Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1892-12-14

though. he mout a ben seed over yere
Z Bacon's. Ben thar? No? Wa.al,
my boys comm In FIN thar purity
soon, an he en- tell ye. Come in am
feed; Jack'll be ycrc right soon."
Mat stayed to help her mother with
the supper, and during the course of
the meal learned that the two strangers
were officers trailing horse-thief,
who had stolen valuable horse at a
ranch forty miles east and sold it at
Pickett Station, and who was believed
to have come this way.
AS she listened to the conversation,
sudden namelcss fear came upon her,
making her feel faint and i'll. As
soon as supper was over, she took her
shawl and hurried home.
Somehow she was not surprised to
find the door open. She entered
hastily. Sam was in bed, asleep and
breathing stcrtorously. He had evil
IDENTIFY been drinking, as his clothes
were scattered about the floor, and
Mat, looking out the back door, could
ace his pony standing patiently where
sam had left him, waiting for some
one TO come and feed him. Mat
leaned over the sleeping mar and
kissed him gently, her eyes fu! Of
love. Then she turned to pick up his
clothes and put them away. The
lr2uscrs were heavy, and something
jinSled in one of the pockets. In
slinCliyelY Mat thrust her hand into
II, and drew it forth, clasping several
gold pieces. As she did so her eyes
opened wide, and she stood as if
stunned for time, her heart chilled
with the same strange fear that had
stricken her awhile ago and impelle |
her TO hurry home.
She rushed 10 the bed and shook
Sam roughly. "Sam! sam = wake
up!' she almost screamed.
The man turned over and looked at
her stupidity. "Ii'lo, M-Ma,! Ycrc,
be yc? Gimme kiss" he said, in
dull tone.
"Not twcll yc tolls me wbar ye done
got these yere things!' Mats voice
sounded broken and shriIl.
sam sat up aud rubbed his head,
looking at her in drunken wonder.
"W-w'y, thcm--,hcm thar, honcy?'
She shook him tercely, and said in
Il lower tone--a tone of earnest force:
"Tcll NE, Sam Toms, whar ye done
got these yerc coins! Quick, now!"
Her tone partially soberod The man,
whose eyes opened wider rs he asked,
GueruIously;
"Whnt yo 90 all-frcd fussy bout?
i hain't done nothin'," Aud he
laughed in a half-drunken, half-ncrv-
Gus way.
''Sam! whar did We git 'em?"
lie sat dumbly staring al her.
"Sam!" her voice was full Of hor-
ror, ''did you steal that thar hoss?'
No answer; but Mat saw by his eyes
she had guessed the truth. Slowly
The coins fell from her hand to the
floor; slowly her head bent forward
until her face touched the pillow. For
minutes she did not movc-not Until
Sam, who had been staring at her
wonderingly, reached out his big hand
and laid it caressingly on her head.
Then she sprang to her feet, her hot
eyes glazing, and her form trembling
with anger and horror. She did not
speak, but fixed her gaze OH his face
for few seconds. lie did not meet
her look, and, presently, she turned
and ran out of the door.
sam, almost sober now, called after
her, but she did not answer. lie Dot
out of bed slowly and started to dress
himself. lie had almost finished,
when Mat, accompanied by her father
and the two strangers, returned.
"}'har he is--an' thar's tn money!"
she said, and passed on ou' through
the back door, without looking at
Sam.