The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-12-05

smitten her body barreni"
What do you know of this" she cried
turning upon me again.
Il know nothing. That Ihave offered
| you some insult is clear; butt
Nay, you don't known-you don't know.
| No man would be such a hound. You
don't know; but, by the Lord, you shall
hear, here where you're standin, an shall
| jedge betwix' me an that pale 'oman up
| yonder. Stand there an lis to me-"
He was my lover more'n five an thirty
years agone. Who? That 'oman's welded
man, Seth Bolverson. He warn't mar
ried"-this with short laugh. "Wife or
less than wife he found me to his mind.
She-she that egged you come on an 1out
me-was a pale haired girl o. seventeen or
SO, i those times-a church goin, mincin
strip Of girl-the sort you men folk bow
the knee to for saints, you foolsl Her IA
ther owned Sheba farm, an she look'd
across on my man, an had envy on en-, an
set her eyes to draw en-. Oh, a saint she
wasl An he, the poor shammick, went.
Twas good girl, you understand, that
. wished for to marry an reform en-. She
had money too. I'D ha' poured out my
blood for en-. That's all cud do. So he
went.
''As the place shines this day, it shone
then. Like moth it drew en-. Late o.
summer evenin's it's windeys shone when
down below here twas chill j. the hills
shadow. An late at night the candles
burned up there as he courted her. Purity
and coziness, you understand, an down
here-he forgot about down here. Before
he'd missed to speak to me for month,
I'd hear en- whistlin up the hill, so merry
as grig. Well, ne married her.
"They was married eight months an
twas harvest time come round, an in his
Weld a-gleanin. ForI was suffered near to
that extent. seein that the cottage here
had been my fathers. an was mine, an out
OF they c'uldn't turn me- One O. the
hands, as they was pitchin, passes me an
empty keg an says, Run you to the farm
place an get it filed So with it I went to
tn kitchen, an while l waited outside I
sees his coat an wesket 'pon peg i the
passage. Well, knew the coat; an a mad
ness takin me for all my loss, unhitched
it an flung it behind the door, an, the keg
bein filled, picked it up agen and ran down
home along,
NO thought had ] but to win Seth back.
Twas the charm you spoke about, an that
same midnight delyed hole by the dresh-
old an berried the coat, whisperin, Man
come back, come back Co mel' as Aun'
Lesnewth had a-taught me times afore.
"But she, the pale 'oman, had a-seen
me, dro' a chink O. the parlor door, as |
tux the coat down. An she knowed what
I TUX it for. I've read it, times an again
in her wife's eyes, an today you yourself
are witness that she knowed. If Seth
knowed"-
She clinched and unclinched her fist
and went on rapidly.
Early mex mOrnin, an Almost afore
was dressed, two constables camein by the
gate, an she behind mum, treadin delicate
ly, an he at her back, VII his chin dropped.
They charged me VII stealth that coat
that coat I'd a-darned an patched more'p
vance,"
sank and halted.
what happened? She looked me Il the
eyes scornfully, an her own were full o.
knowledge. An VII her eyes she invited
me to abase myself, an spake the truth an
win off Jail. An l that had stole nowt,
looked back on her, an said: 'It's true.
stole the coat. Now cart me CT to Jail,
but handle me gently, for the sakeJo' my
child unborn When Ispoke that, an saw
her face, l went OFF VII glad heart"
She caught my hand and, taking me to
the porch, pointed high above Sheba, to
the yellow upland where the harvesters
moved.
'De you see him there? The tall man |
by the hedge-there where the slope dips |
That's my son, Seth's son, the straightest
man among all. Childless womanl Child |
less womanl Go back to her an carry
word O. the prayer Pve spoken upon her
And "Childless womanr' "Childless |
she called again, shaking her
fist at the windows of Sheba farmhouse. |
that blazed back angrily as they caught |
the western sun.-Arthur CUTLER Couch in |
London Speaker.