The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-08-01

night Her face seemed ns void Of ex.
preston as the black oaks In the yard
The cold, hard stare was directed to-
ward the rond, and there it rested Inn.
movably, Tho hours passed slowly.
The moon crept on and on until it was
almost directly over tho house. The
loud snoring ct the uid folks, the occa-
sional cough OF oEo CT tho children, the
chirp Of a cricket and the croak of a
! frog were the os.y sounds which dis
turbed the al1aost pg~f5ca quiet
'Twan't no harm nohow, she said
TO herself. "Ther law Ein't no right
TO put yer in Jail fur maxim money er
whisky. And the moon travelled ON.
He did it, that ther Dobson.' - And
again she relapsed into silence.
Soon she arose and shook herself, as
II to throw of the chill Of the night
air. She lighted the dip of tallow and
placed it ON q chair; then she reached
mp over the door and took long rifle
down from its resting place ON pair Of
tree forks. She extracted the charge
with long rod. wiped the gun clean
and reloaded ik Then she placed it
back where she found it, removed her
faded calico dress and went 20 bed.
Her loud breathing soon told that she
was asleep
In the morning she performed her
household duties % IL 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 came out again
In al its fiercsnesa The children be-
gan their play and the old people their
talk When all were bugy, Mandy took
the old rife down from the rack over
the door. She shouldered the weapon
with the strength and sleight Of astrong
man and started on down the road
She seemed In o hurry, for she took long
strides like Q msn. Her body swayed
In tune TO her step, either from the
weight OF the gun or habit She passed
several persons with the usual saluta-
hon, sMorninp She looked neither
tO the left nor to the right Finally she
reached lane where the hazel bushes
skirted the road She walked more
carefully then. She peered 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
90 PAGES distant, was q man patiently
hoeing his corn. She poked the rife
through the bushes just as the solitary
laborer Strengthened mp, took of his hat
and wiped the perspiration from his
face with his shirt sleeve. She glanced
along the barrel of the gun There was
sharp report, and the man fell over in
a furTow. The blood flowed from a
hole in his temple.
Then Mandy replaced the gun ON her
shoulder. She walked of down the road
without word. When she arrived at
her home, she put the rife in its resting
place and went about her duties.
m,the afternoon the rumble Of road
wagon was heard below the house. It
came nearer. AL went to the door TO see
who it was. The wagon stopped before
the house. All knew the driver. 1t was
Bib Bucker, the constable AS he climb
cd over the fence oil I'm the house started
ont 70 meet him
Mandy, ! want yer Ter go with me
fur ther shootin Of Dohson. =
The woman's face was % immovable
% IL had been when she sat at the win
dow the night before. Eph's father and
mother and the children looked at her
fxedly.
'tAil right Bill, TIL go with yer,"
and with this she climbed into the
wagon.
Zach, /" she said to the oldest child,
yer go over to yer Aunt Minerals an
tell her to cum round an look after yer
all. The wagon ratified down the road,
and the children and old people looked
after twill Withers Douglas in
Louisville Courier Journal.