Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-07-16
MANDY.

almost aS soon aS they are green ht was strong and rugged. this sturd, farmer. with his big. bony hands anc nut brown, lean cheeks, and as Inc stood out in the burning August sun, striking vigorously at hidden sassafrai roots with his homemade hoe, he was { striking illustration of those people wht toll throughout their lives with little thought of the rest of the world or 1t, pleasures. Between the rolling. pooi land on which Eph was working anc the road stood O two room log house, scantily protected from tho suns rays by q few scrubby black oaks.
 At grindstone at the rear of tn, house stood an old man grinding away at an ax. His hair was snowy white. His wide brimmed straw hat. with its shoestring band. did not conceal tn, deep wrinkles on his face His hickory shirt was torn and faded. and the ski. looked blistered through the ren.s. Ht rested once in awhile s:.L tested the edge of his AK witf hls thumb. This was Eph'- s..tner. A woman almost as old a-L long past the ago of work sat c-I O stone in Q shady spot watching the grinding of the ax and remarking in a cracked voice the chances for crop. They had failed in this tho last season, and it was of great importance to them. Tte 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 10, though she looked much older, came tc the dcor. Her calico dress was soilcd and ton. 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 pincheG 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 n 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 horse's hoofs on the hard and gravel washed road was heard. Her eyes were turned in the direction oi the rapidly approaching rider. A hali dozen children, the eldest n boy of 10, came from a 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, thu stranger pulled up at the fence:
 ''Eph Parks live here:''
 "Yep, that's him over there in ths field," answered the woman.
 The stranger dismountCd, tied the bridle rein to the rail fence and started across the field toward Eph. The chil dren instinctivcly clustered around theil mother and rugged uncOnsciously at hel dress. She smackcd them right and Jeff impulsivcly. She was watching tn, stranger. The man finally reached Eph
 and the two had n barley for severa minutes When thoy started toward tht house, tho stranger had hold of Eph'. arm. Eph's parents and his wifo anC children were all standing close together when the pair reached the house.
 Mandy, this 'ere's a govc 'ment ossi fer, and he's cum ter take me way tC jail fur maxim them dollars 'Twan't nt harm nohow, le'stwise I'm CT churcl
 member yet.
 ''Hurry up, hurry up." said the de
 tective. ''I want to get to tho station il
 
 How long will yer be gone, Eph?' said his wife. His aged parents stOo' with their mouths open. They did no understand it ae all.
 "Doan' know" answered Eph as tn handcuffs were adjusted to his wrists. Then tho p1en climbed over the fence The stranger got on his horse and tol' Eph to walk along in front of him. H. also said that any attempt on Eph's par to run would cost him his life. Ther was no handshaking, no tears Tn men moved of down the scorching ho road. leaving the group standing as i had stood at first, together. The olt man and old woman looked at Mand, appealingly, but Mandy watched he husband and the stranger disappea in the woods. She stood there in tn sun with her head uncovered long afte they had moved out of her sight. I'm | old man and woman went back to tn rear of the house, and the children final ly resumed their playing Still sh ! stood there, looking. The sun continued
 his travelling. and finally dropped be hind the woods in which her husbanG
 had disappeared
 "Yes," she murmured. "that there Jim Dobson's work. He tole on Eph. She shook her head several times looked down the road once again ant then passed into tho house. She pre- | pared the scanty meal without 0 word | There was a strange silence in th'
 house. as If O corpse were near. I'm | children were put to bed, and soon tn, II 1f IL Fzl Mandy pulled her stool over to the opeI | window and looked out into the night | She placed her elbows on the sill an6 | rested her chin in her hands The moor | came creeping up from behind a distant farm. Still Mandy gazed out into the night. Her face seemed as void of ex pression as the black oaks in the 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 wa almost directly over the house. Th' loud snoring of the old folks, the occa sional cough of one of the children, tn | chirp of O cricket and the croak of [ | frog were the only sounds which dis | turbed the almost perfect quiet.
 "Twan't no harm nohow," she sai' | to herself. ''Ther law ain't no righ | to put yer in jail fur mal<in money e whisky" And the moon travelled on "He did it. that ther Dobson. Ant | again she relapsed into silence.
 | Soon she arose and shook herself. a | If to throw off the chill of the nigh air. She lighted the dip of tallow an' | placed 1t on a chair; then she reaches up over the door and took long riff
 down from its resting place on pair O tree forks. She extracted the charg
 with a long rod. wiped the gun cleal and reloaded 1t Then sho placed i hack xvhere she found if removed he