt
stray flower petals, and the serene southern
moon came on with its warm luxury of res
and languor. Still the man on the mountain
side toiled on, muttering his sullen curses
bearing his brand from one fragrant heap O
youriug fame with a fierce, half-envious ire
AT last he paused, wiping his forehead, anC
turning his logged gaze toward the valley.
Somebody was walking up the wash int,
the little canon. Somebody, who walked a,
you walk my neighbor, erect, swinging hi,
cane lightly, stopping now and then under tn,
Struggling sycamores, to lift his hat and looI
about him. Choosing his way among tn,
powders, as the canon narrowed, and notins
the rich, sickening smell Of the laurel, which
: he grasped to aid his ascent. A hard man
U, no; q man who wore a mountain blossom
In his coat, and drank in the fresh hiohIan,
ar with Keen enjoyment. One who glanced
az tne poor mans cabin, with a .hrug of pit,
then smiled down at the frightened minnow,
4arting wildly in the shallow pool at his feet
what did 1t matter to him If his coming dis
turDeo tne quali "a their MONDAY covert? O
startled the rabbits and SQUIRRELS. and sen
them scamPering into the chapparel. Would
you nave him stay away because these will
creatures were there before hint Certainly
not man has a right to take his OWE pro
Gsuea ne gives It away afterward as you AM
direct, my good neighbor; and this maj
gave large sums, every year, to make beggar
more beggarly. A hard man! By no means
over on the hillside. a pair of angry eyes wa
Watching him furtively.
Course his fine clothesp y, Kissed LIKE
through his set teeth; "who gives him leay
TO come on my landi Eff he wants to see me
Mny don't ne go to the house an aski VIVA
springs. They amt his'np'
A wounded animal looking up to confron
one OF ms kind, and finding himself face t
lace with q polished weapon, feels perhaps a
LUX Deimar felt before the law. But tn
man up the canon, admiring the painted WOO
OItoe manzanita, and thrusting his cane int
ue lush, green moss beside the spring, felt n
such bitterness. The little cavern was coo
ana shadowy, even in MONDAY. High abov
the line OF verdure, on either side the mouI
tain rose bare and sunburned in the white
transparent air. He stood still, and listene
70 the drip OF The water into the brown poo
man must have = stratum of granite i
MIN to talk ofa submerged dam here" he sal
70 himself, land yet this must be the place
have him spared this"
The day wore drowsily on. Great, scar spot
tnickened on the mesta, and The afternoo
breeze blew the ashes in littIs clouds towar
the canon.
"He hain't come out yit,n said Luke, nur,
ing a brand behind his hard, blackened ham
reckon he's fell asleep, up by the falls It
thieves as sleep while honest mems at work.
he laughed sneeringly, and knelt down
Guarding the pale, mounting flame. tn
er~easewood cracked, and gave cut its swee
oily smell. A burning leaf, waVered to rb
ground, and tongue of yellow fame she
through the dry grass, leaving its ashen trai
Luke stamped 1t out with his feet.
1t 'u'd be a bad job if the Gre 'u'd git int
the canon, in this breeze; the underbrush'
orler IA timber; It wouldn't stop short o. Il
He startled suddenly and looked over b
shoulder. The flames mirrored itself in b
eyes, and gave them a dull red glare. All tn
sullen rage that was in him surged to his fac
and hardened there. The brute grappled wit
the human, and prevailed.
The nre crept steadily along he bridge {
withered leaves, and caught the grasses ths
whispered on The canon's edge. Pale autum
flowers nodded and beckoned to their new hy