The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-06-30

night. Her face seemed rs void Of ex-
preston as the black oaks in tho yard
The cold, hard stare was directed to-
ward the road, and there it rested i'm
movably. The hours passed slowly.
The moon crept on and on until it was
almost directly over the house. Tho
loud snoring OF the old folks, tho ooca-
sional cough of one of tho children, the
ohirp Of cricket and the croak OF .
frog were tho only sounds which dis
turbed the almost perfect quiet.
'Twan't no harm nohow," she said
to herself ether law amt no right
to put yer in Jail fur maxim money er
whisky" And tho moon Travelled on.
HE did it, that Their Dobson." And
again she relapsed into silence.
Soon she arose and shook herself, as
if to throw off the chill of the night
mir. She lighted the dip of tallow and
placed it on chair; then she reached
up over tho door and took a long rifle
down from its resting place on pair Of
tree forks. She extracted the charge
with n long rod, wiped the gun clean
and reloaded it. Then she placed it
back where she found it, removed her
faded calico dress and went to bed.
Her loud breathing soon told that she
was asleep.
In the morning she performed her
household duties as if nothing had hap
pened No word was spoken of Eph,
except by the oldest boy, who asked
once when pop nd be back" No one
answered him. The sun camo out again
i'll all its fierceness. The children be-
gan their play and the old people their
talk When all were busy, Mandy took
tho old rifle down from the rack over
the door. She shouldered tho weapon
with the strength and sleight Of strong
man and started off down tho road.
She seemed i'll u hurry, for she took long
strides like q man. Her body swayed
i'll tune to her step, either from tho
weight of the gun or habit. She passed
several persons with the usual saluta-
ton, "Mornin' She looked neither
to the left nor to the right. Finally she
reached lane where the hazel bushes
skirtcd the road. She walked more
carefully then. She pccrcd into field
through an opening, but did not seem
satisfied, for she continued her walking
She stopped again shortly and looked
through the bushes. In the field, about
20 PAGES distant, was man patiently
hocing his corn. She polled the rifle
through the bushes just as the solitary
laborcr Strengthened up, took off his hat
and wiped the perspiration from his
face with his shirt sleeve. She glanced
along the barrel of the gun. There was
a sharp report, and the man fell over in
a furrow. The blood flowed from n
hole i'll his temple.
Then Mandy replaced the gun on her
shoulder. She walked off down the road
without word. When she arrived at
her homo, She put the rifle in its resting
place and went about her duties
III the afternoon the rumble of road
wagon was heard below the house 1t
came nearer. All went to the door to SEQ
who it was. The wagon stopped before
the house. All knew tho driver 1t was
Bill Buckcr, the constable. AS he climb
ed over the fence all in the house started
out to meet him.
Mandy, 1 want yer ter go with me
fur thcr shootin of Dobson- -
The womans face was rs immovablc
rs it had been when she sat at the win
dow the night before. Eph's father and
mother and the children looked at her
tiXcdly.
All right, Bill, I'll go with yer, i"
and with this she climbed into the
wagon.
Zach, she said to the Oldest child,
eyer go over 70 yer Aunt Minerals All
tell her TO cum round an look after yer
all. :" The wagon ratified down the road,
and the children and old people looked
after it.-WiE Withcrs Douglas in
Louisville Courier ouranl