Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1894-07-27
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MANDY.


that part Of Livingston county where
the farms are red and gully washed,
where the cornstalks are thin and sick
ly looking and burn yellow in the sun
almost as soon as they are green. He
was strong and rugged, this sturdy
farmer, with his big, bony hands and
nut brown, lean cheeks, and as he
stood out i'll the burning August sun,
striking vigorously at hidden sassafras
roots with his homemade hoe, he was a
striking illustration Of those people who
toll throughout their lives with little
thought of the rest of the world OF its
pleasures. Between the rolling, poor
land on which Eph was working and
the road stood a two room log house,
scantily protected from the suns rays
by a few scrubby black oaks.
At a grindstone at the rear of the
house stood an old man grinding away
at an ak. His hair was snowy white.
His wide brimmed straw hat, with its
shoestring band, did not conceal the
deep wrinkles on his face. His hickory
shirt was torn and faded, and the skin
looked blistered through the rents. He
rested once in awhile and tested the
edge of his ak with his thumb. This
was Eph's father. A woman almost as
old and long past the age of work sat
on stone in a shady spot watching the
grinding Of the AK and remarking in
cracked voice the chances for a crop.
They had failed in this the last season,
and it was Of great importance to them.
The corn bread and bacon had been very
scant of late. Eph's parents were very
old and feeble, but they helped as best
they could.
A tall, angular woman of perhaps 40,
though she looked much older, came to
the door. Her calico dress was soiled
and torn A pair of Eph's boots with
great patches Of rawhide and with the
heels run over peeped out from under
her tucked up dress. Her face was hard
and pinched. The sallow color contrast
ed strongly with the dark, almost black
blue of her gown, and when the sleeves
were rolled to the elbows her arms were
brown. One bony hand clutched dish
rag, which she held against the side Of
the door as she shaded her eyes with the
other. She was looking at her husband
as he worked across the red clay field.
The chatter of horses hoofs Oh the
hard and gravel washed road was heard.
Her eyes were turned i'll the direction of
the rapidly approaching rider. A half
dozen children, the eldest a boy Of 10,
came from gully near by, where they
had been playing, also attracted by the
sounds. All moved around to the front
of the house. To the surprise of all, the
stranger pulled up at the fence:
"Eph Parks live here?'
"Yep, that's him over there in the
field answered the woman.
The stranger dismounted, tied the
bride rein to the rail fence and started
across the field toward Eph. The chill
dren instinctively clustered around their
mother and tugged unconsciously at her
dress. She smacked them right and left
impulsively. She was watching the
stranger. The man finally reached Eph,
and the two had parley for several
minutes. When they started toward the
house, the stranger had hold of Eph's
arm. Eph's parents and his wife and
children were all standing close together
when the pair reached the house.
MANDY, this 'ere's COVE ment ossi-
fer, and he's cum ter take me way to
Jail fur maxim them dollars 'Twan't no
harm nohow, le'stwise I'm er church
member yet"
Hurry up, hurry up, said the de-
tective. 81 want to getsto the station in
time to catch the night train -
'fHow long will yer be gone, Eph?'
said his wife. His aged parents stood
with their mouths open. They did not
understand it at all.
''Doan' know" answered Eph as the
handouts were adjusted to his wrists.
Then the men climbed over the fence.
The stranger got on his horse and told
Eph to walk along in front of him. He
also said that any attempt on Eph's part
to run would cost him his life. There
was no handshaking, no tears. The
men moved off down the scorching hot
road, leaving the group standing as it
had stood at first, together. The old
y
appealingly, but Mandy watched her
husband and the stranger disappear
in the woods. She stood there in the
sun with her head uncovered long after
they had moved out of her sight. The
old man and woman went back to the
rear Of the house, and the children final
~ resumed their playing. Still she
stood there, looking. The sun continued
his travelling, and finally dropped be-
hind the wodss in which her husband
had disappeared
eyes, she intlrmured, ''that there's
Jim Dobson's work He tole on Eph, -
She shook her head several times,
looked down the road once again and
then passed into the house. She pre-
pared the scanty meal without word.
There was a strange siience in the
house, as if a corpse were near. The
children were put to bed, and soon the
old man and old woman followed. Then
Mandy pulled her stool over to the open
window and looked out into the night.
She placed her elbows on the sill and
rested her chin in her hands. The moon
came creeping up from behind distant
hill and shed its soft light over the
farm. Still Mandy gazed out into the
night. Her face seemed as void of ex
preston as the black oaks in the yard.
The cold, hard stare was directed to-
ward the road, and there it rested ims
moyably. The hours passed slowly.
The moon crept on and on until it was
almost directly over the house. The
loud snoring of the old folks, the occa.
sional cough Of one of the children, the
chirp of a cricket and the croak of a
frog were the 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 the moon travelled on.
''He did it, that ther Dobson'' And
again she relapsed into silence
Soon she arose and shook herself, as
if to throw off the chill Of the night
air She lighted the dip of tallow and
placed it on a chair; then she reached
up over the door and took a long rifle
down from its resting place on pair of
tree forks. She extracted the charge
with a long rod, wiped the gun clean
and reloaded it. Then she placed it